Celebrating Pchum Ben

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Celebrating Pchum Ben

Cambodians cellebrating Pchum ben

Author: Matt O’Donnell
Grade: 6

Suggested Amount of Time: 40–50 minutes
Area of Study:  Community Building and Healing

Compelling Question

  • How did Cambodians build communities to thrive and heal in the United States?

Lesson Question
  • at is Pchum Ben (Ancestors Day)?
  • How do some Cambodian Americans celebrate Pchum Ben?
Lesson Objective

Students will develop a deeper understanding of Buddhist tradition in Cambodian culture in the United States. Students will also be able to reflect on their own culture in regards to how they have maintained their heritage growing up.

Lesson Background

Pchum Ben is a religious observance practiced in Cambodia and around the world, this ritual is unique to the Buddhist faith and Cambodian tradition.The yearly festival is celebrated in late September or October and lasts 15 days, although it is usually shorter in the United States. During Pchum Ben, Cambodian Buddhists honor their ancestors by visiting pagodas and offering food to monks. It is also a time for families to gather. Each family gathers to cook and remember those that have died. People make abundant food to share, especially during the last three days of Ben, including all sorts of rice cakes with different flavors which take weeks to prepare. This treat will be shared around the neighborhood and at Buddhist temples. All offerings are presented to monks. The monks chant when accepting the offerings and call out the spirits of ancestors to accept this kind gesture. Remembering ancestors includes making the favorite dishes of the ancestors because it is the day that their spirit visits the living. In Buddhism, it also said that these days allow the ghosts of ancestors to come out to eat as well, because when one commits sin in a previous life and dies, they live in hell without anything to eat, and Ben is the act of kindness that even the bad can enjoy. Cambodian who practice other religions often shy away from participating in Pchum Ben but may incorporate some aspects of the tradition into their lives.

Image Citation: Wikipedia contributors. (2023a, November 14). Pchum ben. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pchum_Ben

Ethnic Studies Theme

This lesson connects to the ethnic studies theme of reclamation and joy from the Asian American Studies Curriculum Framework (Asian American Research Initiative, 2022). Students explore the ways that communities reclaim histories through art, cultural expression, and counternarratives.

Students will explore how Cambodian American communities reclaim their histories through the celebration of Pchum Ben in the United States.

For additional guidance around ethnic studies implementation, refer to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (2022) https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmc.asp.

Supplies
  • Celebrating Phcum Ben photo 
  • Handout 
Videos
  • What is Pchum Ben? 
Handouts

  1. Warmup (10 Minutes)

    1. Show the class this picture of people celebrating Pchum Ben https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pchum_Ben_Khmer.png

    2. Have the students write notes on the following questions:

      1. What do you notice first? 
      2. Describe what else you see. 
      3. What’s happening in the image?
      4. What people and objects are shown? 
      5. How are they arranged? How do they relate to each other? 
      6. What is the physical setting? 
      7. Is this place important? 

  2. Group sharing (10 minutes) 

    1. The teacher should place students in groups of three. The students in each group should take turns sharing their answers to the questions.

  3. Whole class sharing (5 minutes)  

    1. The teacher will ask each group to briefly share their answers orally to the questions and highlight similar observations. The teacher will then let the students know that the picture is of Cambodians celebrating Pchum Ben and the class will learn more about the celebration.

  4. Vocabulary (5 minutes)  

    1. The teacher will write the following words on the board and share the definitions with students. Optional: It would be beneficial to engage with the vocabulary terms by looking up visual representations of each as well. 

      1. Pagoda - multi layered buildings with detailed decorations where people go to pray and meditate.

      2. Reincarnation - the belief that when a person dies, their spirit can be born again in a new body.\

      3. Merits - During Pchum Ben, people do good deeds to honor and benefit their ancestor’s spirits and help them find peace.

  5. Pchum Ben Video (10 minutes)

    1. The teacher will show this video to the students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGhe0R2L_EE

    2. While watching the video students will write down answers to the following questions 

      1. How long does Pchum Ben last? 

      2. What are some of the rituals that take place during Pchum Ben?

      3. How is Pchum Ben practiced differently in the United States than in Cambodia?

  6. Pchum Ben Handout (15 min)

    1. The teacher will ask students to create four equally sized boxes on a notepaper. Students can record or write their responses. The boxes will be labeled the with the following:

      1. Top left: “Traditions”

      2. Top right: “Vocabulary”

      3. Bottom Left “Drawing”

      4. Bottom Right: “How my family honors ancestors”

    2. Directions for students: 

      1. Please list at least three ways people celebrate Pchum Ben in the top left box. 

      2. Write the three vocabulary words and their definitions in the top right box. Write one sentence for how each is part of Pchum Ben.

