Sixth graders celebrated the Lunar New Year with a tasty treat at Berner Middle School. On Jan. 23, students from Dani Shehada’s family and consumer sciences classes came together with their peers from Yunting Tseng-Montana’s Mandarin Chinese classes to make dumplings.
Students worked together in small groups to make the delicacy. They mixed chopped meat, corn and soy sauce, which was then sealed in dumpling skins and boiled in hot water. Ms. Shehada began with a demonstration before the young chefs got to work.
The cooking activity fostered teamwork and time management, Ms. Shehada explained, as the goal was to finish their dumplings before the end of the period so they could eat together.
“A lot of fun was had by all the students who participated in making dumplings,” Ms. Shehada said. “They couldn't believe how quick and easy it was.”
As part of the lesson, Ms. Tseng-Montana taught students about the history and traditions of Lunar New Year. On a different day, students from the two classes took part in a video conference in the library with the Smithsonian Museum about the Chinese zodiac. They learned that this is the year of the snake.