(This is not exactly HS but I'm sharing this because of my experience teaching MS) Almost all my MS students are Hispanics and I go through the same observation that they are not exposed to East Asian cultures. While teaching China and Japan, I ask them what they know about things Chinese and Japanese. The first responses are normally - food, Bruce Lee/karate, Shaolin temple, chop sticks, noodles, fortune cookies (?), etc. I then explain that fortune cookies started in the US and not in East Asia; then I go on to explain the Chinese 'triads' and their link to the Shaolin temple just to heighten their curiosity. After teaching them feudal Japan, I'll mention that when we go out of class, they should be walking "quietly in the corridors like the shadow warriors - the ninjas". I've never heard any protest to this remark - all of a sudden they become reflective. They always enjoy sketching the Chinese and Japanese characters and I ask them to write 'Japan' in Kanji or write their Period number in Chinese during the Quiz.
I would like to offer two ideas to help in HS settings that I have seen work in younger settings. First, have a small faculty committee or student group identify international backgrounds on your own campus. Create a series of presenters that help students better understand people's backgrounds and lives. From immigrant staff members to community contacts, early and multiple exposure to those who are different could only have the opposite effect of helping students find commonalities. I have been trying to do a similar thing for college graduates in our middle school. Kids need to hear about experiences and places to help them find their own "place" in the world. I am always fascinated by the stories of my immigrant students and families, similar to my friends and family growing up.
Second suggestions is creating student committees to help set international theme weeks on campus. Similar to ethnic celebrations during the calendar year, such as Black History Month, schools can utilize their student body power to help boost awareness. Similar to the prom committee, this could be something that the school could promote with proper district support. Without the politics and world issues of a U.N. kind of themes, simple give more credence to the beauty of all cultures and histories. Our librarian always does a good job of rotating themes in our library. Imagine if the cafeteria has foods to match the week's themes. The school activities and even the faculty dress could try to match the themes. It could even be in just one academic department. I loved it when our administrators, counselors and faculty wore cap and gowns of their respective degrees as a theme for college day. I think sometimes just taking it over the top just the little bit gets the kids attention, and hopefully lifelong respect and love for other places and people...
Now that I have been reassigned to teach Biology and Integrated Science, I am excited to explore the contributions Asia has to Science. It seemed like teaching Math was such a dead end to reaching into the different cultures, but now I can do more exploring... Will keep abreast of the different websites I do find within the context of Science and Asia cultures.
A great activity in any Geography, World History, and any class that discusses some aspect of Asian culture would be a food fair. Have students get into groups and have them research a particular region of Asia. They should research the culture of that region, their language, history, customs, religion, and food. To culminate this project students will give a brief presentation on their findings and bring to class a food dish from that region. They must also research the dish explain its significance, its ingredients, and how it is made. I believe that one can learn so much from a culture by its food.
There is so much in the media today regarding Japan, Yasakuni Shrine, and Asian relations. It would be great to teach students about perception through how Japan perceives its self in WWII. I would give my students an overview of Japan's role in WWII and I would discuss the common perceptions held by some Japanese. I would then have them watch a WWII film from the Japanese perspective and one from another perspective. I would have them analyze each film and I would have them write an essay about the perspectives of each and why each film has such a perspective.
Hi! I teach ESL at the high school level. Most of my students are also hispanic/latino, however, I do have several Asian students. I have had a similar experience to yours regarding hispanic attitudes toward new cultures. The Asian culture seems to be regarded as mysterious, unknown and intimidating. Initially, some of my Latino students were rude to my Asian student and made fun of his desire and ability to excell academically. However, eventually, most of my students came to admire or at least accept his work ethic and academic prowess. Everyone wanted to sit near him in the hopes of getting ideas and/or copying his paper! In turn, he learned to enjoy some aspects of the Latino culture such as working together in groups, having parties and enjoying delicious foods. In the future, I plan to do more to introduce my class the Asian culture and indeed, all cultures. Every culture has something to contribute!
I love this idea! It has a great hook for the students - who would not want be interested in learning how to write his name in Japanese? Would this webquest also work as group project incorporating cooperative learning?
I LOVE this lesson! I want to take your class. I am also very interested in the very curious custom of foot-binding. Did the pictures come from the book, Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Custom or a website? Even though foot-binding sounds horrible in this modern age, it can easily be compared to many painful things that so many American do to improve their sex appeal such as liposuction, implants, etc. This is such a great idea for an engaging essay topic!
Another lesson that one can do is through the use of small learning teams. I would use this or something very similar to INTRODUCE a unit on Asia. I would break the class up into groups of four or five, and usually these are groups that have worked together before. 1. Simply have the students raise their hands and tell you the names of the Asian cultures- Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc. Write them on the board. 3. Once they are broken into teams, go around with a hat. The names of the various Asian cultures are written on slips of paper. Each team selects one (eliminates stupid arguments and time wasted). 4. Each group's mission is to simply list in 5 minutes as many things as they can about that particular culture. Have them be as specific as possible. Also, before they get to this point, address the difference between a fact and an opinion or stereotype (I neglected to do this one time and it really backfired on me and caused a lot more work in the end). Tell them to think about all areas of life- location, food, entertainment, history, music, sports etc. 5. When they are done have them read their lists to the class. You will be amazed at how little they know, how easily they confuse the cultures etc... Address some of the misconceptions. You will find this an excellent way to hook your students and it is an excellent springboard into your unit.[Edit by="gjones on Jul 21, 11:58:00 AM"][/Edit]
Students are often surprised to learn about the role of Asians and Africans in the First World War. Here are two articles, both of which include stereotypes and one of which includes racist labels, about the Chinese in France during World War One. Both articles include photos of Chinese laborers.
Our school has an umbrella curriculum that is similar to your idea. Our school uses PBL (project base learning) in which they make their learning a part of a "real-world" scenario. I am making an original webquest with East Asia topics/concerns. One idea is to help them determine whether the hierarchy of the aristocrates in China was influenced by their geography with respect to The Great Wall, the yellow river, the Himalayas, and the Pacific Ocean. I still have everything on the drawing board. It would be great to send National Geographic several final project for evaluation.
As we launch into the final sweep of days this school year, mythology is where the class is dwelling. Completely out of sequence, we finished Shakespeare's well loved and over trodden love story, Romeo and Juliet, just in time to tuck in the background to the various allusions and other literary devices on the bard's figurative landscape. Along that road, due to the heritage projects at the beginning of the year, many students have been bringing up correlations to other folk tales within their own cultural bloodlines. The Toad Bridegroom, a Korean Folk Tale, is one such tale. Like the Greeks, the good mortals were protected by the gods and the ones who disobeyed the gods were punished etc. The inspirational impetus is truly uncertain at times; however, the connections are clear, valid, and validating. Good resources for those teaching English to the younger set - high school freshman.
The Toad Bridegroom (A Korean Folk Tale)
The earliest form of religion practiced by Korea’s ancient peoples was based on old folk traditions rooted in the occult-like worship of shamans. The earliest identifiable inhabitants of the Korean peninsula were the Altaic-speaking Tungus people, who migrated to Korea in about 3000 B.C. and solidified the mythological worship of the three sam sin gods. These gods included the most popular and almighty god of heaven and two others-the god of Earth and the god of ancestors.
According to Tungus beliefs, in 2333 B.C., the shaman-king Tagun, a direct descendant of the god of heaven, founded Korea. Tangun went on to encourage the widespread worship of the god of heaven from the great altar he established near what is today the city of Seoul.
The Tungus worshiped these three important mythical gods and countless lesser gods. On Earth and in the natural world, the Tungus found new and interesting gods or godly creations in the forms of animals, plants, and landscapes. Shamanic teachings and values were directed against the spread of evil spirits. The gods guided and protected those who were gracious and good. Many of the Tungus people’s fundamental beliefs are still honored and followed by the Koreans today.
This selection is a retelling of the ancient Korean tale of the big toad that wants to be loved and accepted for who he is-not for what he looks like. This theme goes along with the theme of love based on looks in Romeo and Juliet. Another folk tale from Korea even hits closer to the Shakespearean tragic tale.
Image:barrysclipart.com She was buried near the place where the flower was found. After a while, another flower appeared in the same place as the first one.
Endless Love
A Traditional Korean Folktale
An original tale written by Ji-Young Lee from Korea
This is a tale of undying love between a young couple who won the struggle to be together.
