World History - Asia/Far East: Lesson Plans

George Orwell, is today best known for his last two novels, the anti-totalitarian works Animal Farm and 1984. He was also an accomplished and experienced essayist. Among his most powerful essays is the 1931 autobiographical essay "Shooting an Elephant," which Orwell based on his experience as a police officer in colonial Burma. This lesson plan is designed to help students read Orwell's essay both as a work of literature and as a window into the historical context about which it was written.

Students may be familiar with this famous battle from its depiction in Zack Snyder's movie 300, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. In this lesson students learn about the historical background to the battle and are asked to ponder some of its legacy, including how history is reported and interpreted from different perspectives.

Curriculum unit overview. This four-lesson curriculum unit will examine the nature of what Winston Churchill called the "Grand Alliance" between the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union in opposition to the aggression of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Lesson 1: How “Grand” and “Allied” was the Grand Alliance?
Lesson 2: How to Win a World War
Lesson 3: Victory and the New Order in Europe
Lesson 4: The New Order for “Greater East Asia”

Beginning in the 9th century the Khmer empire, which was based in what is today northwestern Cambodia, began to gather power and territory in mainland Southeast Asia. It would grow to be one of the largest empires in Southeast Asian history. In this lesson, students will learn about Angkor Wat and its place in Cambodian, and Southeast Asian, history. Students will attempt to “read” the temple, in a way which resembles the reading of a primary document, to gain insight into this history.

In this lesson plan, students will learn about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. In the process, they will learn about Chinese culture, as well as improve reading, writing, and researching skills

Australian Aboriginal art is one of the oldest continuing art traditions in the world. Much of the most important knowledge of aboriginal society was conveyed through different kinds of storytelling.

Trace similar motifs in the artwork and folklore of India, Africa, the Maya, and Native Americans.

The famous Great Wall of China, which was built to keep the China’s horse-riding neighbors at bay, extends more than 2,000 kilometers across China, from Heilongjiang province by Korea to China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang. This lesson will investigate the building of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty, and will utilize the story of the wall as a tool for introducing students to one period in the rich history of China.

Many English speakers are familiar with the Sanskrit word karma, which made its way into the language during the first half of the nineteenth century. It is often used in English to encapsulate the idea that "what goes around comes around." A more complete understanding of the word is brought to life in the stories known collectively as the Jataka Tales. This lesson will introduce students to the concepts of samsara and karma, as well as to the Jataka Tales.

Find out what it might feel like to grow up in an Asian, African, or Latin American country.

The epic poem the Ramayana is thought to have been composed more than 2500 years ago, and like the Iliad and the Odyssey, was originally transmitted orally by bards. This lesson will introduce students to the Indian concept of dharma through a reading of the epic, The Ramayana.

The story of the Ramayana has been passed from generation to generation by numerous methods and media. Initially it was passed on orally as an epic poem that was sung to audiences by a bard, as it continues to be today.

The Edo Period (1603-1868) in Japan was a time of great change. The merchant class was growing in size, wealth, and power, and artists and craftsmen mobilized to answer the demands and desires of this growing segment of society. Perhaps the most well known art form that gained popularity during this period was the woodblock print, which is often referred to as ukiyo-e prints. In this lesson students will learn about life in Japan during the Edo period through an investigation of ukiyo-e prints.

In this lesson, the students study the differences between eastern and western dragons and discover why the eastern dragons are associated with the Chinese New Year. They learn about the dragon dancers and lion dancers in the New Years parade and discover that firecrackers are set off to drive off evil spirits, particularly one called Nian.

During the Middle Ages, most people in Europe spent their entire lives in the village where they were born. But in the 13th century, a young Italian named Marco Polo traveled all the way to China! In this lesson, students will learn about the remarkable travels of Marco Polo.

Fables, such as those attributed to Aesop, are short narratives populated by animals who behave like humans, and which convey lessons to the listener. Jataka Tales are often short narratives which tell the stories of the lives of the Buddha before he reached Enlightenment. In this lesson students will be introduced to both Aesop’s fables and to a few of the Jataka Tales, and through these stories will gain an understanding of one genre of storytelling: morality tales.

In this curriculum unit, students will become Marco Polo adventurers, following his route to and from China in order to learn about the geography, local products, culture, and fascinating sites of those regions.

Lesson 1: On the Road with Marco Polo: A Boy in 13th Century Venice
Lesson 2: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Venice to Hormuz
Lesson 3: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Kashgar
Lesson 4: On the Road with Marco Polo: Crossing the Deserts of China
Lesson 5: On the Road with Marco Polo: Marco Polo in China
Lesson 6: On the Road with Marco Polo: Sea Voyage to India
Lesson 7: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Venice
Lesson 8: On the Road with Marco Polo: Homecoming

Curiculum unit overview. Although most Americans were shocked by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the outbreak of war between the two countries came as no surprise to most observers of international affairs. Using contemporary documents, students explore the rise of animosity between the United States and Japan from its origins in World War I and culminating two decades later in the Pearl Harbor attack.

Lesson 1: The Growth of U.S.-Japanese Hostility, 1915-1932
Lesson 2: America and the Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1933-1939
Lesson 3: Japan's “Southern Advance” and the March toward War, 1940-1941
Lesson 4: The Failure of Diplomacy, September - December 1941

Explore the traditions and conventions of haiku and compare this classic form of Japanese poetry to a related genre of Japanese visual art.

Curriculum Unit overview. For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity. In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there.

Lesson 1: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali — Student Version
Lesson 2: Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa — Student Version
Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade — Student Version
Lesson 4: Trekking to Timbuktu: Mansa Musa Takes a Trip — Student Version
Lesson 5: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu's Golden Age of Scholarship — Student Version
Lesson 6: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Search for Timbuktu — Student Version
Lesson 7: Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past — Student Version
Lesson 8: Trekking to Timbuktu: Making The Pitch to Globe Trekker — Student Version

Curriculum Unit overview. For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity.

In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there. They will study how the spread of Islam influenced the cultures and economies along the Niger River. They will find out about the three kingdoms that evolved in ancient and medieval West Africa. They will discover how Timbuktu rose from a simple watering place to the most important city in Islamic West Africa. And they will find out what is being done today to protect the city’s antiquities

Lesson 1: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali —Teacher Version
Lesson 2: Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa — Teacher Version
Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade — Teacher Version
Lesson 4: Trekking to Timbuktu: Mansa Musa Takes a Trip — Teacher Version
Lesson 5: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu's Golden Age of Scholarship — Teacher Version
Lesson 6: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Search for Timbuktu — Teacher Version
Lesson 7: Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past — Teacher Version
Lesson 8: Trekking to Timbuktu: Assessment of Lessons 1-7 — Teacher Version

In this curriculum unit, students will learn about the origins of four major types of British surnames. They will consult lists to discover the meanings of specific names and later demonstrate their knowledge of surnames through various group activities. They will then compare the origins of British to certain types of non-British surnames. In a final activity, the students will research the origins and meanings of their own family names.

Lesson 1: What’s In A Name? How Did Surnames Come to Be?
Lesson 2: What’s In A Name? British Surnames Derived from Places
Lesson 3: What’s In A Name? British Surnames Derived from Occupations or Professions
Lesson 4: What’s In A Name? Non-British Surnames

Students take research into their heritage a step beyond the construction of a family tree, traveling through cyberspace to find our what's happening in their ancestral homelands today.