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Anti-Asian Racism & COVID-19 Lesson Plans
Cholera and Smallpox
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Category: Xenophobia
Grade Level: 6-8 Time Period: 1800s This duo lesson plan covers the history of epidemics and their connection to xenophobia in America. The history of smallpox and cholera in these lessons parallel the current COVID-19 pandemic in with the government's use of racial scapegoating and its effects on disease prevention. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
AP U.S. History Lesson Plans
Transcontinental Railroad
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Category: Transcontinental Railroad
Grade Level: 6-8 Time Period: 1800s How much do we know about history beyond Europe? This lesson plan addresses the European biases in the average AP curriculum by teaching about the specific push and pull factors that brought Chinese immigrants to the United States and their work on the Transcontinental Railroad. Activities include a mini DBQ and a class discussion about historical biases. |
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1800s Our immigration laws have the opportunity to open doors for many people; however, they also have the power to discriminate and marginalize other groups. This lesson plan covers immigration cases that shaped what it means to be Chinese American, how racism has influenced immigration policies, and how Chinese immigrants "Made America Great." Activities include a mini DBQ, practice with the S.P.Y. method, and a class discussion. |
1924 Immigration Act: the Most Racist Immigration Law of All Time?
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1900-1965 Who do our immigration laws serve? In this 3 day lesson plan, students will learn about the restrictive history of immigration policies and the racism behind them. This lesson plan focuses on "New Wave” immigration, the ideas of Nativism, and other lead ups to the 1924 Immigration Act. Activities include T-Q-A discussion and a review about nativism, Know-Nothings, the Mexican American War, and the Chinese Immigration Ban. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
Chinese American History Lesson Plans
World War II: Good Asian/Bad Asian
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Category: Internment
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1900-1965 This two-lesson unit studies the complex racial dynamics of the WWII and post-WWII periods, wherein the paths of Japanese and Chinese Americans diverged sharply. Students will learn about the ways the Civil Rights movement also impacted immigrants from abroad. |
Yellow Power, Vincent Chin, and Asian American Identity
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Category: Cross-Racial Solidarity
Grade Level: 6-8 Time Period: 1965-Present This two-lesson unit chronicles the development of the Asian American identity as a way of building power and dismantling white supremacy. Using the murder of Vincent Chin as a case study, students will learn about cross-racial coalitions and movement-building. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
Cross-Racial Solidarity Lesson Plans
Cross-Racial Solidarity
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Category: Cross-Racial Solidarity
Grade Level: 6-8 Time Period: 1965-Present How did Asian Americans and African Americans work together during the Civil Rights era? In this lesson plan, students learn about solidarity between Asian Americans and African Americans and how the Black Power movement influenced Asian American activism. Topics include the Third World Liberation Front, and what it means to be Asian American. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
PBS Lesson Plans
Racial Identity & American Citizenship in the Court
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1900-1965 What makes a U.S. citizen? Students will study the history of Bhagat Singh Thind and his supreme court case in a fight for citizenship. Students will discover the racism in who was allowed to become a citizen during this time period and how the US defines different races. Activities include a compare and contrast of Takao Ozawa's case to Bhagat Singh Thind's case and a US Census maker role play. |
The Fight for Ethnic Studies
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1900-1965 San Francisco State University (SF State) was a college with a mostly white student body and the Black Student Union began to question whether their own education was failing them. They started to demand curriculum that reflected their lives and a better representation of faculty of color. And with these demands from the Black Student Union, Asian American students took note. Students will learn about the Third World Liberation Front, the Asian American Political Alliance, and other Asian American organizing on college campuses. Activities include researching local calls for ethnic studeies and authors from communities of colors. |
Constitutional Rights of American Citizens
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1900-1965 The famous first words of the constitution, "We the People of the United States," should apply to all US citizens, but that has not always been the case. This lesson plan covers the infringement of Japanese Americans' constitutional laws after internment and Fred Korematsu's famous Supreme Court case. Activities include mind mapping and timelining voting rights throughout the decades. |
The Impact of the Vincent Chin Case
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Category: Cross-Racial Solidarity
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1965-Present In 1982 Vincent Chin was murdered by two white men because they mistook him for a "Jap" who was stealing their auto worker jobs, represents a pivotal moment in civil rights history. Chin's case marked the first instance of federal hate crime laws being used in a case involving an Asian American. In this lesson, students will learn about Vincent Chin and his legacy. Activities include defining hate crimes and comparing the fight against discrimination from past to present. |
The 1992 L.A. Riots & Civil Unrest
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Category: Cross-Racial Solidarity
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1965-Present On April 29, 1992, a week-long period of rioting and chaos swept through South Central, Koreatown, and other neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California. The initial unrest was sparked by the acquittal of four white police officers responsible for the beating of Rodney King, a Black man arrested for driving under the influence. The events were preceded by a long history of police brutality in Los Angeles’ Black communities. Resentment and fear grew between newly immigrated Koreans and Black residents of South Central. |
Tereza Lee and Undocumented Asian America
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Category: Immigration Policy
Grade Level: 9-12 Time Period: 1965-Present First introduced in 2001, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) provides an opportunity for young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to be given a pathway toward U.S. citizenship. This immigration bill came to be because of Tereza Lee, a Brazilian-born South Korean who moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was two years old. She is an undocumented American referred to as the first DREAMer. As of 2018, approximately 3.6 million undocumented youth entered the U.S. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
Maistorybook Lesson Plans
When I Found Grandma, by Saumiya Balasubramaniam & Qin Leng
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Category: Immigration
Grade Level: K-5 Time Period: 1965-Present When I Found Grandma is an insightful and endearing portrayal of a grandparent-grandchild relationship that is evolving and deeply loving, as Maya and Grandma navigate cross-cultural contexts and generational differences. This resource includes background information South Asian American immigration, classroom activities, and much more! |
A Different Pond, by Bao Phi & Thi Bui
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Category: Immigration
Grade Level: K-5 Time Period: 1965-Present A Different Pond is an unforgettable story about a simple event - a long-ago fishing trip. This book is a powerful, honest glimpse into a relationship between father and son - and between cultures, old and new. This resource is designed for use alongside Capstone Publishing's "A Different Pond Reader's Guide" (available here). The Reader's Guide provides discussion questions and activity ideas. This historical summary fills in the gaps to Bao Phi's A Different Pond, providing a brief introduction of the Vietnam War and the lasting effects the war on refugee families. |
Binny's Diwali, by Thirty Umrigar
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Category: Immigration
Grade Level: K-5 Time Period: 1965-Present Binny's Diwali is a delightful look at the holiday of Diwali: Festival of Lights! Today is Binny’s day to share her favorite holiday with her class. She’s excited to share about Diwali, but a bit nervous, too. After struggling in the beginning to find her words, Binny takes a deep breath, and then shares the magic of Diwali. Learn along with Binny’s classmates as she shows them the glowing clay lamps, called diyas, explains the fireworks of gold, green, and red that burst through the night sky, and shares delicious pedas and jalebis treats. |
Oral History Project
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Category: All-Encompassing
Grade Level: All-Encompassing Time Period: 1965-Present Curriculum: All-Encompassing This oral history assignment serves as the capstone project of the Chinese American History curriculum as students are asked to take ownership of their own immigration histories. Students begin conversations with family members about immigration stories and personal narratives that oftentimes have been buried until now. The assignment focuses on a particular "primary source," an object that represents the family's immigration journey in some way. Students interview their parent or other family member and write an essay summarizing the family member's oral history, using the object as a jumping-off point. |
