pre-2011 web resources

[Anonymous]

This website is good for building academic vocabulary. I thought this would be a good site to mention. It shows a word with four different definitions. According to the website each time you choose the correct definition 20 grains of rice will be donated through the UN World Food Program.
http://www.freerice.com/

[Anonymous]

I'd like to add one more resource.
See Chinese mummies up close on this website. Middle school students will like this one. You get this eerie feeling when you see them. That’s the kind of thing they like at that age.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/ href="http://">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/

[Anonymous]

Thanks Clay for showing us how to link the websites and the images. Here is the image and the website to the renovation of Qianmen-the oldest commercial street in Beijing that opens on Aug. 7, 2008, a day before the opening day of the olympics.

[Anonymous]

"The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center is the preeminent presenter of Japanese and Japanese American, and Asian American performing and visual arts nationally."

The JACCC offers several exhibits and programs featuring Japanese and Japanese-American art and artists, as well as educational programs for the community.

The website itself does not have too many resources to access and use immediately, but the Center has some valuable information and programs that could enhance the classroom.
Take a look at the site to find information on expanding one's knowledge about Japanese artifacts, culture, and art.

Click here to see what is happening in the summer and fall of 2008: http://www.jaccc.org/08summerfall.htm

[Anonymous]

National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan

http://www.npm.gov.tw

This is a bilingual (English-Chinese) site. If you want to see/show the original Chinese Art (especially Ming Dynasty Art) online, this is the best site.
[Edit by="kirion on Aug 9, 4:33:28 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Take a virtual tour of Chinese painting and calligraphy via A Look at Chinese Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/chinese/html_pages/index.htm

Gateways on this site use Chinese scrolls and paintings not only to discuss the traditional media used to create the artworks, but also symbolic meanings of the images and information about the different dynasties. Each focus has a related hands-on activities.

The beautiful works of art and their details create a rich impression of Chinese culture, and the various links relay history grounded by the vivid images.

I would suggest using this as a homework assignment, requiring students to visit the site, paraphrase the information on dynasties, media, or artisans. Students could also select a hands-on activity to convey their new understanding of Chinese culture. I especially like the suggested activities because they allow the students to creatively express their new knowledge via Chinese imagery and symbolism.

[Anonymous]

Scientific American
has done a report on China ("China, the Olympics and the Environment") with really interesting feature articles and slide shows. Very informative. A fantastic resource for our classes!

[clay dube]

Ian Condry teaches at MIT and has built an archive of Japanese popular music. It requires registration and a password, but sounds worthwhile. Here's his description:

An archive of "Japanese music with subtitles in English and Japanese maintained by the HyperStudio at MIT ( http://metaphor.mit.edu/ ).
The Hip-Hop Japan archive includes about 30 songs, most of which are Japanese rap music, but also including selections of enka, folk, rock, R&B, and children's music. The songs are listed in the order that they are referred to in my book "Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization" (2006, Duke UP) but there is no need to buy (or even to use) the book to access the site. The site is free to use (no ads, no spam).

Access is available for those whose purposes are research, education, or critical commentary. We ask that teachers desiring to use the archive in class please apply for several usernames and passwords to be shared by a single class. You can ask for this in a single request.

Here's the direct link for registration.

http://metaphor.mit.edu/mmedia-web/metamedia.jsp?pageAction=register#top
Ask for access to the Hip-Hop Japan archive, and please specify your educational and/or research interests."

[Anonymous]

I was searching for more information about what Chinese symbols mean in their artwork and found the following link on the Kent University Museum website:

http://dept.kent.edu/museum/project/Erin/symbol1.htm

Using vivid photographs of embroidery on Chinese robes as examples, Erin Harvan explains the symbolic meanings of the sun, moon, constellation, mountain, the fu, dragons, axe-heads, flowery creatures, water plants, flames, grain, cranes, geometric patterns, bats, butterflies, and water.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
I'm sure there are great slide shows at many sites, but those at the NY Times are handy (don't use flash, which means you can easily the pictures) and impressive.

preparations 8/5
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/05/sports/0805-OLYMPICS_index.html

bird's nest stadium 8/5
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/05/sports/olympics/0805NEST_SLIDESHOW_READY_index.html

souvenirs 7/20
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/20/sports/olympics/0720-SOAPBOX_index.html

opening ceremony 8/8 (zhang yimou, hero emphasized0
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/08/sports/0808-CEREMONY_index.html

mao and pop culture
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/03/arts/0803-COTT_index.html

preparing opening ceremony 8/7

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/07/world/0807-GURU_index.html [Edit by="Clay Dube on Aug 8, 3:20:59 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

National Diet Library, Japan　国立国会図書館

http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/

When I was searching the articles about modern Japan, I found this site. It is easy for our students to navigate. There are many "Portraits of Modern Japnese Historical Figures" and their "Biography".[Edit by="kirion on Aug 10, 11:05:11 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

The following website shows evidence that China discovered the Americas almost 3/4 of a century earlier than Columbus. http://www.1421.tv/index.htm

The author has two books: 1421: The Year China Discovered the World and 1434 The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance. There is also a PBS DVD available as well.

This website might offer an interesting discussion on Eurocentric histories. It could be discussed along with the other viewpoint that Marco Polo never went to China. The website also has a picture gallery to help bolster its assertions. Interactive maps are included as well, such as Zheng He's integrated map of the world.

The above website is pretty easy to navigate and would offer a unique experience for the students outside the normal classroom. I could use this website to help get the kids thinking critically. I would first explain the prescribed history of what most historians know about China and Zheng He's sailing expeditions. I would then have them spend a whole class period navigating this website. The following day they could write a historical response to the evidence and whether or not they think it is true.

[Anonymous]

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 　 広島平和記念資料館

http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html (a)

This is a bilingual (English-Japanese) site for teaching the humanities. The local Hiroshima city goverment created the site. It is well organized and easy to navigate. There are many interesting and educational sections on this site, such as Virtual Museum, Kids Peace Station. And it can be easily Link to Museum and Library, etc. concerning Peace Atomic Bomb (e.g. Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum).

[Anonymous]

http://www.franklincollege.edu/pwp/agatewood/china%20webquest.html

Contents: A site with lots of pictures of modern day China, very easy to follow instructions, and very good links that give you information about China.

Ease of use: Easy to follow instructions. However, some students might find it hard to navigate through the links because of overwhelming information.

Use with Students: This could be used as a way to get students used to using the internet to find information about China. Much of the webquest is following links, but once they get to the link they have to manuver on their own. I would try to use this as a webquest activity in the classroom, but my lower esl students would definitely suffer. If students worked in pairs, it might be a fun activity.

[Anonymous]

http://asterius.com/china/

Contents: This site is basically a "cliffs notes" version for the history of china. The links move you to from section to section. There are not alot of visuals, but the summaries are very easy to follow.

Ease of use: Extremely easy to use.

Use in classroom: Hm...well, Id imagine it could be used as part of the "warm up" or dispatch activity where they have to go the site and answer some basic questions that YOU prepare before they go. Again, the site is very very easy to use, and it could be a way for students who dont have access to the internet, or are not used to using the internet, to practice using the internet as a research tool. Very condensed history of China.

[Author]

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