I think the Chinese American Museum in LA would be good for a 1-2 hour feild trip. The facilities aren't too big so you wouldn't have to worry about losing any little ones. There is student work posted in the museum as well. It has a small family run business type of feel to it. There is enough art to keep the students interest and it would be easy to incorporate a lesson on Chinese American History.
In my classroom we do a huge fairytale unit. After a bit of exploration at Barnes and Noble I found many Cinderella Stories from other countries and then the Chinese version of "Little Red Riding Hood" titled "Lon Po Po."
Comparing stories from different cultures is fun. I usually compare Cinderella, but this year I switched. I really liked the Peach Boy and discovered there is another story called the Inch Boy (both Japanese tales). I had students brainstorm about books that sounded similar, and then we read Tom Thumb and Thumbling. It was a nice change. I am currently searching for additional stories from other cultures about a small child who accomplishes something no one else thought they would have been able to do.
I've found a great resource if you are interested in teaching your students about symbolism in asian art. It contains a short list of symbols, their meanings, and a 6th grade lesson plan to use.
Finally, the best site i've found yet... This one includes a list of 15 or so animals and what they represent in Asian works of art. I plan on using it as I create my website lessons.
In second grade we introduce an Atlas to our students. We discuss different types of maps and how to read different maps. We focus on the importance of the map key. After we explored our class Atlas, I handed out a map of China to my students. The students designed a map key to show the major cities, rives, and country borders. The students were able to label all of these things independently with different symbols and colors. Then the students were asked to answer questions specifically about the map.
Yesterday my 1st Grade class went on a field trip to a farm. Always thinking of ways to connect Asia into the day-to-day classroom learning activities, I found information and worksheets on farm animals in China. The short printable book has pages for the kids to cut out, read and color. The Chinese characters are given for each animal name so the kids can practice their calligraphy. The little book is called Sheng Chu/Livestock. I think the kids will enjoy this. http://www.enchantedlearning.com
I was searching for some good website resources for Asian based curriculum lesson plans and information. I found one site: Asia EdNet and I think their site can be very useful in developing lesson plans or your curriculum. They have a discussion group, a website directory, and best of all learning activities! I think it could be used a as online lesson where kids would be required to access certain pages and then respond.
This website is all about china (history, art, architecture, religion, etc. ) in a very kid-friendly format. If you were comparing cultures, you could use the same website and access its Greek, Egypt, or West Indian pages. Confusing words are underlined and clickable. These links give you more info. about those concepts. A great starting website.
I have done a lesson with my ceramic students where we make ceramic stamps. For my asia unit with my basic art class I am creating a unit where we study Asia through landscape painting, calligraphy, and stamp making. I have attached a handout for making the ceramic stamps for all those interested in using this in your classroom.
I thought you might like to pass this information on to some of your art students to motivate them when making pottery. An article today mentioned that Vegas hotel mogul Steve Wynn paid $10.1 million for a Chinese vase that came from the Ming Dynasty. The pearl shaped vase is decorated with a peony scroll? and was auctioned at Christies. Maybe one of your students vases that looks like a Ming type might draw at least a couple thousand in the future.
To begin modules in International Relations, I assign students nations and ask them to a Country Profile. If the module is dealing with AIDs, then the student would do a profile on their country, and their nation’s policy on AIDs. Role playing and simulation are an integral and fun way to learn about nations.
Several years ago, I directed a small group of youngsters in an opener show at our local college. I purchased a two-volume video resource compiled by filmstrip creator, Dr. Dwayne Merry on "Traditional Japan." Dr. Merry is a professor of anthropology and archaeology. He has conducted extensive research and has written books for U.N.E. S. C. O. He and his fluent Japanese-speaking wife travel the countryside capturing stunningly beautiful photographs.
A superb set, Vol 1 focuses on Sumo wrestlers, Asakusa temple, a wedding ceremony at Meiji shrine, the mysterious Ainu at Hokkaido, hot springs, active volcanoes, gardens, parks, temples.
In Vol. 2, the Merrys walk the Tokkaido road that once connected Tokyo and Kyoto. They discover ancient rock carvings of Buddhah sail with Cormorant fishermen; meet a calligrapher, a silkworm farmer, & traditional dancers; visit the majestic Mt. Fiji, and conclude with a visit to the giant Buddha at Kamakura. I think anyone interested in Japan will find this set a valuable resource and a terrific motivational tool for the classroom.
This year there was considerable discussion on Japan. The bombing of Pearl Harbor always creates a lively discussion for my fifth graders. It would an interesting exercise on" points of views" by assuming the position of Japan and why they would assume the aggressor role in the Pacific. There are many reasons the Japenese might felt trapped by the Europeon powers and the U.S. when it came to their oil supplies. The ABCD Alliance played a role. You could also bring in geography and the feeling of living on a limited land base and an archapalegio. Then you could move toward a discussion of when is war ever justified. Peace and conflict resolution need to start early. I do this sometimes with George Washington and have them think about him as a patriot or a traitor for the purpose of generating a discussion. In the eyes of the British, he wa a patriot in the French Indian War while in the American Revolutionary War Washington he was a traitor through British eyes.
If I show a picture of a cuddly panda bear to my class I typically gain the attention of most students. In general, kids love pandas and enjoy learning about them. This provides a great window to educate about China.
I read an article in the May 2007 issue of Faces magazine (for kids) about the Giant Panda. the article discusses the value of pandas to Chinese culture and their part in Chinese history. It also explains how the rising population of China calls for increased amounts of farmland and more villiages, both factors that are intruding on the habitat of the panda and bamboo. Also informative is the discussion of the first Panda Reserve, Wolong Panda Reserve in China.
