How to Celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in the Classroom

A congressional celebration which began in 1977, grew into an annual month long observance in 1990, when May was declared Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. The following steps provide ways to observe this month in your classroom.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Assign each student a country to present using multi-media. Focus on the demographics, currency and important individuals of Asian-Pacific American heritage.
2. Take a mini-field trip to a train station or visit an abandoned train track where trains no longer run. Explain that a large percentage of the railroads were built by Asian immigrants. Do not let the students near live train tracks even if no trains are running.
3. Present a PowerPoint of all the technology created by Asian-Pacific Americans. Post a web log in which students can voice their opinions on which advancement in technology most improved the quality of life in the United States.
4. Simulate the mass discrimination shown to Asian-Pacific Americans. Have students separate into segregated groups based on non-racial features. Inform them from a fictitious memo that they are no longer allowed in this school, school district or any school in the U.S. Discuss and compare this segregation to actual events, including the interment camps that were erected in the U.S. during World War Two.

Tips & Warnings

• Obtain permission from parents for the mini-field trip.