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TEACHING ABOUT CULTURAL DIVERSITY: 
Fun Activities Using the Chinese Calendar

Mae Lombos Wlazlinski
Berry College 
U. S. A.

Intended Grade Level
Objectives
Procedures
Evaluation
Outcomes
Expansion

Intended grade level:

Objectives:

1. The students will learn about cultural diversity through fun and creative activities using the Chinese calendar.

2. The students will become familiar with the Chinese calendar and the twelve animals represented. 

3. The students will learn that every year corresponds to an animal in the Chinese calendar and that the personality of people is believed to be affected by their animal sign. 

4. The students will recognize and demonstrate understanding of number patterns which will allow them to identify the animal that represents the year in which they were born. 

5. The students will learn and use adjectives that describe the animals and will write a paragraph which compares their characteristics with the given characteristics of their animals. 

Procedures: 

1. The teacher will read the book, Twelve Years Twelve Animals, A Japanese Folk Tale, adapted by Yoshiko Samuel (1977) to spark interest in the calendar.

2. The teacher will show the Chinese calendar and the twelve represented animals and describe the animals' characteristics to the students: 

3.The teacher will explain how the Chinese have a God-like reverence for nature and that they have the strong belief that people and animals share characteristics. 

4. The teacher will discuss the symbolisms surrounding animals in the Chinese culture. The teacher may talk about the movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and discuss the significance of the title. 

5. The teacher will ask students to think of the symbolisms of the 12 animals in the mainstream American culture. 

6. The teacher and students will create a large Chinese calendar on chart paper. 

7. The teacher will ask each student to draw out of a bag a strip of paper with a characteristic or characteristics written on it. The teacher will ask students to go up to the chart and match the characteristic with an animal. To check their answers, the teacher will give out a handout of the Chinese calendar with the matched animals and their characteristics. The students will then determine if they have matched the right characteristic with the right animal. 

8. The teacher will teach students to recognize number patterns divisible by twelve. They will add or subtract to determine which animal corresponds to their birth year. 

9. The teacher will give handouts with the pictures of animals and their characteristics. The students will be asked to think how similar they are to the animals. In groups, they will be asked to talk about their personal characteristics. After the group discussion, they will be asked to write a paragraph about their animal and the animal's characteristics. After doing this, students will write why they are like or unlike their animals. 

10. The teacher will ask students to color and decorate their animals around the creative writing they have completed. 

Outcomes: 

1. The students will be able to determine their birth year after they learn the number patterns. 

2. The students will be able to discuss the symbolisms of the animals in the mainstream American culture and compare them with their Chinese symbols. 

3. Students will be able to write paragraphs about their animals explaining and providing evidence for their characteristics as Chinese people believe. 

4. Students will be able to write about why they think they are like the animals representing their birth year. 

Evaluation: 

Students' writing will be graded based on the following criteria: ability to use correct computational skills as shown by correct choice of animal for their birth year and degree of creativity expressed in their writing which compares their characteristics with those of their animals. Their writing will also be graded on the basis of a number of details included, mechanics and syntax.

Expansion: 

1. The students can act out the story, Twelve Years (Samuel, 1977). 

2. The students can put on a readers theater. 

3. The students can build an animal carousel. 

4. The students can work out math problems using the calendar: e.g., graphing of animals and birth years of family members and friends. 

5. The teacher can design a social studies lesson exploring calendars used around the world. 

6.Students will research famous people in different countries, read about their lives, and determine if there is any evidence of their animals' characteristics in their lives. 

References

Samuel, Yoshiko. (1972). Twelve years twelve animals: A Japanese folk tale. New York: Abingdon Press.

Mae Lombos Wlazlinski, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Education and Coordinator of English as a Second Language Program at Berry College, Mount Berry, GA.  She teaches Culture, Language and Minority Education; Exploration in Diverse Cultures; Applied Linguistics; and Methods of Teaching ESOL. (you may contact her at mwlazlinski@berry.edu).