As an environmentally-minded person I find this very interesting and I intend to share this with my students. It is a great topic for debate!
When teaching about pandas it would be great to have students periodically check on live panda cams at the San Diego Zoo, National Zoo, and Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Check these out:
I found yet another great article in the May 2007 Faces magazine (I will be subscribing now, this magazine is great and has tons of kid-friendly issues dedicated to Asia.) This article is on Chinese table mannerss. I have been inspired to have my students read this article and have a meal where we use this set of manners. I learned the value of knowing a culture's table manners when I studied abroad in Jamaica and discovered the hard way that you are not expected to eat everything you are served - the host serves much more than one typically would eat as a sign of respect to the guest and the guest shows respect for the host by leaving food on the plate. (Two very painfully stuffed meals went by before I could track down my school professor and ask how to decline more food!) I am now very interested in learning table manners from around the world.
I was intrigued to find out that the way I eat with chopsticks would be considered to be a sign of dissatisfaction to a Chinese host. There are also many other rules/manners I did not know about. I think my students would enjoy the experience of learning Chinese table manners and practicing them. I would also love to make this lesson one of many where we learn about table manners from around the world, maybe even a refresher course on American table manners can slip in too!
The Mongolian Ger, commonly called a yurt, is the traditional home of Mongolian nomads. It is round in shape with a wide, cone-shaped roof and covered in canvas. The frame is made of criss-cross pieces of wood, the roof is made of long poles that connect in the middle to a small centerpiece so the whole thing looks like a giant wagon wheel. Everything is tied together with horse hair ropes. The interior is one room with different sections having different purposes.
I have discussed gers with my students in comparison with Native American teepees to show different forms of non-permanent housing. There is no place in the curriculum to specifically talk about Mongolia, so this is another way to slip in info on the geography of Mongolia and ways people create shelter.
There are many campgrounds that have gers (usually called yurts here) that you can stay in. They are obviously made differently than traditional Mongolian gers but have the same general idea. The yurts I have stayed in at campgrounds in Oregon and Washington were very comfortable and had beds, electricity, and heaters (a must when camping in the Northwest during the fall!) In eighth grade my class took an overnight field trip and stayed in yurts. The trip was unrelated to East Asia but we still learned a little about the history of the shelter we were staying in!
The March 2005 issue of Calliope magazine (for kids) was about India's Akbar the Great. The entire issue was informative and kid-friendly and gave a lot of insight into how one person influenced history. I like teaching history by following a specific person because it offers a tangible perspective on history.
One small article talked about the paralles between Akbar the Great and Elizabeth I. I think this would be a great way to include something about India in my teaching, because I have often had to learn about Elizabeth I but never heard of Akbar until I read this magazine.
Some interesting parallels:
Elizabeth and Akbar both struggled with religious divisions among their subjects.
Both sought to promote religious tolerance.
Both were in great part responsible for fostering a golden age.
I think this is another great way to sneak Asia into western civ.
Another issue of one of my new favorite kid's magazines, Calliope, was all about Ashoka, an emperor of the Mauryan Empire in India (January 2000 issue). Ashoka is another leader I had never heard about until researching resources to teach elementary-aged kids about Asia. Ashoka was a leader who began his rule with cruelty but later adopted Buddhist ideals and practiced non-violence. The flag of India has an Ashokan pillar design on it.
One article in the magazine talks about Ashoka's influence over other leaders throughout history. It discusses how Gandhi was influenced by Ashoka when he led in non-violent manners. Gandhi, in turn, influenced people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Following this chain of influence is something I would really like to teach my students and I think they would enjoy it. Every time I have taught a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. I have had the complete attention of my class. This may be a great way to show how a leader from ancient India influenced other great leaders of our time.
Another great point raised in this article was about adding "the great" to the end of a military leader's name. Alexander the Great was discussed as an example of someone who was a military hero and has been deemed great in textbooks. The article asks why Ashoka and other non-violent leaders are not also given the title "the great". I think that would be an interesting point of discussion for my students.
I picked up the book Teacher Talk: Multicultural Lessons Plans for the Elementary Classroom by Deborah Eldridge at a used bookstore about three years ago. The book has compiled teacher-created multicultural units and published the lesson plans and resources used by the teahcers. One of the units is called, "Domo Arigato: A study of Japan, its people and culture." It's a series of 15 lessons, that are simple enough, but entirely engaging, especially for younger elementary students. Lesson 1- Intro- including maps and activating prior knowledge Lesson 2- Sakura- Cherry Blossom song and ribbon dance Lesson 3- What a Country!- flag, islands, bodies of water Lesson 4- Population facts- discussion and game about population Lesson 5- Art Forms- brush painting and origami Lesson 6- Celebrate!- holidays, w/ flying carp project Lesson 7- Haiku- Lesson 8- Home Sweet Home- items in the home and make a "shoji" Lesson 9- I'm hungry- food and using chopsticks Lesson 10- Speaking and Writing- learning words and symbols Lesson 11- "Itchy Knee?"- counting in Japanese Lesson 12- Literature- folk tale study Lesson 13- History- ancient and modern Lesson 14- Biographies- Japanese Americans Lesson 15- Pack it Together- create suitcase to hold their work and a passport to document travels.
It's a great book. For 6th grade teacher's, there's a MesoAmerican unit, there's a weather unit, one called, "knots, quilts, and journeys", another unit is about celebrations and holidays around the world. It's a grea collection that makes me feel a little better about not having to recreate the wheel to introduce new cultures in my class.
