Mandarin Chinese teacher Hua Zhang has spent her career improving the literacy of her Chinese language students, and her latest project has been so successful that it’s gained the attention of the National Chinese Exhibition. What originally started in February 2022 as a digital art gallery has now transformed into a student-created digital library.
Ms. Zhang is the chair of Chinese Language Department at Saint Andrew’s School. It is a private Pre-K-12 day and boarding school in Boca Raton, Florida. The library lives on the school’s website and showcases the students’ Chinese language skills at each grade level. Media productions from student-created animation clips to storyboards, e-books and even videos live on the website—all written and spoken in Chinese.
“I started the digital library to strengthen the four language skills of our students as well as to develop their transferrable skills in research and creativity. Developing literacy skills in Chinese is a key part of learning the language. The digital library not only captures students’ language learning journey, but also demonstrate their critical and creative thinking skills through e-book making, film productions etc.,” says Ms. Zhang.
The library is a demonstration of the transferable skills the students have acquired through the process of creating content for the library. Students have written e-books as part of theme-based projects about everyday topics like family, school, and even climate change. The library highlights the students’ language learning journeys and provides a platform to promote peer learning.
LingoAce was first introduced to Ms. Zhang through its classroom grants program, which awards grants to Chinese teachers for innovative classroom initiatives. After winning a grant, she used the funds to officially launch the digital library at her school and further promote the work of their students to the entire school community, who can view their journeys on the school’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Ms. Zhang has big plans for the next phase of her digital library project. The LingoAce Classrooms Grant will be used to support the expansion of the digital library into other types of content. Students will be able to create digital magazines, video books, and artwork within digital galleries. By expanding the type of media that can be featured, she hopes that students are better able to express themselves and communicate their ideas authentically in Chinese.
Click here to learn more about Saint Andrew’s Digital Library.
National Chinese Exhibition is sponsored by the American Academy of International Culture and Education (AAICE), which aims to provide teachers and students with a global learning platform that serves as a bridge between Chinese and American cultures and educational systems.
