Mandarin Term 4 Overviews

Year Level	Term 4
Prep	In term 4, Grade Prep students will engage with the simple and rhythmic Mandarin nursery rhyme “1234567, 我的朋友在哪里?” to develop foundational language skills in Mandarin while building social-emotional competence. Through singing, movement, and interaction, students will practise counting, asking questions, and identifying friends or family members. Additionally, they will explore differences and similarities in rhythm and language flow between Mandarin and English nursery rhymes.
Grade 1	In this unit, Year 1 students will immerse themselves in the traditional Chinese story 神笔马良 (Shén Bǐ Mǎ Liáng), which tells the tale of Ma Liang, a boy with a magical brush that brings drawings to life. Through engaging with this story, students will develop their Mandarin language skills by learning high-frequency vocabulary and sentence patterns drawn from the text. Listening to and reading the story will also deepen their understanding of Chinese culture and storytelling traditions.Students will explore reading for different purposes, including both entertainment and comprehension. Building on their prior knowledge of story structure, they will identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They will practise retelling stories orally to reinforce their language skills. To encourage creativity and meaningful language use, students will participate in projects such as creating their own story endings, which helps them gain confidence in constructing sentences and using Mandarin in authentic contexts.
Grade 2	This term, students will co-create the Chinese folktale Jǐngdǐzhīwā (Frog in the Well). They will explore the story’s moral lesson while identifying common Chinese characters and words in pinyin using contextual clues, and finding equivalent or similar words in English for familiar objects. Students will also learn key words and expressions through hand gestures, enhancing their understanding. They will collaborate with peers in learning activities and contribute to discussions. Additionally, they will create a storyboard to retell the folktale, expressing the story through both writing and drawings.
Grade 3	In term 4, students are learning how to introduce themselves in Mandarin and use this language to create a fun class story. They will explore words and sentences about their name, nationality, grade, favourite countries, and what they enjoy doing. Through listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities, students will build both their literacy and communication skills.
Grade 4	In term 4, Grade 4 students engage in creating storyboards and writing simple stories using basic Pinyin. They will explore traditional Chinese fairy tales and folk tales, with a focus on the story of "小蝌蚪找妈妈" Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother. Using this story to build on students' vocabularies and simple sentences structures of the target language. Through this activity, students will practice using Pinyin to construct sentences and narratives while becoming familiar with key characters and themes from Chinese folklore. This hands-on approach will help strengthen their reading and writing skills in Mandarin while introducing them to the rich cultural heritage of Chinese storytelling.
Grade 5	In term 4, Grade 5 students will explore Mandarin by learning to understand and use language to describe school subjects, timetables, and canteen food. They will listen to and retell stories, participate in co-creating a silly school day narrative, and use familiar vocabulary and phrases to express ideas, preferences, and surprise. Students will develop their listening, speaking, reading, and digital storytelling skills, demonstrating their ability to construct and convey meaning in context. The unit will culminate in a creative Canva story, where students apply their language knowledge to design and present a humorous narrative about a school day, showcasing their understanding of vocabulary, sentence structures, and the cultural context of school life in Mandarin.
Grade 6	In Term 4, Grade 6 students learn to introduce themselves in Mandarin by sharing personal information such as their name, age, school, and nationality, as well as describing their hobbies, favorite subjects, foods, sports, books or movies, family members, and personal interests. They will also express their aspirations for the future. Throughout Term 4, students will build confidence through oral presentations and public speaking, with the option to present live or create videos. They will prepare and deliver a basic speech in Mandarin on a designated topic, practising key language skills such as tones, sentence structure, and correct tense. Through guided speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities, students will practise using simple sentences and familiar vocabulary to communicate effectively. These experiences will help them develop their ability to present ideas clearly and confidently in both spoken and written Mandarin, boosting their comfort with using the language in real-world contexts.