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Updated: September 2008 |
China in the Year of the Olympics
Lessons and units of work to use in teaching about China and/or the Olympics
Units of work linked to the Beijing Olympics
AFSSSE, the Australian Federation of Societies for Studies of Society and Environment, with assistance from the Australia-China Council, has produced four great units of work linked to the Beijing Olympics.
The resource aims to build a better understanding of China and promote mutual understanding between Australia and China, while at the same time using a current event to engage learners. The resource is suitable for students in Years 9-10.
The four units have an historical and cultural focus; a geographical focus; an environmental focus and an economics focus. The units contain focus questions, strategies and activities, worksheets, key terms and meanings and links to other relevant resources.
The units can be downloaded from www.afssse.asn.au.
Units of lessons to support Studies of China
Exploring China
Scroll down the page to the section Exploring China – a useful resource for teachers
Make buildings of Asia
Amazing models to make of famous world buildings printed on paper straight off your printer.
Go to http://cp.c-ij.com/english/3D-papercraft/ and scroll down to Buildings of the World for plans to make:
- The Great Buddha of Todaiji Temple, Japan
- Shuri Castle, Japan
- Kumamoto Castle, Japan
- Osaka Castle, Japan
- Gasshozukuri, Japan
- Forbidden City, China
- Taj Mahal, India
- Himeji Castle, Japan
A rich range of studies of Asia teaching resources from the AEF http://asiaeducation.edu.au/public_html/lesson_plans.htm using:
- Images of Asia
- The Really Big Food Project
- The Really Big Beliefs Project
- Snapshots
On line learning sites: Fiction books recommended by teachers
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/ChinaQuest.html
http://www.bendigoschools.vic.edu.au/china/home.html
- The Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson. Dragonkeeper is also supported with a unit of work on Reading Enriches Learning on the Curriculum Corporation site. http://www1.curriculum.edu.au/rel/values/book.php?catrelid=1484
- Ties that bind, ties that break by Lensey Namioka - about foot binding and family relationships in China
- The China Coin by Allan Ballie
- Valley of Heavenly Gold (set in NZ but is based on the discoveries of gold and Chinese community)
- Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep.
- Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
- Hungry Ghosts by Sally Heinrich Based around the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, and the main character is Sarah, a teenage Chinese-Singaporean girl, whose family has just migrated to Australia, and struggles to fit into the new culture. She meets the ghost of Pei, a Chinese girl who was not much older than Sarah when she died. As Sarah helps her Pei to discover the truth about events surrounding her death, she learns about their common ancestry and something of early Chinese settlement in Australia.
- The Garden of Empress Cassia, The Pearl of Tiger Bay or the Hidden Monastery by Gabrielle Wang are all great novels for the middle and upper primary classes. The Garden has great fantasy elements and deals with the assimilation of a Chinese family into Australia, it uses elements of the author's own experiences as well. It provides some wonderful scope for lessons about bullying, racial tolerance and art lessons using the garden's description.
Other resources
China Down Under: www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/hsie/resources/stage1resources.htm
Websites:
The Chinese History of Federation website introduces teachers to the history of the Chinese in Australia, provides a range of lesson plans for History and SOSE teachers as well as a range of resources to assist teachers develop their own classes. This site has extensive links to Chinese organisations and resources.
http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/education/index.htm
Year of the Rat websites:
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/chinese_new_year.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=424
http://ezinearticles.com/?Chinese-New-Year---Games-With-a-Twist!&id=820642
China and Human Rights - Amnesty International
http://action.amnesty.org.au
Olympics sites:
http://corporate.olympics.com.au/
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/chinese_olympics.html
Results and follow up material can also be found at: http://www.olympics.com.au/ or at the official Beijing website http://en.beijing2008.cn/en_index.shtml
China, the Olympics and Human Rights
The international spotlight is on China as the 2008 Olympic Games approach.
Amnesty International Australia has just released China, the Olympics and Human Rights, a teacher and student resource focussing on issues including:
- Internet censorship in China
- the history of the Olympics and human rights
- human rights defenders in China
- issues such as the death penalty and detention without trial.
China, the Olympics and Human Rights is designed as a series of 1-2 page photocopiable materials, and is accompanied by teacher notes and an Advice to Teachers document. The resource is designed for students in the middle years, and can be used across the curriculum. It is particularly suited to students in years 9 and 10 and the Humanities, SOSE/ HSIE and English Learning Areas.
Download the resource at http://action.amnesty.org.au/humanrightstoday/comments/12526/ or follow the links at http://www.amnesty.org.au/humanrightstoday
Apropos of this subject line, the ABC hosted an excellent debate on Sunday on The Big ideas about whether China was "fit" to hold the Olympic games. The speakers, who included Paul Monk, Hamish McDonald and Bob Brown, canvassed a whole range of issues: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigideas/default.htm