[Tiffany Chang]

Professor Hirano opened my eyes to many aspects of Japanese history that I didn't know about before. The Tale of Genji was an account that stuck out to me the most, as it pertains to women in the court and in history. Aristocratic women in the Heian court made contributions such as writing poetry, prose, fiction, and essays. Most accounts in history that are taught in school usually are written by men so it is refreshing to see how women had their own accounts and writings. A wonderful part of digging into history is that more accounts are discovered which helps mold a wider perspective of a certain time period. A fun trivia fact that I also learned (which was probably not too fun for the women back then) was the Tale of Genji and the account of the women in the court. A central part of the courtly life was to wear 12 layers and were expansively made out of silk! As Professor Hirano says, "The more impractical it is, the more refined you are." That theme seems to continue to thrive in the fashion industry today. It would be a great project for students to compare and contrast the fashion of men and women from different time periods and identify the multiple articles of clothing they had to wear for one outfit. 

[Tiffany Chang]

Growing up, I learned how to write Chinese calligraphy using traditional and simplified characters. The first time I learned it was in 3rd grade and it took about a year to really familiarize myself with the technique. I never knew the history behind Chinese calligraphy aside from that it is a form of the written language and it can be used for writing or art. I didn't realize that in the "Tang times it was used as a criterion for assigning posts in civil service." It takes a steady hand and proper posture to write calligraphy.

If I were to teach a lesson about calligraphy, I would like to compare calligraphy with other time periods and cross-cultural as well. It would be a fun activity for students to make observations and see if they can identify strokes, similarities, and differences. I have taught Chinese calligraphy a few times before, mainly during Lunar New Year so students can experience what it's like to write in another language. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I absolutely loved this movie, and the best part was watching it with my family including my grandma. We purposely sat my mom on one end and my grandma on the other of our row in the movie theater as she is my grandma's daughter-in-law. The family dynamics and matriarch respect painted a very accurate picture, especially for our family. My siblings and I knew the exact scene where our mother and grandmother would react differently. In one scene, the family are making dumplings. The grandmother criticized Michelle Yeoh's character for making ugly dumplings. My grandmother laughed and said, "Wow! She's so good," while my mom's reaction was, "Story of my life." 

This film is a great cultural study although I would not show this to my students as I teach 5th graders. I do teach in a district which is predominantly Chinese so I might ask my students if they could describe how their family dynamics work. Showing some clips could help them compare if certain dynamics are similar. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I usually teach the elements of a story using fairy tales, and I use Cinderella as a main example. It would be interesting to see how students can compare and contrast Cinderella stories of different cultures.

I appreciated the Sijo aspect of the lecture. Since we use Time For Kids magazines to keep up with current events, I might ask them to come up with their own Sijo to summarize what they read. Here was mine from the lecture:

In just two weeks left, Spring vacation will commence 

Ready to leave the contaminated classroom of germs, smelly children, and ungraded papers 

The break is near until a jury duty notice comes in the mail. 

 

Since the 5th grade curriculum involves the U.S. colonies, I would ask the students to compare how religion affected the 13 colonies and how Buddhism/Catholocism influenced Korea. 

 

 

[Tiffany Chang]

Session 4 was very eye-opening since my knowledge about Japan is limited. In society, people are trying to change the viewpoints by telling their own story, to show the other side of history. What really stuck out to me was that history is often written by the conquerors. We continuously talk about how history repeats itself, especially about not starting up wars again, but with people in power or who want to gain power/status, it seems as though that is always the story that will be written. The thought provoking question was, "Why do histories always have to have a national adjective?" such as Chinese history or American history. The history of these people are so widespread that it really could be even more specific, but it is crucial to talk about who wrote the history. I want to challenge my students to see who wrote our textbooks, who wrote the documents, and who are people groups that may have been left out of the story. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I am a Confucian and the son of my father who commited a crime. My duty as a son is to honor him as he is my role-model, my teacher, and my provider. How can I betray him, even though he knowingly commited a crime? This is a tough decision for me as I see how we are all to respect and honor our emperor, which includes my father. How could he disobey him? I will not turn him in, but if my father continues this path of commiting crimes, I will have to as our emperor is our ultimate father. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I would love to teach this lesson if I taught high school. These standards of beauty trickle down to the elementary age whether the students see how their classmates dress, the influence of social media, or the way parents talk about their kids. Since I teach in a district that is predominantly Asian, I can see how the Asian standards of beauty affect them such as how they follow Kpop stars or Anime. I would hope to find stories that are elementary appropriate for students to read about identity. As my students are about to enter middle school, that is a time when their peers influence the most. We integrate restorative circles in our classrooms and I hope to have discussions with my students about what may affect how they dress, if these standards are realistic, and the influence of social media. 

