What was Moon Shadow’s World Like?: A Reading Lesson Plan
Class: English Language Arts
Grade: Eighth
Teacher: Lauren Hamilton Sáez
Unit: Dragonwings, a novel by Laurence Yep
State Standard: Reading 3.7 - Analyze a work of literature, showing how it reflects the heritage,
traditions, attitudes, and beliefs of its author.
Materials: novel (students will bring their own); cards for sorting groups; historical information
sheets; spiral notebooks (students will bring their own); overhead projector; transparencies;
weekly “sponge” paper (students will bring their own); exit slips
Objectives: Students will be able to…
1. verbalize, both orally and in writing, historical issues and movements central to the cultural
heritage of the main characters and the author of Dragonwings
2. describe their own heritage and values in a quickwrite
3. identify at least one way in which the historical information in today’s reading influenced
Dragonwings
Procedure:
Appx. Teacher Activities:
Time:
10
• Greet students, draw attention to today’s agenda,
min.
standard, and homework
•
•
•
•
5
min.
•
Display writing prompt (“sponge”) on overhead
projector: “Heritage can be defined as “the
traditional beliefs, values, customs, etc. of a family,
country, or society.” What are some of the
important elements of your heritage? What is
important to you and your family? What historical
events or periods influenced your heritage?
Take roll, clarify sponge as needed, monitor
students for getting on task
Ask students to share their answer with a partner,
then invite anyone who wishes to share with the
whole group
Ask students what they know so far about Moon
Shadow’s heritage and how it might compare to
that of Laurence Yep.
Explain that today they will do a jigsaw activity to
learn more about Laurence Yep’s ChineseAmerican heritage and how it may have contributed
to Dragonwings. Have each student draw a group-
Student Activities:
•
•
Listen, copy
homework if they
don’t already have it
written down
Sit down, get out
materials, respond to
prompt in writing
•
Share answers
•
Share answers
•
Listen, ask questions
as needed.
10
min.
•
15 –
20
min.
•
5-7
min.
sorting card. Tell them that the content of today’s
jigsaw will appear on tomorrow’s Dragonwings
quiz, so they will need to take good notes.
Help students find their study groups, invite them
to split into smaller groups of 3-4 if they wish, and
hand out topic sheets (Appendix A). Monitor
groups as they work. Warn students when they
have just a minute or two remaining.
•
Students go to study
groups of 6-7 students
indicated by cards and
receive topic sheet.
They may subdivide if
they wish. Then they
read and answer focus
questions as a group.
Tell students to switch to expert groups of five
(some will contain six), which will once again be
determined by the coded cards. Tell them to present
information to each other and record it in their
Cornell Notes. Model how to set up notes on the
overhead if needed.
•
Move to expert
groups, bringing their
spiral notebooks with
them. Open to a new
page of Cornell Notes.
•
Call out a topic every two minutes for a student to
summarize.
•
Students summarize
their findings to
group-mates, everyone
takes notes
•
Pass out exit slips (Appendix B) and instruct
students to answer the question: “How did the
elements of Chinese heritage that you learned about
today show up in Dragonwings?”
Collect slips either by hand or by a basket by the
door depending on time remaining.
•
Students write their
answers.
•
Students pack up, turn
in exit slips.
•
Homework:
• Study for quiz tomorrow on Dragonwings, which will be on today’s notes plus chapters six
and seven
• Reading log for chapters six and seven due tomorrow
• Spelling test tomorrow
• Spelling packet due tomorrow
Assessment:
• Objective number one will be assessed directly by Cornell Notes which are checked weekly,
informal observation throughout the class period, and indirectly by a multiple choice quiz.
• Objective number two will be assessed by this week’s sponge paper, which will be collected
on Friday, and by informal observation of oral responses
• Objective number three will be assessed by exit slips
Appendix A: Jigsaw Texts
History Jigsaw: Boxer Rebellion
In the nineteenth century, the European countries and
the Japanese began to have more and more control of China.