Long ago, there was a village named 'Sa-rang' in Korea. The village had two flowers that cried when a couple passed nearby. These flowers never died.
A long time ago there was a couple, Soo-il and Soon-ae, living in Sa-rang. They loved each other so much that they wanted to get married, but Soon-ae's father, who was very rich, never allowed her to marry Soo-il, who was very poor.
A few days later, her father lied to her. He told her that Soo-il got married to another girl and pushed her to marry a rich guy named Jung-bae. She was very sad because she believed her father and agreed to marry Jung-bae.
But, Soon-ae' and Jung-bae were not happy because they did not love each other. He hung out with friends, met other girls, and seldom came back home. They would not stay together long.
One day, Soon-ae heard a strange, continuous sound from outside the window, so she slowly went to the window and opened it up. When she looked down, there was Soo-il. Her heart started beating faster, and she made up her mind to go to him. She jumped down from her room, which was on the second floor, and then she felt a big pain and fainted.
When Soon-ae was able to open her eyes, she saw the people she loved. There were members of her family and Soo-il. They all looked at her with concern, but at that moment she discovered that she could not move at all. She knew her father had lied to her, and she cried every day. Soo-il came to see her every day, but her father would not let him see her.
Soo-il decided to secretly take her to a small town in the country where nobody could find them. In that town. he cut trees and sold them to make a living, while Sa-rang slowly recovered and was able to move again.
One day when Soo-il was coming back home after cutting trees, he saw a rose on the edge of a cliff. Because Soon-ae liked roses, he tried to pick the rose. Unfortunately, he slid and fell over the cliff.
While she was waiting for him as usual, some people living in the town came to her with his possessions. Immediately, she went to the place where his possessions were found even though she could not walk well.
However, when she got there, she could not find his body, only a strange flower. After that, she never ate or drank and never talked to anybody. She only thought about Soo-il, who could never return to her.
A couple of days later, she closed her eyes for ever and ever. She was buried near the place where the flower was found. After a while, her grave disappeared, and another flower appeared in the same place as the first one.
and yet one more...
While Kongi was doing the house chores, a frog appeared in front of her. It did all the house chores for her.
Kongi and Potgi,
A Korean Cinderella Story
Retold by Youngil-Seo from Korea
This is a Korean "Cinderella-type" story. A beautiful young girl is mistreated by her ugly step-mother and her ugly step-sister.
A long, long time ago, there were two sisters. The older sister's name was Kongi and the younger sister's name was Potgi. Kongi had a stepmother. The stepmother and Potgi disliked Kongi because she was so beautiful and kind; she was a lovely person.
Potgi was very ugly; she was also a greedy and selfish person. The stepmother and Potgi always made Kongi do house chores, but she never complained about that.
One day, a rich, young man held a party to look for a girl to be his bride. All of the young girls were invited to the party, but Kongi couldn't go because the stepmother ordered her to stay home and do house chores and told her not to go there.
While Kongi was doing the house chores, a frog appeared in front of her. The frog did all the house chores for her, so despite the stepmother's orders, she attended the party.
As soon as the young man saw her, he fell in love with her. He wanted to know more about her, but she left the party because she had to get back home before her stepmother came back home.
Leaving the party hurriedly, she lost her rubber shoe. When it came off and she lost it, they young man picked it up. He was able to find the beautiful Kongi because of her rubber shoe. They got married and lived happily ever after.
Explanation of this story Beauty can be very important in life. :P
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel" by Lisa See
"Splendid Slippers:A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition" by Beverley Jackson
We had an excellent lecturer discuss the tradition. It amazed us that it was perpetuated by the women of the family; it was not subjugation by the patriarch.
I taught poetry to the ninth graders and used the haiku and tanka expressive techniques. It was interesting that they found the words 'haiku' and 'tanka' having little meaning to these peotic styles. Once the class recieved ample examples to model from; however, the most influencial was bringing acutual Chinese tree and the like into the classroom or taking them to any Chinese botanical garden. It was an interesting yet amazing outcome of student work.
The Japanese Garden on Woodley in Van Nuys is an option for schools in the San Fernando Valley. It is beautiful and the docents I observed were well informed.
If you are willing to spend a few bucks on some pretty good powerpoints you can go to teachersdiscovery.com and download them. English teachers as well as history teachers can go to the site and check them out. I downloaded a Vietnam War ppt. that included video clips from such movies as Forrest Gump, Good Morning Vietnam, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket. I teach U.S. History so I found this helpful. The ppt's are, however, a little pricey.
There is a lot of actual historical film available on youtube that can be shown in class. If you are not sure about your internet connection at the moment of truth you can save the youtube videos with something like orbit and play them back at your convenience with a flv player, also easily found and downloadable. I was able to show video of Mao's long March and his meeting with Nixon with the classroom digital projector from my laptop without too much fuss. I ended up using these videos a lot because it held the students' attention pretty well.
I visited the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights. It's about 60 miles from the valley. but the temple is enormous (on 15 aces), comprised of architecture from the Ming & Qing dynasties. Apparently founded by Hsing Yun the temple is for the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light Mountain) Buddhist Order. According to their website, it is a Mahayana Chinese Buddhism monastic order. They have outreach programs, classes in meditation, book publishing, a book store, tea shop, and a museum with lots of art and an actual Shakyamuni relic (they say). The place is a wonderful exhibit of all kinds of interesting facets of Buddhism, not the least of which is its effort to bring Buddhism into the contemporary world. They told me that schools come all the time and are given tours. I just think this is fascinating. If only it weren't so far. Still I think it would be worth it to take a class on a field trip.
to: mceballos, I think that it is very good idea to bring something related to the theme. You mentioned bringing a Chinese tree, and taking the students to a Chinese Botanical Garden. I have a suggestion: since Haiku and Tanka belong to Japanese literature, you could take the students to a Japanese Garden. While Japanese and Chinese gardens sometimes look alike, they are very different; both have unique elements and styles.
Today I finally got around to visiting the Japanese Gardens next to the water recycling plant on Woodley between Burbank & Victory. A docent took us on a tour and we got to look at a lot of pretty views. He told us it's among the top 10 in the country. They have a teahouse and a gift shop. They also have special events if you check the website. They have school tours all the time. His little presentation took about 90 minutes. Lots of information about the theory of Japanese gardens (different shades of green, for example). It's something I think our students could appreciate, especially since the bus ride is not so lengthy. It could be combined with the tour of the water reclamation plant to double as a science lesson.
During my first year of teaching I went on a field trip to the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles. While there I picked up a videos that was made by Toyo Miyake called "Infinite Shades of Gray". The video is short (about 30 minutes) but the footage is terrific. Miyake "smuggled" into Manzanar a camera that allowed him to capture the daily lives of Japanese prisoners. The film is really a mini biography, but it is worth showing students due to the great photos he captured in the camps. If you're around LA visit the museum and pick up a copy.
Clay, Excellent website!! I teach WWI and extensively cover the Western Front. To be honest I did not realize how much the Chinese were involved on the Western Front. I clicked on the link that you gave and started reading and I couldn't stop. I will definitely be checking this site out when I cover WWI this coming school year and be sure to include the contributions that the Chinese gave to the war effort.
I had no idea such a thing even existed! I wish I'd known about that when I taugh Manzanar last year. Do you know if it is sold online anywhere? -Laura
In your heritage project, do you require them to come up with folktales that reflect their family's ethnic background? That's an interesting thought. -Laura
We talked about Confucianism in class. The idea about ancestor worship is one of the central theme for Confucianism. My parents still practice ancestor worship.
They put variety of fruits and food on a silk embroidered table cloth with ancestor's name board and pictures. They burn the incense and pour wine for them. Then they "ke tou" kneel down and bow to them three times while saying their prayers. I am a christian and it is against my religion to bow to another being. However, I think it will be O.k. to show a short video clip of how people carry out that ritual to the central idea of Confucianism.
This summer, the Travel Channel introduced China in a four day segment. It had amazing footage of every region from east to west and north to south. This could be a starting point for those who need some visual in the classroom. The segments were very detailed and brought along a background on the country's traditions. I might use this program (or CD) in the classroom for background information purposes. The students could write a compare and contrast essay on how their own country shares some key values. Other types of writing came be used for example: narrative, exposition, or persuasion.
