Message from coneill

[Anonymous]

My sixth grade classes have been preparing for an expository reading and writing assessment over the last several months. The test requires them to read an opinion article, summarize it and agree or disagree with the author in a well-written essay. I am constantly scanning the paper for appropriate articles, and as luck would have it, I ran across a FANTASTIC article in the January 24, 2008 issue of the LATimes titled "Custody Dispute Over History." Hundreds of bones of Chinese workers too poor to have been buried back in China and other Chinese artifacts were unearthed three years ago while digging the subway tunnel for the Gold Line in Boyle Heights. Now, these items are at the center of an emotional custody dispute. Historians and some local elected officials say they should be carefully preserved and studied in order to build a better narrative of how early Chinese immigrants lived in America. But a local citizen's committee believes the most respectful thing to do is rebury the remains as soon as possible. This article opened up a great classroom discussion of the 19th century Chinese male immigrants who could not vote, marry, own property,or be buried at local cemetaries. Students were able to practice expository writing techniques while learning about Chinese customs and immigration at the same time. I'll use the same article with my classes next year. I'm sure it may be found in the LATimes archives.