China

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is flat and light and something inside it slides. Hold it up. Whole class chants:

Tip it slowly from side to side — a soft slither, no rattle. Peek in for a long time and pull out something folded. Unfold it once. Twice. Then let it fall open all at once and hold it up above your head.

Arms wide, then hug yourself: “China!”

4 min Teach · China & red

Everybody stands. Say it twice — the second time they say it with you:

Now the map goes down on the floor in the middle of the circle and everybody kneels round it. Walk one finger over it. Find our city, and plant the little flag on it. “We are here. This dot is us.” Then sweep your whole hand over the map: “and ALL of this is China.” Let each child put one finger on the map.

Littles hug themselves and say “China!”, wave and say “Red!” Bigs owe you the sentence: “I live in China.” “The flag is red.”

Teacher fails: point at the far blue edge of the map, out in the sea, and say “So this is our kindergarten, just here.” Nod, satisfied. Wait to be corrected.

Chinese moment: lay the 中 card on the map and say 中国 once, all together, then again in a whisper. The card stays on the map all week — the row grows by one character a day.

3 min Song · I Live in China — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning, the whole thing on Friday. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it standing round the map, always.

3 min Game · Flag wave

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” You hold the flag. The rule is one sentence long:

Then play with it: up fast, down fast, up and hold it there while they run out of breath, a tiny lift that is nearly nothing, then a huge one. The silence is the half they love.

Finish by giving the flag to one child to be the flag-holder while the rest of you shout and stop, shout and stop.

This is the whole week's volume control and you will use it every day from now on — the flag comes out again on Friday for the quick-fire round.

1 min Close

Standing round the map. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Round Is a Mooncake (Roseanne Thong) — shapes found in ordinary Chinese things, a rice bowl, a lantern, a moon. Point at the round things in your own room afterwards.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box rustles. Chant, shake it gently — a dry papery whisper, nothing hard.

Lift the lid a crack and sniff: green, grassy, like the garden after rain. Pull out the bamboo first and pass it round to be smelled and felt — every child.

Hands to your eyes like two black patches: “Panda!”

4 min Teach · Panda

The panda sits in your lap facing the circle. Twice, and the second time they do it with you:

Two colours only: black and white. Everybody find black on their own clothes and hold it up; now find white. The panda has both, always, in the same places — ears, eyes, arms, legs.

Littles do the patches and say “Panda!” Bigs take the frame: “The panda eats bamboo.” “The panda is black and white.”

Teacher fails: offer the panda a banana. Then a biscuit. Then your shoe. Look genuinely puzzled each time it is refused. Wait for the outrage.

Chinese moment: the 熊 card joins 中 on the map — 熊猫. Pandas live in 四川; put a finger on the map roughly there, west of us, and leave it at that.

3 min Song · I Live in China — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing this verse slowly and heavily, like something very large that has just eaten — then snap straight back into the bright chorus. The change of speed is what they remember it by.

3 min Game · Panda munch

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody sits in the circle. The bamboo goes round, hand to hand, while you clap a steady beat.

Whoever is holding the bamboo is the panda: three enormous munches — the whole circle counts them, one, two, three — and then FREEZE, panda and everybody, absolutely still, for as long as you can hold them.

Then the clapping starts again. Go round until every child has been the panda at least once; slow the pass down near the ones who have not.

The freeze is the real work — it is the quietest game of the week, and it teaches them that stopping is part of playing.

1 min Close

Sitting up tall like pandas, hands over your eyes. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (Bill Martin Jr & Eric Carle) — the whole class can join in on “What do you see?” by the second page.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is full — the lid will not sit down flat. Chant, then shake it: almost no noise at all, which is wrong for something this fat.

Peek in. Gasp. Shut the lid. Peek again. Now take hold of one end and pull, hand over hand, and keep pulling — and keep pulling — until the red ribbon is longer than the circle and lying in coils on the floor.

Both arms wiggling: “Dragon!”

4 min Teach · Dragon

Everybody stands, the ribbon on the floor in front of them. Twice, second time all together:

This is the part worth saying slowly: the Chinese dragon is lucky and kind. He brings the rain. He is not a monster to be frightened of — and he is never danced by one person on their own. It takes a whole class of people under one long body to make a dragon move.

Littles wiggle both arms and say “Dragon!” Bigs take the frame: “The dragon is long.” “The dragon dances.”

Teacher fails: hold both ends of the ribbon yourself and wiggle it feebly on the spot. “There you are. A dragon.” Look pleased. Wait until somebody tells you it takes everybody.

Chinese moment: the 龙 card joins 中 and 熊 on the map. Say 舞龙 — dragon dance — once, doing the arm wave on the word 舞.

3 min Song · I Live in China — chorus + Wednesday verse

Sing this one moving — it is the only verse of the week that is not sung sitting or standing still. Chorus standing, verse walking, chorus standing again; the stop at the end is what gets them back on the mat.

3 min Game · Dragon train

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody takes hold of the ribbon with one hand, spaced out along it. You are the head, with the dragon head held up in front.

Wind slowly round the room: round the shelf, under the window, in a big curl and out of it. Then faster. Then high — everybody's hand up — then low, ducking. Then FREEZE, dead still, dragon and all.

