Multicultural Story Path from China to Canada

Multicultural Story Path – From China to Canada Kathy Brown Social Studies Methods Dr. Sharon Murray

If minority stories are told truthfully - so that others may identify with the characters - then the humanity in that story will form a bridge between people of different colors and backgrounds.” Wayson Choy, August 1992. http://campus.fortunecity.com/bluffton/718/essay.html Intensifiers used as a warm-ups for the main activities over the time period of the unit:

Day One:

 Explain the concept of the Story Path and how it will be used for the unit Multiculturalism. Introduce China as the home country of our Chinese- Canadian “characters”.

 Pass out Shara interview and resposes that tell about her experience of coming to Canada. Begin the main activity by deciding as a class on the inciting incident.

Day Two:

 Show Tegan’s Digital Story: Canadian Multiculturalism 4:00 min.

 Hand out various definitions of Multiculturalism. Before students read the definition, have them construct their own understanding of the word. Have students read the definitions. Ask them how the word multiculturalism, used in Canada, differs from the term “melting pot” commonly used to describe the U.S. in relation to being made up of many cultures. (denotation, connotation) . View the following video:

 http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt- 2ymkAJnNh0U/american_melting_pot_vs_canadian_multiculturalism/ 2:00

Day Three:  Have lyrics to “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” by Crash Test Dummies on the board. Define “idioms”. Ask students what the idiom “skeletons in the closet” means. Have them speculate why people keep skeletons in the closet, especially in relation to younger family members and the neighbors. What might be the ghosts that the band refers to represent?

 Explain that there are realities about Canadian history related to multiculturalism that traditionally have not been talked about in the schools. Make connections to the previous discussion on “skeletons in the closet”. Ask the students to brainstorm ideas on why Canada might want to keep certain skeletons in the closet. Identify some skeletons in Canada’s history that the country has tried to keep in the closet . How might this adversely affect Multiculturalism in Canada today?

Day Four:

 Before viewing YouTube ”The Ghosts That Haunt Me” by Crash Test Dummies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-KgH-ENzo&NR=1 ask the students to see if the video offers any wisdom as to how a person, a family, or a country might deal with the skeletons in their own closet?

 Discuss

Day Five:

 KWL in relation to the history of the Chinese in Canada. After viewing the following film ask students what they learned. Make a transition between why the Chinese came in the past and why Canada has been experiencing a rise in Chinese immigration at the present time.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzHP5S0IdZg Chinese Immigration to Canada – late 1800’s – mid 1900’s

Day Six:  Use an excerpt from The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy and present as reader’s theater. Explain that this story is set in Canada in the 1940’s and looks at the issues of immigration and multiculturalism from the perspective of three generations.

Day seven:

 Discussion: Talk about Shara’s experience of culture shock. Have students share a personal culture shock experience with the class. It may even be the transition from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school. Be sure to have them explain what happened and how they dealt with the situation. What did they learn? If possible, have them offer some advice for your classmates. http://www.passagestocanada.com/PTC_edu_guide.pdf

Last Day: Bring all elements of the story together and present! Chinese finger food would be an added bonus. Story Path – Multiculturalism/Immigration to Canada (Students will be formed into groups of five)

Prepare six packets for each aspect of the Story Path.

Packet One – Creating the Set

Students will Create a Mural to represent a Chinese scene (if the inciting incident happens in China). Include pictures and art materials. Give the students creative licence. If the inciting incident happens in Canada, adjust this portion of the activity accordingly. http://images.google.com/images? hl=en&q=chinese+scenery&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

http://juima.org/events/images/semi-thumbs/20050811-Sydney- Chinese_Garden_of_Friendship-scenery-4.jpg

http://images.google.com/images? gbv=2&&hl=en&q=chinese+scenery&&sa=N&start=72&ndsp=18 Packet Two: Traditional Dress - Female and Male Include: fabric, pictures, glue-gun, measuring tape, fabric scissors… http://images.google.com/imgres? imgurl=http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01780/clothing/style/images/

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01780/clothing/style/images/tang-women.jp http://www.chinesemoods.com/images/P/am020001gu.jpg Packet Four – Developing the Characters and Mapping the Story Include in packet:

 Document: Sharah’s Interview attached

 Story organizer template http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO_pdf/story_or ganzier.pdf

 Pictures of possible characters to use as a visual for physical descriptions. See below

 Descriptors for personality and character analysis. http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO_pdf/characte r_traits_wordbank.pdf Using the inciting incident and interview/responses given by Sarah as a launching point, create a cast of five characters. Provide a written description, and a personality/character profile for each of the people in the story. Submit this to the script-writers by the start of the third day. On the third day, explain to this group that they are to research authentic Chinese recipes on line and plan a meal for the first night of Chinese New Years (also research). See if you can locate the recipes for the traditional New Year’s food found on the following wesite:  Chinese New Years http://www.google.com/search? source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENCA288&q=chinese+new+year s&btnG=Google+Search

 Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0S8lrnVZw&feature=related

 2008 Chinese New Year Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- XRP761Whdw&feature=related 3:18  Each student will also use clay to mold a sculpture of one aspect of Chinese New Year.  These Chinese cultural elements will be on display the day of the story. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mms.warwick.ac.uk/mms/

http://www.jacekphoto.com/china/9hinese_people17 http://efocus.foursquare.org/images/bios/256F034A0F1454DA8D9752ECBFE023 98.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres? imgurl=http://lh5.ggpht.com/_

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/pub/libs/images/usr/4791.jpg Packet Five: Writing the Script On day three, Group 5 will receive the character profiles and the Story Map from Group 4. They will then begin to write the script for the play.  A Guide to Play Writing http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_701544128/play.html Day one and Two: Students will research Confucius quotations and make a bulletin board of creatively displayed quotations.  http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Confucius/

Packet Six – Timeline Packet will include:  String, colored paper, scissors, pencil crayons, clothespins (tiny ones), paperclips  Pictures , either drawn or printed of story related content (visit library for computer use).  Use Shara’s interview and the script from the play to create and imaginary sequence of events that led to her arrival in Canada. Shara How long have you lived in Canada? For 5 years. Why did you originally come to Canada? Originally came for study. Did you grow up in a city? Town? Village? Village? What is its name? I was grown up in a city, of which the name is Xi An. Did you speak English when you left China for Canada? Yes , but just some basic skills on English speaking and writing. What steps did you take to get ready to leave? First, apply a Canadian visa, of which the complicated reviewing process last for almost one year. Secondly, study at home and prepare English language test. Learn general country briefing on Canada. Thirdly, contact with friends in Canada ask suggestions on what life necessities to prepare. Forth, rent an apartment with the help of friend who is in Canada. How long, from beginning to end, would you say it make the move (plan, leave, arrive, get settled)? Two years. One year for applying school admission letter. One year for visa application. Did you experience culture shock? Homesickness? Did it last for a while? Yes, both. Experienced Culture shock shortly after new life started in Canada. Homesickness aroused year later as the excitement of been abroad gradually faded. Now, understand the culture differences of two countries and make effort to accommodate myself to the Canadian society. What was your first impression of the Canadian life? People in general are friendly, although few with sensible exclusive tension. TO BE CONTINUED…