The above link to ERIC has a full-text.pdf file of one teacher's sequence of lesson plans to introduce his 3rd grade students to what a day in a Korean elementary school would be like.
The first lesson is an overview lesson of a general day at school- how kids gets to school, how the grades work, what children do at school, as well as a classroom bell schedule for a class. Students are given those resource sheets and prompted to do various actitivties with the information
The second lesson is what school lunch in Korea is like. It has students comparing American lunches with Korean lunches. There is a visual representation of an aluminum tray and how all the Korean lunch foods are separate. There is a written explanation of the lunch foods and lunch procedures and customs.
The third lesson is a typical day in 3rd grade. Students compare and contrast their classroom set ups, rules, procedures, and activities with information provided about a Korean third grade, with a map of the room and description of the class.
The final lesson gives students a map and description of an elementary school in Korea. Students compare their school and available activities with the school in Korea.
The lessons are simple and the information and resource sheets are provided to help students gain some insight into schooling in other countries. I like that it includes a lesson on school lunches. Food is one topic that engages all learners!
For the upcoming New Year's celebration, I have utilized the help from some of my parents to help me make some fortune for some hand-made fortune cookies. Writing is a huge component in the California Standards and I want my students to understand the importance of knowing good sentence structure. The parents will help me make the cookies, while the students will be responsible for coming up with some completed sentences and idioms they've learned in class. They will transfer what they know into small strips of paper that you will see in fortune cookies -- it teaches them editing skills as well as have fun at the same time. Some of the students have noticed that fortune cookies often have lucky numbers and/or Chinese lessons on the back of each fortune. They suggested math problems in place of lucky numbers and Korean/Japanese writing lessons in place of the Chinese ones since that is what they've covered in class. Students stay active and take ownership in their learning.
I'm interested in this book. I think I can use the lessons for my 6, 7 and 8 graders. I have actually tried to teach a lesson about Japanese food, and my students asked me why Japanese like sashimi and sushi so much. If my special ed students can react excitedly to this kind of topic, I think that's a good sign that I'm connecting with them on matters East Asian. I want to try this one. Thanks for the info.
Since I teach third grade, I was thinking that an appropriate introduction to China would be Asian art. I picked up a pamphlet on symbolism in Chinese art at the Phoenix Art Museum and believe the symbolism and stories in artwork can teach volumes to children. What do you think?
I think in the spirit of the New Lunar Year, I think it would be great for students to make gifts (cards, paper flowers, etc) and take it to a convalescent home. There are some in Chinatown and I believe that many elderly are neglected--what a way to bring social justice from the classroom to real life. I had a chance to visit with students (in the past) soup kitchens and organization that packaged food for the needy and both parents and students came away, revived and changed from the experience. I think it is important to plant ideas of service --that it is a gift that keeps giving.
If you go on to google and simply type in Panda Pod Cast - it will come back with reference sites for zoos with Panda Camera's. The students enjoy watching the animals and it is a great way to elicit interest in endangered species. Most of these sites are quite manageable and easy for students to access with the Palos Verdes On-line Network system. It worked in getting my students to begin to talk about China.
I just read the thread about saving the giant pandas. Just wanted to add that the kids could raise money doing chores at home to donate to WWF. They can adopt a "symbolic" panda in which WWF will send the adoption paper, a stuffed replica, and a fact sheet on the panda. This is so motivating for the kids, and they become very interested in global conservation when you "put faces to problems". My kids do this every year with different animals and I see such a change in their priorities and what a great way to teach about other countries!
What grade do you teach? I think it would be interesting to hear kids' solutions at different grade levels. Teaching third, I sometimes get impossible ideas from the kids, but at other times they come up with very practical solutions. Maybe teachers could tell them about the reserve after they come up with their own conservation ideas and then discuss the feasibility of creating more reserves. We could tie this in to the situations right here at home with animals in areas that are coming in to new developments and being killed. It would be a heartfelt and interesting debate!
I found a "virtual China" website http://www.kiku.com/electric_samurai/virtual_china/index.html It breaks the country into 6 regions. I am going to break my class into cooperative groups assigning each to a region. They will create a poster with pictures and facts learned from the website. The group will present the poster to the class.
This sounds like a great way to introduce the topic of China to very young students. I am a first grade teacher and am having a hard time trying to figure out how to relate the study of China to my actual curriculum. We have a unit coming up on the needs of living things. This might be a good direction for me to take.
There is an article at http://www.gazette.net/stories/030608/largnew174328_32389.shtml describing how a physical education teacher visited schools in China and observed the incorporation of exercise and nutrition throughout the school day. It appears that there is a much greater influence of both in the educational systems she observed.
I have found that my 3rd grade class is extremely interested in the Bejing Olympics. The website is http://en.beijing2008.cn/. I have been having my students go on the website and present a news report to the rest of the class. This keeps everyone up to date on the happenings of the olympics.
I just viewed the Olympic website, and it's loaded with great stuff. I'm going to have my students track the progress of the torch http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/journeymap/ until the end of the school year and do research on each location. The interactive torch relay map on the website makes the research easier. Thanks for the tip on this great website.
Great idea to use in the computer lab that incorporates reading comprehension, knowledge of current events, note taking, and writing! I went ahead and wrote out a simple form for the kids to use if you want to use it. See attached.
Prior to the Los Angeles Dodger's Exposition game in Beijing, the Los Angeles Times wrote an article about Baseball and China's youth. (Reference - March 14, 2008 / Page A1 and continued to Page A 11)
The article highlighted a seed program at Fengtai Elementary School in Beijing orchestrated by the American Baseball League. It's goal is to expose 100,000 elementary school children in five cities to the sport of baseball. The article stresssed the potential economic gain to the group that manages to reach across barriers and grab the attention of Chinese youth who are more often interested in sports that kick or bounce balls, rather than whack them with a bat.
