Dear Parents,
I'm Miss Zhao, the new Mandarin teacher at Granton Primary School for this term. I'm Miss Zhao, the new Mandarin teacher at Granton Primary School for this term. Below is the summary of the course contents and teaching feedbacks for the Summer term. I’ll continue to provide regular updates as the term progresses.
This term’s our class focuses on the theme “A Better Waterfront”, exploring the riverside life and culture of two cities—Shanghai and London. Through a combination of drawing and language learning, the course offers children a rich visual arts experience in a fun and engaging environment.
We aim to develop students’ Mandarin expression while expanding their understanding of urban culture and introducing elements of traditional Chinese art aesthetics. In each class, children use art to express what they’ve learned, experiencing the harmony between language and creativity.
Students will explore the theme through ink painting, collage, and hands-on activities. Step by step, students will create a series of Mandarin-based artworks inspired by city life and water culture.
家长们好，我是本学期的新中文老师——赵老师，以下是我们夏季学期课程的概述，以及您的孩子每周学习内容的总结。随着学期的进展，我会定期更新。
本学期中文课以“A Better Waterfront”为主题，围绕上海与伦敦这两座滨水城市展开探索。课程将结合绘画与语言学习，通过丰富的视觉艺术活动，帮助孩子们在轻松愉快的氛围中学习中文。
我们希望孩子们在提升语言表达能力的同时，拓展对城市文化的认知，并逐步了解中国传统艺术与美学。在每节课中，孩子们将用画笔表达所学内容，在创作中感受语言与艺术的交汇与魅力。
接下来的课程中，孩子们还将尝试水墨、拼贴、手工等多种形式，逐步完成一系列以“城市与水”为灵感的中文艺术作品。
27 April | Theme: Impression of the Cities — Shanghai and London
This class introduced the term’s theme “A Better Waterfront”, inviting students to explore the riverfront culture of Shanghai and London through both art and Mandarin.
We began with a simple drawing-based icebreaker where children introduced themselves in a form of illustrations, they answered questions like: “Which city do you come from?” , “What are your hobbies?” and “What can represent your city?” This was followed by a visual tour comparing key features of Shanghai and London, such as their rivers (Suzhou Creek and the River Thames), traditional architecture, famous landmarks, and boats.
Through the perspective of illustrators and artists, we observed how waterfronts are interpreted and composed visually. The class concluded with an introduction to Shanghai Zhujiajiao（朱家角）, a traditional water town in southern China, which will serve as an inspiration for future classes. In the final 15 minutes, students created their own artistic impressions of the city, building connections between Eastern and Western cultures.
本节课以“A Better Waterfront”为主题，围绕上海和伦敦两座滨水城市展开，结合绘画与语言学习，带孩子们展开了一次跨文化的探索旅程。
我们首先通过简笔画自我介绍的方式进行破冰，引导孩子们用画表达“你来自哪座城市？”“你的兴趣爱好是什么？”等问题。随后带领大家进行了“视觉旅行”，围绕上海与伦敦的标志性河流（苏州河与泰晤士河）、传统建筑、船只与著名地标展开对比与讨论。
孩子们还通过插画师与艺术家的视角，观察他们如何选取主题、构图以及表现城市的方式。最后引入了江南水乡代表——朱家角古镇，为接下来的系列课程打下文化背景基础。在课程最后15分钟，孩子们尝试绘制属于自己的城市印象，借此建立中西文化的联结。
6 May | Theme: Explore Ink Painting — ShuiMo Zhujiajiao（朱家角）
This class focused on Zhujiajiao, a traditional water town in Shanghai, helping students become familiar with its distinctive architecture and cultural identity. Keywords included: houses, bridges, water, and wooden boats.
We introduced the ink paintings of renowned Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong to help children understand the expressive language of traditional ink art. They learned to use brushes and ink to illustrate contrasts like “light and dark” and the use of “dots and lines.” Through this, students also learned the corresponding Chinese vocabulary.
In the final 20 minutes, the children created their own water town scenes on rice paper using ink brushes. To complete their work, they added their names and the place they drew in the corner — a meaningful finishing touch in the tradition of Chinese ink painting.
这一节课聚焦于中国江南传统水乡——上海朱家角古镇，通过关键词“房子、桥、河水和木船”帮助孩子们认识这一独特的建筑文化。
我们引入了中国艺术家吴冠中的水墨作品，启发孩子们理解水墨画的表现语言，并引导他们学习如何使用毛笔表达“深与浅”“点与线”等基本绘画元素。孩子们在动手的过程中，不仅初步体验了毛笔和宣纸的使用，还学习了相关中文词汇。
课程的最后20分钟，孩子们以朱家角为灵感，用宣纸和毛笔创作属于他们的水乡图景，并在画作一角落款（名字或者绘画的场景），体验了水墨画特有的完成仪式感。
13 May | Theme: Explore Ink Painting — ShuiMo City
Continuing our exploration of ink painting, this class returned to the idea of urban waterfronts. The goal was to help students become more confident using brush, ink, and water. The session was divided into three parts, each focused on the foundational visual elements of dots, lines, and planes.
Part 1: Spring arrives as fine as a thread.
Inspired by Wu Guanzhong’s Spring Series painting, we guided students to find dots, lines, and shapes in nature—e.g., tree trunks as planes, branches as lines, and flowers/leaves as dots. Students had 20 minutes to use dots, lines, and planes to create their own spring-themed plant drawings.
Part 2: Rivers
We introduced a new concept—integrating words directly into the artworks. Students were encouraged to draw rivers while writing words like “上海Shanghai,” “伦敦London,” “你好Hello,” and “河水River” in ink, combining language and image together.
Part 3: Skyscrapers
Students practiced drawing city buildings using the same visual elements and continued learning related Chinese vocabulary and pronunciation. The class culminated in a complete “ShuiMo City” ink painting, which will serve as the foundation for the next lesson’s collage project.
As the students needed more time, Parts 2 and 3 will be continued in the next session.
延续上节课对水墨画的探索，本节课回到“城市水岸”，希望让孩子们更熟悉地运用毛笔、水与墨。课程分为三大部分，结合美术基础概念“点、线、面”进行引导。
第一部分，春如线。通过吴冠中“春天系列”作品，引导孩子从自然中寻找点、线、面的元素。例如树干是“面”、树枝是“线”、花朵是“点”。随后，孩子们用点线面创作了属于他们的春日植物。
第二部分，河流。我们将词语引入画面创作中，鼓励孩子边写边画，用“上海”、“伦敦”、“你好”、“河水”等词汇，与水墨结合表现河流的意象。
第三部分，城市建筑绘制，继续强调点、线、面的视觉表现与相关中文词汇发音。最终，孩子们完成了一幅完整的“水墨城市”作品，也为下一次的拼贴创作做好了准备。
孩子们速度稍微慢了些，第二、三部分会在下一节课继续。
