Ancient Asia

So, when you step out of the Egypt-Greece-Rome model of history it becomes much more difficult to find resources for your lessons so I took a few liberties with this unit. First we combined our discussion of China and Japan even though most of the resources I found for Japan were about ninjas and therefore much later. Also, the majority of our discussion this time was historical fiction and his history table was largely a sensory experience. That said here are the resources I found helpful.

On the table we have:

*a pig puppet (pigs were considered lucky animals)

*2 porcelain vases and doll

*two miniature tea sets

*a toy cricket in a cage made out of cardboard and a pipe cleaner

*some silky scrap fabric

*a jade necklace

*a fan

*tea cups filled with spices and loose tea leaves

*a toy tiger

*a top (a toy that was invented in Japan)

*a makeshift den-den daiko made of an oatmeal lid, a pencil, some yarn, and pony beads

*a book made of strips of cardboard tied together with my (poor) rendition of the five virtues of Confucianism along with a small container of black paint and a paint brush

*a jade Buddha

*a porcelain panda

*a dragon necklace

*dolls in traditional Japanese and Chinese clothing

*a bowl of rice

Brady has had a lot of fun with this table: smelling the spices, pouring them into the rice, feeling the silk, playing with the toys and when I list it out like this I realize that I was actually able to come up with more than I originally realized

Here are some books we found useful:

Ancient China by Arthur Cottrell

The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient China by  Leonard Everett Fisher

If I Were a Kid in Ancient China by Lou Waryncia

The Terracotta Girl, The Jade Dragon, Stranger on the Silk Road, and The Emperor’s Painting all short historical fiction by Jessica Gunderson and Caroline Hu

The Master Swordsman and the Magic Doorway: Two Legends from Ancient China retold by Alice Provenson

Day of the Dragon King and Night of the Ninjas by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca

China and Japan by Paula Hammond

We also watched Mulan and will have our annual Lunar New Year meal and crafts next weekend.

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