With the educational philosophy of "holistic education and character education", YWIES Shanghai Lingang is committed to enabling students to truly experience the international educational atmosphere without going abroad, receiving high-quality bilingual education in Chinese and English, and cultivating their understanding and respect for different cultures, thus becoming adept in Chinese cultural heritage and international vision. Yew Wah attaches great importance to the systematisation of Chinese learning. Teachers will develop students' Chinese knowledge step by step, train students' Chinese listening, speaking, reading and writing ability, and nurture students' Chinese ability through a variety of Chinese activities. While taking into account the language development, Yew Wah also focuses on the cultivation of students' literature attainment.

E-Learning "Extra-curricular Reading and Appreciation" – O. Henry Short Story Appreciation

"To read a good book is to talk with the most outstanding people of the past and to connect with the good ideas that they spread." (Descartes) YWIES Shanghai Lingang carefully arranged a lot of reading and creative activities so that children can use their valuable time to think deeply. This kind of open space in education enables the children to have more motivation and creativity. During this period, the Sixth Grade children started this activity of "extra-curricular reading and appreciation" to share their novel and unique insights. In less than two months, from the Taiwan Chinese cartoonist Jimmy's picture book, to Lao She's Rickshaw Boy, to the American writer O. Henry's collection of short stories, the children have finished reading more than three extra-curricular books. The students created various posters around the theme of "most" from the O. Henry’s novels: the most bizarre suicide, the most inexplicable mystery, the humblest artist, the most hypocritical liar, the worst prisoners, the most beautiful leading character, the truest lover, the most precious friendship, and a collection of the most humorous statements.

Ruby Qiu:
What touched me most in O. Henry's novels is "the truest lover" – The Gift of the Magi. The whole story details how the wife Della sells her hair to buy her husband a silver watch chain, and the husband sells his watch to buy a comb for Della. No one can use the gift, but they feel happy. In this novel, I feel the surprise that this coincidence brings to the readers and the characters in the book. Della and her husband gave up their most important things for each other, which made me feel that love is priceless and no gift is more beautiful than love. As the text says, "of all those who give and receive gifts, people like them are the wisest. They are the smartest people. They are Magi." They gave their true love to each other, and I was so moved that I put this paragraph in the poster with pictures and words. Della and Jim are the most sincere lovers. I hope that when spring comes, Della's long hair will flow again in the spring breeze, and her husband will put a wreath on her. What the teacher arranged for us is not only some Chinese homework, but he also let us feel the charm of O. Henry's novels and the real feelings in the world in the O. Henry style.

Emily Zhang:
I just joined the big Yew Wah family during this epidemic period. When Ms Zhen assigned this piece of homework, I thought it would be a little difficult, but when I got down to finish the book, I came up with a good idea. I used the colour and structure of a lollipop in this poster. It took me 20 minutes to complete the general framework, but it took nearly seven hours to fill up the specific content. I selected articles in the book, and I had to nearly reread the entire book again to fill in what I think is the most impressive O. Henry pieces. Finally, I added illustrations and colour. When I finished this assignment, I felt a sense of accomplishment. It was not only an extra-curricular reading assignment, but also a challenge. To do a good job, I must be earnest, hardworking and willing to sacrifice.

Cissy Yu:
The purpose of this assignment is to give us an insight into O. Henry's writing style and the meaning of the "tearful smile" through the theme "most". To do a good job, first of all, I read through the whole O. Henry Collection and selected the most representative article with the “most” theme. After extracting the main idea of the article, the part that can catch the reader's eye and attract the reader's interest, then I had to make my own appreciation and interpretation. Next, I summarised the main idea of the article. Finally, I wrote the “most” examples from the stories of O. Henry. Through this assignment, I improved my reading methods, such as adding "bullet screens" to the article while reading, as well as noticing literary devices.

E-Learning Studio – Family Reading Activities
Linda Cai:

For this assignment, my brother and I read a picture book named I’m not the Perfect Child. This book looks at the world from the perspective of Hao Wan Mei (meaning a perfect child), and tells a story about our growth. Growth, in fact, is a kind of anxiety training. We live in the expectations and fantasies of others, adjusting ourselves to the example of "perfect". In I'm not the Perfect Child, Jimmy used mirror projection to let us see each child in front of the mirror, and the pressure to be perfect. It seems that we also see ourselves as we once were, a double layer of overlapping consciousness condensed into a small frame, reflecting infinite confusion and innocence. We see ourselves in a smile, with all the stumbling toward a perfect fantasy. This picture book is for all the adults who have fallen into the trap of perfection, and all the children who are still living in the happy world. May they learn to be good to themselves if they are not happy, and may they keep their pure heart if they are happy.

Johnson Jin:

This reading assignment is an extension of the fifth lesson of Grade 7 Ode to the Yellow River, in which we recited poems and articles to have a deep understanding of all kinds of stories and feelings. The story I read is about the protagonist Roger, who suffered from a series of troubles with his wife after they were newly married, which led to his disastrous reputation. He was regarded as a pervert and lost his job of nearly half his life. Finally, he chose a kind of quiet and dignified suicide – gas suicide. If you want to read this passage well, you must understand the psychology of the protagonist and bring yourself into the plot. In this story, Roger's feeling is shame, fear and helplessness, because his personality has been seriously misunderstood, and his whole life is also shattered. The experience of reading a story aloud is totally different from that of just reading. Reading a story aloud can make us understand the characters, their state, the environment and the main idea more clearly, so as to lead to thinking and learning.