I would highly recommend spending a day or two on reading and discussing excerpts from Iris Chang's highly controversial book, "The Rape of Nanking". The book is broken into three separate sections: the event from Japanese accounts, the event from the victims, and the even as seen by the foreigners who were in the city at the time of the attack, including a Nazi who came to be known as the Nazi "Oscar Schindler" (pardon me for the bad spelling).
The book begins with dazzling and shocking facts and images, including the idea that if all of the victims of nanking held hands they could form a human chain that went for miles. The personal stories of some of the survivors would probably be the best excerpts to use. One I remember clearly was about a man who was stabbed and got pushed into a pit of other dead bodies, some of them headless as a result of head chopping contests by Japanese soldiers. He had to lay underneath other dead bodies and pretend he was dead. Then, hours later Japanese soldiers came by and started stabbing all of the bodies to make sure all of them were dead - he ended up being stabbed 5 or 6 times but he had to force himself not to make a noise or else the Japanese would really kill him.
Though the book is surrounded in controversy, it can be used to excite students even more: "Why do you think certain historians are against this book?" "Why would the Japanese government not like this book" "Why are so many people attacking this book?" Kids love that stuff, and i have no doubt that this book can be used to challenge students, as well as shock them as to the events that occured in Nanjing during World War 2.
Hey! I teach about world problems at my school. We have a sophomore project where students must pick a world problem, do a research project and 40 hours of community service related to it. In my class, I presented this article for students to read and present to the class to open awareness about Cancer in different ethnic groups and countries around the world.
Please note the experience of Chinese women in American and Asia in terms of the susceptibility to Breast Cancer and how it varies from white women.
The democratization of South Korea and Taiwan over the past two decades are important and seldom told stories. Both were military dictatorships until the late 1980s and both only became multiparty democracies in the late 1990s.
In South Korea, two former generals turned presidents (Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo) have gone to jail, convicted for treason, mutiny, and corruption. And now in Taiwan, there's the prospect that Chen Shui-bian, the man who broke the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) 50 year hold on political power when he was elected president in 2000, could go to jail. Chen was detained for questioning today. He left the presidency in May 2008.
Some charge this prosecution is politically motivated. Others note that Chen has admitted that payments to his wife were funneled into an overseas account.
We had a symposium on Taiwan's democracy and March 2008 presidential election earlier this year. The article includes links to presentations made at the symposium (including election results, historical data, and examples of print advertising): http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=986
Given the focus last week on the highest ranking cross-strait meeting in 60 years and the focus this week on the arrest of the former president - it would seem a good time to talk with students about Taiwan's struggle to build a democracy and to maintain autonomy while still forging essential economic ties with the mainland.
Looking for a way to interest students in discussing current economic news and international trade? Photos of how the economic downturn has affected vehicle imports might do it. The LA and Long Beach ports are full of cars that they can't move elsewhere as no one is buying. Toyota, Nissan, and Mercedes Benz are all looking for more land to rent to store the cars they've already brought to America. Here's a slide show from the NY Times on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/17/business/1117-PORTS_index.html?adxnnl=1&ref=multimedia&adxnnlx=1227389182-XrErCYmzizbkQaXxhmX5wQ
Here's the accompanying article. It includes a great graph showing how many days supply of cars the manufacturers now have. Hyundai in 2006 had a 59 day supply, now it has 115 days. Toyota had a 42 day supply and now has 78.
For those interested in exploring Japanese samurai through art and imagery, the Pacific Asia Museum's new exhibition, "The Samurai Re-Imagined: From Ukiyo-e to Anime," will open on February 19.
"The Samurai Re-Imagined: From Ukiyo-e to Anime" uses the image of the iconic samurai warrior to explore the roots of the popular Japanese art forms of manga (graphic novels) and anime (animation). By juxtaposing traditional and contemporary works of art -- woodblock prints with animation cels, for example -- the exhibition creates a visual history demonstrating the links between fine art and popular culture.
The exhibit runs from February 19 through August 9, 2009 and includes woodblock prints and paintings along with samurai swords and accoutrements from Pacific Asia Museums collection; plus animation productions cels and drawings, motion picture stills, posters, toys, and comic books and manga on loan from private collections.
I've just taught section 19.2 from "World History: Patterns of Interaction" which focuses on the Ming and Qing dynasties. We focused on Confucian values and contact with the West. To complement this, I used the following extract from the Ebrey sourcebook:
Zang Han “Essay on Merchants” (1511-1593) Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Patricia Ebrey. New York: The Free Press. 1993. 216-220.
As to the foreign trade on the northwestern frontier and the foreign sea trade in the southeast, if we compare their advantages and disadvantages with respect to our nation’s wealth and the people’s well-being, we will discover that they are as different as black and white. But those who are in charge of state economic matters know only the benefits of the Northwest trade, ignoring the benefits of the sea trade. How can they be so blind?
In the early years of the frontier trade, China traded sackcloth and copper cash to the foreigners. Now we use silk and gold but the foreigners repay us only with thin horses. When we exchanged sackcloth and copper cash for their thin horses, the advantage of the trade was still with China and our national wealth was not endangered. But now we give away gold and silk, and the gold, at least, will never come back to us, once it flows into foreign lands. Moreover, to use the silk that China needs for people’s clothing to exchange for useless, inferior horses is clearly unwise.
Foreigners are recalcitrant and their greed knows no bounds. At the present time our nation spends over one million cash yearly from our treasury on those foreigners; still we cannot rid ourselves of their demands. What is more, the greedy heart is unpredictable. If one day these foreigners break the treaties and invade our frontiers, who will be able to defend us against them? I do not think our present trade with them will ensure us with a century of peace.
As to the foreigners in the southeast, their goods are useful to us just as ours are to them. To use what one has to exchange for what one does not have is what trade is all about. Moreover, these foreigners trade with China under the name of tributary contributions. That means China’s authority is established, and the foreigners are submissive. Even if the gifts we grant them are great and the tribute they send us is small, our expense is still less than one ten-thousandth of the benefit we gain from trading with them...
1. What is the difference between the northwest trade and the southeast trade?
2. Why does Zang Han find the northwest trade less acceptable?
3. Who were the Ming trading with on their northwest border?
4. If the northwest trade is so unprofitable, why would China continue to engage in it?
5. How does the attitude of the author reflect the attitudes of the Ming Dynasty?
6. How does the attitude of the author compare with that of the Yuan Dynasty toward trade?
--
The point of the questions above is to get the students to think about the relationship between the the Ming dynasty, the preceding Yuan dynasty, and the later Qing Dynasty, particularly as far as trade and Confucian values are concerned.
Becca - This is a great document and set of questions. How did your students respond? Were they surprised to see discussions of trade policies and tactics from hundreds of years ago?
I teach an ancient/medieval world history class for 9th graders. Here are two final exam essay topics that allow students to reflect on and integrate knowledge about Europe and Asia:
Topic 1: Golden Ages Consider cultural blossoming in the periods below and answer the following question: Throughout history, has internal cultural development (including rediscovery of a historical culture of the same region) or external cultural contact been more important in creating periods of growth and creativity?
You must write on ALL THREE OF THESE: - Charlemagne’s Era - High Middle Ages (14.2) - Renaissance Europe
And you must write on AT LEAST TWO OF THESE: - Tang/Song China - Ottoman Empire - Safavid Empire - Mughal India
Topic #2 Campaigns of Conquest Compare and contrast the campaigns of conquest we've read about this semester and answer the following questions: Which brought the greatest benefits? Which caused the greatest damage? Why?
You must write on ALL THREE OF THESE: - The Germanic campaigns that brought about the Dark Ages - The Crusades - The Hundred Years' War
And you must write on at least TWO OF THESE: - The Mongol Invasion of China - The Safavid conquest of Persia - The Mughal conquest of India - The creation of the Ottoman Empire.
The kids did well with this, although we had to review some map work to help make sense of the 'northwest frontier' and what that implied.
This discussion was especially productive since I was planning final essay topics that would relate to cross cultural comparison.
I find they are always interested in talking about trade--the difficulty is making them understand how lacking in connection most earlier eras were rather than the reverse.
In the Spring 2009 edition of Education About Asia, the lesson on page 55 is worth a read and a try. I like the lesson because the readings are short and digestible. I could see using the material for a research project. Possibly by having students learn to access the Digital Library system that LAUSD has.
