pre-2011 high school ideas

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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]

[clay dube]

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.

[clay dube]

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.

[Anonymous]

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:[email protected].

For a listing of events related to this exhibition, visit the exhibition webpage at http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/exhibitions/Samurai.htm.

[Anonymous]

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.

[clay dube]

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?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Author]

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