Teaching ideas?

I am a US history teacher, but still see that I might be able to compare Chinese poems with some of the poems about the early American Patriots, and some of the writers American Literature. I have a chapter in my book, actually only a section of a chapter, that I have often shied away from. It is the section about American literature, and art. Over the years that I have been teaching, I have been trying to acquaint myself more with the writers mentioned here, such as Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Thoreau. I am more motivated than ever now to work harder at this, as Professor Ye encouraged and admonished us to incorporate more literature and art. As I read the poems, and viewed the art that Professor Ye exposed us to, I was struck with its beauty, similar to the Hudson River School of Art, which produced some of the first truly American Artists. Professor Ye inspired me to dig deeper, and do some comparison of China's art, and American's concepts of art, especially as it regards poetry.

There are so much new information from our sessions we can interlace into our classes. I think the challenge is to interlace the information with the multitude of standard we are obligated to cover in our courses. However, much of this information seems to be a nice introduction to standards based lessons. Much of the information about culture and language can be used as a "hook" in the beginning of units.

Dear Colleagues,

Being in Los Angeles has several advantages. One is the delicious food all over the place; the second is the availability of museums all over LA, too. Riffing off the idea of Japan sparking the US's involvement in World War II, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) provides reimbursed buses and has great programs for up to about 120 students. Stop in if you can. It's situated downtown.

Here's the home page --> http://www.janm.org/

The only Asian-American literature I teach is The Joy Luck Club. I must admit that my school does not really have many books written by Asian authors. The shortage of Asian literature might be because most teachers focus on the canon and those who do delve into ethnic literature mainly use works written by Hispanic or Black authors to reflect our student population. Can anyone suggest an Asian-American author suitable for the classroom? (Not Maxine Hong-Kingston) =:O

I highly recommend a field trip to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. Here are some of the next exhibitions.

On the Veranda Ukiyo- e Traditional Japanese Print making. Sunday, November 21, from 1 to 3p.m. It will take place are the Garden Room. Which by the way, the gardens are a must go place. It is beautiful and peaceful.

Another event that is coming up is the Frolicking Monkeys and Frogs. These are paintings from Hirokazu Kosaka from December 9th to December 23.

I read the story written by Linda Sue Park , “The Fire Keeper’s Son. The story book talks about the bonfires signals system used in Korea in the early 1800s. The story was a family who the father was the Fire Keeper of a region and how he was sick and could not do it for some time. The book talks about culture, tradition and courage. It is a wonderful child story that teaches culture and pride. Loved the book and will buy it for my kids to read.

Yes. All of the ideas posted as possible lessons are great. I like the ideas of visiting museums. Our students need more exposure to what is here in Los Angeles for them. Some of the places are a short bus or train ride away. A school can call LA Metro to do a safety riding presentation to the school. Since buses are scares, after the presentation, all of the students are eligible for a free day pass. The Japanes American Museum is a block from the gold line stop. The students can cross over to Little Tokyo for lunch or just to walk and appreciate something different. At Garield, they used to teach California History. It included the influence of all races that have influenced and shaped California. A unit of WWII could include clips of movies on the subject: 1941, Pearl Harbor, Midpoint, and others to intrigue student's interest. There are also Japanese festivals held in downtown that students could attend as extra-credit or outside classwork.

Yes, the use of poetry is a very effective way of teaching about the culture it originates in. I can definitely use the poems to give background of a culture, elicit analytical responses or creating found poems.