Is this your first Mid-Autumn Festival as an Online ESL Teacher? Today Teacher Alexis is going to share some great ideas for your classroom and also for celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival in your own home
Let’s Meet Alexis
Hi, I’m Alexis from @tinyroamers, momma of two-under-two, and sometimes world traveler! I’m not sure where to say I’m from at this point, but I was born in the U.S. and have been living abroad since 2012. My current location is? Singapore! I have been teaching online for a year now.
After not being able to work for nearly two years due to back-to-back pregnancies, I came across online teaching a year ago, which worked perfectly at six months pregnant with baby number two. It’s come to be the missing piece of my Alexis puzzle in regards to something that gives me the sense of accomplishment of being able to bring in my own income, but also fits well into our lives of tiny people and moving around the world.
How Did You Learn About Mid-Autumn Festival?
Research, research, research! Singapore is a diverse place that celebrates Chinese, Maley, Indian, and Western holidays and festivals so there was a lot to be found out around the city-state itself in addition to web research. I made sure to read and cross-reference as much as possible, as with time and translations, the stories and legends tend to be told many different ways.
Do You Have Any Tips For Teachers Who Want To Learn About Mid-Autumn Festival?
My Mid-Autumn Festival-Color & Learn, worksheets are a great start!
In addition to my printables, look up “Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival” as it will bring up more Chinese websites which will have closer translations to the original stories. If you have the time, there are so many books on Amazon available about Chinese festivals that are as low as $2!
How Will You Be Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival In Your Online ESL Classroom?
Mooncake madness! Mooncakes are only made and eaten around the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was so surprised to find out how expensive mooncakes are (the average price here for four is around $76!), so I’ve used real mooncakes to create a reward system for myself and my fellow teachers to use in our online classrooms. I also want to say since I have access to a lot of seasonal decorative items made especially for the festival, here in Singapore, I’ll be adding Festival elements to my classroom also. But the hardest part really is deciding what to buy and not going overboard!
How Will You Change How You Celebrate With Upper-Level and Lower-Level Students?
I think food, especially realia, is one of those reward items that transitions easily on its own between lower and upper-level students which will be the advantage of using “real” mooncakes. Lower-level and younger children love to pretend to “eat” whatever you give them, so just for fun I may use a teddy bear and feed him the mooncakes. If I have an upper-level student who is not impressed or doesn’t like mooncakes, I’ll use a Mid-Autumn themed mad libs activity with them.
Teacher Janice here: Students love collecting mooncakes and I love the idea of feeding them to a classroom sidekick. I also will be using a Build-A-Scene reward system with my students to encourage my Upper-Level students to share about their celebration plans.
How Will You Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival At Home With YOUR Family?
My babies have begun the celebration by eating the mooncakes I purchased to make my reward system. Singapore is 76% ethnically Chinese, so this year we’ll have an amazing opportunity to experience the Mid-Autumn Festival first hand. Even though it’s nearly a month away, mooncakes are already popping up from small bakeries to Starbucks! Two places we will definitely be venturing off to, to fully soak in the experience, will be Chinatown, where they will have a lantern parade, and the famous Gardens by the Bay (If you’ve seen Crazy Rich Asians you would remember this as the place with the amazing, super trees). Make sure to follow @tinyroamers on Instagram so you can experience the celebrations with us!
Connect With Alexis
- Follow Alexis on Instagram to follow the adventures of her family celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival while living in Asia
- Shop by her Teachers Pay Teachers store to get some resources to use in your online classroom
- Visit her Etsy store to see the shirt I’m wearing in this YouTube video and many more online ESL teacher goodies
Originally for the U.S., I have lived abroad in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and now Singapore, for the past seven years. Along with teaching online, being the momma of two-under-two, I also do commission portraits and sometimes think of a creative thing or two for my Teachers Pay Teachers and Etsy shops!
