Menu
close
Home › Forums › Teaching About Asia Forums › Middle School Ideas › pre-2011 middle school ideas
Anonymous.
AnonymousI was interested in the post about using the movie "Hero" to teach about Qin Shi Huang Di. I can not find the post. Can you tell me a little about the movie and how you used it to teach about China's first emperor?
thanks,Cathy Rieder
AnonymousI ran short on time this year so I didn't do this activity. Usually I do a mask activity for each unit that we study (7th grade history). This is a really good activity for Chinese opera masks. It also integrates well with language arts. Character traits are emphasized between 6th and 7th grade in the language arts standards. The colors are representative of human character traits. When a mask is clicked on, it enlarges and includes a description of the meanings of the colors. I have had my students start in the computer lab by looking at the site making rough sketches and notes on the mask that appeals to them. In class with pastels and construction paper, they recreate their mask and attach a summary card to it that includes the name of the mask and details about its colors. This could be adapted for all levels of students. Its a very good ESL activity. Gifted learners could also include further research on the Beijing Opera. They could also take the meanings of the colors from Chinese Opera masks and create their own mask.
AnonymousI'd love to hear more from anyone who uses Hollywood movies in teaching Asia. I've often used native-grown movies in covering China, Korea, and Japan ('Throne of Blood', for example, illustrates Japan's feudal period pretty well, and has a wonderfully overwrought death scene to boot - 7th grade love it!), but I'm really wary of Hollywood.
So often, it seems, as educators we have to undo the misconceptions sown by blockbuster movies, often misconceptions that aren't apparent until a student makes a revealing comment or observation (my own favorite, though not from a movie, was when a tenth grader commented on my having lived in a grass hut - I was mystified as to what they were refering to, until the student reminded me that I had remarked, several weeks before, that I grew up in a village in the north of England... had I said "small town", all would have been well...).
In covering feudal Japan, we now have to deal with the errors and misconceptions created by "The Last Samurai" (which students have usually seen in its entirety and without anyone at hand to point out the fallacies behind the gritty "realism") and, most recently, in teaching sixth graders about ancient Greece, there's "300" to deal with (it's based on a comic book, for the love of Zeus!).
The opening scenes of "Gladiator" are a good example. On the one hand , it gives some idea of the violence and sheer mass of an assault by Roman legionaries, but, on the other, it's full of inaccuracies - from the stirrups which the Romans would not have known, to the whole notion of attacking in a forest (legion formations were rendered much more vulnerable - a lesson that Augustus learned after two legions were butchered by Germanic barabrians in the Teutoberg Forest). The rest of the movie, of course, is almost utter fabrication hung loosely on the barest framework of historical interpretation... or am I picking too many nits? (Sad to say, this movie - and "The Patriot" - won a award for historical accuracy from the History Channel!).
I have shown excerpts from Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" to give students some idea of the reality of a medieval battlefield (lots of mud and not much glory), but I guess, as that's a British movie, it doesn't really count as Hollywood.
I'd really appreciate your suggestions.
Ray
[Edit by="rrobinson on Apr 4, 7:12:12 AM"][/Edit]
AnonymousThere's an excellent exhibition of Buddhist art, including mandals, currently on display at the Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena. Their website also has four terrific illustrated essays on the life of the Buddha and the spread of Buddhism, bodhisattvas, Buddhist sites, and signs, symbols, and ritual objects.
http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/buddhism/html/index.htm
The information can be adapted for the sixth grade unit on Buddhism, and the illustrations make excellent overheads. I try to include one or two pictures in a handout but, as it's a black and white xerox, overhead transparencies bring out the color and subtlety (eventually me and my classroom will get geared up to use a straight-from-the-disc projector, but till then it's twentieth century technology).
This part of the museum website is also a great primer/review of the basics of Buddhism for the educator, and it fits nicely with the content standards.