      3. Draw a picture of one aspect of Pchum Ben in the bottom left box. It could be food, a pagoda, monks, or anything else related to the celebration you want to draw.

      4. Write three to four sentences about how your family honors ancestors in the bottom right box.

  7. Closure (5 minutes) 

    1. The teacher will ask for a few students to share how their family honors ancestors and how it is similar or different from Pchum Ben.  This does not need to be a religious tradition.

Students will complete the Pchum Ben handout to show understanding of the celebration of Pchum Ben.

Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:

  • Invite personal response, evaluation and self-reflection to content and activities
  • Involve all participants in whole class discussions

Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:

  • Offer clarification of notation through lists of key terms
  • Provide written transcripts for videos or auditory clips

Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:

  • Provide differentiated feedback (e.g., feedback that is accessible because it can be customized to individual learners)

 

For additional ideas to support your students, check out the UDL Guidelines at CAST (2018) http://udlguidelines.cast.org.

Emerging: Consider the following method to support with emerging students:

  • Listening: Restate/Rephrase and use oral language routines
    • Teacher paraphrases student responses as they explain their thinking in effort to validate content learning and encourage the use of precise language.

Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students:

  • Listening: Check comprehension of all students frequently
  • Teacher paraphrases student responses as they explain their thinking in effort to validate content learning and encourage the use of precise language.

Bridging: Consider the following method to support with bridging students:

  • Listening: Model academic language and vocabulary
    • Apply domain­-specific vocabulary and general Academic vocabulary in open sentence frames to perform functions, like describing or explaining, that target specific grammatical structures.

 

For additional guidance around scaffolding for multilingual learners, please consult the following resources:

 

  1. Students can compare and contrast Pchum Ben with similar celebrations from other cultures, including: 
    1. Día de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday also known as Day of the Dead where people honor loved ones that have died. 
    2. Sukkot - a Jewish autumn festival where people pray, and spend time during the holiday to connect with their heritage and express gratitude. 
    3. Obon - a Japanese festival where people honor the spirits of deceased ancestors. 
  2. Students can watch how Pchum Ben is celebrated in Long Beach, California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXXBT7NgB0.

American Initiative. 2022. Asian American Studies K-12 Framework.  https://asianamericanresearchinitiative.org/asian-american-studies-curriculum-framework/ 

Britt, K. 2020c, May 11. English learner toolkit of strategies. California County Superintendents. https://cacountysupts.org/english-learner-toolkit-of-strategies/ 

California Department of Education. 2022. Ethnic studies model curriculum. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmc.asp 

California Department of Education & English Learner Support Division. 2012. California English Language Development standards (Electronic Edition) kindergarten through grade 12 (F. Ong & J. McLean, Eds.). California Department of Education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

California Educators Together. (n.d.). ELA / ELD framework. https://www.caeducatorstogether.org/resources/6537/ela-eld-framework

CAST. 2018 The UDL guidelines. http://udlguidelines.cast.org 

Citizens U Primary Source Nexus. 2021, February 17. Analyzing primary sources: Tools & guides: https://primarysourcenexus.org/2021/02/analyzing-primary-sources-tools-guides/ 

File:Pchum Ben Khmer.png - Wikimedia Commons. 2019, November 18. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pchum_Ben_Khmer.png

Philly, A. 2022, October 21. What is Pchum Ben? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGhe0R2L_EE 

San Diego County Office of Education. (n.d.). Providing appropriate scaffolding. https://www.sdcoe.net/educators/multilingual-education-and-global-achievement/oracy-toolkit/providing-appropriate-scaffolding#scaffolding

Tulare County Office of Education. (n.d.). Strategies for ELD. https://commoncore.tcoe.org/Content/Public/doc/Alpha-CollectionofELDStrategies.pdf 

Supplementary Resources

Agopian, A., & Agopian, A. 2023, October 13. Pchum Ben - Historical Society of Long Beach. Historical Society of Long Beach - Where History Lives! https://hslb.org/pchum-ben/

 

Pon Pursat. 2023, October 20. Pchum Ben 2023 at Wat 3rd street Long Beach California [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXXBT7NgB0 

 

Model Curriculum

Cambodian American Studies

Standard(s)

W.6.8 HSS 6.5.5 RI.6.4

Grade(s)

Grade 6