Since, I lived in Japan and taught at all levels, I would like to use this lesson plan and the resources as a model for creating a similar lesson on US-Japanese Relations and education. Of course this could be done of any culture that we are presenting. It is engaging because the students get some familiarity with different educational systems and learning methods.
I have attached a handout have used in teaching haiku. I believe that haiku in English should be even briefer than usually defined, more like 3-5-3 syllable count is better and more similar to Japanese type.
In the attached handout you will find haiku by Basho, Etheridge Knight, Octavio Paz, Kerouac, Antonio Machado, and Ezra Pound. I wanted a multicultural perspective on haiku and a diversity of types. If you are interested in more information on haiku please read my review of the book The Haiku Handbook on this forum
Below are listed the concepts and definitions that I appropriated from the handbook.
Japanese Ideas & Concepts
1. Enryo—the technique of polite obedience or acquiescence to hide inner fury 2. Ganbaru—to do one’s best 3. Bushido—“way of the warrior,” is a code of conduct and ethics of the samurai which includes being frugal and loyal, mastery of martial arts and honor unto death. 4. Aware—(touchingness) moving, stirring, the kind of the thing that evokes an emotional response 5. Sabi (patina, loneliness) beauty with a sense of loneliness in time, akin to, but deeper than, nostalgia 6. Wabi—(loneliness, poverty) beauty with a sense of asceticism; austere beauty 7. Yugen—(mystery) elegance, mystery, depth, obscure, dark beauty only partially perceived not fully felt. 8. Haiku—a brief poem, seasonal & often with nature as a subject, consisting 5-7-5or of 5 syllables in the 1st line, 7 syllables in the 2nd line, and 5 syllables in the 3rd and last line, though it maybe briefer in English.
In the tenth grade I teach the book Hiroshima by John Hersey. I find this book presents good multiple perspective examination of the bombing of Hiroshima. In the book there are 6 people that are near the epicenter of bombing and each is followed until well after the war--20-30 years later.
I have attached the facts that I expect my students to memorize on Japan and Hiroshima, essay prompts that I have used in the past, maps, etc...
I usually present the facts as a cloze activity to sustain interest, so a fill in the blank activity. [Edit by="kspachuk on Jun 19, 12:29:33 PM"][/Edit]
I. Create a graphic novel/comic about one of the following sections of the book:
a. 104-109 Dr. Sasaki d. 141-147 Reverend Tanimoto b. 121-126 Ms. Sasaki e. 96-100 Ms. Nakamura c. 128-133 Dr. Fujii f. 111-117 Father Kleinsorge
You must:
1. Create 6-10 page comic using 3x3 panel design 2. Use both thought/speech bubbles and captions 3. Create a book or put on poster board 4. Draw, use a computer, and/or magazine collage 5. Elaborate on story and/or make local 6. Try to include an advertisement or graffiti 7. Title your comic and put the pages you covered 8. Use at least 3 different panel transitions
II. Write an essay using myaccess.com
• Write an essay about the bombing of Hiroshima as a significant moment in history. Refer to multiple sources (i.e. articles, books, websites, videos etc…) and perspectives (difference in gender, societal role, background…)
• Your essay should contain quotes and references for the quotes.
References
Although the people of Hiroshima come together as a community in response to the bombing, as victims, they suffer alone. Many references throughout the book, Hiroshima, depict how the people have severe, hideous injuries but do not complain or cry out; they suffer silently (stoically). Hersey suggests that this is a uniquely Japanese characteristic—that Japanese individuals attach great importance to not disturbing the larger group and do not call attention to their own needs or pain. In a well developed essay find specific examples of this Japanese characteristic. First, start essay with a hook, a quote, and/or important statement/question. Then, choose 1-3 of the six survivors that the author Hersey interviewed as representing different perspectives on the bombing. You might try finding examples of when:
Japanese survivors are stoic. (reasons) • Japanese survivors are stoic because they could be strong and supportive of their country. • Japanese survivors are stoic because •
Japanese survivors are stoic. (kinds) • Japanese religious characters are stoic. • Japanese •
Japanese survivors are stoic. (parts)
• Japanese survivors’ attitude is stoic. • Japanese survivors’ • Japanese survivors’ •
Japanese survivors are stoic. (times) • Japanese survivors are stoic when they face conditions after the bomb. • Japanese survivors are stoic when • Japanese survivors are stoic when •
[Edit by="kspachuk on Jun 19, 12:20:51 PM"][/Edit]
I use songs whenever I can in teaching, attached is a song about President Truman from a CD collection called Of Great and Mortal Men. The collection has a song for each American president, I hear about this on NPR and I bought the cds.
I have used Hiroshima for teaching sentence variety, author's style, and sentence composing. Attached you will find an example of sentence combining activity from the book. It is a good warm-up, it is an unscrambling activity.
As a suggestion for teaching Haiku to middle grade students, I have found it successful to ask students to write Haiku about one another. It may seem silly, but it's difficult to adquately capture a person in 3 lines. It gives the students a chance to better understand the syllable pattern, and they usually have a better appreciation for the Haikus we analyze after trying to create their own.
Two hamburger ideas, both raised by members of our 2009 summer seminar.
You can look at globalization in many ways, but one of the most interesting is looking at local adaptation of global products/trends. One thing students consider themselves experts on is American fast food.
A great academic reference (parts of which might be adapted for high school students) is Golden Arches East. It looks at McDonalds in Asia. For example, the intro by Woody Watson (he organized the project, his students, now professors elsewhere, wrote on their special areas) includes a great note about a project to acculturate mainland Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong. The culuminating activity is a visit to McDonalds!
Note, please, that a second edition came out in 2006. You can see part of it in Google Books and easily buy it online or borrow it from the library.
Here's the Big Mac Index that The Economist publishes. It hints at how well or poorly markets price currencies (but also neglects local market conditions that might affect commodities that are rendered into the hamburger. http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/
Please also note that it's not just McDonalds that has gone global. Yum Brands owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and other chains. It derives the bulk of its growth and profits overseas, especially in China. Your students could study the growth of these chains in China and elsewhere. See if they can see what kind of promotions they run, what sort of advertisements they use, and the extent to which they modify the menu to accommodate local norms and preferences.
Finally, it's important to note that there are many more Asian restaurants in the US than Western restaurants in Asia. Perhaps your students could inventory the range of restaurants and food stores within 3 miles of the school. They could also look for Asian foods on the shelves of local markets.
As always, please do share your experiences working with students on topics such as these. Please also share student work.
Last year I taught 7th and 8th graders at Sun Valley Middle School. I think that my kids were awesome and were not given the credit they deserve nor the respect. It is hard for many of them to look beyond the world outside their doors because of the immediacy of that world. If they walk down the wrong block they could get shot and I am not exaggerating the situation. They face many hardships and fall into illegal activities for survival and then are treated like criminals instead of being given a way out of the situation. My student population also ran the gambit when it came to English proficiency. Some kids who had lived here their whole lives were stuck in the ESL System unjustifiably. Under those circumstance, I was still able to have my kids work on Arabic script posters; comment on Little Buddha intelligently and ask profound questions; watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and be impressed not only by the fighting skills displayed but also with the intricacies of the storyline. My kids rocked because they were able to do more than many of my colleagues would give them credit for.
It is long (but not too long) and detailed, and talks a little bit about the history of tea and about different styles of tea. It seems like great cultural enrichment for a chinese language class or for a unit on china.
I'm thinking of introducing students to an abacus, learn a little about its history, and use one to understand a way of life.
(This is not exactly HS but I'm sharing this because of my experience teaching MS)
Almost all my MS students are Hispanics and I go through the same observation that they are not exposed to East Asian cultures. While teaching China and Japan, I ask them what they know about things Chinese and Japanese. The first responses are normally - food, Bruce Lee/karate, Shaolin temple, chop sticks, noodles, fortune cookies (?), etc.
I then explain that fortune cookies started in the US and not in East Asia; then I go on to explain the Chinese 'triads' and their link to the Shaolin temple just to heighten their curiosity. After teaching them feudal Japan, I'll mention that when we go out of class, they should be walking "quietly in the corridors like the shadow warriors - the ninjas". I've never heard any protest to this remark - all of a sudden they become reflective. They always enjoy sketching the Chinese and Japanese characters and I ask them to write 'Japan' in Kanji or write their Period number in Chinese during the Quiz.
