How Can Teachers Use The Chairman's Bao in Their Classes?

Updated

Teachers can use The Chairman's Bao as a ready-made source of HSK-graded, news-based reading and listening material, assign it across desktop and mobile devices, and draw on a dedicated "For Teachers" section plus blog for supporting resources. The site describes itself as a news-based graded reader with 11,079 lessons, new articles added daily, and a "For Teachers" area alongside its student-facing content. That combination makes it most useful when you want current, levelled texts rather than a fixed textbook unit.

What the platform gives you to work with

The site's own feature list maps closely onto classroom needs:

  • Authentic news-based lessons — thousands of articles already published, with new ones added daily, so reading material doesn't run out.
  • Reading and listening exercises — intended to strengthen character recognition and confirm comprehension of each text.
  • One-tap dictionary — look up meaning and save words to a learning hub, with flashcards for longer-term memorisation.
  • Cross-platform study — desktop, laptop, mobile, or tablet, so students can read on whatever device they have.
  • Levels 1–6 — sample lessons are filterable by level, which gives you a rough placement tool when matching a class to a text.

The homepage also lists a "For Teachers" section, a blog, a platform FAQ, and a tutorial video, so you are not relying on the lesson content alone.

Matching lessons to your class level

The level filter (Level 1 through Level 6) is the main lever for differentiation. A practical workflow:

  1. Open the sample lessons and filter to the level closest to your class.
  2. Read the article yourself first and check the topic tags shown on each card (for example Animals, Technology, Society, Funny, Timeless News).
  3. Decide whether the text works as a whole-class read, a homework assignment, or an extension task for stronger students.
  4. Use the level filter again to pull a second text one level up or down for students who need a different challenge.

Because the site labels samples by level and topic, you can build a small themed set — several articles on one subject at different levels — without hunting through unrelated material.

Using the exercises in class

The reading and listening exercises are the part most directly transferable to a lesson plan. Two common patterns:

  • Pre-class: assign the article and its exercises as homework, so class time is spent on discussion and vocabulary rather than first-pass reading.
  • In-class: play the listening component while students follow the text, then use the comprehension exercises as a quick check before moving to pair or group discussion.

The one-tap dictionary and flashcard saving mean students can build their own word lists from the article you set, which keeps vocabulary work tied to the text rather than to a separate list.

Cross-platform access and assigning work

Because the platform runs on desktop, laptop, mobile, and tablet, you can set reading on whatever device students actually use, and they can continue the same lesson elsewhere. The site presents this as an all-in-one study app intended for daily reading, so a realistic assignment is a short article plus its exercises on a regular schedule rather than a large one-off block.

If your school or department wants to go further, the site lists a "School for Learning Mandarin" entry and a "For Teachers" section — worth checking directly for institutional options, since the available page evidence does not spell out what those include.

What to check before committing

  • Pricing: the site references "premium" and links to Student Plans, so some content or features sit behind a paid tier. The evidence here does not state exact prices or what the free sample access covers beyond sample lessons — confirm on the plans page before planning a term around it.
  • Account requirements: registration is offered on the site, but the evidence does not specify what a free account unlocks versus a premium one.
  • Level accuracy: treat the Level 1–6 labels as a starting point and preview any text you assign, since a news article's difficulty depends on topic vocabulary as well as level.

For a teacher who wants current, levelled Chinese reading with built-in comprehension checks and device flexibility, the platform's teacher-facing resources and daily-updated lesson library are the main reasons to try it. Start with the free sample lessons at your class's level, run one article through the pre-class/in-class pattern above, and judge from how students handle the exercises whether to build it into your regular rotation.