In the summer of 2023, we discussed and created course materials for the Summer Camp and conducted mock classes under the supervision of Lions Club members. At the end of August, we held a five-day summer camp at Yinshanfan Experimental School in Jinzhai County. The camp received unanimous praise from local teachers and school principals, and the students requested us to hold it again.
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The summer camp lasted five days, with students starting classes at 8:30 AM and finishing at 4:00 PM each day. The president of TinderSpark High School Division, Lucia Jiang, was mainly responsible for the course design. She divided the courses into three modules: Comprehensive Courses, English Courses, and Others. Comprehensive Courses included the Music & Geography Course, the Food & Logistics course, the Architecture-related Course, and the Emotion Course. English Courses included Drama Classes, Short Story Classes, and Movie Classes. Others included Handicraft Classes, Art Classes, and Singing Classes.
Comprehensive Courses
Course Design Criterion:
For each course, the teacher starts with something students are already familiar with, followed by a question students may have about it. Then, the teacher introduces and teaches a new concept. By teaching the new concept, the course should provoke students’ passion and curiosity for the world and motivate them to become better people responsible for their own health and lives.
Music & Geography (Grades 3, 4, 5)
| Course Content | Course Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Section1 | Introduction to the geographical locations of the five continents, important countries, and the locations that’s on world’s records. | This section aims to give students a preliminary understanding of the world outside their region. |
| Section2 | Introduction to the musical styles of Mongolian, Uyghur, Dai, European classical music, jazz, rock, and electronic music, with a short piece played for each style. Then, link the music to the Chinese map or the world map. | This section aims to let students understand the cultural customs of various regions or countries through music. |
| Section3 | Students recommended their favorite music, the teacher searched and played each piece. | This section aims to let students' preferences be seen by their peers. |
Course Designers: Nina Zhang (Music), Austin Wang (Geography)
Food, Human Digestion System, and Logistics (Grades 4, 5)
| Course Content | Course Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Section1 | Introduction to the six major nutrients and the nutrients found in common foods, explaining the adverse effects of high-sugar and high-fat foods. | This section aims to give students some necessary health knowledge. Students need to be responsible for their health in the future, which includes choosing their three meals a day reasonably and choosing the amount of unhealthy foods they consume. |
| Section2 | Introduction to the digestive system. | 1. By exposing students to biological knowledge, the section aims to stimulate their interest in biology. 2. This section aims to let students understand their own bodies better so that they can take responsibility for their own health better in the future. |
| Section3 | By exploring the question "Where do the lollipops in the convenience store near the school come from?", students learn about logistics, geography, various types of transportation, and the concept of factories. | 1. This section aims to make students more familiar with the world map and the map of China. 2. This section aims to make students have a preliminary understanding of factories. 3. This section aims to make students realize that the village they live in is closely related to the outside world. |
Course Designers: Laura Shang (Nutrients), Lucia Jiang (Digestive System, Logistics)
Architecture-related (Grade 5)
| Course Content | Course Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Section1 | Introduce floor-plan designing and let students draw the floor-plans of their school and their homes. | 1. The section aims to let students understand the profession of floor plan designers. 2. The section aims to practice students' sense of space through things that are familiar to them. |
| Section2 | Introduce two types of building models that building designers will make after designing a building: 3D printing and cardboard. Guild students to make cardboard building models by themselves. | 1. The section aims to let students understand the profession of architects and 3D printing technology. 2. The section aims to practice students' hands-on ability and sense of space through making house models. |
| Section3 | A video is played to show the various steps of building a real house. | 1. The section aims to make students understand the profession of architects and engineers. 2. The section aims to stimulate students' interest in physics and chemistry by showing the process of constructing a building similar to their school. |
Course Designer: Lucia Jiang
Emotional Class (Grade 5)
| Course Content | Course Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Section1 | Four secrets to enhance happiness. | To provide students with advice for future self-growth. |
| Section2 | Differences between growth mindset and fixed mindset. | To teach students how to persevere by adjusting their mindset when facing difficulties. |
| Section3 | How to cope with stress. | To provide students with advice for future self-growth. |
| Section4 | How to establish their evaluation system, including an activity section. The activity section makes students write down their goals or dreams, at least five strengths, and how these strengths help them achieve their goals or dreams. | To let students see their traits and interests, which might help them in self-growth. |
| Section5 | Recognizing and accepting negative emotions. | To provide students with advice for future self-growth. |
Note: This course is bilingual in Chinese and English, allowing students to practice English listening and learn English phrases.
