Start with a shared theme and a different communicative demand
A class can explore the same theme—food, family, school, travel, or health—at several proficiency levels. What changes is the work students do with Chinese. Beginning learners recognize and exchange practiced information. More developed learners create with familiar language, connect ideas, and handle follow-up questions.
This is why one fixed dialogue cannot serve every level. Replacing a few nouns while keeping the same sentence pattern, length, and task produces different content but not meaningful differentiation.
从共同主题出发，改变交际要求
饮食、家庭、学校、旅行或健康等主题，可以在多个程度中使用。真正需要变化的是学生用中文完成的任务。入门学习者识别并交换练习过的信息；程度提高后，学生要能用熟悉语言自主组织表达、连接想法并回应追问。
因此，一段固定对话不能适用于所有程度。只替换少量名词，却保留相同句型、长度和任务，改变的是内容表面，而不是能力分层。
Use five levers when adjusting a lesson
- Language function: identify, ask, describe, compare, narrate, explain, or support an opinion.
- Text type: words and chunks, simple sentences, a series of sentences, or connected discourse.
- Context: a highly practiced exchange, a familiar situation with variation, or a broader real-world problem.
- Support: images, gestures, word banks, sentence frames, planning time, or follow-up prompts.
- Independence: imitation, supported creation, spontaneous interaction, or transfer to a new situation.
调整课程时使用五个杠杆
- 语言功能：识别、询问、描述、比较、叙述、解释或支持观点。
- 文本类型：词与短语、简单句、句群，或连贯篇章。
- 情境：高度练习过的交流、带有变化的熟悉情境，或更广泛的真实问题。
- 教学支架：图片、手势、词语表、句型、准备时间或追问提示。
- 独立程度：模仿、有支架创造、即兴互动，或迁移到新情境。
Example: the same food and health theme at three levels
At Novice Low, students identify familiar foods, make a simple choice, and use memorized chunks such as“我要水”or“我喜欢苹果.” The input should be brief, visual, repetitive, and immediately usable.
At Novice High, students use several simple sentences to describe a meal, ask and answer familiar questions, and give a basic reason: “我午饭吃面和青菜。我觉得比较健康，因为……” A dialogue can include a predictable follow-up without becoming a long speech.
At Intermediate Mid, students compare options, explain habits and consequences, ask spontaneous follow-up questions, and connect sentences: “虽然学校午餐很方便，但是……如果每天都……，可能……” The task now requires creating with language, not reciting a longer script.
示例：同一个饮食与健康主题的三个程度
Novice Low 学生识别熟悉食物、做简单选择，并使用“我要水”“我喜欢苹果”等记忆过的短句。输入应短小、可视、重复，并能马上用于交流。
Novice High 学生用几个简单句描述一餐，完成熟悉问答，并给出基本理由：“我午饭吃面和青菜。我觉得比较健康，因为……” 对话可以加入可预测的追问，但不应变成长篇演讲。
Intermediate Mid 学生比较选择、解释习惯与后果、提出即兴追问，并连接句子：“虽然学校午餐很方便，但是……如果每天都……，可能……” 此时任务要求自主创造，而不是背诵更长的脚本。
Build different texts, not just different questions
A Novice Low reading might be a labeled menu, three short preferences, or a picture schedule. A Novice High text can be a short message or simple review with several related sentences. An Intermediate text can present two perspectives, a short personal account, or a familiar issue that invites comparison and explanation.
The listening or reading input should preview the language function students will need later. If the final task asks students to compare and justify, the input must contain visible models of comparison and reasons—not only a vocabulary list.
编写不同课文，而不只是更换问题
Novice Low 的阅读可以是带图标签的菜单、三条很短的喜好表达或图片日程。Novice High 可以阅读由几个相关简单句组成的短信或短评。Intermediate 可以接触两种观点、短篇个人经历，或一个可以比较和解释的熟悉议题。
听读材料应预先呈现学生之后要使用的语言功能。如果最终任务要求比较并说明理由，输入里必须出现清楚的比较和理由示范，而不能只有词汇表。
Make interpersonal tasks grow with the level
- Novice Low: point, choose, label, and exchange one practiced piece of information.
- Novice Mid: ask and answer a small set of practiced questions with words, phrases, and simple sentences.
- Novice High: sustain a familiar exchange through several sentences and one or two predictable follow-ups.
- Intermediate Low: create with language in a familiar situation and recover when the conversation changes slightly.
- Intermediate Mid: connect sentences, add details and reasons, and ask follow-up questions that move the conversation forward.
让人际互动随程度发展
- Novice Low：指认、选择、标注，并交换一项练习过的信息。
- Novice Mid：用词、短语和简单句完成一小组练习过的问答。
- Novice High：用多个句子维持熟悉交流，并回应一至两个可预测追问。
- Intermediate Low：在熟悉情境中自主组织语言，交流稍有变化时仍能继续。
- Intermediate Mid：连接句子，增加细节和理由，并通过追问推动对话。
Plan assessment evidence before choosing activities
Write one observable piece of evidence for the target level. Then select input, rehearsal, games, and scaffolds that prepare learners to produce it. A matching game may support word recognition, but it does not by itself show that a student can maintain an interpersonal exchange.
Use a fresh but familiar prompt for the final check. Students should transfer the communication function to a new menu, partner, schedule, image, or scenario rather than reproduce the exact practice script.
先确定评估证据，再选择活动
先为目标程度写出一项可以观察的学习证据，再选择输入、排练、游戏和支架。配对游戏可以帮助识词，但它本身不能证明学生能够维持人际交流。
最终检查应使用新的、但仍然熟悉的提示。学生要把交际功能迁移到新菜单、新伙伴、新日程、新图片或新情境，而不是重复练习时的原脚本。
A teacher quality check
- Does the task require the language function expected at this level?
- Are the reading, dialogue, and assessment genuinely different from the levels above and below?
- Can students show meaning even if their language is not error-free?
- Are supports available without completing the thinking for students?
- Does the final evidence show communication, rather than vocabulary completion alone?
教师质量检查表
- 任务是否要求了该程度应有的语言功能？
- 课文、对话和评估是否与上下程度真正不同？
- 即使语言并不完全无误，学生是否仍能表达清楚意思？
- 支架是否帮助学生进入任务，而没有替学生完成思考？
- 最终证据是否展示交际能力，而不只是完成词汇？