This Teacher idea describes how a Chinese language teacher used the Character catalogue and associated learning objects, with their highly visual interface and interactivity, to convey how Chinese characters are constructed from basic components such as form, shape, structure, stroke order, sound and meaning.
Philip Wilson believes that introducing these basic components is fundamental to engaging learners in the concept of a character-based script and that good learning is often a matter of being challenged. For him, the Character catalogue and the related TLF learning objects, which put these components into game-like interactive learning tasks, are a real asset. 'Each learning object stimulates the students to think about form, function and internal structure and they are excellent sources for further teaching and learning.'
Philip uses data projection for whole-class demonstration of, and discussion about, the Character catalogue and other online content, switching to the whiteboard for further illustration when necessary. He also books a computer lab with 1:1 computer access when needed. In the lab environment, students work individually or in pairs on a range of learning tasks – using well-chosen internet sites for learning Chinese, as well as the TLF objects. All of the TLF Chinese 'Cracking the code' series of learning objects have been loaded onto the school intranet and Philip has asked his year 8 students to work through them at their own pace.
Students enjoy doing the tasks but, as Philip warns, fun should not be the end game. The acquisition of new knowledge and understanding must remain fundamental when ICT is used for teaching and learning.
Philip Wilson,'Each learning object stimulates the students to think about form, function and internal structure ...'
Marryatville High School, South Australia
Curriculum area
Languages other than English
Year level
3–12
Focus
Analysis of Chinese characters.
- Students analyse Chinese compound characters by breaking compound characters into basic components using lists of characters which share common components.
- Students analyse the relationships between form, sound and meaning in Chinese characters.
The resources listed below are related to this Teacher idea. Click on the links below to view the resources.
Expand All 
Collapse All (25 resources)The Le@rning Federation (TLF) digital curriculum resources
Learning objects
Learning objects 
Learning objects | Title/Description | ||
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Cracking the code: Chinese character catalogue Cracking the code: Chinese character catalogue TLF ID L891
Search for characters using their reading, stroke number or meaning. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stroke dig: level 1 (Chinese) Stroke dig: level 1 (Chinese) TLF ID L909
Students restore stone tablets and character strokes from a dig site. They separate the tablets and notice that each has the faded outline of a Chinese character. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stroke dig: level 2 (Chinese) Stroke dig: level 2 (Chinese) TLF ID L1168
Students restore stone tablets and character strokes from dig sites. They sort the strokes into stroke types according to their shape and rebuild the characters by using the sorted strokes in the right order. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stroke dig: level 3 (Chinese) Stroke dig: level 3 (Chinese) TLF ID L2575
Students restore stone tablets and character strokes from dig sites. They separate the tablets and sort the strokes into stroke types according to their shape. Students rebuild the characters by using the sorted strokes in the right order and discover the meaning and sound of the characters. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stroke dig: series description Stroke dig: series description
Read about the full series of 'Stroke dig' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Radical hunt: island hunt (Chinese) Radical hunt: island hunt (Chinese) TLF ID L470
Students explore Ibis Island and search for Chinese compound characters that share a common radical. They discover the related meanings of the characters in order to see the rare crested ibis. Students use a character detector to roll over the spot where a character is hidden to find its sound and meaning. Each location has a common radical. Students find all 20 characters at four locations and sort the characters according to their radicals. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Radical hunt: school hunt (Chinese) Radical hunt: school hunt (Chinese) TLF ID L471
Students explore four locations within a school. Using a camera tool, students engage in an online scavenger hunt for Chinese characters encountering unique vocabulary to match each location. The vocabulary selected highlights certain radicals that form the characters, enabling students to understand the relationship between parts of Chinese characters and their meanings. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Radical hunt: series description Radical hunt: series description
Read about the full series of 'Radical hunt' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stampede: balloon stampede (Chinese) Stampede: balloon stampede (Chinese) TLF ID L469
Students look at the structure of Chinese characters appearing on a series of balloons. They classify the structure of each character. Correct answers will pop the balloons. Students learn that a combination of characters is called a structure. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stampede: kite stampede (Chinese) Stampede: kite stampede (Chinese) TLF ID L707
Students look at the structure of Chinese characters appearing on a series of kites. They classify the structures of each character. Correct answers will release the kites. They learn the first six structures and build their knowledge of character components and structures by checking meanings and spoken examples. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stampede: sushi stampede (Chinese) Stampede: sushi stampede (Chinese) TLF ID L709
Students look at the structure of Chinese characters appearing on a sushi train. They break up each character into two sides and classify its structure, then continue to break up the character until there are only two components remaining. Correct answers will earn some sushi to eat. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Stampede: series description Stampede: series description
Read about the full series of 'Stampede' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Quiz show: wheel of discovery: level 1 (Chinese) Quiz show: wheel of discovery: level 1 (Chinese) TLF ID L610