Justin Liu:

When I was in the Third Grade of Primary school, I was lucky enough to have access to the book The Old Man and the Sea, and I was deeply impressed by the book, which was colorful in rhetoric, simple in language, fresh in writing and rich in emotion. In this audio reading activity, I read the book again, and I found that the old man in my mind was no longer the old man in shabby clothes who was overwhelmed by various failures. I learnt from his words, his actions, and his spirit that there was one thing that enabled him to overcome all the difficulties. That is hope: despite 84 days without catching fish and that he was dragged by a fish for three days. What is hope? Hope is an oasis in a desert. What is hope? Hope is an island in the sea; hope is the sword that can cut off all bad luck; hope is the power that pushes people forwards. As the old man says: think happy thoughts, old man. From this book, I learnt that failure is actually a kind of experience, and we can learn lessons from experience.

The Showing of Inspiration and Talent during E-Learning – Novel Creation Activity

Writing is the expression of thoughts and emotions, but also the bridge of communication and the extension of language. In this special period, in order to stimulate students' desire to express themselves, and also to set up a stage to display their inspiration and talent, based on the opportunity of e-learning, Chinese teachers initiated a writing activity in the Eighth Grade, the creation of a novel in TEAMS of the class. In the process of writing, each student's performance is far beyond our expectations., Students' ideas were stimulated, and the literature talent hidden in them at ordinary times was released. Everyone tasted the joy of writing novels, and collective wisdom shone on the mind of the stage, in the fancy ideas and the beating words. The achievements were certainly bountiful. Four classes in Grade Eight completed their own novels as scheduled. These four works, from the theme to the structure, from the language to the technique, all have their own thinking and own unique style.

Grade 8A Student Original Work – Key
The Society Union Building is at the centre of the artificial world, and the porcelain reflects the artificial sun's ray of lights, shining on the mediocre residential buildings. As he walks in, the lobby is filled with people in hurry, and the robot at the front desk steps forward to greet him. "Welcome to the Society Union. How can I help you?" The cold voice is polite. "I want to take the test." Lu Yin expresses his thoughts succinctly. "Follow me, please." The barrel-shaped robot leads him to an elevator and helps him press the button. The elevator goes up at such a high speed that his ear drums seems about to burst. Even at that high speed, he feels as if he has been here for a century. Through the glass you can see people doing the same old work and the same old 1930s bungalows below. "Ding" the elevator stops. As Lu Yin walks out, a crowd of similar newly arrived people gathers. The crowded room smells of dirt, the seats smell of smoke, and several people who seem to be as well-educated as he is huddle in a corner, trying to avoid contact with the "bottom" people. A foreign man in a tattered military uniform sits on the only reasonably clean stool, his feet surrounded by freshly spit gum and extinguished cigarette butts.

Grade 8B Student Original Work – Swordsman Eminem
"I received the news of her death on that day." Eminem wipes his tears and looks at his mother's face, close at hand but far away.
"The base is locked down! It... It got away!" Then the cyclops’ eye stares viciously at each human being in the window who takes her child and seals him/her under the ice.
"Bang!" The giant slaps the top of the lab, the ice busts, and chunks of ice hit the lab headquarters like missiles, while Eminem's mother is trying to call Eminem up until her death. The giant steps on the energy storeroom, ending the disaster.
Eminem's tears are frozen into snowflakes. This creature in front of him is the murderer who has killed his mom, but a voice in his heart tells him that there’s someone else. Eminem follows the good in his heart and opens the chain with magic. Then a sign catches his eye. The chain is enchanted, so that the giant cannot move, and the chain falls heavily to the ground. The giant comes to life....

Grade 8C Student Original Work – Silence
Darnay's heart beats with the piano keys, and his voice is still in her ear, as clear and pleasant as the piano music. He is the only colour in the monotony of the artificial world. The longing for him turns into a small man, breaking the proud mountain piece by piece. He is higher than the great Lord, and Napoleon would have bowed before him! He is independent and free, and the material he possesses can make the world fall for it! One note is one word, one tone is one sentence! He's a major, he's a minor, he's a chord, and he's my melody. He is the beat, the pause, the discordant note, the perfect harmony. He is the intensity of the music, the dance, the rhapsody! He is who he is…he is the music! The joy of love crushes the infatuated one into the piano, the finger tips flies between black and white, the passion of the heart twists and twists the landscape, and a smile wells up in her throat and bursts on her face.

Grade 8D Student Original Work – Phoenix Galaxy
The light of phoenix shines on the planet of Ceres, and the green sky brings the whole planet to life. In the most beautiful place of this galaxy live the most simple, righteous, and beautiful people.
"Take me to the time of Gauss, brother Lowe!"
"Vini, What can I do with you. Does mother agree?"
“Of course!”
"All right. All right."
Baclor looks at his dressed up sister, the dress her favourite light pink, while her light blue eyes reveal a charming temperament and her petite body showing off her pink hair. Kadavini is Baclor’s adopted sister. Her father died on the battlefield while she was still in her mother's womb, and her mother died in childbirth. The Baclor family, who had always been friends with her family, adopted the baby, and they love her.

Many students are still longing for more after finishing the paper. Some even ask if there will be another round and if they can have the chance to write again. Through this activity of collective novel creation, the students' writing confidence was greatly improved. They were surprised to find that they could write so well and writing was such a fun thing!

High quality learning activities beyond the textbook let the children love reading, thinking and creation. This is the meaning of the Chinese language activities – in black and white silent paper articles, every word is the spirit of the author, and good articles can guide students to learn to appreciate the depth of the author's thoughts. They can stimulate students' enthusiasm for creation, which will bring unexpected achievements naturally. Students will have a more profound literary background and creative ability, and can grow into a more comprehensive talent as our school motto says: align with culture and art!