Conduct inquiry-based learning

Mentor teacher Debby Page (2016-2018) and exchange teacher Li Chunping (2017-2018) organized a unit (using the Franklin Institute's Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor K-12 Educators' Guide) focused on the story and science behind the terracotta warriors, exploring Chinese culture, history and language with their students. Working with library media specialists at their school, Ms. Page and Ms. Li Chunping guided students in a virtual field trip to the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi’an, China.

Adel Ghattas (2017-18) received a CLP grant to conduct a project designed to introduce his students to the history of the Middle East through a rich artistic context, engaging them with the language and culture in a fun way. Mr. Ghattas worked with the global history teacher at his school to prepare and present on the Arab-Israeli conflict. After students had learned about the historical and cultural background, they watched the movie The Band's Visit and participated in classroom activities that explored the movie's characters and themes.

Ivy Yiu, mentor teacher at North Warren Regional, was awarded a CLP grant to take students enrolled in Chinese classes, as well as students in the Chinese club, on a field trip to Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Students who participated in the field trip then collaborated with Mrs. Yiu and the 2017-2018 exchange teacher Zhang Wenjie to plan a week-long Discover China! event held at the school in order to raise awareness and enthusiasm about Chinese language and culture and the North Warren Chinese program.

Xia Zhi, former TCLP Teacher, was awarded a CLP grant to support an immersive exploration of Chinese history and language with his students. Xia Zhi decided to set up this project with his students to focus on the name “China” and delve into the origin of this and other Chinese words. The students did research, interviewed experts, and proved the result of the research. Xia Zhi and his students used the research to develop a book for the school's library. Students learned how to conduct research, assess the outcome of the research, cooperate, and communicate with other people.

TCLP Arabic teacher Mohamed Mahmoud at Shawnee Mission West High School in Shawnee Mission, KS designed project which aimed at increasing the knowledge base of current Arabic I students while also exposing a large population of middle and high school students to Arabic language. His students created a long-lasting Arabic language instructional booklet in a magazine format and an instructional Arabic video. Both the magazine and the Arabic video were distributed to all Shawnee Mission elementary, middle, and high schools where up to 28,000 students may view these materials.

Exchange teacher Wei Wei received a CLP grant to implement the Joy of Eight Project at her U.S. host school, Roton Middle School. The project encompassed various activities with the overall goal of motivating middle school students enrolled in Mandarin classes to continue to study the language after they enter high school.