I would like to offer two ideas to help in HS settings that I have seen work in younger settings. First, have a small faculty committee or student group identify international backgrounds on your own campus. Create a series of presenters that help students better understand people's backgrounds and lives. From immigrant staff members to community contacts, early and multiple exposure to those who are different could only have the opposite effect of helping students find commonalities. I have been trying to do a similar thing for college graduates in our middle school. Kids need to hear about experiences and places to help them find their own "place" in the world. I am always fascinated by the stories of my immigrant students and families, similar to my friends and family growing up.
Second suggestions is creating student committees to help set international theme weeks on campus. Similar to ethnic celebrations during the calendar year, such as Black History Month, schools can utilize their student body power to help boost awareness. Similar to the prom committee, this could be something that the school could promote with proper district support. Without the politics and world issues of a U.N. kind of themes, simple give more credence to the beauty of all cultures and histories. Our librarian always does a good job of rotating themes in our library. Imagine if the cafeteria has foods to match the week's themes. The school activities and even the faculty dress could try to match the themes. It could even be in just one academic department. I loved it when our administrators, counselors and faculty wore cap and gowns of their respective degrees as a theme for college day. I think sometimes just taking it over the top just the little bit gets the kids attention, and hopefully lifelong respect and love for other places and people...
Now that I have been reassigned to teach Biology and Integrated Science, I am excited to explore the contributions Asia has to Science.
It seemed like teaching Math was such a dead end to reaching into the different cultures, but now I can do more exploring...
Will keep abreast of the different websites I do find within the context of Science and Asia cultures.
Greetings,
A great activity in any Geography, World History, and any class that discusses some aspect of Asian culture would be a food fair. Have students get into groups and have them research a particular region of Asia. They should research the culture of that region, their language, history, customs, religion, and food. To culminate this project students will give a brief presentation on their findings and bring to class a food dish from that region. They must also research the dish explain its significance, its ingredients, and how it is made. I believe that one can learn so much from a culture by its food.
John Yamazaki
Greetings,
There is so much in the media today regarding Japan, Yasakuni Shrine, and Asian relations. It would be great to teach students about perception through how Japan perceives its self in WWII. I would give my students an overview of Japan's role in WWII and I would discuss the common perceptions held by some Japanese. I would then have them watch a WWII film from the Japanese perspective and one from another perspective. I would have them analyze each film and I would have them write an essay about the perspectives of each and why each film has such a perspective.
John Yamazaki
Hi! I teach ESL at the high school level. Most of my students are also hispanic/latino, however, I do have several Asian students. I have had a similar experience to yours regarding hispanic attitudes toward new cultures. The Asian culture seems to be regarded as mysterious, unknown and intimidating. Initially, some of my Latino students were rude to my Asian student and made fun of his desire and ability to excell academically. However, eventually, most of my students came to admire or at least accept his work ethic and academic prowess. Everyone wanted to sit near him in the hopes of getting ideas and/or copying his paper! In turn, he learned to enjoy some aspects of the Latino culture such as working together in groups, having parties and enjoying delicious foods. In the future, I plan to do more to introduce my class the Asian culture and indeed, all cultures. Every culture has something to contribute!
I love this idea! It has a great hook for the students - who would not want be interested in learning how to write his name in Japanese? Would this webquest also work as group project incorporating cooperative learning?
I LOVE this lesson! I want to take your class. I am also very interested in the very curious custom of foot-binding. Did the pictures come from the book, Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Custom or a website? Even though foot-binding sounds horrible in this modern age, it can easily be compared to many painful things that so many American do to improve their sex appeal such as liposuction, implants, etc. This is such a great idea for an engaging essay topic!
Another lesson that one can do is through the use of small learning teams. I would use this or something very similar to INTRODUCE a unit on Asia. I would break the class up into groups of four or five, and usually these are groups that have worked together before.
1. Simply have the students raise their hands and tell you the names of the Asian cultures- Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc. Write them on the board.
3. Once they are broken into teams, go around with a hat. The names of the various Asian cultures are written on slips of paper. Each team selects one (eliminates stupid arguments and time wasted).
4. Each group's mission is to simply list in 5 minutes as many things as they can about that particular culture. Have them be as specific as possible. Also, before they get to this point, address the difference between a fact and an opinion or stereotype (I neglected to do this one time and it really backfired on me and caused a lot more work in the end). Tell them to think about all areas of life- location, food, entertainment, history, music, sports etc.
5. When they are done have them read their lists to the class. You will be amazed at how little they know, how easily they confuse the cultures etc...
Address some of the misconceptions. You will find this an excellent way to hook your students and it is an excellent springboard into your unit.[Edit by="gjones on Jul 21, 11:58:00 AM"][/Edit]
Students are often surprised to learn about the role of Asians and Africans in the First World War. Here are two articles, both of which include stereotypes and one of which includes racist labels, about the Chinese in France during World War One. Both articles include photos of Chinese laborers.
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Chinese_Laborers/Chinese_Laborers_01.htm
Our school has an umbrella curriculum that is similar to your idea. Our school uses PBL (project base learning) in which they make their learning a part of a "real-world" scenario. I am making an original webquest with East Asia topics/concerns. One idea is to help them determine whether the hierarchy of the aristocrates in China was influenced by their geography with respect to The Great Wall, the yellow river, the Himalayas, and the Pacific Ocean. I still have everything on the drawing board. It would be great to send National Geographic several final project for evaluation.
As we launch into the final sweep of days this school year, mythology is where the class is dwelling. Completely out of sequence, we finished Shakespeare's well loved and over trodden love story, Romeo and Juliet, just in time to tuck in the background to the various allusions and other literary devices on the bard's figurative landscape. Along that road, due to the heritage projects at the beginning of the year, many students have been bringing up correlations to other folk tales within their own cultural bloodlines. The Toad Bridegroom, a Korean Folk Tale, is one such tale. Like the Greeks, the good mortals were protected by the gods and the ones who disobeyed the gods were punished etc. The inspirational impetus is truly uncertain at times; however, the connections are clear, valid, and validating. Good resources for those teaching English to the younger set - high school freshman.
The Toad Bridegroom (A Korean Folk Tale)
The earliest form of religion practiced by Korea’s ancient peoples was based on old folk traditions rooted in the occult-like worship of shamans. The earliest identifiable inhabitants of the Korean peninsula were the Altaic-speaking Tungus people, who migrated to Korea in about 3000 B.C. and solidified the mythological worship of the three sam sin gods. These gods included the most popular and almighty god of heaven and two others-the god of Earth and the god of ancestors.
According to Tungus beliefs, in 2333 B.C., the shaman-king Tagun, a direct descendant of the god of heaven, founded Korea. Tangun went on to encourage the widespread worship of the god of heaven from the great altar he established near what is today the city of Seoul.
The Tungus worshiped these three important mythical gods and countless lesser gods. On Earth and in the natural world, the Tungus found new and interesting gods or godly creations in the forms of animals, plants, and landscapes. Shamanic teachings and values were directed against the spread of evil spirits. The gods guided and protected those who were gracious and good. Many of the Tungus people’s fundamental beliefs are still honored and followed by the Koreans today.
This selection is a retelling of the ancient Korean tale of the big toad that wants to be loved and accepted for who he is-not for what he looks like. This theme goes along with the theme of love based on looks in Romeo and Juliet. Another folk tale from Korea even hits closer to the Shakespearean tragic tale.
Image:barrysclipart.com
She was buried near the place where the flower was found. After a while, another flower appeared in the same place as the first one.
Endless Love
A Traditional Korean Folktale
An original tale written by
Ji-Young Lee from Korea
This is a tale of undying love between a young couple who won the struggle to be together.
Long ago, there was a village named 'Sa-rang' in Korea. The village had two flowers that cried when a couple passed nearby. These flowers never died.
A long time ago there was a couple, Soo-il and Soon-ae, living in Sa-rang. They loved each other so much that they wanted to get married, but Soon-ae's father, who was very rich, never allowed her to marry Soo-il, who was very poor.
A few days later, her father lied to her. He told her that Soo-il got married to another girl and pushed her to marry a rich guy named Jung-bae. She was very sad because she believed her father and agreed to marry Jung-bae.
