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Betsy UresAs an out-of-classroom teacher, I can support teachers with planning their own lessons about East Asia using the resources from this course. Using archived photographs and works of art are very impactful for elementary aged students. One specific challenge I face is that I mainly teach sample lessons in the area of English Language Development. I am the EL Designee for my school, so I find creative ways to integrate East Asia into these sample lessons.
Many Designated ELD lessons are focused on eliciting student voice and supporting English Learners with using academic English in a discussion or written assignment. A major standard covered during dELD is:
Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social and academic topics.
One of the best ways to support English Learners is through visuals. In my next ELD lesson for a group of 4th and 5th graders, I can use photographs that will allow for students to make observations and discuss topics pertaining to East Asia. Students can even learn about East Asian food, customs, attire, history, and religions through visuals.
The ideas that my students are most interested in about East Asia are: music, attire, food, dance, religion, transportation, technology, and childrens’ activities. When I select visuals, it's helpful to keep materials that align to their interests. During the recorded presentations and Zoom discussions, I find it helpful to screenshot specific visuals that my students would find engaging!
The use of photographs and art from different East Asian countries allow for students to generate their own ideas and engage with the content at a deeper level. Since we are in Los Angeles, many of my students have friends with East Asian heritage or at least have eaten food that is East Asian. These positive experiences allow for my students to keep an open mind about new learnings.
Betsy UresThis movie would be great to watch after researching Shintoism. The relationship between the characters and nature in the film is unlike most American animations. Nature, spirits, and humans are all interacting in Totoro. The father and Nanny accept the basic belief that there are spirits in the forest.
Betsy UresThank you Todd for reminding me of this quote! Elementary students would absolutely be able to engage with it along the topic of wrongful incarceration during WW2.
Betsy UresAs a follow-up, I have checked out the book by Ansel Adams titled: "Born Free and Equal". It is really clear that the US attempted to cover up the camp after its closure, but Ansel Adams was able to capture images of Manzanar and the experience of wrongful incarceration.
Betsy UresI love talking about the different approaches to trains between China and America. Your point about the CCP being able to plan "long term" is a striking point. Many of my students depend on public transportation and have shown an interest in discussing high speed rail! Thanks for the ideas.
Betsy UresSlideshow photos: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cANpWdepUbGjdSD-3BZmkyT2rUegNPfU/view?usp=sharing
I traveled to Manzanar this week, which I have driven by a few times, but had never toured. I used the map to explore the exhibits. I learned about some of the conditions in which families faced when arriving at Manzanar. The "housing" was bare, scorpions everywhere, sand and other natural elements in every corner, limited access to toilets, and crowded sleeping arrangements. As I toured, I felt anger at the racist and inhumane treatement of Japanese Americans and at the same time awe at the hard work of the incarcerated Japanese families to turn a desert into a community. It would be powerful to take a field trip with 5th grade students here, however, that is not likely to happen due to the long distance. The following aspects of Manzanar that stood out to me were: the schools, the community garden, the recreational spaces, and the orchards.
I learned that students graduated from Manzanar and went on to colleges and careers. However, in the early days in Manzanar, there were not schools, and it became a priority when children were struggling with the harsh conditions of their incarceration. The task of providing education was taken up incarcerated Japanese educators and WRA staff. WRA teachers were paid over 10 times as much as their incracerated counterparts. This type of treatment was the norm at Manzanar.
The park called Merritt Park was built in 1943 and was designed by Kuichiro Nishi, an internee landscape designer, to lift the spirits of the community. It was 1.5 acres filled with trees, paths, waterways, and flowers. The photographer Ansel Adams captured its beauty, but all that remains are the uncovered stones and structures. After the camp was closed, the government covered it in dirt and sand. However, in 2008, Nishi's family helped to uncover the park! It would be amazing to compare the Ansel Adams photograph with the current state of the park with students.
In addition to the schools and gardens, there were basketball courts, a baseball field, and recreational halls. These spaces were critical to the children and adults in building social connections and finding leisure in the context of this internment camp. Accordining to one display, the love of baseball was very high and that prevailed throughout the period of incarceration. To be clear, it is a testament to the wrongfully incarcerated Japanese Americans that these spaces were built.
One of the central areas of the camp included an orchard. The trees are still there today! One of the many jobs of detainees was farming and harvesting. While walking through the orchard, I wondered about the undisclosed profits that the government recieved from underpaying Japanese workers to run this orchard along with other products manufactured at the camp.
In sumary, I found the tour to be extremely unsettling because of the actions of the US government and WRA staff in forcing 10,000 Japanese American families to move to Manzanar. However, it was an overall important experience for me. I believe the interactive nature of the Manzanar Historic Monument is condusive to supporting students' understanding of WWII's war hysteria and the race prejudice that went into the unjustfied and irreparable creation of Japanese Internment camps in America. In order to honor the people that suffered in Manzanar (and other camps), it is important to preserve Manzanar and not sugar-coat the experience of the wrongly incarcerated.
