HSS 11.9 | We Are California

Overview of First Wave Vietnamese Refugee Route

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.7, SL.11-12.2, W.11-12.6

Students will be able to describe major details of the most common routes for the first wave of Vietnamese refugees by creating an interactive map.

23 Mar 1975, Phu Bon, South Vietnam --- Phu Bon, South Vietnam: Refugees from the Central Highlands run for rescue helicopters to evacuate them to safety. The Communist gunners shot up the convoy of tears heading towards costal havens to the east, splitting it into segments. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

The Fall of Sài Gòn

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.4

Students will identify and describe the varied experiences and memories leading up to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, by analyzing oral history interviews and creating a medium of choice.

The Vietnam War: War, Melancholy, and Loss

HSS 10.10, HSS 11.9, RI.9-10.4, W.11-12.9

Students will be able to identify the shifting attitudes and emotional experiences of Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War by analyzing various historical events, films, and artistic expressions to create a poster.

Music Study of Republic of Vietnam from 1955-1962

HSS 11.9, W.11-12.3, RL.11-12.4

Students will describe the social life of the Vietnamese in exile and during the Vietnam War by analyzing three songs from major Vietnamese song composers and creating a modern day playlist.

Protest at National Assembly Opera house

The First Republic: Hopes and Visions for a New Nation

HSS 10.10, HSS 11.9, RI.9-10.1, RI.9-10.6

Students will be able to describe the cultural attitudes and visions of the Vietnamese American refugee community that stem from the early stages of the Republic of Vietnam by analyzing literary and musical text and producing a medium of choice.

Women wearing green ao dais, traditional Vietnamese attire.

Narratives About the Republic of Vietnam

HSS 10.10, HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.7

Students will critically analyze narratives about the Republic of Vietnam and its people portrayed through US and Vietnamese media, music, and film and evaluate how these narratives influence representation and identity-building in the Vietnamese American community in a graphic organizer.

Photograph or the security check-in or sign-in check point in Vinai Refugee Camp, 1983.

Refugee Experiences of Mental Health and Trauma

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.1, W.11-12.9, SL.11-12.1

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.

First generation Hmong children in the mid 1980s listening to a Catholic priest read “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Religious Sponsorship

HSS 11.9, HSS 11.11.1, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.9

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.

Refugees departing on buses from Nam Yao Camp in Nan, northern Thailand in 1978 taken by Paul Paquette.

Contextualizing the Hmong Refugee Experience

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.1, W.11-12.9, SL.11-12.1

Students will review the policies of refugee camps and resettlement and its impacts on the Hmong refugee experiences.

Mien family going through ICEM inspection immigration processing at the Bangkok airport in 1978 from Rich Kocher Collection.

Overview of Refugee Policies and Hmong Resettlement

HSS 11.9, HSS 11.11.1, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.9

Students will get an overview of the refugee policies that impacted refugees rights and status. Students will generate an inquiry to discuss the issues around the US Refugee Resettlement Programs and its impact on migration and settlement patterns to the United States and other parts of the world.