But, Soon-ae' and Jung-bae were not happy because they did not love each other. He hung out with friends, met other girls, and seldom came back home. They would not stay together long.
One day, Soon-ae heard a strange, continuous sound from outside the window, so she slowly went to the window and opened it up. When she looked down, there was Soo-il. Her heart started beating faster, and she made up her mind to go to him. She jumped down from her room, which was on the second floor, and then she felt a big pain and fainted.
When Soon-ae was able to open her eyes, she saw the people she loved. There were members of her family and Soo-il. They all looked at her with concern, but at that moment she discovered that she could not move at all. She knew her father had lied to her, and she cried every day. Soo-il came to see her every day, but her father would not let him see her.
Soo-il decided to secretly take her to a small town in the country where nobody could find them. In that town. he cut trees and sold them to make a living, while Sa-rang slowly recovered and was able to move again.
One day when Soo-il was coming back home after cutting trees, he saw a rose on the edge of a cliff. Because Soon-ae liked roses, he tried to pick the rose. Unfortunately, he slid and fell over the cliff.
While she was waiting for him as usual, some people living in the town came to her with his possessions. Immediately, she went to the place where his possessions were found even though she could not walk well.
However, when she got there, she could not find his body, only a strange flower. After that, she never ate or drank and never talked to anybody. She only thought about Soo-il, who could never return to her.
A couple of days later, she closed her eyes for ever and ever. She was buried near the place where the flower was found. After a while, her grave disappeared, and another flower appeared in the same place as the first one.
and yet one more...
While Kongi was doing the house chores, a frog appeared in front of her. It did all the house chores for her.
Kongi and Potgi,
A Korean Cinderella Story
Retold by Youngil-Seo from Korea
This is a Korean "Cinderella-type" story. A beautiful young girl is mistreated by her ugly step-mother and her ugly step-sister.
A long, long time ago, there were two sisters. The older sister's name was Kongi and the younger sister's name was Potgi. Kongi had a stepmother. The stepmother and Potgi disliked Kongi because she was so beautiful and kind; she was a lovely person.
Potgi was very ugly; she was also a greedy and selfish person. The stepmother and Potgi always made Kongi do house chores, but she never complained about that.
One day, a rich, young man held a party to look for a girl to be his bride. All of the young girls were invited to the party, but Kongi couldn't go because the stepmother ordered her to stay home and do house chores and told her not to go there.
While Kongi was doing the house chores, a frog appeared in front of her. The frog did all the house chores for her, so despite the stepmother's orders, she attended the party.
As soon as the young man saw her, he fell in love with her. He wanted to know more about her, but she left the party because she had to get back home before her stepmother came back home.
Leaving the party hurriedly, she lost her rubber shoe. When it came off and she lost it, they young man picked it up. He was able to find the beautiful Kongi because of her rubber shoe. They got married and lived happily ever after.
Explanation of this story
Beauty can be very important in life. :P
Have you read "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck?
In it, the son is incensed that he must marry a woman with large feet! It reinforces his status as a peasant.
Two books that I recommend are:
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel" by Lisa See
"Splendid Slippers:A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition" by Beverley Jackson
We had an excellent lecturer discuss the tradition. It amazed us that it was perpetuated by the women of the family; it was not subjugation by the patriarch.
I taught poetry to the ninth graders and used the haiku and tanka expressive
techniques. It was interesting that they found the words 'haiku' and 'tanka' having little meaning to these peotic styles. Once the class recieved ample examples to model from; however, the most influencial was bringing acutual Chinese tree and the like into the classroom or taking them to any Chinese botanical garden. It was an interesting yet amazing
outcome of student work.
The Good Earth was the novel for last year's Academic Decathlon competition; I remember the students being confused about the importance of foot size.
We were able to visit a Japanese garden and work on imagery and poetry; the students really liked it.
The Japanese Garden on Woodley in Van Nuys is an option for schools in the San Fernando Valley. It is beautiful and the docents I observed were well informed.
http://www.thejapanesegarden.com/Garden/Pages/home.html
If you are willing to spend a few bucks on some pretty good powerpoints you can go to teachersdiscovery.com and download them. English teachers as well as history teachers can go to the site and check them out. I downloaded a Vietnam War ppt. that included video clips from such movies as Forrest Gump, Good Morning Vietnam, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket. I teach U.S. History so I found this helpful. The ppt's are, however, a little pricey.
There is a lot of actual historical film available on youtube that can be shown in class. If you are not sure about your internet connection at the moment of truth you can save the youtube videos with something like orbit and play them back at your convenience with a flv player, also easily found and downloadable. I was able to show video of Mao's long March and his meeting with Nixon with the classroom digital projector from my laptop without too much fuss. I ended up using these videos a lot because it held the students' attention pretty well.
I visited the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights. It's about 60 miles from the valley. but the temple is enormous (on 15 aces), comprised of architecture from the Ming & Qing dynasties. Apparently founded by Hsing Yun the temple is for the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light Mountain) Buddhist Order. According to their website, it is a Mahayana Chinese Buddhism monastic order. They have outreach programs, classes in meditation, book publishing, a book store, tea shop, and a museum with lots of art and an actual Shakyamuni relic (they say). The place is a wonderful exhibit of all kinds of interesting facets of Buddhism, not the least of which is its effort to bring Buddhism into the contemporary world. They told me that schools come all the time and are given tours. I just think this is fascinating. If only it weren't so far. Still I think it would be worth it to take a class on a field trip.
to: mceballos,
I think that it is very good idea to bring something related to the theme. You mentioned bringing a Chinese tree, and taking the students to a Chinese Botanical Garden.
I have a suggestion: since Haiku and Tanka belong to Japanese literature, you could take the students to a Japanese Garden. While Japanese and Chinese gardens sometimes look alike, they are very different; both have unique elements and styles.
Today I finally got around to visiting the Japanese Gardens next to the water recycling plant on Woodley between Burbank & Victory. A docent took us on a tour and we got to look at a lot of pretty views. He told us it's among the top 10 in the country. They have a teahouse and a gift shop. They also have special events if you check the website. They have school tours all the time. His little presentation took about 90 minutes. Lots of information about the theory of Japanese gardens (different shades of green, for example). It's something I think our students could appreciate, especially since the bus ride is not so lengthy. It could be combined with the tour of the water reclamation plant to double as a science lesson.
During my first year of teaching I went on a field trip to the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles. While there I picked up a videos that was made by Toyo Miyake called "Infinite Shades of Gray". The video is short (about 30 minutes) but the footage is terrific. Miyake "smuggled" into Manzanar a camera that allowed him to capture the daily lives of Japanese prisoners. The film is really a mini biography, but it is worth showing students due to the great photos he captured in the camps. If you're around LA visit the museum and pick up a copy.
Clay,
Excellent website!! I teach WWI and extensively cover the Western Front. To be honest I did not realize how much the Chinese were involved on the Western Front. I clicked on the link that you gave and started reading and I couldn't stop. I will definitely be checking this site out when I cover WWI this coming school year and be sure to include the contributions that the Chinese gave to the war effort.
I had no idea such a thing even existed! I wish I'd known about that when I taugh Manzanar last year. Do you know if it is sold online anywhere?
-Laura
In your heritage project, do you require them to come up with folktales that reflect their family's ethnic background? That's an interesting thought.
-Laura
We talked about Confucianism in class. The idea about ancestor worship is one of the central theme for Confucianism. My parents still practice ancestor worship.
They put variety of fruits and food on a silk embroidered table cloth with ancestor's name board and pictures. They burn the incense and pour wine for them. Then they "ke tou" kneel down and bow to them three times while saying their prayers. I am a christian and it is against my religion to bow to another being. However, I think it will be O.k. to show a short video clip of how people carry out that ritual to the central idea of Confucianism.
This summer, the Travel Channel introduced China in a four day segment. It had amazing footage of every region from east to west and north to south. This could be a starting point for those who need some visual in the classroom. The segments were very detailed and brought along a background on the country's traditions. I might use this program (or CD) in the classroom for background information purposes. The students could write a compare and contrast essay on how their own country shares some key values. Other types of writing came be used for example: narrative, exposition, or persuasion.
I would highly recommend spending a day or two on reading and discussing excerpts from Iris Chang's highly controversial book, "The Rape of Nanking". The book is broken into three separate sections: the event from Japanese accounts, the event from the victims, and the even as seen by the foreigners who were in the city at the time of the attack, including a Nazi who came to be known as the Nazi "Oscar Schindler" (pardon me for the bad spelling).
