Guoxi Elementary School, Nantou County—An Encounter with the Fragrance of Tea and the Melody of the Qin

This semester's interdisciplinary curriculum structure incorporates music and Hokkien storybooks into the school's core tea ceremony course. Furthermore, the semester has planned to develop a dance course based on physical stretching activities, integrating physical stretching performances from Hokkien songs. This provides students with a different learning experience and allows them to internalize the language through their performances. In addition to the static learning of language and songs, the Hokkien curriculum adds the dynamic energy of physical stretching, stimulating students' motivation to learn.
The hands-on local storybook making course cultivates students' creativity and aesthetic sense, allowing them to deepen their language learning into creative expression through hands-on experience. It also connects with the community, helping students understand the value of local industries and sustainable development. The physical stretching course is a beautiful cleansing for both body and mind. While static language and song classes practice dialogue and conversation methods, the addition of physical stretching (dance) to these activities provides a different kind of enjoyment after a period of high tension. The dance class results in a more stable mood and clearer thinking, and students learn different interdisciplinary courses. Currently, students often exhibit erratic behavior due to academic pressure and forget their physical and mental needs. Through the interdisciplinary courses arranged by the school, students' stressful emotions are gradually adjusted, allowing their bodies to return to balance and health.
Furthermore, the original instrumental music and tea ceremony courses are horizontally linked. Students, starting from the tea-making context, incorporate musical elements, developing a traditional Chinese string and wind ensemble and adding dynamic physical activities, making the course content more diverse and lively. The aim is to integrate and deepen the teaching of language, tea ceremony, dance, and art through interdisciplinary collaboration, combining artistic performance, language and poetry recitation, and hands-on activities. This includes tea fragrance, musical instruments, physical stretching, dance, string and wind music practice, tea ceremony, tea making, tea brewing techniques, tea knowledge, and Hokkien poetry recitation. The addition of physical stretching courses enhances student learning outcomes. These stretching courses are not strenuous; they are gentle, relaxing, and non-competitive. They produce a subtle, refreshing feeling that is transmitted to the muscles. These courses are individualized and do not require rigid rules; stretching exercises rely on oneself, allowing you to feel yourself. This further integrates with the original language activities to develop courses suitable for students.
Through hands-on activities in creating local storybooks, students experience multifaceted growth in knowledge, skills, and attitudes. They gain an understanding of the community's historical background and cultural values, recognizing its unique characteristics and developing a love for their hometown, thus enhancing their sense of identity and respect for local culture. The practical process fosters creativity and aesthetics. Through a tea plantation field trip, followed by teacher explanations and discussions back at school, students design their own storybooks. This enhances their manual dexterity and focus, cultivating patience and meticulousness. During presentations, students actively try different expressions and techniques, learning to introduce the tea-picking and processing procedures. Through discussion and practice, they reflect on how to apply designs to promote sustainable development in the community's industries. The dance class uses simple exercises to progressively improve muscle strength and flexibility, allowing students to connect with their inner selves, relieve muscle stiffness and soreness, and increase physical flexibility while providing necessary rest. This experiential learning approach allows learners to develop simple skills through dynamic dance lessons, combined with language and song recitation performances. Therefore, interdisciplinary courses can cultivate students' patience, respect for others, and gratitude, and inspire their resilience and perseverance. This can be transformed into an artistic atmosphere. In this year's Farmers' Association Winter Tea Exhibition, the tea ceremony was accompanied by students' musical performances, creating a warm and inviting ambiance. It is hoped that through interdisciplinary collaboration and artistic performances, the teaching of language, tea ceremony, and art can be integrated and deepened, increasing student learning outcomes. The process of collaborative lesson planning among school teachers and the invitation of professional tea masters and dancers to the school for teacher training enhances teachers' teaching abilities. By incorporating interdisciplinary skills such as music, language, and dance, the original tea ceremony teaching is revitalized.