The Chinese people considered foreigners to be “barbarians”
and they resented the fact that these foreigners were running
the government and taking China’s richers. One group of
Chinese decided to fight back against the foreigners. They
called themselves I Ho Ch’uan (Righteous Order of
Harmonious Fists). They were called Boxers because they
did a shadow box step that looked to Westerners like boxing.
In 1898-1899, the Boxers began attacking foreigners
in order to get them to leave China. The Boxers especially
went after Christian religious groups who had sent
missionaries to China to convert the Chinese people to
Christianity. The Boxers were greatly opposed to adopting
anything non-Chinese like Christianity.
A Boxer
After a few attacks, the Europeans decided to stop the
Boxer Rebellion. Because the Europeans had more powerful
weapons and shops, they defeated the Boxers. They made the Chinese sign a very harsh peace
treaty. The treaty brought an end to Manchu power in China.
QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions in your expert
group. When you move on to your final
group, you must teach your group members
about the Chinese immigration.
•
Why did the Boxers form?
•
What methods did they use to get rid of
the foreigners?
Captured Boxer prisoners guarded by
U.S. soldiers, 1901
•
What were the results of their efforts?
History Jigsaw: Brotherhoods
Secret Societies, or brotherhoods, came about in China because of rebellion, and stayed
in existence for much the same reasons that people keep rebelling: it became a habit to organize
against the government. Secret societies were organized for the mutual protection of their
members against the oppression of government officials. Since no organized political opposition
was permitted in China, any opposition to government policies was illegal and therefore had to
be secret and underground. The secret societies had secret membership and leadership, and their
members communicated to each other by
secret signs, symbols, and language, and
were bound to one another by blood oaths.
The secret societies were of two
types. In the north of China, the societies
were more religious and mostly came from
the peasant class. They were very organized
and very disciplined. The White Lotus
Society was the best known. In the South,
the secret societies put more emphasis on
economic protection and profit and
sometimes engaged in gambling, drug
An initiation ceremony to a brotherhood
pushing, and prostitution. The Black Hand
Society was well known. In addition to
peasant members, there were many merchants, boat people, and even wealthy aristocrats. These
secret societies existed in China for hundreds of years.
When members of the secret societies emigrated to America, they continued membership
in and the activities of these societies, as conditions in the hostile new world made membership
in a community a necessity for survival. New members were recruited in the new world, as
Chinese people were unable to participate freely in American society, were denied equal justice,
and were socially isolated.
QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions in your expert group. When you move on to your final group,
you must teach your group members about brotherhoods and secret societies.
•
Why did secret societies form?
•
How were the secret societies of the North different from those of the South?
•
Why did members continue the activities of their secret societies when they emigrated to
America?
•
How are these secret societies similar to modern-day gangs?
History Jigsaw: Chinese Immigration
In 1862, the Pacific Railway Act gave two railroad companies permission to build a
railroad that went across the United States. The railroad companies needed workers to do the
long, back-breaking labor of building a railroad. They went to China looking for workers. They
told stories of the gold discovered in California. The Americans went to regions in China where
there were poor farmers. They told the poor farmers about the gold and the opportunities in
America. They offered the Chinese passage to the United States in exchange for their pledges to
work on the railroad.
Eventually, Chinese began calling America “Golden Mountain.” The Chinese believed
that they would leave China for a few years, work in California, make a great deal of money, and
then return to China rich.
The Chinese were called “coolies”, which meant
someone with no skills who worked hard. The word
“coolie” came from the Chinese words “cou” and “lie”,
which mean “bitter work.” A son of a Chinese farmer
with no skills could only do work that took great
strength. Work on the railroad was very difficult. The
Chinese had to lay the tracks through steep mountains.
Thousands of Chinese later returned to China with the
money they saved. The others remained in the United
States, sending as much money as they could to their
families in China. Those who could sent for their
Chinese on a Union Pacific Railroad car
families to come live with them in the United States.