The book begins with dazzling and shocking facts and images, including the idea that if all of the victims of nanking held hands they could form a human chain that went for miles. The personal stories of some of the survivors would probably be the best excerpts to use. One I remember clearly was about a man who was stabbed and got pushed into a pit of other dead bodies, some of them headless as a result of head chopping contests by Japanese soldiers. He had to lay underneath other dead bodies and pretend he was dead. Then, hours later Japanese soldiers came by and started stabbing all of the bodies to make sure all of them were dead - he ended up being stabbed 5 or 6 times but he had to force himself not to make a noise or else the Japanese would really kill him.
Though the book is surrounded in controversy, it can be used to excite students even more: "Why do you think certain historians are against this book?" "Why would the Japanese government not like this book" "Why are so many people attacking this book?" Kids love that stuff, and i have no doubt that this book can be used to challenge students, as well as shock them as to the events that occured in Nanjing during World War 2.
Hey!
I teach about world problems at my school. We have a sophomore project where students must pick a world problem, do a research project and 40 hours of community service related to it. In my class, I presented this article for students to read and present to the class to open awareness about Cancer in different ethnic groups and countries around the world.
Please note the experience of Chinese women in American and Asia in terms of the susceptibility to Breast Cancer and how it varies from white women.
Time Magazine Article:
Changing Face of Breast Cancer[Edit by="ptalreja on Sep 7, 12:36:24 PM"][/Edit]
The democratization of South Korea and Taiwan over the past two decades are important and seldom told stories. Both were military dictatorships until the late 1980s and both only became multiparty democracies in the late 1990s.
In South Korea, two former generals turned presidents (Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo) have gone to jail, convicted for treason, mutiny, and corruption. And now in Taiwan, there's the prospect that Chen Shui-bian, the man who broke the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) 50 year hold on political power when he was elected president in 2000, could go to jail. Chen was detained for questioning today. He left the presidency in May 2008.
Some charge this prosecution is politically motivated. Others note that Chen has admitted that payments to his wife were funneled into an overseas account.
We had a symposium on Taiwan's democracy and March 2008 presidential election earlier this year. The article includes links to presentations made at the symposium (including election results, historical data, and examples of print advertising):
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=986
Given the focus last week on the highest ranking cross-strait meeting in 60 years and the focus this week on the arrest of the former president - it would seem a good time to talk with students about Taiwan's struggle to build a democracy and to maintain autonomy while still forging essential economic ties with the mainland.
Looking for a way to interest students in discussing current economic news and international trade? Photos of how the economic downturn has affected vehicle imports might do it. The LA and Long Beach ports are full of cars that they can't move elsewhere as no one is buying. Toyota, Nissan, and Mercedes Benz are all looking for more land to rent to store the cars they've already brought to America. Here's a slide show from the NY Times on the subject:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/17/business/1117-PORTS_index.html?adxnnl=1&ref=multimedia&adxnnlx=1227389182-XrErCYmzizbkQaXxhmX5wQ
Here's the accompanying article. It includes a great graph showing how many days supply of cars the manufacturers now have. Hyundai in 2006 had a 59 day supply, now it has 115 days. Toyota had a 42 day supply and now has 78.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/business/economy/19ports.html?sq=long%20beach&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all
Please share your ideas and experiences teaching about the national and international economy.
For those interested in exploring Japanese samurai through art and imagery, the Pacific Asia Museum's new exhibition, "The Samurai Re-Imagined: From Ukiyo-e to Anime," will open on February 19.
"The Samurai Re-Imagined: From Ukiyo-e to Anime" uses the image of the iconic samurai warrior to explore the roots of the popular Japanese art forms of manga (graphic novels) and anime (animation). By juxtaposing traditional and contemporary works of art -- woodblock prints with animation cels, for example -- the exhibition creates a visual history demonstrating the links between fine art and popular culture.
The exhibit runs from February 19 through August 9, 2009 and includes woodblock prints and paintings along with samurai swords and accoutrements from Pacific Asia Museums collection; plus animation productions cels and drawings, motion picture stills, posters, toys, and comic books and manga on loan from private collections.
For additional information, contact Julian Bermudez at (213) 219-9508 or mailto:julianbermudez@hotmail.com.
For a listing of events related to this exhibition, visit the exhibition webpage at http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/exhibitions/Samurai.htm.
I've just taught section 19.2 from "World History: Patterns of Interaction" which focuses on the Ming and Qing dynasties. We focused on Confucian values and contact with the West. To complement this, I used the following extract from the Ebrey sourcebook:
Zang Han “Essay on Merchants” (1511-1593) Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Patricia Ebrey. New York: The Free Press. 1993. 216-220.
As to the foreign trade on the northwestern frontier and the foreign sea trade in the southeast, if we compare their advantages and disadvantages with respect to our nation’s wealth and the people’s well-being, we will discover that they are as different as black and white. But those who are in charge of state economic matters know only the benefits of the Northwest trade, ignoring the benefits of the sea trade. How can they be so blind?
In the early years of the frontier trade, China traded sackcloth and copper cash to the foreigners. Now we use silk and gold but the foreigners repay us only with thin horses. When we exchanged sackcloth and copper cash for their thin horses, the advantage of the trade was still with China and our national wealth was not endangered. But now we give away gold and silk, and the gold, at least, will never come back to us, once it flows into foreign lands. Moreover, to use the silk that China needs for people’s clothing to exchange for useless, inferior horses is clearly unwise.
Foreigners are recalcitrant and their greed knows no bounds. At the present time our nation spends over one million cash yearly from our treasury on those foreigners; still we cannot rid ourselves of their demands. What is more, the greedy heart is unpredictable. If one day these foreigners break the treaties and invade our frontiers, who will be able to defend us against them? I do not think our present trade with them will ensure us with a century of peace.
As to the foreigners in the southeast, their goods are useful to us just as ours are to them. To use what one has to exchange for what one does not have is what trade is all about. Moreover, these foreigners trade with China under the name of tributary contributions. That means China’s authority is established, and the foreigners are submissive. Even if the gifts we grant them are great and the tribute they send us is small, our expense is still less than one ten-thousandth of the benefit we gain from trading with them...
1. What is the difference between the northwest trade and the southeast trade?
2. Why does Zang Han find the northwest trade less acceptable?
3. Who were the Ming trading with on their northwest border?
4. If the northwest trade is so unprofitable, why would China continue to engage in it?
5. How does the attitude of the author reflect the attitudes of the Ming Dynasty?
6. How does the attitude of the author compare with that of the Yuan Dynasty toward trade?
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The point of the questions above is to get the students to think about the relationship between the the Ming dynasty, the preceding Yuan dynasty, and the later Qing Dynasty, particularly as far as trade and Confucian values are concerned.
Becca - This is a great document and set of questions. How did your students respond? Were they surprised to see discussions of trade policies and tactics from hundreds of years ago?
I teach an ancient/medieval world history class for 9th graders. Here are two final exam essay topics that allow students to reflect on and integrate knowledge about Europe and Asia:
Topic 1: Golden Ages
Consider cultural blossoming in the periods below and answer the following question: Throughout history, has internal cultural development (including rediscovery of a historical culture of the same region) or external cultural contact been more important in creating periods of growth and creativity?
You must write on ALL THREE OF THESE:
- Charlemagne’s Era
- High Middle Ages (14.2)
- Renaissance Europe
And you must write on AT LEAST TWO OF THESE:
- Tang/Song China
- Ottoman Empire
- Safavid Empire
- Mughal India
Topic #2 Campaigns of Conquest
Compare and contrast the campaigns of conquest we've read about this semester and answer the following questions: Which brought the greatest benefits? Which caused the greatest damage? Why?
You must write on ALL THREE OF THESE:
- The Germanic campaigns that brought about the Dark Ages
- The Crusades
- The Hundred Years' War
And you must write on at least TWO OF THESE:
- The Mongol Invasion of China
- The Safavid conquest of Persia
- The Mughal conquest of India
- The creation of the Ottoman Empire.
Thanks!
The kids did well with this, although we had to review some map work to help make sense of the 'northwest frontier' and what that implied.
This discussion was especially productive since I was planning final essay topics that would relate to cross cultural comparison.
