Happy at School

By staff reporter ZHOU LIN

Academic Foundation and Aptitude

The goal of Beijing Primary School is to build academic foundations， respect student individuality and provide the kind of customized education that enables each student to enjoy the learning process.

Chen Xinhua teaches math to fourth graders. She has designed a detailed class plan for lessons on how to calculate areas of plane figures. The first step is to draw a rectangle， a trapezoid and a triangle， each with an area of 12 square centimeters. Miss Chen then asks students that have completed the task to draw a right-angled trapezoid correctly on the blackboard. An atmosphere of scholarly concentration pervades the class as the students work on their as- signment. Miss Chen distributes tips she has written on slips of colorful paper to students who are stuck.“The questions on these paper slips are designed to guide students in solving each problem and working out the answer，” Miss Chen said. “The objective of primary math education is to make sure students can understand and solve problems independently. But as they have different aptitudes， we make higher demands of those that have a good grasp of the subject and help slower learners without adding to their study burden.”

Primary school students capacity to develop selfconfidence hinges on teachers evaluation of their ability to overcome obstacles. The tips Miss Chen gives to pupils help them solve problems and thus instill in them a sense of achievement.

“I so enjoyed that class on the moving of decimal points！” Class 2 fourth grader Ma Chengming said.“Mrs Yu read out to us the math diary of Liang Liang， who has a 0.8 m ruler， and his younger brother has a 0.08 m pencil. The length of their living room is 8 m and he takes his little brother to see an 80 m high multi-storied building.” Ma Chengming became even more animated as he told us， “Mrs Yu has a special tool to show us how the decimal point works – a sliding scale made of cardboard. When she moves the nonius to the right， the decimal point moves with it， and the number increases tenfold； when she moves it to the left， the number then decreases tenfold.”

Yu Ping is a senior math teacher at Beijing Primary School， and also its director of teaching.“Our teaching is in line with national curriculum standards， math teaching targets and the needs of students. Our dual task is to attain teaching goals and also lighten the burden of learning on students. These are not contradictory targets， because as long as we improve the efficiency and quality of teaching we can guarantee students a certain amount of spare time and so ease their burden.”

Understanding and Imagination

Last Years Tree， a fairy tale in the fourth grade Chinese textbook， tells the story of a bird and a tree. The bird sings to the tree every day and they become good friends. When winter comes， the bird prepares to migrate to a warmer place， but promises to sing again for the tree the following year. But the next spring when it returns， the tree is nowhere to be found. The bird eventually discovers that its tree friend has been chopped down and made into matchsticks. Heartbroken， the bird sings its song to a burning lantern lit with a match.

“I asked the students to play different roles and read the text out loud to experience and express the birds emotions，” Xu Yi said. “Mrs Xu asked us to recall how it felt when a good friend left us. So I think the little bird must be very， very sad，” He Chang， one of her students， said. Helping students relate their life experience to their lessons inspires and encourages them to think. The students held lively discussions and even tried to write lyrics for the birds song. The exercise thus heightened their interest in learning， fired their imagination and improved their writing skills.

“I sang the song I had written and imagined the happy scene when the bird was singing to the tree. But thinking about how the two would never meet again made us all feel sad. Some of us even burst into tears，” He Chang said.

“But our teacher then asked us to write a sequel to the story. I wrote that a new tree was planted in the same place， and so the bird could sing to its new friend. I love happy endings，” Ma Chengming said.

Thanks to Mrs Xus thoughtful planning， this class exercises the skills of reading， writing and compre-hension and also fires the imagination. “Students have the chance to experience the charm of literature through this simple fairy tale. They also learn the importance of inter-personal communication and environmental protection，” Xu Yi said.

Creativity and Practice

Beijing Primary School is a pilot institution for basic education curriculum reform. After every two months of conventional courses it holds a week of activity classes. As Beijing has four distinct seasons， these activities are arranged accordingly： sports and physical exercise in spring， reading and practical activities in summer， science and creativity in autumn and folklore in winter. This system combines students growth， observation of natures changes， and social development. It also allows students plenty of time for study， practice， exploration and research.

Beijing Primary School math teacher Yu Ping told us that the activity class is designed to nurture creativity and practical skills in students. “Sound development of individuality has always been a central task. While acquiring scientific knowledge， students can also share the joy of growth and cultivate social skills.” The sports and exercise week in spring includes farm work， recreational sports， competitive sports and professional sports. A photo album has been compiled to record every step of studentsprogress.

For their foray into farm work， the teacher organized fundamental classes on crops and practical work for urban children that would enable them to experience the hard labor that farm work entails. That morning， they learned the 24 solar terms applicable to Chinese agriculture and how to distinguish different cereal crops.

In the afternoon， students were tasked with distinguishing different plant seeds and shelling peanuts.“They really enjoyed the peanut shelling contest. It also helped them understand the hardships of farming and the importance of a healthy diet， as well as of not wasting grain. This is our way of promoting the Clear Your Plate Campaign （a nationwide foodsaving campaign），” Xu Yi said.

As traditional culture has always been cherished at this institute of learning， Ma Aiqun， vice chairman of Beijing Kite Flying Association， was invited the following day to give a talk on the history of kite culture and the development of the aerospace industry.

The ultimate goal of all these activities is to promote students all-round development and comprehensive capabilities. “We prepared all materials needed to make kites and asked students to do the necessary calculations， designing， drawing and cutting. They have since made their own kites and have great fun flying them in the square，” Xu Yi said.

On the third day， pupils took part in competitive sports. Ma Chengming was doubly thrilled at having won the 100-meter race and at receiving a replicate medal of those in gold and jade awarded at the Beijing Olympics.

The school has set up a parents committee to promote students education. Parents also took part in several events at their childrens sports meet. “Kitemaking helps students develop their practical abilities and gives them access to art， while competitive sports enhance their understanding of cooperation. All contribute to students comprehensive development，” Xu Yi said.

Activities on the fourth day were more specialized. Students were divided into five groups， their task， with the help of wireless direction-finding equipment， to locate six audio codes for different places which， combined， spell out the sentence “I love Beijing Primary School.” During the afternoon crosscountry orientation exercise， the task of each student， equipped with map and compass， was to pinpoint his or her target object. “This was not easy， as you have to know the directions precisely，” said Ma Chengming. “We will learn locations and directions at math class next week， so this activity is a warm-up.” Xu Yi explained that these activities are designed to inspire students intellectual curiosity， creative thinking and problem-solving abilities， so promoting their comprehensive competence.

For teachers， these brand-new activities also call for both creativity and practical know-how. As Xu Yi explained， “In the past， we had a fixed teaching plan， evaluation system and teaching objectives. But now we think about and debate on what and how to teach， and our reasons. This is an exciting experiment that constantly inspires us and also helps us to grow as teachers.”