Finish by curling the dragon into a spiral on the floor and everybody sitting down exactly where they are.

Put your steadiest child at the tail, not the head — the tail is where a dragon breaks. Littles who will not hold the ribbon can hold your hand and be the head with you.

1 min Close

Sitting in the ribbon spiral, everybody holding a piece of red. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac (Dawn Casey) — the dragon is in it, and so are twelve animals they will meet again next week.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is heavy and it clonks. Chant, then shake it once, hard: one solid knock.

Out comes… one wooden block. Hold it up. Turn it over. Let the disappointment sit there for a second.

Arms stretched as wide as they will go: “Wall!”

4 min Teach · Wall

The photo goes round the circle, every child holding it. Then, standing:

Say the size in things they know: it is longer than our room, longer than our whole school, longer than our whole street, longer than our city — you could walk all day and all night and not come to the end of it. It climbs over the mountains instead of going round them. And people built it with their hands, stone by stone, a very long time ago.

Littles stretch wide and say “Wall!” Bigs owe you: “The wall is very long.” “I can build a wall.”

Teacher fails: lay two blocks end to end, dust off your hands and step back. “Finished. The Great Wall of China.” Fold your arms. Wait.

Chinese moment: the 城 card joins the row — 长城, the long wall. Say 长 stretching your arms wide on the word, then 城.

3 min Song · I Live in China — chorus + Thursday verse

Start this verse tiny, hands together, and open a little further on every single “long” until the last one is as wide as they go. Then the chorus straight after, at full size.

3 min Game · Build the wall

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The curved line is on the floor with its hill in the middle. The block basket sits at one end.

One child at a time walks a block down and lays it on the line, and the whole class counts out loud — one, two, three… When the wall reaches the hill it has to climb: the blocks go up the slope, which is the moment the photo suddenly makes sense.

If it falls, nobody is in trouble and we rebuild that bit together. Count the whole wall once more at the end, all together, pointing.

Leave the wall standing until Friday if you possibly can. It goes on the shelf as Tray 3 and it is the thing they will show their parents.

1 min Close

Standing along your own wall, arms stretched wide. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Grandfather Tang's Story (Ann Tompert) — a tangram story; put the seven shapes out on the shelf afterwards and let them make one animal.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the whole week is in the box and it is the fullest it has been. Chant, then take the things out one at a time — and the class names each one before it touches the floor.

Flag… “Red!” Panda… “Panda!” Bamboo, ribbon, block, photo — round they go. Then, last, with the lid nearly shut, one thing left.

Then everybody opens their eyes at once and sees what they were holding.

4 min Teach · Jiaozi + the whole week

Fold a dumpling in the air, all together, twice — and then really do it with the dough:

Jiaozi are the food a whole family makes together, everybody at one table, everybody's dumplings in the same pot — the ugly ones too. Let each child fold one real one out of dough and put it on the tray with the others.

Then the quick-fire round: hold up each prop, the class names it in English — and read the 汉字 row back off the map together: 中 · 熊 · 龙 · 城 · 饺. Littles give one word per prop; Bigs give the whole sentence for each.

Teacher fails: try to pick up a pom-pom with the chopsticks yourself. Drop it. Try again. Drop it. Hold the chopsticks like a spoon and look hopeful.

Chinese moment: the 饺 card finishes the row — 饺子. As the bowls go round, every single hand-over gets 你好 and 谢谢, out loud.

3 min Song · I Live in China — the whole song, top to bottom

This run-through IS the week's review. Every prop is out on the floor in front of them and every verse points at one. Sing it standing round the map with the wall still built beside you.

3 min Game · Chopstick race + quick-fire

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Two bowls in front of each pair, pom-poms in one of them.

Littles use their fingers or a small spoon and nobody says a word about it. Bigs use the chopsticks. It is not really a race — the child who moves three carefully beats the child who tips the bowl.

Then the flag comes back for quick-fire: flag UP and you hold up a prop — everybody shouts its name; flag DOWN — silence, and the next prop comes up. Finish on the flag itself: “CHINA!”

Awards. Print page 17, one half per child, and give them out here by name, one at a time, with the whole class clapping. Then the “Colour MY lantern” sheets go home in their bags.

1 min Close

Everything from the week on the floor, everybody standing round it. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Dim Sum for Everyone! (Grace Lin) — a family sharing little dishes, which is exactly what the chopstick tray on the shelf is for.

The three chords

Tempo: proud and marching, not fast — this is a song you can walk to, and on Wednesday you will. Big open rest before the last “I love it all!” so they can hear it coming. Three chords, no Am anywhere, and every verse is only C and G7. Chant it without the uke first; add the chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who hugs herself on “home”, waves on “red” and stretches wide on “wall” has understood the week, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — every verse is just C and G7

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — and Friday's finale, sung standing round the map with the block wall still up beside them, doubles as the review of the whole week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That is the entire chorus, and the whole song is those three shapes — there is no Am this week at all. C is one finger, F is two, G7 is three; learn them in that order. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down, give one child the red flag to wave on the beat and do the actions instead: the class will not notice, and the arms carry the meaning either way.