One way to begin thinking about curriculum development:

National Standards:   http://www.education-world.com…..ndex.shtml  Scroll down to locate desired subject area. The numbering system for the standards is at the bottom of the list.

State Standards:  http://www.education-world.com…..ndex.shtml  Choose your state from the drop-down menu, then locate the subject area of interest.

Here are two really good curriculum resources from Primary Source, a Boston area nonprofit that does many REALLY good programs on China for primary and secondary educators.  These include many primary and secondary sources both in the text and on an accompanying CD-ROM.  All the sources are "bite-sized" so that they're easier to use with high school students.  I have a copy of the modern China book (China in the World") and hope to have my school orderChinese Dynasties Part Two: The Song Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty, 960 to 1911 CE the one on ancient China.

China in the World: A History Since 1644  http://www.cheng-tsui.com/stor…..hina_world

The Enduring Legacy of Ancient http://www.cheng-tsui.com/stor…..nt_china_0

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) also has some very user friendly units for teaching about China.  Here are a couple that I've used in my East Asian Studies course:

Religions and Philosophies in China http://spice.stanford.edu/cata….._buddhism/

Chinese Dynasties Part One: The Shang Dynasty through the Tang Dynasty

http://spice.stanford.edu/cata…..to_907_ce/

Chinese Dynasties Part Two: The Song Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty, 960 to 1911 CEChinese Dynasties Part Two: The Song Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty, 960 to 1911 CE

http://spice.stanford.edu/cata…..o_1911_ce/

China's Republican Era, 1911 to 1949

http://spice.stanford.edu/cata…..1_to_1949/

Another curriculum model of interest to our group may be the "Webquest": http://webquest.org/index.php  A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web.  Often the underlying premise involves students in the exploration of online resources to solve a fictitious "problem" creatively. Since the concept was first pioneered in 1995 at San Diego State University, thousands of teachers have created Webquests. You can search the database for Webquests on China.

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"Six Paths to China" is another source for models of learning sequences prepared using online materials:  http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wire…..index.html  

We could upload our own photographs and create inquiry-oriented exercises around a standard, benchmark, historical event, or theme such as those modeled above.

Katrina Levin said:

I have been looking at Bill Bigelow's wonderful role plays/ simulations as a model. There are several that I use in my teaching.  It would be great to add a role play on China to the IB class that I teach. Having so many primary source photos and cultural artifacts at our disposal in Xi'an would make for some rich background material. Is anyone interested?

Katrina

Katrina,

What are the topics of the role plays that you already use? Do you have a political issue in mind that you'd like to develop into a role play? I am definitely interested in this approach, which could be adapted for elementary and middle school students. Tell us more!

Dee

Post edited 2:28 am – June 20, 2009 by DeeCW
Post edited 2:30 am – June 20, 2009 by DeeCW

My district's elementary science coordinator forwarded this info that may be of interest for both personal exploration and curriculum planning:

Google Earth Pro Is *FREE* for Educators!

Basically, all you have to do is download the PRO trial version at http://earth.google.com and then forward the answers to these questions to GEEC@google.com:

1. The e-mail address (log in) that will be used in connection with the Google Earth Education Account.
2. A brief description of the institution where Google Earth will be installed (URL included). The license may be installed on two computers.
3. Name, title and contact information of the principle (sic) faculty member or administrator in charge of the license.
4. A brief description of the intended applications of Google Earth, including grade level(s), discipline(s) and subject matter.

 Why get the PRO version? Because it supports some awesome plug-ins that will really enrich your lessons. You maintain all the features and functionality with "regular" Google Earth – zooming, tilting/panning, place lookups, and more. There is a WikiPedia plug-in (available in the free version actually) that allows you to get a WikiPedia entry for places on the globe. You can view 3-D buildings (also in the free version), like the Eiffel Tower, in amazing detail, and that's just the beginning!

Another serendipitous find from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

http://www.metmuseum.org/explo…..index.html 

"China, Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 A.D. displays exceptional works of art from forty-six institutions in the People’s Republic of China, all of which have been excavated in recent decades and many of which have never been seen before in the West. The insights provided by these objects and the research that accompanied the preparation of this show have created a new understanding of the development of Chinese culture and art in this important period. . . All the images and information, including maps, chronology, and glossary, can be downloaded or printed for use in the classroom."

* * *

I think this could be a model for arranging our photos, providing background notes, and creating a teaching unit that supports objectives for one course or an integrated theme unit that includes desired outcomes for several subject areas.

Hi folks.  Recently I've been working more with Google Earth in preparation for our upcoming trip.  One of things that I've recently figured out is how to create 360 degree panoramic overlays that can be placed directly on a map location.  Because of this I am hoping to take photographs in this fashion at the various locations we'll be visiting.  The photography process really doesn't take more than 4-5 minutes, but the post-processing still takes a little longer.  I'd like to offer this as a potential option to any unit we will create.  If you'd like to see a sample that I've just created please send me an e-mail using the address from the list Kevin recently sent us.

Karl

Karl N said:

Hi folks.  Recently I've been working more with Google Earth in preparation for our upcoming trip.  One of things that I've recently figured out is how to create 360 degree panoramic overlays that can be placed directly on a map location.  Because of this I am hoping to take photographs in this fashion at the various locations we'll be visiting.  The photography process really doesn't take more than 4-5 minutes, but the post-processing still takes a little longer.  I'd like to offer this as a potential option to any unit we will create.  If you'd like to see a sample that I've just created please send me an e-mail using the address from the list Kevin recently sent us.

Karl

Karl, can you bring this on the trip?  We can discuss as a group during one of our curriculum workshops.  KL