AP Art History (University of Utah): Curriculum based on a core foundation of 250 images of non-Western art, the teaching resources here include video clips by art historians, bibliographical references, and links to additional online resources.
theApro: Information for traditional and contemporary performing arts
Asia 1-2-3: A unit containing Asia-related books and projects for children aged 4-11 years, teachers, and librarians.
Asia for Everyone: A collection of educational resources for those interested in East Asia. Includes material aimed at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels.
Asia for Educators: Teaching resources for teachers and students, run by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.
Asia in the Arts: Connects teachers to museum resources.
Asian Educational Media Service: An online database with links to find multimedia resources for K-12 teachers.
Asia-themed books for K-12 and Community College
Bibliography of Resources on East Asia
Chinese Language: Various resources for help with the Chinese language, curated by U Michigan’s East Asian National Resource Center.
China 360: An online resource for Chinese language, culture, and history teaching.
Example lesson plan from China 360: A Tang Newspaper
China Mirror: Resources for learning about the culture and history of China.
Chinavine: ChinaVine’s mission is to educate English-speaking / reading children, youth, and adults about China’s cultural heritage. This mission is achieved through this interactive website along with a variety of social media platforms. We combined “Vine” with China because of the fluid, ever changing and winding ways of culture.
The Choices Program: History and current issues for the classroom.
Classroom Country Profiles: From the website: “The Classroom Country Profiles are 2-page overviews designed to help teachers welcome newly-arrived students from different countries into their classrooms. Additionally these profiles can serve as starting-off points for student research projects on particular regions of the world. New profiles will be added periodically and existing ones will be updated. The 18 resource centers and programs at the Jackson School develop these 2-pagers about the countries in their respective regions.”
Culture Boxes
Chinese boxes from Ohio State University
Japanese boxes from Ohio State University
Korea boxes from University of Michigan East Asian National Resource Center
East Asia box lessons from Indiana University/University of Illinois
Culture trunks from the University of Kansas Center for East Asian Studies
Expanding East Asian Studies (ExEAS): This program is designed to connect teachers with material on East Asia in a thematic, trans-national, and interdisciplinary context. The site includes teaching materials and resources, syllabi, and links to other online resources.
Exploring World Cultures through Folktales: Lesson Plan
Godzilla vs. Power Rangers: The Development of Tokusatsu: Lesson looks at traditional influences of modern stories.
Inner Asia Curriculum Resources: This site includes materials for teaching and studying Inner Asia. It is run by Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Japan Information Network: Sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A good place to start for finding factual data on Japan.
Japan on the Road: Available to teachers in Oregon, Japan on the Road visits classrooms to teach elementary students about an average child’s life in Japan. Students learn about geography, culture, and society in contemporary Japan.
JapanPITT (Places, Images, Times & Transformations): A set of lessons that focus on how Japan has influenced and been influenced by Asia and the world culturally, socially, and politically.
Japanese Language Teaching Materials
Japanese Folktales: Lesson Plan
Japanese Monsters: This is a workshop, but the page gives links to other online resources
Japanese National Standards Learning Scenarios
JRef: A travel, language, and study website dedicated to Japan
Kamishibai for Turbulent Times: This lesson plan uses Kamishibai (a type of street entertainment using picture cards) to explore the 1960s and 70s.
Kids Web Japan: A website for kids on Japanese culture, history, and society
Korea.net: The official website of the Republic of Korea
Korean Digital Library: Fantastic resource for primary source material. Includes essays that give general overview of source/relevant time period.
Lesson Plans on Korea: From Ohio State University
Literature and explring gender roles: Lesson compares gender roles in two Japanese novels: The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima and Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (Literature Grades 11-12)
Manga and Anime Curriculum Wiki: Created and run by art teacher and NCTA Alum Lisa Allowed.
Manga: exploring archetypes lesson plan: A lesson plan that uses manga to explore archetypes. Aimed at grade 9.
MIT Visualizing Cultures : A website dedicated to “image-driven scholarship and learning.” Mainly focuses on China and Japan. Some units contain standards-compliant curriculum.
Monolith: Hero’s Journey Project: This project provides the tools to understand the common heroic narrative that follows a heroic protagonist as he begins his journey, has transformative adventures, and returns home. This resources provides a formula to compare literary traditions across time and space, as well as specific examples: Mali’s Sunjata, South Asia’s Ramayana, and Japan’s Yamato.
National Consortium for Teaching about Asia: From the website: “The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), funded by the Freeman Foundation, is a multi-year initiative to encourage and facilitate teaching and learning about East Asia in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. NCTA is a premier provider of professional development on East Asia.”
NPR Climate Connections Interactive Map: Takes a look at the effect of climate on people and vice versa.
Primary Source: Resources for professional development and curriculum.
Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education: Multi-disciplinary curriculum for K-14 teachers on international themes.
Teaching East Asia in Middle School (TEAMS) Lesson Plans
Teaching East Asia Online Curriculum Projects: Topics include, but are not limited to, “Becoming Modern: Early 20th-Century Japan through Primary Sources;” “Imaging Japanese History;” “Visualizing Japan in Modern World History;” “Texts and Contexts: Teaching Japan through Children’s Literature.”
The Travels of Ibn Battuta: A module for learning about 14th Century Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta.
Using Manga to Decipher Non-fiction Text Lesson Plan
University of California, Berkeley: List of past K-12 Summer Institutes. Includes video presentations and transcripts (some with images) of presentations ranging from food to medieval travelers to urban history.
University of Indiana Japanese Art Program
University of Indiana: Lesson Plan on Tibet and China: Fulfills standard 7 (Conflict and Cooperation) of Indiana’s Geography and History of the World Standards.
University of Kansas Outreach Notes: A program that sends monthly E-mails related to content on East Asia teachers can use in the classroom, as well as notices about upcoming workshops. Previous notes are available for download here.
University of Kansas Recommended Websites for Educators
University of Michigan K-12 resources: Lessons, study guides, PDF files and lesson plans for East Asia study. Example modules include “Why Study East Asia?”, “The Basics in Traditional East Asia,” and a “Barefoot Gen”.
University of Michigan East Asian National Resources Center Curriculum resources
University of North Carolina K-12 and Community College Lesson Plans
University of Washington Newspapers for Education: Includes “Exploring Asia,” a series of articles and guides published by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Seattle Times Newspapers in Education (NIE).
Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization: Includes maps and timelines on ten different subjects: geography, archaeology, religion, calligraphy, military technology, painting, homes, gardens, clothing, and graphic arts.
Words without Borders: Provides access to literature from around the world.