Students make compound words from a range of sounds and meanings. They use the meanings of the individual characters to work out the meaning of each compound word. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Quiz show: wheel of discovery: level 2 (Chinese) Quiz show: wheel of discovery: level 2 (Chinese) TLF ID L1330
Students make compound words from a range of sounds and meanings. They use the meanings of the individual characters to work out the meaning of each compound word. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Quiz show: pick a box: (Chinese) Quiz show: pick a box: (Chinese) TLF ID L623
Students deduce the composition of compound words by relating the meanings of individual characters to the meaning of a compound word. Students explore the sound and meaning relationships between compound words that share the same key character. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Quiz show: series description Quiz show: series description
Read about the full series of 'Quiz show' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Amazing characters: level 1 (Chinese) Amazing characters: level 1 (Chinese) TLF ID L861
Students solve word puzzles related to matching pairs of Chinese characters to find a way through two mazes (a cave and a palace). © Curriculum Corporation |
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Amazing characters: level 2 (Chinese) Amazing characters: level 2 (Chinese) TLF ID L1043
Students solve word puzzles related to matching pairs of Chinese characters as they find a way through two mazes (a garden and a cave). © Curriculum Corporation |
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Dragon temple: level 1 (Chinese) Dragon temple: level 1 (Chinese) TLF ID L466
Students solve word puzzles to find their way through ancient temple grounds to a hidden treasure room. They identify components of Chinese characters and fit them together in the right order. They notice that characters are often formed from two or more basic characters. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Dragon temple: level 2 (Chinese) Dragon temple: level 2 (Chinese) TLF ID L1040
Students solve word puzzles to find their way through ancient temple grounds to a hidden treasure room. They identify components of Chinese characters and fit them together in the right order. They notice that characters are often formed from two or more basic characters. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Dragon temple: series description Dragon temple: series description
Read about the full series of 'Dragon temple' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Code breaker (Chinese) Code breaker (Chinese) TLF ID L1161
Students recognise well-formed and poorly formed characters according to stroke length, angle and proportion. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Code breaker: learning object description Code breaker: learning object description
Read the description of the 'Code breaker' learning object. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Font cubes: nine cubes (Chinese) Font cubes: nine cubes (Chinese) TLF ID L2761
Students solve word matching puzzles and notice that the same character may look slightly different in different fonts. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Font cubes: spinning cubes (Chinese) Font cubes: spinning cubes (Chinese) TLF ID L2762
Students select characters that match the character displayed. They choose from nine spinning cubes that feature three different fonts. The characters can be matched vertically, horizontally or diagonally. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Font cubes: message cubes (Chinese) Font cubes: message cubes (Chinese) TLF ID L2763
Students examine four characters that make up a phrase with a hidden meaning. To solve the puzzle, students match the characters in each column to the character that appears in the top row. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Font cubes: series description Font cubes: series description
Read about the full series of 'Font cubes' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Trailblazer: level 1 (Chinese) Trailblazer: level 1 (Chinese) TLF ID L2496
Students identify the correct meaning of Chinese compound words by following a trail through underground tunnels to discover hidden treasure and unlock a series of doors by solving compound word puzzles. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Trailblazer: level 2 (Chinese) Trailblazer: level 2 (Chinese) TLF ID L2497
Students identify the correct Chinese compound word from its English meaning by following a trail through underground tunnels to discover hidden treasure and unlock a series of doors by solving compound word puzzles. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Trailblazer: level 3 (Chinese) Trailblazer: level 3 (Chinese) TLF ID L2498
Students identify the missing character in a compound word after being given its meaning by following a trail through underground tunnels to discover hidden treasure and unlock a series of doors by solving compound word puzzles. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Trailblazer: series description Trailblazer: series description
Read about the full series of 'Trailblazer' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Gourmet order (Chinese) Gourmet order (Chinese) TLF ID L628
Students compare a handwritten note with a printed menu to place an order. Students need to observe carefully the differences between the handwritten and printed forms to select the correct items. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Matching characters (Chinese) Matching characters (Chinese) TLF ID L930
Students identify matching characters from sets of similar characters in a series of activities that use characters of increasing complexity. © Curriculum Corporation |
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Matching characters: series description Matching characters: series description
Read about the full series of 'Matching characters' learning objects. © Curriculum Corporation |
View Details 
View Content (1 resource)Ideas in action
Ideas in action
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Teacher reflection Teacher reflections
Read Philip Wilson's reflections on his experience teaching Chinese characters to his class. These reflections were taken from the report titled 'An investigation into the take-up and use of TLF digital content for Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian: Projects 1 and 2' published by The Le@rning Federation 2007. © Curriculum Corporation |
