Journey to China - A Mandarin Adventure

Introduction

This is a Webquest designed for 3rd grade, beginner Mandarin students

Task

Students will travel to China (virtually) through a series of online tasks to learn basic Mandarin greetings, numbers, and cultural traditions. By the end of the quest, they will create a virtual postcard from their trip, incorporating Mandarin language, to share what they have learned.

Process

Step 1 - Get Your Passport Ready!

  • Watch: 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzSH2AaNP2s
  • Practice common greetings like "Hello” (你好 – Nǐ hǎo), “My name is…” (我是 – Wǒ shi…), and "It's nice to meet you" (很高兴认识你 - Hen gaoxing renshi ni)

Step 2 - Learn Your Numbers

Step 3 - Explore Chinese Culture

Step 4 - Become a Travel Blogger

  • Use Google Slides to make a postcard
  • Include:
    • 1 photo of a Chinese landmark or festival
    • At least 5 Mandarin words you have learned
    • Share 3 cultural facts
    • Make your greeting in Mandarin

Share 5 - Share Your Adventure

  • Present your postcard to the class, making your introduction in Mandarin
Evaluation

Criteria                           4 - Excellent                 3 - Good                    2 - Needs Work            1 - Incomplete

Mandarin Use                5+ words used              5+ words used           Less than 5 words        No Mandarin words

                                        correctly                        with some errors        or many errors              used

Cultural Knowledge    3+ accurate                    2 cultural facts            1 cultural fact                No cultural facts

                                       cultural facts

Creativity                      Highly engaging             Attractive but              Minimal design               Very plain/incomplete

                                       & colorful postcard        missing elements       effort

Presentation                Confident speaking        Clear speaking but     Quiet or unclear             No presentation

                                      & clear Mandarin            some hesitation

Credits

Chisholm, I. M., & Wetzel, K. (2001). Technology and multiculturalism in the classroom: Case studies in attitudes and motivations. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(5), 1-33. 

Count to 10 in Chinese. (n.d.). GenkiEnglish. Retrieved August 8, 2025, from https://genkienglish.net/learnchinese/learnchinesenumbers.shtml 

Little Chinese Learners. (2020, January 21). Chinese for Kids - Greetings 你好 | Mandarin Lesson A1 | Little Chinese Learners [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzSH2AaNP2s 

National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). 30 Cool Facts About China. https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/geography/countries/30-cool-fact…;

Teacher Page

When integrating technology into the classroom, it is important for teachers to ensure that both their material and implementation is culturally aware. This assignment fulfills this directive in several ways. Firstly, it addresses varied learning preferences, incorporating video teaching, game playing, speaking and listening strengthening, and synthesizes it all with a final postcard project (Chisholm, 2001, p. 3). Secondly, it inherently addresses the concern of native languages of different students by introducing a foreign language to which very few American students have been exposed (Chisholm, 2001, p. 3). Thirdly, it addresses the need for culturally relevant learning activities by requiring students to learn facts related to Chinese culture (Chisholm, 2001, p. 3). Finally, this project utilizes varied modes of delivery and assessment by evaluating not only students’ memorization of Mandarin greetings, but also the internalizing cultural facts, creativity, and speaking confidence (Chisholm, 2001, p. 3).