What do you do when it’s Chinese New Year and you have five exchange students visiting from a school in Beijing? Mrs. Armor’s 10th grade literature classes decided to throw a Chinese New Year celebration.

The idea to throw a Chinese New Years party came up when students begin reading the novel, the Good Earth, which was set in China.  Along with their work reading the novel, the Chinese students shared their memories and recipes from the previous Chinese New Year with the class to give them an idea of what the celebration is like.

Chinese New Year’s customs include making moon cakes, which are cakes filled with a variety of ingredients from savory to sweet, putting red-colored decorations to represent happiness and good fortune, and gathering with friends and family over feasts (specifically dumplings).

Since it’s quite hard to replicate authentic Chinese feasts, Mrs. Armor’s students decided to each bring in an Americanized version of Chinese food from tea and dumplings to fried chicken and ice cream.

“Having a Chinese New Year’s party seemed to fit perfectly with the curriculum we had been learning. With the Chinese students being here, it seemed like a great opportunity to learn from their traditions. Plus, it is a great excuse to explore Chinese cuisine, ” says Mrs. Armor.

Did you miss the celebration? Well, this year is the year of the horse, one of twelve animals that appear in new years in a rotating cycle. Each animal in the rotation has a particular set of characteristics. Why not explore your animal sign and see if this ancient Chinese type of horoscoping describes you?

Have fun. We’ll miss our Chinese students who rode in on the snake and out on the horse. Happy New Year, ODA.