Course Designer: Lucia Jiang
English Courses
These courses aim to integrate English listening practices and English speaking practices into arts and students' lives, enhancing their English abilities.
Drama Classes (Grades 4, 5)
Course Content: Students are divided into groups based on the number of roles in each script. All scripts were adapted by club members from existing short stories. After five days of rehearsal, each group performs the scripted drama in the final presentation.
Course Purpose: The course aims to practice students’ English speaking skills through drama performances.
Course Design: Lucia Jiang
Script Adaptation and Translation: Lucia Jiang, Nina Zhang, Austin Wang, Cynthia Pan, Ruby Liu
Short Story Classes (Grades 3, 4, 5)
Course Content: On the first day of the summer camp, each student told a story about themselves or something they were interested in. Later, the club members translated the stories into English. In the following days, the club members taught students how to read the English version of their stories.
Course Purpose: The course aims to help students practice English speaking skills by talking about things related to themselves in English.
Movie Classes (Grades 3, 4, 5)
Course Content: Students watched the English original version of the movie "Inside Out" (with Chinese subtitles). After watching, Grade 5 students learned some English words and phrases from the movie, and Grade 3 and 4 students discussed their opinions on the movie.
Course Purpose: The course aims to help students practice English listening skills through watching a movie.
Course Design: Angel Zhong
Presentation Day
On the afternoon of the fifth day, students held a "final presentation”. Fifth graders were divided into two groups. One group performed the English drama "One Summer In a Day", and the other group performed the English drama "The Retake." Fourth-graders were divided into three groups, and they performed the Chinese dramas "The Elephant's Nose," "Raymond's Run," and "The Retake." All scripts were adapted by club members from existing short stories. Third-graders sang "Lonely Warrior" and "The Chaser."
Photos: Grade 5 students performing "One Summer In a Day" Photos: Grade 5 students performing "The Retake" Photos: Grade 4 students performing "The Elephant's Nose" Photos: Grade 4 students performing "Raymond's Run" Photos: Grade 4 students performing "The Retake" Photos: Grade 3 students singing Photos: Local teachers enjoying the students' performance Photos: Club members helping students rehearse Photos: Students practicing drama in the classroom
After the final presentation, we held an award ceremony for students who participated in the summer camp and held a birthday party for students and teachers whose birthdays were in July or August.
Photos: Award ceremony Photos: Group birthday party
Achievements
Many local school teachers expressed their amazement at the final presentation: some were surprised that every student had the opportunity to perform on stage, and others were astonished that students who had never read a single English sentence could perform complete English dramas on stage after only five days of rehearsal.
After the final presentation, the captain of the Pearl of the Orient team of the China Council of Lion Club talked with the principal of Yinshanfan Experimental School. The principal hope that we could hold a summer camp annually, and in the future Summer Camps, the principal would invite students other schools and teaching points in Dabie Mountains to participate.
The most significant gain for students during the five-day summer camp was happiness. After the final ceremony, they begged us to hold a summer camp next year. We believe that their happiness is not only from the fun classes and laughters they share with their friends but also from the sense of accomplishment in performing on stage and the "Aha" moments when acquiring new knowledge.
Students volunteers who participated in the teaching event (in alphabetical order of the last name): Lucia Jiang, Cindy Liu, Ruby Liu, Cynthia Pan, Austin Wang, Daniel Yao, Jerry Zhang, Nina Zhang