The potential pay-off for this successful infiltration is:
- A projected 10 billion dollar industry - A marketing plan to attract 16 to 30 year olds willing to purchase shoes, shirts, cell phones or any product their sports stars hawk
The problems with developing a league are outlined as:
- Almost no baseball diamonds - Many Chinese find baseball complicated; an admission by the Chinese National Coach - The popular sentiment tends to be with the players in the N.B.A.; that already boasts several Chinese Superstars.
I believe this article would be an excellent "jumping off discussion point" for 5th and 6th graders. It is high interest - and lends itself to research and writing prompts. For example, pose the question to students - how would you popularize baseball in China given the current restraints? Or, what would you do to convince Chinese youth to give Baseball a try? How would you simplify the rules of baseball to explain it to someone your age who has never seen the sport? Why is baseball an exciting sport? This topic really speaks to the potential of persuasive writing activities.
Last week I taught a lesson on the world's great rivers and waterways. I focused in on the Yangzi river. We talked about how important waterways are for the people around them. We then focused on pollution (with earth day next week) and talked about what happens when water is polluted which is what happened to the Yangzi. We went one step further and focused on the Yangzi River Dolphin. I read "Almost Gone" page on the dolphin then switched over to the internet and showed the class a webpage detailing how in 2007 after 10 months of searching, scientists where unable to locate a single dolphin. It was a very poignient reminder how fragile our planet is.
A 5th/3rd grade exchange I had 2 5th grade students who have done some research on the Great Wall come in to my class and share what they learned with the 3rd graders. The kids loved it and had lots of questions. Some of the questions the 5th graders didn't know the answers to so they are going to find out and come back on Monday to share again with the class. It was a great exchange!!
Don't overlook the story "Yunmi and Halmoni's Trip" found in the 3rd grade Houghton Mifflin Literature Series. This is the story of an American Girl who travels with her grandmother back to Korea to meet her relatives and honor the grave of her deceased grandfather. One of the author's goals as a writer is to help young Americans learn about the history and culture of Korea. Yunmi experiences both the thrill and lonliness of traveling to an unknown country for the first time. My students made immediate connections to Yunmi and how she felt during the trip. It was also an excellent opportunity to introduce cultural understanding and identifying unique traditions in Korea. The story has some on-line activities that can be accessed through Eduplace.com/kids.
Another activity as a result of this story is suggested by the text illustrator:
Think of a country you would like to visit. Then make a list of the reasons you want to go there. Are you interested in learning about the people of that country? Do you want to see their buildings, art and clothing styles? Do you want to find out what they believe, and how they celebrate special events? Do you want to learn how they do things. compared to the way you do them? After making your list, share it with your classmates.
Although the setting is in Japan, there is a good book for introducing different customs related to eating. The title is How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman. It tells the story of how the narrator's parents met. It's main idea is how her father, an American soldier in Japan met her mother, a young Japanese woman, and how they had to learn each other's customs when they eat dinner with each other's parents. It might be a good introduction to the purpose and importance of being aware of different customs that people have around the world.
I remember that one from our previous language arts program! I agree, that is an excellent choice to introduce the culture and I'm glad you reminded me of it. I am doing a literature study for my unit so maybe I can use this one. The best experience for this book is when the Asian parents bring in food and the kids can eat it with chopsticks and sit on the ground. If I do add this, I'd like to let the kids bring in "cultural" items and share during this time. I notice when I let the ELL kids share something from their culture, they will attempt to speak more than they regularly would, and they always go up to share with a smile!
I teach 3rd grade and you are right, this is an excellent way to introduce Korean customs and culture. The custom of visiting the gravesite led to an interesting discussion in my class about respecting elders. We related this respect to the respect of the Native Americans to their elders and ancestors and spoke about how we can respect our elders more when they are still alive! We also led into a conversation about Japan and traditions in Japan. Thankfully that was discussed in this class, so I felt comfortable discussing it with my Japanese students. Literature is such a fantastic way to get the kids relating to each other and other cultures. Well, that should go for adults, too!
Since 1980s, many different kinds of plays, movies about the story have been made. But for Chinese, the one that was produced in 1988 enjoys the most popularity.
I am a 6th grade teacher just starting to develop a unit around the memoir written by Ji-Li Jiang called Red Scarf Girl. Does anyone know of an age-appropriate website on the Cultural Revolution that would help me create a literature unit for this book?
I think the Chinese American Museum in LA would be good for a 1-2 hour feild trip. The facilities aren't too big so you wouldn't have to worry about losing any little ones. There is student work posted in the museum as well. It has a small family run business type of feel to it. There is enough art to keep the students interest and it would be easy to incorporate a lesson on Chinese American History.
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http://www.camla.org/images/garnier1.jpg
Click here to view their website
In my classroom we do a huge fairytale unit. After a bit of exploration at Barnes and Noble I found many Cinderella Stories from other countries and then the Chinese version of "Little Red Riding Hood" titled "Lon Po Po."
Comparing stories from different cultures is fun. I usually compare Cinderella, but this year I switched. I really liked the Peach Boy and discovered there is another story called the Inch Boy (both Japanese tales). I had students brainstorm about books that sounded similar, and then we read Tom Thumb and Thumbling. It was a nice change. I am currently searching for additional stories from other cultures about a small child who accomplishes something no one else thought they would have been able to do.
Kim,
I already have the lantern project on our web site but would love to add the math lesson. Can we write it up this week and get it loaded?
