Theme Unit Planning

1. Theme Unit Planning Becky Yang Jennifer Yang

2. Theme: The Hmong PeopleLanguage and Culture Grade level:5th Grade Social Studies - Culture Common Core State Standards • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 • Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text. Essential Standards/Clarifying Objectives • 5.C.1Understand how increased diversity resulted from migration, settlement patterns and economic development in the United States. • 5.C.1.2 Exemplify how the interactions of various groups have resulted in the borrowing and sharing of traditions and technology • 5.C.1.3 Explain how the movement of goods, ideas and various cultural groups influenced the development of regions in the United States. • 5.C.1.4Understand how cultural narratives (legends, songs, ballads, games, folk tales and art forms) reflect the lifestyles, beliefs and struggles of diverse ethnic groups.

3. Essential Question: What does it mean to be Hmong? Topical Questions: • Who are the Hmong people? What are their customs and traditions? • What can we learn from the Hmong culture? • What reason did the Hmong people choose to flee to the United States? • What kind of impact do you think migrating to the United States had on the Hmong people? • What types of barriers do Hmong people encounter in the United States? • What are some of the problems Hmong people are faced with in and outside of the classroom? Why?

4. Overview/goals From firsthand experience, we have both come across numerous people that are unaware of who we, the Hmong, are. We chose this theme because as Hmong people, we strive to promote and preserve our culture, along with the language. Not only do we aspire to further promote the culture and language, but our main goal is that we hope to spread awareness of this topic. Through the many experiences that the Hmong people have come across, we want our students to understand where this minority group come from. Growing up may not have been so tough for us but we would not be who, what and where we are if it weren’t for the survivors of the Vietnam War. Through folktales and stories that have been passed down from our ancestors throughout the generations, we want to share the richness of the people and culture. However, beyond the preservatives of our heritage, we want to do much more than just educate our students. We chose this theme because we want students to: • 1) understand the struggles of adapting to a new place and to call it their home • 2) broaden their interests on a universal level • 3) expand their curiosityon other customs of in the world. Even though the texts we selected are mainly for informative purposes, readers will be opened to an unfamiliar culture in various aspects. The activities we chose allow students to be open-minded to a new culture, language, and tradition.

5. Lenses/Perspectives • Race or ethnicity • Traditions • Language • History • Art • Geography • Morals & Values • Storytelling approach • Celebrations & holidays

6. Text Set Primary text (Memoir/Biography) The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir By: Kao Kalia Yang Reading level: N/A Summary: During the Vietnam War, the United States CIA seeked out the Hmong people for aid. The Hmong people volunteered to help the United States, under one condition: a promise of home. “After the Americans left Laos, they left thousands of Hmong people behind to wait for a fight that would end for so many in death.” This book is about how the Hmong people became refugees and migrated to the United States. This is a memoir of Kao Kalia and her family. The themes that we see in her book are of war, love, family, and home. Additional text sources Fiction/Folktale • Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella By: Jewell Reinhart Coburn, TzexaCherta Lee Informational Text • Teaching with Folk Stories of the Hmong: An Activity Book By: Dia Cha, Norma J. Livo • The Hmong - By: Dolly Brittan • Long Road to Freedom: Journey of the Hmong By: Linda Barr • Hmong for Beginners - By: Annie Jaisser Traditional Literature • Grandfather’s Story Cloth (YawgDaimPajNtaub Dab Neeg) By: Linda Gerdner, Sarah Langford Picture Book • Hmong Textile Designs - By: Anthony Chan

7. (Before) Hook: Storytelling, Language • Start out with an introduction (speak entirely in Hmong). Following the intro, have students jot down in their journals what was said. (Even though the scene is entirely in another language, how do our actions speak out to others who don’t speak the same language?) • Prior Knowledge: Picture Word Inductive Model—A picture will be shown to students. While viewing the picture, students will need to answer the following questions: What do you see? What connections do you have to this picture? What do you think we are going to be studying about?

8. (During) Text Engagement: Sketch to Stretch—The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir • 5 passages, most appealing to their senses • Sketch in their journals what they see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. Following the activity… • Share sketches, have their classmates respond

9. 1. Brochure Must include: • Who the Hmong are • The history with a map • Traditions with pictures • Various cultural aspects (ex. clothing, gardening, etc). Text Connection: • Long Road to Freedom: Journey of the Hmong • The Hmong Lens/Rationale: History, Geography, Traditions Brochures serve to be informative but simplistic and attention-grabbing. Pictures play a very important part in serving as attraction, as well as eye-opening the text. Because of the brightly colored clothing and salivating food, using the combination of text and pictures indulges viewers to have a closer connection with the Hmong culture.

10. 2. Tell a Story • Each student assigned varying quilt patterns from the text among 3 to 4 different choices. • Write own story based on quilt (who, what, where, when, why). • Afterwards, students with the same quilt will come together to compare/contrast story ideas. Text Connection: • Hmong Textile Designs Lens/Rationale: Traditions, Storytelling, Art, Geography Students will understand the importance of pictures. Not only does capturing a still image create a memory, but pictures can store hundreds of tales. The perspective of one student may vary from another, but no one really knows the real story behind the quilts other than the maker.

11. 3. Timeline • Past events • Ideas of the Hmong Text Connection: • The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir • Long Road to Freedom: Journey of the Hmong Lens/Rationale: History, Race/Ethnicity, Traditions Timelines tell stories in brief moments. The use of a timeline to map out the Hmong people will allow students to see how far they date back.

12. 4. Venn Diagram • Compare/contrast the classic Cinderella with Jouanah. Text Connection: • Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella Lens/Rationale: Storytelling, Morals & Values Though everyone knows the story and moral of our classic Cinderella, viewing the story from another perspectiveof a different culture could teach something very valuable: people all around the world aren’t too different. Students can not only pull from the text but as well as the images to compare and contrast from the typical Cinderella they already know.

13. 5. Recipes of Traditional Holiday • Students will be given a list of a variety of traditional Hmong ingredients/spices/seasonings • Selecting a few from the list, students will use them to create their own dish. • Along with their dish, they are to make up a holiday to incorporate why the dish they made is important. Text Connection: • Teaching with Folk Stories of the Hmong Lens/Rationale: Celebrations & holidays, Traditions Creative writing will be involved. Many of the dishes in the Hmong culture are an alteration of another Asian ethnic group’s. The ingredients used in traditional Hmong recipes are grown in their own gardens, but the uniquenessof the flavor come with adding the various sauces. Learning about these sauces are important because they are some of the many items that cannot be found on any old Wal-Mart shelf.

14. 6. Two-Voice Poem Compare the tragic events experienced through the eyes of both the Jews and the Hmong • Holocaust vs. guerilla warfare Text Connection: • The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir Lens/Rationale: History, Race/Ethnicity The Vietnam War is very similar to the Holocaust in retrospect to the aim and for what reasons: the Hmong and the Jews were both the targeted race to be rid of. However, many people are unaware of the similarities, let alone the existence of the Hmong people.