Teaching about war, especially one as complex as the Vietnam War, to primary age children is challenging. What better time, though, than these very early ages to learn about sacrifices made on their behalf, and to have them start thinking about how they can live peaceful lives. Even a preschool age child can learn about conflict resolution, sacrifices made for them, and such critical values as respect, honor, and dignity.
Fortunately, there are many wonderful picture books that can help young students learn these key values. Our youngest students will remember the Wall coming to Sharonville Elementary for as long as they live if they first learn the meaning behind it.
Two weeks of literature sharing, discussions, videos, and activities will help the children gain insight into the war and how it applies to their lives. Young children are invited to be actively involved once the Wall arrives, which will further enhance their learning.
Primary teachers are invited to use their remarkable creativity and use as many of the lessons as possible at an age appropriate level. The picture books in this unit are outstanding and are highly recommended.
Enclosed in this section are lesson ideas for
primary age students.
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Consider using the following books in the order
listed. Refer to the discussion guides for questions and activity
ideas. Ten books = One per day for two weeks.
1) Vietnam by Michael Dahl
2) The Zax by Dr. Seuss
3) The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
4) Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michele Maria Surat
5) Dia’s Story Cloth by Dia Cha
6) The Whispering Cloth by Pegi Deitz Shea
7) Ba Nam by Jeanne M. Lee
8) Leaving Vietnam
by Sarah S. Kilborne
(Appears to be a second
or third grade easy read, but it has challenging concepts
and should
be used as a read aloud with teacher explanations.)
9) The Wall by Eve
Bunting
(Couple with readings
from Voices From Vietnam)
10) Why? by Nikolai Popov
1) There are addition, subtraction, and measurement
activities listed in the
discussion guides
and lesson plans.
2) Review the POW tap code. Explain that
there were many American prisoners of
war. They were tortured
and lonely. In order to keep their sanity, they needed to
communicate with each other
so they started a tap code that represented the
alphabet. They divided
the 26 letters of the alphabet into five sections. The first tap
would tell them the horizontal
row to consider, and the second tap the vertical row. It
was really important, then,
for the prisoners to know how to listen, count, and spell.
Practice tapping out
some words. You could tap out spelling words, words on a
word list, a greeting,
or a peaceful message.
3) Instead of using apples, blocks, and other
items for visual aids and manipulatives,
bring in papayas,
mangoes, and small bags of rice for counting, addition, and
subtraction problems.
Explain that these foods are common in Vietnam and that
Vietnam, a tiny country,
is the world’s fifth largest producer of rice.
4) Use the design of the Wall for addition
and subtraction word problems. Example:
: On one section
of the Wall there are 18 names. Six of the names are African-
Americans.
How many other names are on this section of the Wall?
5) For students learning rudimentary multiplication,
you can use the Wall in word
problems and examples.
Consider this example, “On one panel of the Wall there
are four lines with
six names on each line. How many names are on the panel?”
You can write as
many of these type examples as necessary. The students will be
practicing real-life
application of math and the Wall will be present in their minds.
6) Probability and fractions can be taught
by referring to the lessons on the draft.
Students may more fully
understand the lottery if their names or birth dates are put
in a bin and then randomly
chosen to do something unpleasant. First ask what
their chances are of being
chosen, perhaps their chances are 1 of 24. Then
mention that girls do not
have to be in the lottery. What then are their chances of
being chosen? Perhaps
1 of 12. Use graphs to reinforce how the smaller the
denominator becomes, the
greater the likelihood they will be chosen.
The key point is to use references to the culture and people of Vietnam, as well as to the Wall.
1) Map skills
: Locate Vietnam on a map.
Determine the continent and list the key
bordering countries
and bodies of water.
: Locate and mark on a
map the 17th parallel
: Use the 6-stage map of
Vietnam’s history and have students color it in to show the
development
/ time line of the country.
2) Geography, etc
: Compare and contrast
Vietnam to Ohio.
3) Vietnamese culture
: Research different aspects
of the Vietnamese culture.
: Experience their food.
: Play “Bite the Carp’s
Tail” a popular game in Vietnam.
: Bring in an ao dai for
the children to see.
: Have a guest speaker
explain Mahayana Buddhism.
: Practice thai cuc quyen,
a slow gymnastic activity.
: Make water puppets and
put on a play.
: Make a story cloth.
: Make a picture box.
4) Communism
: Understand these concepts:
idea is to have everyone be the same, but
oppression,
corruption, and the lack of incentives lead to food shortages,
housing shortages,
minimal human rights such as no freedom of religion or
expression;
strong military but weak economy and poor human rights.
: Compare to United States
and why we fought for our freedoms.
Review
the Bill of Rights.
: Oppression and food shortages
cause many people to escape Communism.
5) The War
: Problem solving activity
in The Zax.
: Invite a veteran to speak
to the class. Male and female.
: Participate in the tableau
activity in Why?
: Practice the tap code
used by prisoners of war.
: Selected readings from
Voices From Vietnam
: Conflict resolution --
see the list of recommended books
6) The Wall
: View the video “To Heal
a Nation”
: Read The Wall by
Eve Bunting
: Review art and architecture of Vietnam
: Make a personal story cloth
: Design a new Vietnam Memorial
: Make water puppets and put on a play.
: Make a picture box.
: Make and decorate a ceramic or clay pot
in a Vietnamese motif.
: See the music section. It applies to
all ages.
: Listen to and / or try to play Vietnamese
instruments and songs.
: Listen to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
by Pete Seeger and write how it relates
to Why?, the Vietnam War, and
the Wall.
: See the writing section, as many of these
same activities can be used in primary.
: Write reactions to each of the books you
read or heard.
: Write a continuation of a story that was
read.
: Choose any page from Why?, or any book,
and write a creative story inspired by the
picture.
: Write an essay in response to the prompt:
“Based on what you have learned the
last two weeks, how do you intend
to live the rest of your life?”
: Write an essay in response to the prompt:
“What can you do at your age to help
there be peace on earth?”
: Write a poem about our veterans.
: Write a poem about The Wall.
: Visit http://www.thevirtualwall.org, read
about any veteran who died, and write an
introduction about what we have
been doing and then write a poem or thoughtful
letter to that veteran.
Give your letter to Mr. Pat and he will have it posted on the web.
: Listen to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
by Pete Seeger and write how it relates
to Why?, the Vietnam War, and
the Wall.
: Thank you notes to guest speakers, and other
veterans.
: Write conflict resolution proposals in a
clear and concise manner.
: Narratives about what they learned from
various experiences.
: Compare and contrast the life of a child
in Vietnam to their own lives.
: Retell The Wall from a different perspective.
: Write an adventure story of a child trying
to flee Vietnam.
: Write responses to some of the discussion
guide questions.
: Write a letter to Senator John McCain telling
him what we have been doing and invite
him to come to our school when
the Wall is here.