I've found a great resource if you are interested in teaching your students about symbolism in asian art. It contains a short list of symbols, their meanings, and a 6th grade lesson plan to use.
http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/asianodyssey/html/VirSymbMS.html
Along the lines of symbolism... here is another website that describes and explains the united states great seal.
http://www.greatseal.com/
Finally, the best site i've found yet... This one includes a list of 15 or so animals and what they represent in Asian works of art. I plan on using it as I create my website lessons.
http://www.asianartmall.com/refsymbols.htm
In second grade we introduce an Atlas to our students. We discuss different types of maps and how to read different maps. We focus on the importance of the map key. After we explored our class Atlas, I handed out a map of China to my students. The students designed a map key to show the major cities, rives, and country borders. The students were able to label all of these things independently with different symbols and colors. Then the students were asked to answer questions specifically about the map.
Yesterday my 1st Grade class went on a field trip to a farm. Always thinking of ways to connect Asia into the day-to-day classroom learning activities, I found information and worksheets on farm animals in China. The short printable book has pages for the kids to cut out, read and color. The Chinese characters are given for each animal name so the kids can practice their calligraphy. The little book is called Sheng Chu/Livestock. I think the kids will enjoy this. http://www.enchantedlearning.com
I was searching for some good website resources for Asian based curriculum lesson plans and information. I found one site: Asia EdNet and I think their site can be very useful in developing lesson plans or your curriculum. They have a discussion group, a website directory, and best of all learning activities! I think it could be used a as online lesson where kids would be required to access certain pages and then respond.
http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/network/">Check out the Website Here!
http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/network/
This website is all about china (history, art, architecture, religion, etc. ) in a very kid-friendly format. If you were comparing cultures, you could use the same website and access its Greek, Egypt, or West Indian pages. Confusing words are underlined and clickable. These links give you more info. about those concepts. A great starting website.
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/index.htm
I have done a lesson with my ceramic students where we make ceramic stamps. For my asia unit with my basic art class I am creating a unit where we study Asia through landscape painting, calligraphy, and stamp making. I have attached a handout for making the ceramic stamps for all those interested in using this in your classroom.
Get the Word Document for the Handout Here[Edit by="oiwuagwu on Apr 29, 1:06:08 PM"][/Edit]
I thought you might like to pass this information on to some of your art students to motivate them when making pottery. An article today mentioned that Vegas hotel mogul Steve Wynn paid $10.1 million for a Chinese vase that came from the Ming Dynasty. The pearl shaped vase is decorated with a peony scroll? and was auctioned at Christies. Maybe one of your students vases that looks like a Ming type might draw at least a couple thousand in the future.
Here is a comparative lesson plan on religion
A simple outline and timeline on China is affixed
Role Playing and Simulation
To begin modules in International Relations, I assign students nations and ask them to a Country Profile. If the module is dealing with AIDs, then the student would do a profile on their country, and their nation’s policy on AIDs. Role playing and simulation are an integral and fun way to learn about nations.
Several years ago, I directed a small group of youngsters in an opener show at our local college. I purchased a two-volume video resource compiled by filmstrip creator, Dr. Dwayne Merry on "Traditional Japan." Dr. Merry is a professor of anthropology and archaeology. He has conducted extensive research and has written books for U.N.E. S. C. O. He and his fluent Japanese-speaking wife travel the countryside capturing stunningly beautiful photographs.
A superb set, Vol 1 focuses on Sumo wrestlers, Asakusa temple, a wedding ceremony at Meiji shrine, the mysterious Ainu at Hokkaido, hot springs, active volcanoes, gardens, parks, temples.
In Vol. 2, the Merrys walk the Tokkaido road that once connected Tokyo and Kyoto. They discover ancient rock carvings of Buddhah sail with Cormorant fishermen; meet a calligrapher, a silkworm farmer, & traditional dancers; visit the majestic Mt. Fiji, and conclude with a visit to the giant Buddha at Kamakura. I think anyone interested in Japan will find this set a valuable resource and a terrific motivational tool for the classroom.
B. Diaz
Thank you for the valuable resources about Asian books. Especially the first one seems quite useful.
This year there was considerable discussion on Japan. The bombing of Pearl Harbor always creates a lively discussion for my fifth graders. It would an interesting exercise on" points of views" by assuming the position of Japan and why they would assume the aggressor role in the Pacific. There are many reasons the Japenese might felt trapped by the Europeon powers and the U.S. when it came to their oil supplies. The ABCD Alliance played a role. You could also bring in geography and the feeling of living on a limited land base and an archapalegio. Then you could move toward a discussion of when is war ever justified. Peace and conflict resolution need to start early.
I do this sometimes with George Washington and have them think about him as a patriot or a traitor for the purpose of generating a discussion. In the eyes of the British, he wa a patriot in the French Indian War while in the American Revolutionary War Washington he was a traitor through British eyes.
If I show a picture of a cuddly panda bear to my class I typically gain the attention of most students. In general, kids love pandas and enjoy learning about them. This provides a great window to educate about China.
I read an article in the May 2007 issue of Faces magazine (for kids) about the Giant Panda. the article discusses the value of pandas to Chinese culture and their part in Chinese history. It also explains how the rising population of China calls for increased amounts of farmland and more villiages, both factors that are intruding on the habitat of the panda and bamboo. Also informative is the discussion of the first Panda Reserve, Wolong Panda Reserve in China.
As an environmentally-minded person I find this very interesting and I intend to share this with my students. It is a great topic for debate!