When the railroad was completed in 1869,
20,000 Chinese were out of work. They found that they were unwanted in California cities. The
Chinese suffered riots, prejudice, and violence y white Americans who believed that the Chinese
were stealing whites’ jobsbecause the Chinese often worked for lower wages. White Americans
blamed the Chinese for economic problems in the cities after the gold mines closed and the
railroad was completed. Men without jobs formed mobs in California’s cities and would look for
Chinese men. When they found one, they would beat him and cut off his queue, or braid. In
1882, the United States passed a law limiting the number of Chinese who could immigrate to the
United States.
QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions in your expert group. When you move on to your
final group, you must teach the group members about Chinese immigration.
•
How were Chinese influenced to immigrate to the United States?
•
How did the reality of life in California compare to the Chinese’s image of the “Golden
Mountain”?
•
In what ways did prejudice make life for the Chinese difficult?
History Jigsaw: The Manchu Dynasty (1644-1912)
The Manchus were not Chinese. They came from an area north of China. Eventually they
gained power over the Chinese Dynasty (ruling family) by helping the dynasty put down
rebellion. When the Manchus had complete control of the government, they ruled China by using
Chinese government officials and existing Chinese institutions. The Manchus adopted the very
best of Chinese art, literature, and culture, but they still
tried to keep themselves separate from the Chinese
people. For example, Manchus kept their own style of
clothes and some of their own customs. The manchus
were always a minority of the population in China. There
were only about two million Manchus, which is 1/5 of the
total population.
The Manchus did some things to show their
strong power over the Chinese. For instance, the
Manchus forced the Chinese to wear their hair in Manchu
style, which was the queue. The queue is a long, braided
ponytail worn by men. The queue was meant to be a
constant reminder to the Chinese that the Manchus were
now their leaders. Some Chinese tried to show their
rebellion against the Manchus by cutting off their queues.
There were severe punishments for men who did not
wear queues. Eventually, the Chinese men became used to the
This man wears a queue, or
long braid
queue and kept wearing the queues even after the Manchus lost
power.
The Manchus began to lose power as more and more foreign governments began taking
advantage of the Manchus. In addition, many Chinese people were sick and tired of the great
poverty and suffering in China during the last years of the Manchu dynasty.
QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions in your expert group. When you move on to your final group,
you must teach your group members about the Manchus.
•
How did the Manchus gain power in China?
•
Describe the way that the Manchus ran China.
•
What was one way the the Manchus asserted (showed or proved) their power over the
Chinese people?
•
Why did the Manchu government come to an end?
History Jigsaw: Opium
Opium is the dried, milky juice of unripe seedpods of the opium poppy. It is highly
addictive and a narcotic. The Chinese had used opium in medicine as early as the 13th century.
Eventually it grew into a smoking habit for many Chinese. The people could go to an opium den
and buy and smoke opium. Opium was generally smoked while reclining on cushions.
Europeans who were interested
in trading with China for Chinese spices,
silks, and art, found that opium was the
one commodity that interested the
Chinese. By 1839, the Europeans were
bringing in 30,000 chests of opium a
year. The widespread use of opium hurt
China’s economy and people.
Government officials, army leaders, and
others spent a great deal of time and
money in the opium den. As a result,
China had trade debts with the
Europeans and the Chinese government
was growing more corrupt.
An Opium Den
The Chinese leaders tried to stop the Europeans from
trading opium, but the Europeans did not want to stop this
valuable trade. Eventually one soldier destroyed many chests of opium.
This started the Opium Wars between China and Great Britain. In the
end, the Chinese lost the war and had to allow the British to continue
to sell opium in China.
QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions in your expert group. When you move
on to your final group, you must teach your group members about
opium in China.
The Opium Poppy
•
Why is opium a dangerous drug? What effects did it have on
China?
•
Where was opium generally used?
•
How did opium use change from being used as a medicine to becoming a destructive drug in
China?
•
In what ways did the Chinese try to stop opium trade? What was the result?
Appendix B: Exit Slip
Name:________________________ Date:______________________ Period:_________
Exit Slip
How did the elements of Chinese and Chinese-American heritage that you learned about today
show up in Dragonwings? (Did you recognize any terms or concepts from the book? How would
the historical events you read and heard about today influence Moon Shadow’s life?)