Asia

__Asia: People and Places__ Dear Parents and Students:

This spring our classroom with be studying Asia. We will explore the geography, geology, and cultures of Asia. We will discover the connections we have to the people and places of Asia and how the environment affects people and how people affect the environment. Students will practice important communication skills and will work collaborative with each other completing several projects. If you have resources, ideas, or materials that may enrich our study of Asia, please share them with us. We appreciate your involvement. We will begin the unit by refining map skills, and studying the geography of Asia. Students will explore and compare the distinct regions of Asia and share what they learned with the class. Students will have the opportunity to create a class map to represent the continent and explore the relationships between geography and people. The science integration portion of the unit will begin by exploring volcanoes and earthquakes. Students will learn about the theory of place tectonics and why volcanoes and earthquakes are likely to occur along the "Ring of Fire" where plate boundaries meet. As we integrate literacy into the unit, students will use summarizing skills as they explore a non-fiction book. The class will also select a realistic fiction novel at their instructional level about Asia or people from Asia. The culture of China will be explored as a class. We will learn about Chinese folklore, food, games, the arts, and traditions of the Chinese people. Next, students will investigate the culture of another country in Asia and compare and contrast its cultural components with those of China. They will develop the skills of note-taking, outline, and drafting as they write a report on this second county.

Our class will work to develop empathy for people who have different cultural experiences from our own as we discover the connections we have to Asia and the people who live there. We will explore the concepts of cultural and international trade. in addition, we hope to begin corresponding with a pen pal (or e-pal!) from Asia. We will conclude the unit by sharing our research projects and celebrating our learning. Thank you for your support in our learning.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Markert and Mrs. Wall

Links for extra information

[|National Geographic Kids]: Fun games and information to support classroom learning

[|Kidspace geography for kids]. On-line library resource to help with culture project - and just for fun too.

[|Web Japan Kids.] Fun interactive site for students to explore Japanese culture.

To contact Mrs. Wall feel free to e-mail her at swall@seattleu.edu