When teaching about pandas it would be great to have students periodically check on live panda cams at the San Diego Zoo, National Zoo, and Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Check these out:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/
http://www.kepu.net.cn/english/pandacam/go/wolong.html
To log in to the Wolong pandacam use "guest" as your username and password.
I found yet another great article in the May 2007 Faces magazine (I will be subscribing now, this magazine is great and has tons of kid-friendly issues dedicated to Asia.) This article is on Chinese table mannerss. I have been inspired to have my students read this article and have a meal where we use this set of manners. I learned the value of knowing a culture's table manners when I studied abroad in Jamaica and discovered the hard way that you are not expected to eat everything you are served - the host serves much more than one typically would eat as a sign of respect to the guest and the guest shows respect for the host by leaving food on the plate. (Two very painfully stuffed meals went by before I could track down my school professor and ask how to decline more food!) I am now very interested in learning table manners from around the world.
I was intrigued to find out that the way I eat with chopsticks would be considered to be a sign of dissatisfaction to a Chinese host. There are also many other rules/manners I did not know about. I think my students would enjoy the experience of learning Chinese table manners and practicing them. I would also love to make this lesson one of many where we learn about table manners from around the world, maybe even a refresher course on American table manners can slip in too!
The Mongolian Ger, commonly called a yurt, is the traditional home of Mongolian nomads. It is round in shape with a wide, cone-shaped roof and covered in canvas. The frame is made of criss-cross pieces of wood, the roof is made of long poles that connect in the middle to a small centerpiece so the whole thing looks like a giant wagon wheel. Everything is tied together with horse hair ropes. The interior is one room with different sections having different purposes.
I have discussed gers with my students in comparison with Native American teepees to show different forms of non-permanent housing. There is no place in the curriculum to specifically talk about Mongolia, so this is another way to slip in info on the geography of Mongolia and ways people create shelter.
There are many campgrounds that have gers (usually called yurts here) that you can stay in. They are obviously made differently than traditional Mongolian gers but have the same general idea. The yurts I have stayed in at campgrounds in Oregon and Washington were very comfortable and had beds, electricity, and heaters (a must when camping in the Northwest during the fall!) In eighth grade my class took an overnight field trip and stayed in yurts. The trip was unrelated to East Asia but we still learned a little about the history of the shelter we were staying in!
The March 2005 issue of Calliope magazine (for kids) was about India's Akbar the Great. The entire issue was informative and kid-friendly and gave a lot of insight into how one person influenced history. I like teaching history by following a specific person because it offers a tangible perspective on history.
One small article talked about the paralles between Akbar the Great and Elizabeth I. I think this would be a great way to include something about India in my teaching, because I have often had to learn about Elizabeth I but never heard of Akbar until I read this magazine.
Some interesting parallels:
Elizabeth and Akbar both struggled with religious divisions among their subjects.
Both sought to promote religious tolerance.
Both were in great part responsible for fostering a golden age.
I think this is another great way to sneak Asia into western civ.
Another issue of one of my new favorite kid's magazines, Calliope, was all about Ashoka, an emperor of the Mauryan Empire in India (January 2000 issue). Ashoka is another leader I had never heard about until researching resources to teach elementary-aged kids about Asia. Ashoka was a leader who began his rule with cruelty but later adopted Buddhist ideals and practiced non-violence. The flag of India has an Ashokan pillar design on it.
One article in the magazine talks about Ashoka's influence over other leaders throughout history. It discusses how Gandhi was influenced by Ashoka when he led in non-violent manners. Gandhi, in turn, influenced people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Following this chain of influence is something I would really like to teach my students and I think they would enjoy it. Every time I have taught a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. I have had the complete attention of my class. This may be a great way to show how a leader from ancient India influenced other great leaders of our time.
Another great point raised in this article was about adding "the great" to the end of a military leader's name. Alexander the Great was discussed as an example of someone who was a military hero and has been deemed great in textbooks. The article asks why Ashoka and other non-violent leaders are not also given the title "the great". I think that would be an interesting point of discussion for my students.
I picked up the book Teacher Talk: Multicultural Lessons Plans for the Elementary Classroom by Deborah Eldridge at a used bookstore about three years ago. The book has compiled teacher-created multicultural units and published the lesson plans and resources used by the teahcers. One of the units is called, "Domo Arigato: A study of Japan, its people and culture." It's a series of 15 lessons, that are simple enough, but entirely engaging, especially for younger elementary students.
Lesson 1- Intro- including maps and activating prior knowledge
Lesson 2- Sakura- Cherry Blossom song and ribbon dance
Lesson 3- What a Country!- flag, islands, bodies of water
Lesson 4- Population facts- discussion and game about population
Lesson 5- Art Forms- brush painting and origami
Lesson 6- Celebrate!- holidays, w/ flying carp project
Lesson 7- Haiku-
Lesson 8- Home Sweet Home- items in the home and make a "shoji"
Lesson 9- I'm hungry- food and using chopsticks
Lesson 10- Speaking and Writing- learning words and symbols
Lesson 11- "Itchy Knee?"- counting in Japanese
Lesson 12- Literature- folk tale study
Lesson 13- History- ancient and modern
Lesson 14- Biographies- Japanese Americans
Lesson 15- Pack it Together- create suitcase to hold their work and a passport to document travels.
It's a great book. For 6th grade teacher's, there's a MesoAmerican unit, there's a weather unit, one called, "knots, quilts, and journeys", another unit is about celebrations and holidays around the world. It's a grea collection that makes me feel a little better about not having to recreate the wheel to introduce new cultures in my class.
