…I observe the earth and it is so beautiful. Even the places where there is great conflict and misery appear beautiful. This dichotomy has taught me to appreciate life and not to be upset by small things. I think this perspective has helped me find more inner peace and focus in my life. ~Leroy Chiao, Astronaut

View transcripts of past Live Chat sessions.

Use these lesson plans (created by educators for educators) to explore women's history in America with your students in your classroom:

Nothing to Fear - (Grades 5-8) Students learn what the World War II experience was like for Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

Exploring Cultural Rituals - (General Reference,) In this lesson, students investigate rituals and customs of various cultures and then explore their own cultural rituals through interviews with family. This lesson could be adapted to focus on Asian immigrants.

Learning About Immigration Through Oral History - (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12,) Students engage in visual and information literacy exercises to gain an understanding of how to identify and interpret primary historical sources, specifically oral histories. This lesson could be adapted to focus on Asian immigrants.

Is there a title (or two) that you always read to (or with) your students when teaching about women's history? Are there invaluable reference books that you use when working with this theme? Staff from The Library of Congress have generously donated favorite titles for the Asian Pacific Americans theme.

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Create your own collaborative lesson plans using material related to this month's theme assembled from The Learning Page Collection Connections:

Chinese in California, 1850-1925, The - (Summary and Teaching Resources) This collection illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials.

Around the World in the 1890s: Photographs from the World's Transportation Commission, 1894-1896 - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Many of the William Henry Jackson images in this collection were photographed in Asian locations. Use the Select a Country option to choose a location.

Suffering Under a Great Unjustice: Ansel Adams Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar - (Summary and Teaching Resources) In this collection, Ansel Adams documents the life of Japanese Americans interned at the Manzanar relocation camps during World War II. Photographs include portraits, views of daily life, agricultural scenes and sports and leisure activities.

After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Many interviews include opinions on Japan and Japanese living in America at the time.

Map Collections - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Browse by Geographical Location to locate more than 50 maps of Asia or search specific country names by keyword.

Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890 - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Items in this collection, along with legislative information from Thomas, can be used to examine the US decision to annex the Hawaiian Islands.

Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection - (Summary Only) View ceremonial writings of the Naxi people of China. The Naxi use a pictographic writing system similar to the ancient Egyptian and Mayan writing systems. It is the only living pictographic language in the world today.

These terms may be useful when searching for items related to this theme in the American Memory collections.