Resources

Lesson: Interview a grandparent, parent, guardian, or community member about their childhood, immigration story, family traditions or celebrations.

Lesson: Watch and discuss the film Jade Snow Wong to understand the cultural conflicts experienced by Chinese American women during the 1930s-40s and how similar tensions still exist today.

Lesson: Students will 1) learn some of the hallmarks of Wong’s ceramics and enamels; 2) gain a general understanding of the ceramics- and enamel-making processes; and 3) understand some of the scientific processes involved in art.

Lesson: Students will 1) become familiar with Wong’s artistic style and recognize how an artist can have many influences and sources of inspiration; 2) use compare-contrast skills in discussing artwork from different cultural contexts; and 3) practice online research skills, presentation skills, and working in groups.

Students will practice close looking and writing skills through crafting poems inspired by Chiura Obata’s natural landscapes.

Activity: In the following activity, you will make your own orihon to use as a journal. What stories might you record in it?

Lesson: Students will 1) understand how Wong was viewed by her community as a rebel in her choice of career and in her artistic style; 2) practice using compare/contrast skills to identify the hallmarks of art from the Qing and Song dynasties, to understand how Wong’s work was initially judged; and 3) hone discussion skills through the use of Project Zero’s Artful Thinking Routines.

Students use visual evidence to convey character by constructing a visual identity for their shadow puppet, and demonstrate principles of shadow-casting and puppet-making by performing their shadow play.

Biography and lesson plans