AmericanBornChinese

Writing Assignment #1: The Monkey King Writing Assignment #2: Book Review of American Born Chinese Reflections on our on-line conference with Gene Yang Here is some information from this web page about the monkey king. [|Click here]

The legends of the Monkey King are a blend of folklore, allegory, religion, history and satire. As collected in the 100 chapters of //Journey to the West// by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century, they can be read as one long, eventful fairytale. As the seminal Chinese intellectual (and Cornell grad of 1914) wrote, “Freed from all kinds of allegorical interpretations by Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucianist commentators, //Monkey// is simply a book of good humor, profound nonsense, good-natured satire and delightful entertainment. It has delighted millions of Chinese children and adults for over three hundred years.”

These tall tales are a perfect springboard for teaching children about Chinese culture. In this online curriculum you will find a gateway to various academic topics including geography, art, music, language arts, history, religion, cultural studies and natural sciences. For each module, background information for teachers is provided, as well as sample lesson plans and hands-on classroom activities. Teachers can choose the areas that they want to focus on according to their teaching plans and interests. The curriculum offers lesson plans directed at grade 3 and grade 6. Click on the links below to access your grade level and topic of interest.