Celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage Month can be a challenge for teachers looking for suitable materials to use in the classroom. In response, TACT (The Association of Chinese Teachers) has come out with Crossing Boundaries. The book includes biographies of twenty influential Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who have helped change the country. Each biography comes with a portrait created using Chinese brush painting.
Book Making With Students
Students can create books about their notable person using a variety of book making techniques. Sewn books are a classic Asian technique for making beautiful books. A timeline can be included on the last page to show important events in that person’s life. A step book can be used where students write questions about their person on the flap with the answers inside.
Students could also create a diary. They would write as if they were the person, including important events that happened. Since they are writing in the first person, readers would have to guess the famous person based on the clues in the diary. The answer could be hidden in a flap on the last page.