pre-2011 web resources

[Anonymous]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/05/chinas_olympic_art_attack.html
The above site deals with the art and the restriction of communism. I liked the sight and used it as a daily question to get my students thinking about current events and the role government can play in every walk of life.

about the article:
And the locals love it; a student at the university told me that it makes a refreshing change to the generic Olympic art so common on everything from subway adverts to mobile phone commercials.

The wall is a rare sight: the Chinese Communist Party strictly controls public expression on topics with political connotations. Quite obviously, even organised street art is usually out of the question unless there is full approval from layers of government reaching into the higher echelons of the Ministry of Propaganda. The average Zhou, with paint brush and spray can in hand, is easily scared off before he even steps out of his front door. It's self-censorship at its most effective.

[Anonymous]

Footbinding in 7th grade history

Re: Footbinding
Posted: 05-31-2004 11:50 PM
I found a good website with a lesson plan on footbinding geared toward elementary school students. There is a questionnaire titled "Lotus Shoes Worksheet" about student perceptions of beauty that I plan to use with my high school students. A young girl named Lee Shee Ping was born in the United States but had her feet bound so that her chances for finding a wealthy husband in America were increased. Has photos and suggested activities.

http://www.autry-museum.org/learn/images/Tom_Shee_Bin_Lesson_Plan.pdf

This site is great for all 7th and 10th grade history teachers, when i tought 10th grade history i would have used this to spark interest in Chinese culture and traditions.
Michael Wanmer

[Anonymous]

A great web site is NationalGeographic.com
This site goes into great dept about the forbidden city in it's May review. The maps and description to China and it's past can be used by 7th grade History teachers. This is a web site that should be used ofter in all history classes. Just be chance this May month is great for our China class.

[Anonymous]

http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/
These stats are used by me on a daily basis to teach china and the World to my students.

[Anonymous]

There is a National Geographic Channel show on footbinding called
"China Foot Binding: The Vanishing Lotus" from 2003. Very good video for high school level.

[Anonymous]

I'm loving nationalgeographic.com involving the China May issue. The videos are powerful--especially China: An Aerial View. This is going to be a required homework assignment for my class--to investigate this website.

[Anonymous]

Website for elementary teachers:

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/chinese-new-year/index.html

This site has the typical Chinese zodiac information, but I also found some other links with traditional folk stories that you can print out and read aloud, or even have students read independently depending on grade level. If you've ever used the Junior Great Books program you could probably use some of these stories in inquiry discussions. They would also be good for having students figure out themes or main ideas. Another interesting link was a list of Chinese proverbs and "Confucious says...." passages. These could also be used to develop comprehension and thinking skills. This site also had an interactive tangram activity with solutions and Chinese recipes.

This site has some good information if you are trying to incorporate Chinese Culture into language arts standards (my focus is on lower grades). In addition to the traditional folklore you could print there was also a link to a list of picture books about Chinese New Year and Chinese Culture that I found useful. Although I've seen many of the titles before on Amazon.com, this was an easy list to print and take to my library.

[Anonymous]

The most recent edition of National Geographic magazine featured China. Because I do not subscribe to National Geographic, I accessed the Nat'l Geo website. The site seems like a great place for students to explore the articles about China. Also, the photographs are amazing. Check out the aerial gallery to see beautiful pictures of Chinese landscape. Also, there is an entire feature on Tibet and some historical info on the history of the Dali Lama.

Here's the web address: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

[Anonymous]

The CNTO website is a great starting point to get general information about China. Students could explore this site and answer some basic questions about China. The main pages give information about China as a whole -- a map of provinces, the various languages spoken, the religions practiced, etc. On the right side, the user can click on a list of specific cities and get information about that particular place. Especially for elementary or middle school teachers, this site can give a basic understanding of the country before exploring more deeply with a novel or reading various articles about current events.

Here's the web address: http://www.cnto.org/

[Anonymous]

The Beijing 2008 Olympic website has endless pages to explore. It seems like there is a part that might fit with every subject matter. I found one page comparing the various Olympic emblems throughout the years. An art class might analyze these, especially how they move from more concrete emblems to very abstract emblems. The site is full of the five mascots, each character representing the five elements of the earth -- water, fire, etc. There is a page in which fuwa (the fire mascot) teaches Chinese phrases. The site is also updating the torch relay and ticket sales. It'd be interesting for students to look at the torch relay news and explore what spin the site takes on all the controversy.

Here's the web address: http://en.beijing2008.cn/

[Anonymous]

This is one of the few Asian films I saw before taking this class. I actually read the book first and loved it. The movie was so heartbreakingly sad that I cried long after it played. The life of these three women in China and America is detailed through flashbacks. As a mother of three boys, who would love a baby girl, I think this touched me more than most. I think in snippets this movie would be excellent to show in the classroom as a study of culture, especially women. As a whole though, it would be tough to show in a class at my student's age -6th grade.The story gives life to the struggle that these immigrant women make. Americans have no idea the sacrifices made and the things women continue to do to remain close to their culture and country.[Edit by="sdemerjian on May 7, 11:48:05 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

http://www.math.ksu.edu/~dbski/publication/history.html
Interesting site on the history of the Chinese educational system. In teaching study skills to 6th graders, we have begun some discussion on other culture's educational habits. This site shows how teaching changed according to what was going on in the country politically. Education is also greatly affected by locale. This would be a useful site, though it's basic, to showing students how education changes over time. A comparison could be made to the United States educational system and how it has changed over the years.

[Anonymous]

http://www.chinapage.com/story/story.html
My 6th grade students are reading fairy tales right now and will be writing a play with a group that is a fairy tale. They will perform the fairy tale for the class. I stumbled across this site in researching different fairy tales around the world. China has a lot of them, though they don't always fit the classic definition of a fairy tale. This site is really helpful in that quite a few are posted. Each one asks you to discuss the moral as well. I printed out a few for my students to read. It is also a good research tool for students to use in studying the culture of children in China.

[Anonymous]

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/toru-kumon/
My oldest son struggles a bit in school and in figuring out what to do, I researched. A lot. In addition, I teach study skills to 6th graders. I am always on the search for what is going to help my students and my son. One of the recommendations I received was Kumon. This site is interesting in that it describes how Kumon works and who came up with it. It is a Japanese way of teaching and Mr. Kumon's own son was doing calculus in 6th grade because of it. It is what we think of (or at least I think of) when I think of an Asian school: repetition. Obviously, it works. This site is helpful for a study skills class in researching different cultures and how learning styles can affect how you learn.

[Anonymous]

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/china-country-profile.html
This is a fun and interesting site relating to the culture and etiquette of China. My 7th/8th grade journalism class last trimester had a long discussion about what's appropriate in China and what different words mean. It was wonderful because we had two students who had come from China in the past two years. The other students were so interested in knowing basic words, gestures, and learning what is socially appropriate that I had an idea for an article for our school newspaper. We have many students from Asia and I wanted to get their perspective on what is appropriate there and here and how different it is in each country. My two girls from China wrote the article and included basic Chinese vocabulary and culture. For example- one should never give four of anything or take the last piece of food on a serving plate. All of this information is included on this site. It is meant for business travelers- but as a research tool- it works! There are links on Chinese history, weather, etc.

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