Photo courtesy of Cuiwei Primary School.
During the winter vacation, the children of Grade 11 of Cuiwei Primary School started a meaningful journey of "Dragon Culture Handmade Products Charity Sale" in the Yiyuanju Community Room. Everyone cleverly transformed the learning and research results of the winter vacation "Exploring the Source of the Dragon, Finding the Traces of the Dragon, and Being the Successor of the Dragon" project into exquisite "dragon literary works". The children on the stage were full of energy to display their elaborate handicrafts, shining dragon-shaped bookmarks, cute clay dragons, exquisite dragon jewelry boxes, and exquisitely designed "Dragon Blessing Auspicious Year" acrylic rulers, which combined the auspicious dragon red sun pattern with Liang Qichao's "Juvenile China Talk", implying the blessing and auspiciousness of the dragon family, and inspiring the teenagers to have great ambitions and climb the peak.
The reporter learned that the fifth-grade Chinese project course of "Exploring the Source of the Dragon, Finding the Traces of the Dragon, and Being the Successor of the Dragon" is a part of the "Literacy-oriented High-quality Teaching and Haidian District Project Learning Course Seminar" sponsored by the International Education Research Center of the Haidian District Academy of Education and Sciences. Under the leadership of Wang Chunmei, a teacher from Cuiwei Primary School, the students focused on the core question "Why do Chinese claim to be the descendants of dragons", and exchanged research results from the aspects of dragon origin, dragon evolution, and dragon culture, vividly and three-dimensionally presenting the extension and connotation of dragon culture. Students cultivate cultural heritage in participation and exercise practical ability in the first class, which not only shows China's excellent traditional culture and Haidian high-quality education concept on the international platform, but also strengthens students' pride and sense of belonging to the "dragon" culture.
Teacher Wang Chunmei led the fifth-grade students for more than two months, making full use of the rich cultural resources of the capital, taking the group as a unit, dividing labor and cooperation, consulting materials, quoting scriptures, and visiting the field to improve dragon culture. Through the teacher's assignment, group report and sharing, combined with the background of the times, in accordance with the historical process, through the creation of the external image of the dragon for in-depth thinking, so that the children can truly understand the "dragon" context. During the event, the students walked into the Forbidden City many times, taking the 13,844 dragons of the Taihe Hall as the main research object, discovering the profound spiritual connotation behind the dragon image and exploring the far-reaching significance of the dragon image created by the ancients.
Dozens of works on display, each of which is the crystallization of the children's painstaking efforts, they use their immature little hands to outline the admiration and inheritance of dragon culture. The "Dragon Works" Fuzi rubbing perfectly integrates tradition and modernity, showing the inheritance and innovation of culture; The intangible cultural heritage bamboo weaving and painting shows the profound charm of the dragon totem, and the tradition and creativity are intertwined, which is poetic and picturesque; The exquisite cloisonné enamel bookmark with the Year of the Dragon pattern shows the profound heritage of dragon culture; Glowing hand-held lanterns illuminate the surroundings, and dragon totems shine brightly in them, making them eye-catching.
The atmosphere at the event was warm and welcoming, and the residents were attracted by the children's works, stopped to admire and donated generously. One community resident exclaimed, "These children are really descendants of dragons, not only skilled but also have a heart of gold." The students also said that they gained a lot from this activity, not only exercising their hands-on skills and communication skills, but also experiencing the joy and meaning of helping others. They will keep in mind the teacher's entrustment and expectations, continue to study and create hard, and let this love and responsibility grow with them and become their most valuable wealth on the road of life. (Reporter Liu Chang).