SHowcase
Chinese poems:
From the classroom to the printed page By MYP-DP Chinese Department
In the unit of Beyond Life, Grade 9-10 Chinese phase 5 students inquired into how personal life could have an impact on creative styles. They invited a Thai Chinese author Mr. Xin Zeng to share how his experience in China had contributed to his artistic and poetic creation. Mr. Zeng also shared how he used Chinese cultural elements in his Chinese garden, calligraphy and painting. Mr. Zen has been a renowned author writing Chinese stories and poems and under his influence, many Concordian students voluntarily created several Chinese poems from which some were selected later to be included in the newly published poem collection Imitation of Life. This authentic learning experience enabled students to showcase their creativity and insight in real world contexts, which further boosted their interest in learning Chinese. From teenagers’ perspectives, students wrote on the following topics: • Love for the nature: Ninja's Sunset, Kimi’s Green Plants, Proud's Painting • The interesting things in life: Ping Ping’s Koi Fish, Im's Little Rabbit, Praew's 7-11 Tea • The fun of learning: Poj's Computer, Ben's Book, Nemo’s Piano • Identities and relationship: Doudou's Who are you, Who am I? Ty’s Thailand and China
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Showcase
G9 Poj: Disbelief and confusion. These two words explain my initial reaction about my Chinese poem being published. Did I actually write a poem in the first place? It was only after a couple minutes of discourse with my peers did I finally realize that this was a piece I wrote about the use of technology in the modern world during online learning. I felt a sense of joyful pride that a piece of my writing was selected by Mr. Zeng, who is very dedicated to Chinese culture and extensively studied it, encouraging me to further my studies. G10 Ninja: I was very excited when I found out that my Chinese poem was published. I learned poetry as a unit in Chinese and one of the poems that I wrote in that unit was published. Mu's poem " 日落 " used nature as a metaphor for love. I felt that my poem getting published made me feel very proud of my Chinese poetry writing. I also felt very thankful to Ms. Shuping who helped advise me throughout the unit and taught me about Chinese poetry so that I was able to write this poem. G9 Doudou: When Ms. Fang told me my Chinese poem was published in the book 《春风秋雨》, I was genuinely surprised. This poem is about my home town. I wrote about how I felt not being back home for so long and wrote about how I forgot about my true culture. Even though I haven’t returned home in so long, my love for my hometown is like a faint breeze, although you might not feel it, it is there. I am very proud of my writing and I also feel very thankful for Ms. Fang to help throughout the years. I will continue to work hard and achieve happiness for myself through my studies and make my parents and teachers proud.
G10 Praew: Honor, it is a true honor to have my poem published in Mr. Zeng’s book. I was initially curious when Ms. Fang handed us the book; until she mentioned that the poem we wrote last year was published. I decided to take a more abstract approach towards my poem and explored the concept of the core principles and purpose to life in comparison to the life of a tea bottle. Having my poem published will definitely act as another form of inspirational force to encourage me towards writing more Chinese poems in the future. G9 Ty: Shocked and surprised was the first reaction I gave out. I am really honored and glad that my Chinese poem got published. I was thinking about myself and my family when I wrote this poem. My mom is Chinese and my dad is Thai. In my poem I expressed my feelings of both countries that are dear to me. I am really amazed that Mr. Zeng chose my poem and really understands what my poem is about. This will make me continue writing Chinese poems. G9 Im: We got to learn poems during the Tang Dynasty and got the opportunity to compose our poems during class. The poem that I wrote was about the 3 pet rabbits that I had at home to represent my love toward my rabbits. I described some cute features of my rabbits, such as their round black eyes, plump bodies with soft fur like clouds. Just seeing them every time I get home makes me happy and I play with them when I have time. The most significant feature of my poem is the repetition "跳跳跳！” which means "Hop, hop, hop!" 27 25 CONCORDIAN IMPACT - ISSUE 33 32