Given California's role in the Pacific economy, its historic Asian heritage, and the strong and growing presence of Asian communities and businesses in the state, it is imperative that students statewide understand the history of Asia. Unfortunately, the California state curricular framework and standards in history and social science limit the…

According to the California Department of Education's Curriculum Framework, the secondary curriculum for grades nine through twelve is geared toward students who are beginning "to develop [an] abstract understanding of historical causality--the often complex patterns of relationships between historical events, their multiple antecedents, and…

Lists and describes some resources on teaching world history that are available from the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC). Articles cover periodization, humanistic approaches, hierarchical organization of knowledge, skills in world history, teaching about Japan to students in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, global history, and a…

These materials consist of sample lesson plans for teaching about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, in both U.S. and world history classes. The lesson plans challenge students to examine how current attitudes toward the Japanese may be rooted in World War II and Pearl Harbor. Selected bibliographies on Pearl Harbor, World…

Presents reviews of three instructional resources on World War II. Includes a multimedia kit based on newspapers and a videotape, an illustrated book on issues surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima, and a diary of a grade school teacher's experiences in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. (CFR)

This issue of "Art to Zoo" focuses on Japanese art and is adapted from materials developed by the education department of the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. After learning how to look at paintings, students make paper screens that resemble Japanese screens. Background essays about Japan…

A Dutch teacher presents reading, film viewing, and writing activities for "Empire of the Sun," J. G. Ballard's autobiographical account of life as a boy in Shanghai and in a Japanese internment camp during World War II (the subject of Steven Spielberg's film of the same name). Includes objectives, procedures, and several literature,…

Uses Japanese family crests to motivate students to construct a family history. Includes background information on Japanese history and culture. Provides an outline for the student research project. Supplies a list of Japanese emblems and their symbolism. (NL)