Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine the role of Chinese immigrants in America. They investigate literature, history and cultures of Chinese-Americans. This ambitious plan takes two weeks to complete, and it brings in elements...

Imagine having to give up cell phones, computers, and TV? What would be lost? What gained? An examination of the Drokpa, a nomadic people who live in the grasslands of Tibet, provides class members an opportunity to consider how access...

An 11-page packet includes three activities to engage pupils in reading Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. To understand the historical context, class members research a list of topics related to Chinese history and culture. They then...

Gong He Xin Xi! Happy New Year! Planning a Lunar New Year/Spring Festival Celebration? Check out the activities and resources in a packet that encourages pupils to research the cultural values and traditional practices associated with...

Young learners discover kamishibai, a popular Japanese storytelling art, and explore how these Japanese folktales illustrate the country's cultural themes and values through discussion and storyboarding. 

Eighth graders are introduced to Chinese language and culture to make Asian reading selections in literature circles more meaningful. They write about Chinese characters, work on oral speaking, and read Asian books and then have...

“The Wounded,” the title story from a collection of stories about the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1977-78), is the central text in a World Literature unit examining choices. An anticipation guide, discussion topics, vocabulary list,...

Young scholars investigate Chinese culture by reading their folk tales.  In this creative writing instructional activity, students practice identifying the different elements in a folk tale and examine the related vocabulary....

Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...

Moving to a new country isn't easy, as Shirley Temple Wong learns in In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. A series of language arts activities carry readers through the novel, addressing the story's themes,...

Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this lesson. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction and nonfiction...

Mickey Mouse, Elmo, and Tintin? Belgian cartoonist Georges (Herge) Remi’s famous comic character launches a study of primary and secondary source material and the impact these sources have on storytelling. Class members also examine the...

After reading creation myths from around the world, use this quiz to test your learners. Five different myths are covered in a multiple-choice format. Increase your scholars' global awareness by studying world literature and cultural myths.

When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...

Youngsters share ideas about cultural and/or spiritual rituals by participating in a fishbowl discussion, which explores the ways rituals have changed over time. They write reflective essays about their own cultural traditions.

Three activities allow young flight engineers to understand the 4 principles of flight (weight, lift, thrust, and drag), to construct a glider, and to create a propeller. Multicultural history and literature are integrated by reading...

Over the course of the lesson plan, your pupils read and analyze a translated eight-line poem from the Tang Dynasty written by Du Fu, a poet caught behind enemy lines during the An Lu-Shan rebellion (755-763). Literary/historical context...

Students explore types of governments and political systems. In partners, students share information about their home country. Classmates work together to prepare a presentation about the history and government of a specific country.

Writing poetry in ancient China was the modern equivalent of sending a greeting card. Scholars learn about the ancient Chinese poetic form called the lu shih. They read about the context of poetry during the T'ang Dynasty and complete a...

Students identify where China is in relation to the US. They investigate the history of dragons in Chinese culture. Students explore the nine different parts of a dragon and incorporate them into their own dragon. Student identify the...

Students create a power point presentation.  For this Chinese inventions and discoveries lesson, students view sample products that are the product of ancient Chinese civilizations and their innovations and discoveries. ...

In this East meets West quiz worksheet, 8th graders answer 30 questions in 6 rounds of the quiz, about geography, inventions, religions, art, schools and language with questions written in Chinese and English, including maps,...

The tale of "Lon Po Po" is a Chinese story, very similar to the European tale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Learners make cross cultural comparisons between the two tales, focusing on themes common to both. They review story elements such...

The English language is complex and sometimes counterintuitive. Guide young grammarians through a brief overview of the history of the English language with a presentation that includes lecture notes.