I can see how this can be adapted to an elementary classroom: colonists affecting the standards of living and beauty in the U.S., especially how Native Americans reacted, and how the Spanish and missions affected those that lived in California. 

[Tiffany Chang]

This is a very extensive lesson plan! I enjoy seeing how spam musubi is incorporated into the lesson to show how two cultures can combine and influence the culture. For the 5th grade curriculum, students learn about U.S. history and geography. This gives me an idea to implement a food project where students can find a fusion food and share their findings about why these cultural foods combined into one. The interview section in your lesson plan is a great way for students practice coming up with questions and interacting with people other than their peers. I always want students to be engaged in the community and think outside of what they know. 

[Tiffany Chang]

This is a fun way to bring culture into the classroom! Your progression in your lesson is very clear and it's set up for students to understand background knowledge before they dive into the "fun" part. Depending on what area students live in or who they know, another component I would add is to interview someone who cooks these recipes. If the teacher has connections, they can ask their connections to be a guest speaker or ask them to be interviewed. This can allow students to engage in interacting with those who are outside of their peer group. As part of our co-teaching rotation, I teach mainly teach writing and I have seen most of the student narratives involve food so I know that my students would enjoy this lesson! 

[Tiffany Chang]

Thank you for sharing this lesson plan! I enjoy seeing cultural lessons integrated with some sort of project that can help students make a connection as well as be a memorable hands on project. When Lunar New Year came around this year, I went over a language arts lesson that involved the history of the zodiac. The PDF I attached is a quick summary comparing western and and Chinese new year traditions. Since it is the year of the boar, my students read In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson as well. We had multiple discussions during our reading about how Shirley Temple Wong, the main character, had to adjust to a new life in the US compared to her old life in China. 

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[Tiffany Chang]

This is similar to what I do in the beginning of the year! It's always fascinating to watch students identify the elements of a story, compare and contrast the stories, and think beyond the Disney version. I teach 5th grade, and I hope to use this as a tool in my own classroom. Since I teach writing as part of co-teaching rotation, I would add a narrative writing unit where students can research different cultures and write their own spin on a fairy tale. Responding to egonzalez, I didn't realize that there were over 350 versions. Thank you for sharing this website and resource! 

[Tiffany Chang]

It's been awhile since that meeting. I'll double check with a colleague of mine to see how it works. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I appreciated the quick debrief history of Xinjiang yesterday. I went to Urumqi with a brief lesson of what happened between the Uyghurs and the Hans, and yesterday was a good review of what is still happening today. I want students to understand how important it is to connect similar situations in different parts of the world to our own curriculum like the tensions between different people groups are everywhere today and not just one point in history. It is crucial to learn what may have caused the tension, the triggers that caused certain uproars, and the outcomes that shape today's culture. In the past, I usually glossed over the artwork and pictures that were in my textbooks, but studying ancient civilizations, we should study the primary sources which may include many pictures and drawings. Students should have a variety of resources aside from text that they can analyze. Comic strips are an excellent tool to demonstrate student understanding and allows for creativity. 

[Tiffany Chang]

The history behind ginseng was surprising to me! I knew that ginseng was grown in the midwest area, but I always assumed that it was brought over from Asia because of the use of ginseng in Asia.

In the beginning of our school year, our students studied the different regions of the US and how the climates and geography shaped the different Native American tribes. We just finished our colonial America unit and how the different climates of those regions shaped their way of life in the New World. Comparing how the U.S. has two neighbors to the China having 15 neighbors really makes it a political game-changer. I'm hoping for future planning that I can incorporate more about how geography can shape worldviews and experiences. 

[Tiffany Chang]

I learned so much yesterday from the overall lectures! When I was younger, I enjoyed studying maps and seeing where things are located. Yesterday's discussion about the dispute over the sea between Japan and Korea intrigued me as well as the naming of Mount Everest as we know it to be. We see things from our worldview. This reminds me of a staff development training we had in my district when our speaker asked us to search up what was happening in Central Asia. Then he asked us to switch our views to how people in Central Asia would see the news if they used a search engine. In the classroom, I hope to use this as an example about research and multiple perspectives. Not everyone sees it the same way or know it the same way we do. Most of my students are of East Asian descent, but they have grown up with an American mindset. I would like to show them the map examples such as the Sea of Japan/East Sea and NASA's map of North Korea so they can see how geography and politics shape a worldview as well as make observations and inferences. 

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