I find they are always interested in talking about trade--the difficulty is making them understand how lacking in connection most earlier eras were rather than the reverse.
Becca
In the Spring 2009 edition of Education About Asia, the lesson on page 55 is worth a read and a try. I like the lesson because the readings are short and digestible. I could see using the material for a research project. Possibly by having students learn to access the Digital Library system that LAUSD has.
Since, I lived in Japan and taught at all levels, I would like to use this lesson plan and the resources as a model for creating a similar lesson on US-Japanese Relations and education. Of course this could be done of any culture that we are presenting. It is engaging because the students get some familiarity with different educational systems and learning methods.
I have attached a handout have used in teaching haiku. I believe that haiku in English should be even briefer than usually defined, more like 3-5-3 syllable count is better and more similar to Japanese type.
In the attached handout you will find haiku by Basho, Etheridge Knight, Octavio Paz, Kerouac, Antonio Machado, and Ezra Pound. I wanted a multicultural perspective on haiku and a diversity of types. If you are interested in more information on haiku please read my review of the book The Haiku Handbook on this forum
Below are listed the concepts and definitions that I appropriated from the handbook.
Japanese Ideas & Concepts
1. Enryo—the technique of polite obedience or acquiescence to hide inner fury
2. Ganbaru—to do one’s best
3. Bushido—“way of the warrior,” is a code of conduct and ethics of the samurai which includes being frugal and loyal, mastery of martial arts and honor unto death.
4. Aware—(touchingness) moving, stirring, the kind of the thing that evokes an emotional response
5. Sabi (patina, loneliness) beauty with a sense of loneliness in time, akin to, but deeper than, nostalgia
6. Wabi—(loneliness, poverty) beauty with a sense of asceticism; austere beauty
7. Yugen—(mystery) elegance, mystery, depth, obscure, dark beauty only partially perceived not fully felt.
8. Haiku—a brief poem, seasonal & often with nature as a subject, consisting 5-7-5or of 5 syllables in the 1st line, 7 syllables in the 2nd line, and 5 syllables in the 3rd and last line, though it maybe briefer in English.
In the tenth grade I teach the book Hiroshima by John Hersey. I find this book presents good multiple perspective examination of the bombing of Hiroshima. In the book there are 6 people that are near the epicenter of bombing and each is followed until well after the war--20-30 years later.
I have attached the facts that I expect my students to memorize on Japan and Hiroshima, essay prompts that I have used in the past, maps, etc...
I usually present the facts as a cloze activity to sustain interest, so a fill in the blank activity.
[Edit by="kspachuk on Jun 19, 12:29:33 PM"][/Edit]
Two Evaluations
I. Create a graphic novel/comic about one of the following sections of the book:
a. 104-109 Dr. Sasaki d. 141-147 Reverend Tanimoto
b. 121-126 Ms. Sasaki e. 96-100 Ms. Nakamura
c. 128-133 Dr. Fujii f. 111-117 Father Kleinsorge
You must:
1. Create 6-10 page comic using 3x3 panel design
2. Use both thought/speech bubbles and captions
3. Create a book or put on poster board
4. Draw, use a computer, and/or magazine collage
5. Elaborate on story and/or make local
6. Try to include an advertisement or graffiti
7. Title your comic and put the pages you covered
8. Use at least 3 different panel transitions
II. Write an essay using myaccess.com
• Write an essay about the bombing of Hiroshima as a significant moment in history. Refer to multiple sources (i.e. articles, books, websites, videos etc…) and perspectives (difference in gender, societal role, background…)
• Your essay should contain quotes and references for the quotes.
References
Although the people of Hiroshima come together as a community in response to the bombing, as victims, they suffer alone. Many references throughout the book, Hiroshima, depict how the people have severe, hideous injuries but do not complain or cry out; they suffer silently (stoically). Hersey suggests that this is a uniquely Japanese characteristic—that Japanese individuals attach great importance to not disturbing the larger group and do not call attention to their own needs or pain. In a well developed essay find specific examples of this Japanese characteristic. First, start essay with a hook, a quote, and/or important statement/question. Then, choose 1-3 of the six survivors that the author Hersey interviewed as representing different perspectives on the bombing. You might try finding examples of when:
Japanese survivors are stoic. (reasons)
• Japanese survivors are stoic because they could be strong and supportive of their country.
• Japanese survivors are stoic because
•
Japanese survivors are stoic. (kinds)
• Japanese religious characters are stoic.
• Japanese
•
Japanese survivors are stoic. (parts)
• Japanese survivors’ attitude is stoic.
• Japanese survivors’
• Japanese survivors’
•
Japanese survivors are stoic. (times)
• Japanese survivors are stoic when they face conditions after the bomb.
• Japanese survivors are stoic when
• Japanese survivors are stoic when
•
[Edit by="kspachuk on Jun 19, 12:20:51 PM"][/Edit]
I use songs whenever I can in teaching, attached is a song about President Truman from a CD collection called Of Great and Mortal Men. The collection has a song for each American president, I hear about this on NPR and I bought the cds.
I use annotation style summaries of short sections of books. Here is my model attached of pages 13-15 of the book Hiroshima.
I have used Hiroshima for teaching sentence variety, author's style, and sentence composing. Attached you will find an example of sentence combining activity from the book. It is a good warm-up, it is an unscrambling activity.
As a suggestion for teaching Haiku to middle grade students, I have found it successful to ask students to write Haiku about one another. It may seem silly, but it's difficult to adquately capture a person in 3 lines. It gives the students a chance to better understand the syllable pattern, and they usually have a better appreciation for the Haikus we analyze after trying to create their own.
Two hamburger ideas, both raised by members of our 2009 summer seminar.
You can look at globalization in many ways, but one of the most interesting is looking at local adaptation of global products/trends. One thing students consider themselves experts on is American fast food.
A great academic reference (parts of which might be adapted for high school students) is Golden Arches East. It looks at McDonalds in Asia. For example, the intro by Woody Watson (he organized the project, his students, now professors elsewhere, wrote on their special areas) includes a great note about a project to acculturate mainland Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong. The culuminating activity is a visit to McDonalds!
Here's an excerpt by our friend and UCLA colleague Yan Yunxiang:
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/watson-arches.html
Note, please, that a second edition came out in 2006. You can see part of it in Google Books and easily buy it online or borrow it from the library.
Here's the Big Mac Index that The Economist publishes. It hints at how well or poorly markets price currencies (but also neglects local market conditions that might affect commodities that are rendered into the hamburger.
http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/
Please also note that it's not just McDonalds that has gone global. Yum Brands owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and other chains. It derives the bulk of its growth and profits overseas, especially in China. Your students could study the growth of these chains in China and elsewhere. See if they can see what kind of promotions they run, what sort of advertisements they use, and the extent to which they modify the menu to accommodate local norms and preferences.
US-China Today features an article on this:
http://www.uschina.usc.edu/ShowFeature.aspx?articleID=3945
Finally, it's important to note that there are many more Asian restaurants in the US than Western restaurants in Asia. Perhaps your students could inventory the range of restaurants and food stores within 3 miles of the school. They could also look for Asian foods on the shelves of local markets.
As always, please do share your experiences working with students on topics such as these. Please also share student work.
Last year I taught 7th and 8th graders at Sun Valley Middle School. I think that my kids were awesome and were not given the credit they deserve nor the respect. It is hard for many of them to look beyond the world outside their doors because of the immediacy of that world. If they walk down the wrong block they could get shot and I am not exaggerating the situation. They face many hardships and fall into illegal activities for survival and then are treated like criminals instead of being given a way out of the situation. My student population also ran the gambit when it came to English proficiency. Some kids who had lived here their whole lives were stuck in the ESL System unjustifiably. Under those circumstance, I was still able to have my kids work on Arabic script posters; comment on Little Buddha intelligently and ask profound questions; watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and be impressed not only by the fighting skills displayed but also with the intricacies of the storyline. My kids rocked because they were able to do more than many of my colleagues would give them credit for.
There was an awesome article in Wednesday's LA Times on tea:
"At Tea Habitat, tea connoisseurship is taken to the extreme"
August 19, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-teahabitat19-2009aug19,0,4817599.story
It is long (but not too long) and detailed, and talks a little bit about the history of tea and about different styles of tea. It seems like great cultural enrichment for a chinese language class or for a unit on china.
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