Teacher's Guide for FACES ^® Taiwan

• to develop an appreciation for diversity and a respect for the traditions of a variety of cultures
• to increase understanding of how politics plays a role in all aspects of a country's development
• to increase geographical perspective
• to improve comprehension (particularly through the use of such skills as scanning, determining organization, etc.)
• to practice writing skills through a variety of activities, both practical and creative
• to develop and enrich vocabulary
• to participate in small group and whole class activities

Give each student a copy of a world map. Ask students to mark Taiwan and to also show the route they would most likely take to get there from your city. (It would also be interesting to research the length of time the trip would take.)

Activity: Make a poster advertising the "new" wonder product.

1. Find for students (from the Internet or an encyclopedia) a clear drawing of bamboo - one in which you can clearly see the leaves.
2. Explain to students that we are pretending we have just heard about bamboo for the first time.
3. Provide students with large sheets of paper. Instruct them to draw some bamboo in the center of the page and then "advertise" this wonderful new product by using at least three different facts from each of the first three paragraphs in the article.
4. Give students the option of putting the number of leaves they wish on their bamboo shoot according to what Fen shui believers say about the meaning of that number of leaves (paragraph #5).

1. Divide students into five groups. (If you are using a cooperative learning method, you might suggest such division of labor as readers, recorders, presenters, etc.)
2. Ask each group to prepare a presentation about the history of Taiwan. Explain to students that although they may use the timeline on page 13, they must include several facts from the article itself.
   
   Some information may overlap.

   Group #1 will tell the history until the 1500s.
   Group #2 will tell the history from the 1500s through the 1600s.
   Group #3 will tell the history from the 1700s through the 1800s.
   Group #4 will tell the history from 1900 through 1949.
   Group #5 will tell the history from the 1950s to the present.

3. Ask each group, when appropriate, to provide a transition from and to the next time division and to use those transitions when making the presentation.

1. Begin by discussing the term "aboriginal" as well as the words "shandiren" and "yuanzhumin" and what the terms reflect about people's changing attitudes. In just a few words, summarize the first three paragraphs for students.
2. Ask students to read the remainder of the article by scanning for the italicized words - the names of the Ten Tribes - and to list these along with one fact they found about each tribe."

Read aloud and discuss the first paragraph. Discuss "philosophy" in general terms. Ask students to name different religions that they know about. Provide these questions as a study guide for the article:

1. Folk religion is a combination of what six elements?
2. What is "God money"?
3. What is "ghost money"?
4. Why are trucks and model cars mentioned in this paragraph?
5. Confucianism "emphasizes the _________ in life."
6. Was Confucius a real person?
7. Tell two facts about Confucius from page 20 and two more from pages 23-25.
8. What are the ideas of Taoism based on?
9. What two meanings does the word "tao" have?
10. The idea of "wuwei" is "to remain __________ and _______."
11. What Western idea conflicts totally with the ideals of Taoism?
12. What forces, according to Taoism, determine the course of events in the world?
13. Who founded Buddhism?
14. Why did he become an ascetic?
15. When one achieves spiritual insight, one becomes a ______.
16. According to Buddhism, what causes all the suffering in life?
17. In Buddhism, what is the state of peace called?
18. What is the word that means "that the total effect of an individual's conduct determines his or her fate?"
19. What are the five elements in Buddhist belief?
20. People who practice Islam are called __________.
21. What percentage of Taiwan's people are Christians? (hint: see page 21 and also page 5)

1. As a class, discuss ideas about Confucius from questions 5-7 in the previous activity.
2. Brainstorm ideas for a holiday in the United States, such as the one in Taiwan, which would honor teachers. What different activities or events could take place on such a holiday in the U.S.?
3. Ask students to bring to class a short paragraph honoring their favorite teacher written by any adult they know.

1. Ask students who wish to participate to take turns reading the article aloud (students will enjoy the group groaning which will be produced by some of the food being described.)
2. Ask students to go back and scan the article looking for foods they would be willing to try and ones they absolutely would not try. Have them fold a piece of paper in half and write one list on each side. Compare lists.
3. Ask students to try and think about what foods we eat in the United States that would not be particularly appealing to students their age from Taiwan visiting here.

Letter Writing Activity - Directions:

1. You are visiting Taiwan. One night you visit a traditional teahouse. Write a descriptive letter telling all about your visit.
2. The next night you visit a bubble teahouse. Describe in full detail.

After discussing the basics of acupuncture, ask the class to brainstorm questions they would like to ask a practitioner of this kind of therapy. If you have access to a source, perhaps you could bring in answers to their most frequently asked questions. Depending on the level of your students, some of them might like to try to access the answers themselves.

1. Ask students to divide a sheet of paper into thirds.
2. Have students write the number "3" in the top section, the number "6" in the middle section, and "over 500" in the third section.
3. Instruct students to scan the article in order to find out how each of those section numbers apply to the article, write a title for each section, and add some details. (note: 3 types of puppetry, 6 types of characters, more than 500 puppetry troupes)

1. Discuss with students the fact that in reading this article, they will come across information which shows that the attitudes, ideas, and politics of leaders sometimes can influence even such activities as sports.
2. Ask students to find sentences which contain this kind of information. (If they are using their own magazines, hi-lighters would work well; otherwise you could make copies of the article or simply have them write down the sentences.)
3. Write on the board the following words as some of the indicators they will find:

   "discouraged" "attitude" "political" or "political party" "take the position" "suppressed" "denied" "opposed" "allied" "favors"
   
   note: Since this is a more difficult activity, students might have more success working in pairs.

4. Discuss the findings of the class.

Alternate Activity: Write a one-paragraph biography (which might appear on a baseball card) about Chen Chin-fong. Start with this sentence: "Chen Chin-fong is from the Pingpu tribe of Taiwan." Try to include the most important words, but limit yourself to 100 words.

Home

Back

Print

Updated: 11/21/08 12:02 pm
Log In