Teaching and Learning about Japan
This website breaks down the "basics" about Japan in a very simplistic way. The website was created by Lee A. Makela at Cleveland State University. The site covers everything from anime and archeticture to food and Kabuki dramas. In addition to the cultural side of Japan (including a small write up on Godzilla). The site basically sends you to other sites that will provide more in-depth information. I think this would be a great source for middle school students as well as 5th and 6th graders who are studying world history.
China
This is another "basic" website. It is basically a series of timelines and maps. The timelines start with the Xia Dynasty and end with the Qing Dynasty. The timeline includes hyperlinks that, when clicked, provide students a good overview of each dynasty, including artistic achievements. Another cool feature are the maps. By simply clicking on the "Xia Dynasty" students see where that dynasty was located. This website is great for elementary and middle school students who are being introduced to world civilizations. Its easy to use and navigate.
UCLA's East Asia News Site
This is a terrific website that provides up to date news stories about all of east asia. The site was created and is maintained by the UCLA Asia Institute which is led by Professor Wong. I would compare this site to "Google News", you simply click on a section of East Asia that youre interested in and the site generates several stories. I plan on using this website as part of my "current events" assignments for my 10th grade World History class.
Japanese Internment Lessons
This is an excellent website for both World and US history teachers. The site has a series of lessons that allow students to grapple with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. For example, a lesson tailored for elementary school students uses the book Journey to Topaz by Yushiko Uchida. In addition to the book students are also asked to simulate various situations that Japanese children faced during this time. The site also great documents like Executive Order 9066 and a list of people who were shot and killed in the camps (a common question my students always ask). This is a great website and, if used in conjunction with the Japanese American Museum in LA , would a unit your students will never forget.
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Great Websites
02/04/2011 12:28 PM
#1
Great Websites
The outreach World Website out of UCLA has always been great for finding lots of things on non-European cultures. It's great and should definitely be checked out.
Thanks for the heads up on such a great site. I teach world and U.S. history and I really liked the resource on the Japanese internment camps. I'll definitely be checking these out when I reach my WWII unit.
Chinese-art.com
I just came upon this website including Asian art in the U. S. and overseas. Looks great!
Here is the link of a decent website I have found about modern day Japanese student life. Basically, students go on the site and answer the questions on their own papers. The site itself is basically a webquest. There are 6 main questions that they will answer at the end of their mission:
1. What is your favorite food?
2. What is your favorite class at school?
3. What after-school club do you belong to?
4. What is your favorite folktale?
5. What is your favorite holiday?
6. Who is your favorite cartoon or movie character?
The site is great for students because there are lots of visuals, pictures and interactive links.
The site itself is very easy to use, and the choices for each question are answered in a simple straight forward way.
I would this site in my class as a fun way to finish out my Unit on Japan. I would say, "We just learned about Imperial Japan. Today we are going to find out more about present day Japanese life. Today, you will pretend to be a Japanese student. What are their lives like?"
My school library has at least 10 computers, so I can have students complete the quest in groups. A decent website.
Journey to Japan: http://www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/libraries/elementary/japan/
For those in the elementary levels, Here is a GREAT introduction on how to learn the names, capitals and some landscapes. You will have the students playing a simple yet informative
game. It has several levels to choose from. ENJOY
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Asian_Geography.htm
Hello Everyone,
I'm not sure if anyone has come across Power Point Palooza. I don't have time to re-invent the wheel, so this website has a wonderful collection of history power point presentations. The presentations are read only, which means that you can't make any changes to the presentation. You can give credit where credit is due.
I'm so glad that there was someone nice enough to go through the trouble of preparing these presentations.
Check this website out: http://www.pptpalooza.net/
I found a fun and interesting website. Go to www.china folktales.com. It provided listings of written and oral folktales sites, and had categories such as ancient, famous, prpoverbs, myths, festivals, and celebrations. I also found a springboard to www.china culture.org. There I was able to go into China educational activities, such as paper cutting, cooking ethnic dishes, and view large (5x7 inch) pictures from festivals, lion dances, etc. There's alot to see at each site. Each site culd be used inany classroom. Discussion of plot, purppose, moral or lesson to be learned, author's purpose or point of view, place in history are some of the appllications. The China culture site could be used for hands on lesons, comparisons, painting or drawing, commonalities of Chinese dance/food/costumes wth American, Indian, Korean, etc. The second site also lends itself well for independent activities or GATE presentations.
This website presents a timeline of ancient Chinese mathematics ranging from 2000 B.C. through 1500 A.D. It allows cross referencing of all references listed. After pasting the url address, access to the cross referencing is a simple click on the link. This site is specifically useful for math students who are researching the origins of mathematics in Asia.
You can directly access the website for "The Sacramento Chinese Culture Foundation" and through the web address listed it will take you to a historical page about Chinese science and mathematics. The page presents a historical overview of scientist and mathematician's contributions to science and math. Access through the url will guide you immediately to this page. Additional navigation reveals the website pertaining to the "Sacramento Chinese Culture Foundation" itself.
Students researching the history of math and science will find this page useful.
Of all the mathematics time lines I've researched, this one has got to be the most concise. Pasting the web address given in the url will take you directly to the site. The time line presents rationales for the various areas of mathematics in Chinese culture and its evolution throughout the dynasties. Finally, the website list additional reference sites and bibliography resources.
A math student interested in a comprehensive research study of ancient Chinese math history will find this site extremely useful.
Hi Folks,
Thanks for the new sites. Please post all website reviews to the Web Resources forum: http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/forum66-web-resources.aspx. All teachers signed up for the Asia in My Classroom forum can post resources to that forum (and also to the film festival, lesson plans, and other forums).
When it comes to Warrior Japan, national geographic has some very good information. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0312/feature5/index.html The information there is also very neutral so you can have students decide on how they feel about warriors.
Hi Folks,
Please post your comments about websites in the web resources forum. It's here: http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/forum66-web-resources.aspx.
When you get there, please follow these guidelines.
1. If it's a new website that others haven't discussed, please create a new thread. Please put the name of the site in the subject line.
2. If it's a website that others have discussed, you should just click on the reply link to their post, and then add your comments. You can put a fresh title in your subject line (e.g., my favorite Japanese geography site or?)
Thanks for your website reviews. I know that many people appreciate learning about the sites you've found and their strengths and weaknesses.