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Instructional Goals:
Students will learn a little about Chinese culture, the Gold Rush, and the immigrant experience, and understand how these aspects relate to US people’s right to the “pursuit of happiness.”
Learning Objectives:
Students will:
- Demonstrate critical listening skills by answering questions about Chinese culture, the Gold Rush, and the immigrant experience.
- Successfully connect these three ideas to the US Declaration of Independence’s “pursuit of happiness” theme and their own lives, and demonstrate this by contributing their own ideas about the “pursuit of happiness” to the library display board.
Motivational Goals:
- Establish relevance by relating the story to students’ lives.
- Promote curiosity and interest by letting children explore props related to Chinese culture and panning for gold.
- Build confidence by encouraging students to share what they know about California and what they’ve already learned about the Gold Rush.
AUDIENCE
Level: Grade 4-5
Size: 20-30 students
Notes on Setting: The major props for this lesson come from our reading selection. Yep, Laurence. The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner (My Name is America: A Dear America Book). Scholastic, NY: 2000. Instructor should use a copy machine to blow up several pictures in the back of the “diary”. The instructor should display these on a stand directly in front of the reading area, so children can refer to the pictures during the reading. I suggest using both illustrations on page 211 (top: Chinese scribe with abacus, bottom: Chinese workers using gold-panning machine) and the top illustration on page 210 (angry crowd throwing fruit at a Chinese worker). Other suggested props include a map or globe, a piece of Fool’s Gold, an abacus, a scroll or picture with Chinese calligraphy found online (you can print out some lovely examples from http://www.chinapage.com/callig1.html), and/or a panning device.
This lesson plan will take about two class sessions. I indicate below the point where I suggest that the librarian swap duties with the classroom teacher. Otherwise, the librarian can use two class periods: the first to read the book selections and discuss the ideas presented with the class, and the second to present the Declaration of Independence and conduct the “pursuit of happiness” activity. At my school, we could accommodate the entire lesson by merging the library and computer classes into one combined session.
Characteristics: Fourth grade children at this school are just starting to notice the inequities between people of different backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. By fifth grade, most students are highly aware of these differences. This selection can play to that characteristic by pointing out differences in a positive way and presenting the idea that hardship was universal in many cultures of the 1850s (using both China and the US as examples).
Profile
Attention: mid (Children at this age level are highly attentive for read-aloud sessions, but are often less interested when the book does not include colorful illustrations on every page. The many action-packed, descriptive passages should overcome this initial obstacle.)
Relevance: mid-high (Many children will know that their families originally came from outside the US, may be already interested in foreign cultures and California, and have covered the Gold Rush in the Fourth Grade Social Studies curriculum.)
Confidence: high (We let children choose puppets before reading, so they have something to do with their hands and an easier time paying attention; also, the concluding activity is ungraded since our assessment will primarily relate to their attention and responsiveness during the story and related discussions.)
Satisfaction: high (Students will be providing their own opinions about the topic on the activity sheet, and will see them displayed in the library as decorations once complete.)
CONTENT
Introduction
Boys and girls, today we’ll be reading about a boy who traveled from China to the US in the 1800s. He came to California during the Gold Rush.
*brainstorming and audience participation: Who can point to China on the map? Can any of you tell me about the Gold Rush?
This book is written by Laurence Yep. Yep is a Chinese American man who grew up in California.
*Audience participation: Has anyone been to or know anyone who lives in California? Can anyone point to it on the map? How far is it from China to California?
Great! We’re going to read, and while we’re reading I’m going to show you a few pictures and objects related to our story. After we’re done, we’ll do an activity that will help decorate our library for (Constitution Day, Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day). Let’s get started!
Body
(Display top illustration from page 211 first – Chinese scribe with abacus. If you have an abacus to share, talk a little about how it works and pass it around before beginning to read. Ask the class if they know anything about Chinese writing; explain that it goes opposite of our writing and that in China, people who can write well are highly respected by their community. Show them a sample of Chinese calligraphy (a scroll).
Read pages 3-5 (entry October 1, 1851), pages 26-7 (entry March 23), page 33 (entry April 7)
Transition: mention that we’re skipping to the voyage. Read pages 47-48 (entry April 25 only).
Transition: mention that the journey was very long, lasting several months. Read pages 55-57 (June 18, First City and Later entries: *Have a student point out San Francisco on the map), page 77-8 (July 1 and 3 entries: *Have a student point out Sacramento on the map; remind them that this city is the capital of California), page 81-83 (July 12, Later and Twilight entries only).
Switch pictures: illustration p. 210.
*Discussion: Ask children if they can tell what is happening in the picture, and if that seems fair.
Transition: mention that during his trip to find Uncle, our narrator met a boy named Hiram, an American from the East who is also looking for gold. Read p. 103-105 (July 18, evening), p. 125-27 (Aug 28)
Switch pictures: bottom illustration page 211. The gold “rocker” panning method.
Discussion: ask children if they’ve had a chance to “pan for gold” at the MOST or the Rochester Museum of Play. Pass around the Fool’s Gold and panning props, if you have them.
Read pages 130-132 (entries Sept 21 through 28).
If there’s time, read the letter on pages 188-89 from Runt’s parents.
Conclusion
Raise your hand is you liked this story. What did you like the most? (Discuss)
What new things did you learn in this story?
Would you have like to live in 1850s California, working as a miner? Why or why not?
Laurence Yep is a fantastic writer, who has won several awards. I have more books by him here on display if you would like to check out another one of his books.
*The “library” part of the lesson ends here. If this lesson includes collaboration with the classroom teacher, this is a good time to switch over to the more formal social studies instruction. The full text of the Declaration of Independence is available widely; I accessed the version posted at the Avalon Project: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm.)
Now, let’s talk about why we read this book today. (Give overview of US Declaration of Independence, talk about the immigrant experience).
Discussion:
What is happiness? What made our story’s narrator happy? (family, writing well, discovering new things, making friends, helping others)
Could you hold the things that made him happy in your hand? (Explain concept that happiness is often connected to ideas, not material goods)
Does our right to PURSUE HAPPINESS mean that we have the right to be happy?
Activity:
What does the pursuit of happiness mean to you? (children can type or write down their ideas on their own “page” of the Declaration of Independence. These will be hung on the wall after completed. See handout attached (can also be used as a template for computer).