Betsy UresGreat connection between South Korea's and America's struggle for democratic reform. It would be a good project to have students research various groups/movements in both countries and compare their goals and strategies for reform. This type of task would definitely be more approprite for middle and high schoolers.
Betsy UresThe use of "Cranes" as an ELA lesson would allow for deepdiscussion of the two characters, their perspectives, the war, and the relationships that have survived the war. The two boys would be relatable for 5-8 grade students. They started off playing together as children, but time, conflict, and war have kept them apart. Once reunited, the differences between the men are clear, but their friendship bonds saves on of them from a certain death. The division of the two Koreas is explicit, but the interpersonal relationships among old friends muddy the waters. This reading could support students navigating challenging moments (like we are in) and talking about the value of friendship in diffivult times. Many of my students love K-pop, but they don't yet know the history and complexity of the two Koreas!
Betsy UresLAUSD Salary points (#1053324)
Elizabeth Ures
Betty Plasencia Elementary School
Betsy UresI have been thinking about the comments from Professor Borovoy about the concept of women being valued and respected for their domestic and community service in Japan, as opposed to the way stay-at-home mothers are viewed in America. The need for our government and society to support women in being an engaged community member and mother/domestic worker (if that is preferred to traditional employment) is vast. I have just started reading Reflections on Tsuda Umeko- Pioneer of Women's Education in Japan and I hope to get insight into how Women's education played a role on this topic.
Betsy UresStudent groups will each read one of the essays and provide a summary along with a visual representation of the main idea of the essay.
Group 1: Homemaker Opinion
Group 2: University Student Opinion
Group 3: Environmentalist Director
The essays are good examples of different views toward the different types of potential constitutional amendments. Students can identify the main takeaways and create a visual-video, presentation, drawing, etc. to represent the essay. Then they can present to the whole class. Students will discuss the different perspectives and identify which is the most agreeable to them. This will allow for student engagement.
In a follow up to this interactive lesson, the teacher can present the process for Constitutional Amendments in Japan and the current polling data on whether Japanese citizens want to amend or not. An informal poll can be conducted in class once students are clear on the process and the current levels of support for amending the Japanese Constitution based on polling data.
Betsy UresPicture Slideshow: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iymkoa0fietdglfI9P8koTzcYrp1VKeA/view?usp=sharing
The Huntington Chinese Garden is named Liu Fang Yuan 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance. I listened to the audio tour while exploring the garden and its beautiful buildings. The sound of flowing water and the lake is supposed to elicit a reminder that “we are part of the natural world.” This was extremely accurate. I learned about how the garden and architecture was inspired by the classical-style Chinese gardens in southeast China. Liu Fang Yuan is inspired by the gardens of Suzhou, a city near Shanghai. According to the Huntington website, during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), wealthy scholars and merchants there built tasteful private gardens combining architecture, waterworks, rockeries, plants, and calligraphy. I would like to take my students on a field trip or a virtual tour via photographs. Students would be given an opportunity to draw one part of the garden/architecture and label the materials used by the craftspeople that designed it. Students will be able to identify materials used and the characteristics of traditional Chinese Gardens. We could then compare it to the garden near our school campus.
Betsy UresLove your idea about discussing rice and the changing demand for rice. This would be a great way to discuss water usage and the changing climate! California has our fair share of issues regarding the agricultural demands of water. There are so many similarities between China and California.
Betsy UresIn the 5th grade social studies curriulum we discuss California's geographical and environmental realities. Students can compare and contrast the geographic characteristics of various countries in comparison to the state of California. Using google maps, small groups can explore the various map layers for California, China, and Japan: Terrain, Transit, Satellite,etc. Using these map layers, students can have constructive conversations (I notice...) about the similarities and differences between the bodies of water, land formations, public transit, and natural resources. Students will make their own map of California and bring in new ideas based on the study of East Asian land use.
Betsy UresI thoroughly enjoyed the focused presentation from Prof. Kamei this morning. It was powerful to see the photographs from her family and Los Angeles prior to internment camps. I think using visuals to spark discussion with elementary students would be impactful. Students can be given sentence starters to address ELD standards in addition to Social Studies standards.
I will look at the LAPL photo archive for locating more photos of LA that demostrate the injustices of Japanese Internment/incarceration: https://tessa.lapl.org/photocol
Students will be able to make connections to present day. Some of my students have experienced living in immigration camps as they crossed the border from central America. I will need to pay close attention to my student's social emotional well-being during discussion.