Here's the book on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Talk-Multicultural-Elementary-Classroom/dp/0205267629/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199651087&sr=8-1
http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED468590&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED468590
The above link to ERIC has a full-text.pdf file of one teacher's sequence of lesson plans to introduce his 3rd grade students to what a day in a Korean elementary school would be like.
The first lesson is an overview lesson of a general day at school- how kids gets to school, how the grades work, what children do at school, as well as a classroom bell schedule for a class. Students are given those resource sheets and prompted to do various actitivties with the information
The second lesson is what school lunch in Korea is like. It has students comparing American lunches with Korean lunches. There is a visual representation of an aluminum tray and how all the Korean lunch foods are separate. There is a written explanation of the lunch foods and lunch procedures and customs.
The third lesson is a typical day in 3rd grade. Students compare and contrast their classroom set ups, rules, procedures, and activities with information provided about a Korean third grade, with a map of the room and description of the class.
The final lesson gives students a map and description of an elementary school in Korea. Students compare their school and available activities with the school in Korea.
The lessons are simple and the information and resource sheets are provided to help students gain some insight into schooling in other countries. I like that it includes a lesson on school lunches. Food is one topic that engages all learners!
For the upcoming New Year's celebration, I have utilized the help from some of my parents to help me make some fortune for some hand-made fortune cookies. Writing is a huge component in the California Standards and I want my students to understand the importance of knowing good sentence structure. The parents will help me make the cookies, while the students will be responsible for coming up with some completed sentences and idioms they've learned in class. They will transfer what they know into small strips of paper that you will see in fortune cookies -- it teaches them editing skills as well as have fun at the same time. Some of the students have noticed that fortune cookies often have lucky numbers and/or Chinese lessons on the back of each fortune. They suggested math problems in place of lucky numbers and Korean/Japanese writing lessons in place of the Chinese ones since that is what they've covered in class. Students stay active and take ownership in their learning.
I'm interested in this book. I think I can use the lessons for my 6, 7 and 8 graders. I have actually tried to teach a lesson about Japanese food, and my students asked me why Japanese like sashimi and sushi so much. If my special ed students can react excitedly to this kind of topic, I think that's a good sign that I'm connecting with them on matters East Asian. I want to try this one. Thanks for the info.
Since I teach third grade, I was thinking that an appropriate introduction to China would be Asian art. I picked up a pamphlet on symbolism in Chinese art at the Phoenix Art Museum and believe the symbolism and stories in artwork can teach volumes to children. What do you think?
I think in the spirit of the New Lunar Year, I think it would be great for students to make gifts (cards, paper flowers, etc) and take it to a convalescent home. There are some in Chinatown and I believe that many elderly are neglected--what a way to bring social justice from the classroom to real life. I had a chance to visit with students (in the past) soup kitchens and organization that packaged food for the needy and both parents and students came away, revived and changed from the experience. I think it is important to plant ideas of service --that it is a gift that keeps giving.
Thats a great idea of you Sarah. I hope things go well and Happy New Years!
If you go on to google and simply type in Panda Pod Cast - it will come back with reference sites for zoos with Panda Camera's. The students enjoy watching the animals and it is a great way to elicit interest in endangered species. Most of these sites are quite manageable and easy for students to access with the Palos Verdes On-line Network system. It worked in getting my students to begin to talk about China.
I just read the thread about saving the giant pandas. Just wanted to add that the kids could raise money doing chores at home to donate to WWF. They can adopt a "symbolic" panda in which WWF will send the adoption paper, a stuffed replica, and a fact sheet on the panda. This is so motivating for the kids, and they become very interested in global conservation when you "put faces to problems". My kids do this every year with different animals and I see such a change in their priorities and what a great way to teach about other countries!
What grade do you teach? I think it would be interesting to hear kids' solutions at different grade levels. Teaching third, I sometimes get impossible ideas from the kids, but at other times they come up with very practical solutions. Maybe teachers could tell them about the reserve after they come up with their own conservation ideas and then discuss the feasibility of creating more reserves. We could tie this in to the situations right here at home with animals in areas that are coming in to new developments and being killed. It would be a heartfelt and interesting debate!
I found a "virtual China" website http://www.kiku.com/electric_samurai/virtual_china/index.html
It breaks the country into 6 regions.
I am going to break my class into cooperative groups assigning each to a region.
They will create a poster with pictures and facts learned from the website.
The group will present the poster to the class.
This sounds like a great way to introduce the topic of China to very young students. I am a first grade teacher and am having a hard time trying to figure out how to relate the study of China to my actual curriculum. We have a unit coming up on the needs of living things. This might be a good direction for me to take.
There is an article at http://www.gazette.net/stories/030608/largnew174328_32389.shtml describing how a physical education teacher visited schools in China and observed the incorporation of exercise and nutrition throughout the school day. It appears that there is a much greater influence of both in the educational systems she observed.
I have found that my 3rd grade class is extremely interested in the Bejing Olympics. The website is http://en.beijing2008.cn/. I have been having my students go on the website and present a news report to the rest of the class. This keeps everyone up to date on the happenings of the olympics.
I just viewed the Olympic website, and it's loaded with great stuff. I'm going to have my students track the progress of the torch http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/journeymap/
until the end of the school year and do research on each location. The interactive torch relay map on the website makes the research easier. Thanks for the tip on this great website.
Great idea to use in the computer lab that incorporates reading comprehension, knowledge of current events, note taking, and writing! I went ahead and wrote out a simple form for the kids to use if you want to use it. See attached.
