Hear the poetry. Discover the beauty of Chinese.A Childhood Moon (excerpt)
One round moon, so many things to imagine.
Choose one activity and enjoy a little time together.
Listen together. Share a word, a movement and a little time.
Listen to the sounds of poetry
Listen with music, then practise with voice-only audio and pauses for your turn.
Having trouble playing? Open audio ↗
Listen to the recording and follow the pinyin.
A note for grown-ups
As a child, the poet did not know what the moon was. He called it a white jade plate, or imagined a heavenly mirror flying among the clouds. This activity uses only the first four lines of the original poem.
Read together, one turn at a time
Say the first syllable of a line, then let your child continue.
Where are the hidden lines? Let’s find them.
Start with two syllables as a clue, then try just one. Swap roles when you are ready.
Words for grown-ups
Play the Mandarin recording, then use these prompts together.
New to Chinese? Listen, point and move together.
Play your way through three days
Listen, read and play. Follow your child’s curiosity.
Moon transformations
Choose a phrase and match its object.
What does the round moon remind you of?
Try it together.
Find 白 (bái, white). Say: “____ looks like ____.”
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Bring the poem to paper.
Choose a page to read, draw or write together.
The print pack contains pages 4, 9 and 10 from the workbook: the poem, a game and an extension activity.
These are the current Chinese-led worksheets with English support. The fully English guide is on this webpage; an English-localised PDF edition is still in preparation.
POETRY BUDS
Let’s keep in touch
Questions about reading together, a correction to share, or an idea for working together? We’d love to hear from you.
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