Rough Draft of Lesson Plan: China’s Trade With the U.S. and the West

[Anonymous]

Straylor I must say this is a very solid unit. I only have a few suggestions that might help. On the first day, at the end of the lecture your students can make a list of all the miscommunication and misinterpretation that occurred between the Chinese and the Americans and then have them do a commentary of what they would have done differently if they were in the place of the Americans. In regards to the mock trial, you should add a little more motivation by offering extra credit to the winner of the trial. Also, instead of having five judges have a one judge and a six person jury that takes notes during the trial. For the gallery walk students should be able to write comments and questions on the documents before they begin to summarize, so they can start thinking about what they think about the documents before they begin to reflect and write what they might think their impact was on trade between the U.S. and China. I would have a class discussion instead of having the students report back on two documents. During the making of the flipcharts, I would have students stand up and read their summaries at one point to check to see if they are on the right track. I would have another student who has the same document comment on whether or not they forgot to mention anything or whether they misunderstood anything in the document.
edited by mcovarrubias on 1/24/2012

[Anonymous]

Straylor, this is quite an impressive and comprehensive unit. I have one clarifying question, however. When students are to write their responses to the Qianlong Emperor's Edicts I and II (see Day One), whose perspective will they be writing from? King George III? British merchants? Or will they be responding as students giving their opinions on the primary sources. Secondly, I assume that when you touch on the treaty of Nanjing (during the gallery walk), students will be introduced to what was perhaps China's biggest concession in the treaty: Hong Kong. May I suggest that, as an extension activity - or perhaps as an individual end-of-unit research project - students research Hong Kong's history and perhaps compare mainland China's and Hong Kong's trajectory (politics, history, developement, etc.) throughout the years. Seeing as how we are approaching the 15 year anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China, students could even consider questions such as why the British held on to the colony for so long or why they returned it to China in 1997. And in line with your focus on differing viewpoints, students could even look at arguments both for and against returning to Hong Kong to China. This is quite an ambitious lesson plan and I can't wait to hear how it went. Kudos, Steve... kudos.

[Anonymous]

Mcovarrubias I really appreciate your thoughtful comments and I have included many of your suggestions in my final curriculum project. I did incorporate your suggestion that at the end of the Day 1 lecture, students make a list of all the miscommunications and misinterpretations that occurred between the Chinese and British and then do a commentary on what they would have done differently if they were the British. I also offered extra credit to the winning mock trial team as an added incentive for students. However, I decided to stay with the five-judge panel and a jury as well (the size of the jury varies with the size of the class). My rationale for this is that I will have two groups of students debating the merits of the case at the conclusion of the trial. The panel of judges has the option of entering a directed verdict if they feel that the decision of the jury goes against the clear weight of the evidence. Jurors will indeed take notes during the trial and during the gallery walk students will write their comments and questions on the documents. I also think a class discussion would be more inclusive than each student reporting on two documents. However, I don't want a few students monopolizing the discussion while others say little or nothing. Finally, I think it would be good practice to have students stand up and read their summaries periodically to ensure that they are on the right track. Again, thanks for all your thoughtful comments.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I have completed a rough draft of a unit dealing with China's Trade with the U.S. and the West. The unit is attached and the corresponding documents are attached as well.
edited by straylor on 1/22/2012
edited by straylor on 1/22/2012
edited by straylor on 1/22/2012
edited by straylor on 1/22/2012
edited by straylor on 1/22/2012

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[Anonymous]

Bdeleon you seem to possess a lot of insight into what I hoped to accomplish with this unit and I have included many of your suggestions in my final lesson plan project. When students are responding to the Quianlong Emperor's Edicts I and II on Day 1, they are responding from the perspective of Lord Macartney and King George III. I think it's a great idea to introduce Hong Kong during the gallery walk with a map. I also included an analysis of Hong Kong as an extension activity at the end of the unit. Students will compare and contrast Hong Kong's politics, history, and culture with that of mainland China and they will analyze why Great Britain held on to Hong Long for so long and what motivated them to finally return it to China. Finally, I added your suggestion to have students come up with two compelling reasons for Great Britain holding on to Hong Kong, and two reasons why England should have returned it. Thanks again bdeleon.

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