Prior to the Los Angeles Dodger's Exposition game in Beijing, the Los Angeles Times wrote an article about Baseball and China's youth. (Reference - March 14, 2008 / Page A1 and continued to Page A 11)
The article highlighted a seed program at Fengtai Elementary School in Beijing orchestrated by the American Baseball League. It's goal is to expose 100,000 elementary school children in five cities to the sport of baseball. The article stresssed the potential economic gain to the group that manages to reach across barriers and grab the attention of Chinese youth who are more often interested in sports that kick or bounce balls, rather than whack them with a bat.
The potential pay-off for this successful infiltration is:
- A projected 10 billion dollar industry
- A marketing plan to attract 16 to 30 year olds willing to purchase shoes, shirts, cell phones or any product their sports stars hawk
The problems with developing a league are outlined as:
- Almost no baseball diamonds
- Many Chinese find baseball complicated; an admission by the Chinese National Coach
- The popular sentiment tends to be with the players in the N.B.A.; that already boasts several Chinese Superstars.
I believe this article would be an excellent "jumping off discussion point" for 5th and 6th graders. It is high interest - and lends itself to research and writing prompts. For example, pose the question to students - how would you popularize baseball in China given the current restraints? Or, what would you do to convince Chinese youth to give Baseball a try? How would you simplify the rules of baseball to explain it to someone your age who has never seen the sport? Why is baseball an exciting sport? This topic really speaks to the potential of persuasive writing activities.
Last week I taught a lesson on the world's great rivers and waterways. I focused in on the Yangzi river. We talked about how important waterways are for the people around them. We then focused on pollution (with earth day next week) and talked about what happens when water is polluted which is what happened to the Yangzi. We went one step further and focused on the Yangzi River Dolphin. I read "Almost Gone" page on the dolphin then switched over to the internet and showed the class a webpage detailing how in 2007 after 10 months of searching, scientists where unable to locate a single dolphin. It was a very poignient reminder how fragile our planet is.
A 5th/3rd grade exchange
I had 2 5th grade students who have done some research on the Great Wall come in to my class and share what they learned with the 3rd graders. The kids loved it and had lots of questions. Some of the questions the 5th graders didn't know the answers to so they are going to find out and come back on Monday to share again with the class. It was a great exchange!!
Don't overlook the story "Yunmi and Halmoni's Trip" found in the 3rd grade Houghton Mifflin Literature Series. This is the story of an American Girl who travels with her grandmother back to Korea to meet her relatives and honor the grave of her deceased grandfather. One of the author's goals as a writer is to help young Americans learn about the history and culture of Korea. Yunmi experiences both the thrill and lonliness of traveling to an unknown country for the first time. My students made immediate connections to Yunmi and how she felt during the trip. It was also an excellent opportunity to introduce cultural understanding and identifying unique traditions in Korea. The story has some on-line activities that can be accessed through Eduplace.com/kids.
Another activity as a result of this story is suggested by the text illustrator:
Think of a country you would like to visit. Then make a list of the reasons you want to go there. Are you interested in learning about the people of that country? Do you want to see their buildings, art and clothing styles? Do you want to find out what they believe, and how they celebrate special events? Do you want to learn how they do things. compared to the way you do them? After making your list, share it with your classmates.
Although the setting is in Japan, there is a good book for introducing different customs related to eating. The title is How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman. It tells the story of how the narrator's parents met. It's main idea is how her father, an American soldier in Japan met her mother, a young Japanese woman, and how they had to learn each other's customs when they eat dinner with each other's parents. It might be a good introduction to the purpose and importance of being aware of different customs that people have around the world.
I remember that one from our previous language arts program! I agree, that is an excellent choice to introduce the culture and I'm glad you reminded me of it. I am doing a literature study for my unit so maybe I can use this one. The best experience for this book is when the Asian parents bring in food and the kids can eat it with chopsticks and sit on the ground. If I do add this, I'd like to let the kids bring in "cultural" items and share during this time. I notice when I let the ELL kids share something from their culture, they will attempt to speak more than they regularly would, and they always go up to share with a smile!
I teach 3rd grade and you are right, this is an excellent way to introduce Korean customs and culture. The custom of visiting the gravesite led to an interesting discussion in my class about respecting elders. We related this respect to the respect of the Native Americans to their elders and ancestors and spoke about how we can respect our elders more when they are still alive! We also led into a conversation about Japan and traditions in Japan. Thankfully that was discussed in this class, so I felt comfortable discussing it with my Japanese students. Literature is such a fantastic way to get the kids relating to each other and other cultures. Well, that should go for adults, too!
Since 1980s, many different kinds of plays, movies about the story have been made. But for
Chinese, the one that was produced in 1988 enjoys the most popularity.
Here are some pictures of this play.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cimg2.163.com/ent/2007/6/1/20070601100716547a1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ent.163.com/07/0601/09/3FT439LU000327R8.html&h=500&w=422&sz=39&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=g-uidof4Rpfh8M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E8%25A5%25BF%25E6%25B8%25B8%25E8%25AE%25B0%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ent.tom.com/img/assets/200608/060814yulepk01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ent.tom.com/1002/1631/2006815-209220.html&h=403&w=350&sz=43&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=VwsVLQgtrbnmsM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E8%25A5%25BF%25E6%25B8%25B8%25E8%25AE%25B0%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.huain.com/images/music/058.jpg&imgrefurl=http://music.huain.com/html/1533.html&h=520&w=400&sz=36&hl=en&start=13&tbnid=U-IC8Fu_v4q0JM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E8%25A5%25BF%25E6%25B8%25B8%25E8%25AE%25B0%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
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I am a 6th grade teacher just starting to develop a unit around the memoir written by Ji-Li Jiang called Red Scarf Girl. Does anyone know of an age-appropriate website on the Cultural Revolution that would help me create a literature unit for this book?
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