Ray
AnonymousThat is precisely the reason I rarely show any "Hollywood" movie in class. Our school is very adamant about not showing PG-13 Hollywood feature films in class unless parent consent is given. There isn't a historical movie made by Hollywood that isn't at least a PG-13. The only "Hollywood" feature film I show from start to finish is "Luther". I specifically mention it in my class letter at the beginning of the year and have a specific parent "sign off". When I do show videos, they are usually only short clips. I think that short Hollywood movie clips can be very useful when comparing primary and secondary sources. Movies are good examples of how secondary sources can get added to and the information can become inaccurate.
AnonymousA web source that I use in my World History class is the PRI’s The World – Geo Quiz. I subscribe to the Podcast and play it in my class. It is a simple step to download from there site. The archives are full of interesting stories from all parts of the world. I believe that many teachers could use this in many different ways.
The format of the show is simple. It gives some basic information of a place in the world and asks can you name that place. The program returns shortly with the answer and much more. The answer coincides with a story about an event in that location. The topic of the story varies, human interest, political, and sometimes funny. The time varies between 4 to 8 minutes long. The many stories are class friendly.
I actually use it as a quiz in the class room. I play it during the beginning of the week and have the students research the answer. If the topic relates to the chapter being studied then I require more information. The extra information could be maps of the place, Almanac related information, or pictures. At the end of the week the class shares the information or guesses the location. After that I play the rest of the show for the class. Discussions always seem to follow the story, the students give their opinion if it was good or bad story.
The Asian connection, well there are many, in fact Podcast 167 was about Taiwan. Apparently there were once pygmies on the island and were wronged some how, so the locals perform a certain ceremony to appease the spirits of those pygmies. (Ancestor Worship). Earlier stories dealt with China and its attempt to correct the inaccurate signs in English before the Olympics. Dig through the archives and find one for your class
AnonymousA resource book that I want to recommend is from Teacher Created Materials, World Religions, and is designed to be challenging. ( ISBN 1-55734-624-0 ) The connection for this forum is that it covers Asian religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Taoism all have introductions, mini research projects, worksheets, and tests that a teacher can use in the class.
What I like most about it is the introductions, summaries, and origins of the religions provided by this book. They are well written, but most important is that they concise. I want the students to be able to quickly compare the religions to find similarities. As a class the students have found similarities in the origins of many religions. The students also find many religions have the same basic teachings and practices. This is the primary use for this book in my class.
The book has other interesting and useful worksheets. Every religion seems to have holiday, the book has many research sheets on the main days of celebration. Symbols are used throughout many religions and the book provides color sheets for the student. Religions have a tendency to split through the years and this is covered by the book. It has puzzles and crosswords related to each religion. It even has basic blueprints and definitions for places of worship. The last thing that I find useful in the class is the topic of religious freedom and tolerance. This book has worksheets on these topics.
This book provides many opportunities to bring religion in the classroom as history, art, and moral discussion. As for Asian studies the Buddhism section has the story of Buddha. It covers his enlightenment and teachings. There are examples of scripture to read. The spread of Buddhism and its schools of thought such as Zen and Tibetan are covered. The Taoism section also covers Confucius, so the life of Lao-Tzu and him are discussed. The teachings of both men are included and so are so of the customs.
AnonymousThe website below provides the viewer with information valuable information for those wanting to get more familiar without having to visit the country.
This webpage gives the viewer an overview of the country, current projects, public information.
If students were to be doing a project on any country in East Asia or the Pacific this is a helpful website for background information, maps, news & events, data, statistics and different development projects that are currently ongoing.
AnonymousThe website below is put together by the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. This website classes offered for teachers, language programs, classical music, tours. It provides people in L.A. of Korean background a connection to their homeland in the U.S. but it also serves as a resource to everyone else who is interested in finding out more information or learning about Korean culture.
I have been lucky enough to have participated in one of their tours and was fascinated by the art work and culture overall.
I think this website is more geared to teacher and adults that want to learn more about thier studetns and their culture. By the wya the cultural center is convinently located on Wilshire in Koreatown.
AnonymousThe book "Ties that Bind, Ties that Break" will be used in next year's AVID class.
