pre-2011 elementary school ideas

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Good Math Books; Japanese not Chinese. Good cultural lessons as well as good math lessons.

Anno, M.. Anno’s Mysterious Counting Jar, Dowaya, N.Y., Tsubo No Naka, 1982
Great illustrations and nice visual for students to understand exponential growth.

Anno, M.. Anno’s Magic Seeds, New York, N.Y., Philomel, 1995
Wonderful way for students to understand consumption or exponential growth.

Anno, M.. Anno’s Math Games III, New York, N.Y., Philomel, 1982
Geometric and Graph mathematics good for students who need visuals to better achieve in the “Measurement and Geometry” mathematics strands.

Anno, M.. Anno’s Counting House, New York, N.Y., Philomel, 1982
Multi’level. Students learning to count, add, or multiply can get something from this.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Fairytale parallel
Young, E.. Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story from China, New York, N.Y., Philomel Books, 1974
Basically this is the Cinderella story that we know but with a twist of Chinese influence.

[Anonymous]

01/09/05
Novel type reading
Wilkinson, C.. Dragon Keeper, New York, N.Y., Scholastic, 2003
This one is a good novel for the intermediate reader 4th or 5th grade. On the level of Harry Potter Books.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Reluctant Readers Choice
Robertson, L.. The Best Book of the Martial Arts, New York, N.Y., Kingfisher, 2002
This book is an interesting hook for younger boys because of the topic. However the underlying introduction to ancient origins are provided in brief.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Immigration story, good for 5ht grade history.
Hoobler, D and Hoobler, T.. We Are Americans, voices of the Immigrant Experiment, New York, N.Y., Scholastic 2003
This book is an introduction of several cultures into America. There are portions of the book that talk about Asian immigrants.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Elementary presentation of Chinese and Japanese history.
Rambeau, J.. China Boy, San Francisco, Field Educational Publications Inc., 1968
This book is told in the voice of a young china boy. It speaks of Chinese history through WWII.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Literaure Based
Clement, C.. The Painter and the Wild Swans, New York, N.Y., Dial Books 1990
Beautiful Illustrations! A story of the migration of the swans.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Fairytale version… cultural influence
Zoehfeld, K.. Mulan, New York, N.Y., Disney Enterprise Inc., 1968
No words necessary here, we all know Disney’s work.

[Anonymous]

01/09/06
Poetry – interesting introduction to the literature base…
Wyndham, R.. Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, New York, N.Y., Philomel Books, 1968
A book of poetry. Wonderfully Illustraited.

[Anonymous]

For those of you who teach multisubjects( 6th grade history and math): 2 birds with 1 stone

• Break the class into groups
• Give each group a transparent graph paper to cover an ancient map of China
• Give each group a large (2 feet by 3 feet) graph paper to recreate the map based on their scaling knowledge (math standard). It is a better idea to have them create the graph paper using a blank paper, if their inclination allows that)
• Now thy can create China’s natural barriers such deserts, seas, mountains, plateaus, as elements of isolation and rivers as elements of unification and communication
• Now you are ready to give a mini lecture to match the maxi- maps. It will cover at least two history standards and a math standard.
• What do you think? Let me know.

This project does not have to be drawing and coloring. Students can cut and past, or even use paper and glue to make 3 dimentional maps. Let the groups show you how creative they are!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks K. Fenimore for the tip on the book Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges. What impressed me most about the story was that it was inspired by the life of the author's grandmother. (A true insite into the Chinese culture.) It's a story of a young girl's wish to have the same opportunities as her brothers- including a university education! Ruby's gentle manner, and her determination helped her to succeed. I highly recommend this book for it's beautiful illustrations and motivating story.[Edit by="bsmith on Jan 14, 10:54:49 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

First graders may find the traditional haiku too difficult or too limiting with the 5,7,5 syllable scheme but I just found out that there can be different types of haikus. I would have the kids use free-form "brainstorm" words that come to mind when they see pictures of cherry blossoms.
I've done poetry before with first graders using animals of the Rainforest.
I know first graders are capable of producing amazing poetry.

[Edit by="bsmith on Jan 17, 10:39:53 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Pandas
A 4th grade teacher told me about a great website that all kids love.
It brings science to life in your classroom on a daily basis. Instead of watching
a video on Pandas, have your class watch a live Panda cam which provides a window into the world of the zoo's giant panda mother -Mei Xiang, and her cub Tai Shan. The cub was born on July 9 and weighed only 1.85 pounds. In early Jan. , he weighed 27 pounds. It's fun to watch him grow!!
This is at the Smithsonian National Zoo Park. http://national zoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/[Edit by="bsmith on Jan 16, 10:23:44 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Another great site for science lessons for elementary students:

http://www.sciencestandslessons.org/

designed to help k-12 increase student learning in the area of science.

[Anonymous]

Visual and Performing Arts Standards are often overlooked in the elementary grades, and this is a great place to infuse some Asia. For example, when I read these dance standards:

Creation/Invention of Dance Movements
2.1 Create, memorize, and perform complex sequences of movement with greater focus, force/energy, and intent

Application of Choreographic Principles and Processes to Creating Dance
2.4 Demonstrate principles of opposing weight and force/energy, balance and counterbalance, or cantilever

Connections and Applications Across Disciplines
5.2 Describe how dancing requires good health-related habits (e.g., individual and group goals for flexibility, strength, endurance, stress management, nutrition).

I immediately thought of Tai Chi. I've attached a picture of my students attempting the movements. Clearly, they have a ways to go before attaining inner peace. But you can't deny that chi flow!

[Author]

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