Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of civic engagement within Hmong communities by identifying a specific issue, planning a project to address it, and presenting their proposals to the class.

Hmong people’s participation in US politics is one way they have made the United States a home for them. Students will learn about the meaning of civic engagement and social action and why it is important to be civically engaged as a responsible community member. They will discuss what civic engagement and social actions look like and begin to identify possible issues that they care about in the (Hmong) community. Students will research and collect data to learn more about their issue and work to find a solution to their issue through producing a social action plan.

Students will be able to analyze and articulate how Hmong American history has influenced and contributed to intergenerational trauma within the Hmong community, and they will critically examine the long-term impacts on successive generations. Students will also be able to identify how the Hmong community has engaged in healing practices as a response to coping with the trauma and make connections with present-day society and their own lives in a Socratic Seminar discussion.

Students will learn about various LGBTQ+ Hmong American experiences, intersectionalities of their identities, and legislation against LGBTQ+ communities in the United States by analyzing various resources and creating a video reflection.

Students will be able to trace and identify the origins of Hmong cuisine and community hubs in the United States through an exploration of diverse sources. They will connect these elements to the refugee experience and express their understanding by creating a personalized lunch box identity collage.

This lesson will feature Hmong American artist, Boon Ma Yang, and the stories behind his paintings. Students will gain an understanding of how artists, such as Boon Ma, can highlight experiences of Hmong American identity and issues. Students will also learn how artists use art to build a sense of belonging and to empower the community.

There are many success stories of Hmong individuals creating and making an impact in their communities. Students will research a Hmong individual and share what impacts that individual has on the Hmong community and the broader US community by producing a written or visual product of their selected individual.

After examining public opinion and demographics discussed in textbooks, students will examine data related to Hmong American communities by: (1) Drawing inferences to ideological learnings and partisanship and connect this to US electoral politics; (2) Learning about the close margins in current electoral politics and the impact of the Hmong vote in a battleground state, such as Wisconsin; and (3) Examining how congressional district demographics impact constituent services by examining HR 8110.

Students will learn that Hmong people have settled in the United States in large numbers, primarily in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. With the highest population of Hmong descent in California, this lesson focuses on the civic engagement and empowerment of Hmong communities. Students will explore examples of how the Hmong community in California have found their voice and made history in politics.

After defining the characteristics of American business industries and how they came to be, students will research successful Hmong contributions that either provide continuity or change in various industries and what effects this contribution can have on society.

Through learning about the early settlement of Hmong communities in California and Central Valley, students will gain an understanding of highly populated locations/demographics and examples of civic engagement, economies, and cultural festivities of the Hmong communities.

This lesson is the continuation to Part I lesson that focuses on war and home. Part II focuses on how wars affect people’s relationships with homelands. Students will use the US’s Secret War in Laos as a case study to show how war disrupted Hmong people’s lives and homes and explore how displaced individuals and groups create home and belonging in the United States.

War displaces people from their homes and transforms communities all over the world. This lesson is the introduction of two lessons that focus on war and home. Students will learn about the historical context of Hmong involvement and experience during the US’s Secret War in Laos to explore how war affects people’s concept of home.

Students will learn about Hmong refugee experiences and the ongoing impacts on community formation, family relations, and individual identity formation in connection to mental health.

Students will learn about the different kinds of sponsorship and approaches to integrating Hmong refugees into various communities in the United States. Students will generate an inquiry to discuss the issues around religious sponsorships and its impact on Hmong religious beliefs.

Students will complete a flow map that outlines the process of Hmong becoming refugees, and their experiences towards becoming American citizens.

Students will learn the complex history of Hmong people as a ‘stateless’ people, having no geographical homeland to call their own. Students will explore how statelessness has affected Hmong people’s desire and search for sovereignty and homeland and dive into how being stateless has affected their conception of home-making, sense of belonging and community building.

After reading the story “Dia’s Story Cloth,” students will be able to describe how Dia’s life was affected or changed by the Secret War in Laos, locate Southeast Asia on a map, and explain why Hmong people moved to Southeast Asia and came to America.

Students will trace a Hmong individual’s recollection of her family's migration story to the United States from Laos and intersecting identities as a daughter, refugee, American, storyteller, and cultural historian. The complicated history of war and displacement is able to be seen and discussed with students using the powerful cultural artifacts of the Hmong story cloths.

Students will develop a deep understanding of life in the refugee camps by examining primary source documents, images, and interviews. Students will be able to identify how Hmong socially and economically created a camp culture of hope and resilience that allowed them to cope with the poor human conditions of the camp, the traumas of war, and separation through group discussions and share outs.