I will be reading it this summer. We thought it would be wise to connect English and
History since our students are not required to read complete novels.
AnonymousAlthough I teach Ancient China already, my knowledge of the Chinese Philosophies was pretty much limited to a few of the books I had. So now that we have learned about Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, I will take my deepened knowledge on the subjects and implement them in my classroom. Normally when I teach about the philosophies, I must admit that I am not very objective. I tend to assume which of the philosophies they will like and won’t like and I kind of teach to that. This time I am attempting a new approach on how I teach them. Although no matter what I do will include some of my bias in it, rather them telling them about the philosophies I will show them. I suspect my original suspicions will remain. I think the students will like Daosim most, because they claim to hate structure, and Legalism the least because of the severity. I think most students will be fine with Confuciansim, but they will prefer Daoism.
AnonymousIn the last two days I have taught the Chinese Schools of thought. Initially I thought students would love Daoism and hate Legalism, but I was very surprised to see the result s of the informal poll I took with the class when the lessons were over. First I began with Daoism. I took the students outside by the trees to be with nature. I told them they could learn the material however they wanted, but that they had to learn it. When we came back inside, I learned most of them did not learn as much as they should have. Then I taught them Confucianism by diving the students up into groups, giving each group a student leader that they would follow. Many students liked this, but many did not because they did not like the idea of respecting someone that was their age. Although the elders were kind to them. Finally I taught Legalism by being extremely strict, and was surprised how many of the students liked it. Most said they liked the strictness and that it made them work harder. But there were those who said they were too scared to learn.
AnonymousI actually like using LItle Buddha with Keanu Reeves. I used it when I teach about Buddhism to my students. Its not teh greatest movie in the world, but it definitely gets across to major areas in Buddhism. One the life of Buddha, how he started out as a sheltred rich king, to his life as an ascetic, and finally his revelation of balance. Its hows him seeing the sick man, old man, and funeral, and how he vows to help put the suffering. It also i discussed the Eightfold path. There is also a story line which teaches about kara and reincarnation. It is a completely separte story line that follows a man whose child is believed to be the reincarnation of a very important monk. In this story line it covers many of the quetsion about karam and reincrnation.
AnonymousDroston,
I thank you for sharing the title Ties that Bind, Ties that Break with us. I've never heard of it, but am very interested in reading it now, thanks to your post. Another great book to read and teach in your Thematic Unit after reading The Diary of Anne Frank is Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang.
This memoir is about a young girl (Ji-Li Jiang), who suffered scorn and humiliation in her adolescent years from family and friends during the Cultural Revolution in China. This is a true story and has received several awards for its "engrossing" story. Here's the blurb:
"In 1966 Ji-Li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over the next few years Ji-Li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co-workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-Li faced the most difficult choice of her life.
Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family's courage and determination during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century."
Students can learn about two distinct historical truths, while reading about brave children who fought against injustice and freedom.
AnonymousDroston,
one more thing I remebered you could use in your lessons for Ties that Bind, Ties that Break is Ruth Fainlight's "Flower Feet". This is a great poem students can analyze and discuss before or after the novel.
Ruth Fainlight
"Flower Feet"
(SILK SHOES IN THE WHITWORTH ART GALLERY,
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND)
Real women's feet wore these objects
that look like toys or spectacle cases stitched
from bands of coral, jade, and apricot silk
embroidered with twined sprays of flowers.
Those hearts, tongues, crescents, and disks, leather
shapes an inch across, are the soles of shoes
no wider or longer than the span of my ankle.
If the feet had been cut off and the raw stumps
thrust inside the openings, surely
it could not hurt more than broken toes, twisted
back and bandaged tight. An old woman,
leaning on a cane outside her door
in a Chinese village, smiled to tell how
she fought and cried, how when she stood on points
of pain that gnawed like fire, nurse and mother
praised her tottering walk on flower feet.
Her friends nodded, glad the times had changed.
Otherwise, they would have crippled their daughters.
Hope this helps![Edit by="rflores on Jul 30, 11:07:44 AM"][/Edit]