Grade 9 | We Are California

Vietnamese and the Nail Industry

HSS 11.8, HSS 11.11, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.8

Students will identify key factors that fostered Vietnamese refugees’ participation in the nail industry by analyzing segments of media clips and creating a zine.

The Yellow Lion takes center stage on Stanford Vietnamese Student Association's Culture Night. The Múa Lân, or Lion Dance, charms and introduces the audience to the broader Vietnamese cultures. (CAMERON DURAN/The Stanford Daily)

Vietnamese Youth Organizations & Cultural Preservation in the Postwar Generation

RI.9-10.2, W.9-10.3, SL.9-10.4

Students will analyze different Vietnamese youth organizations centered around cultural preservation and create a fictional Vietnamese American event to illustrate their takeaways.

Collage of Vietnamese icons, people, symbols, and landscapes

Reflecting on Roots: Understanding our Identity

RI.9-10.7, W.9-10.3

Students will be able to define and reflect on what identity means to them by drawing from various Vietnamese refugee experiences and creating their own poem. (The lesson objective can be broadened to students from other cultures as well).

Agents of Change: Students in Civic Action

HSS 11.11, RL.11-12.1, W.11-12.7

Students will be able to generate civic engagement within Vietnamese American communities by identifying a specific issue, planning a project to address it, and presenting their proposals to the class.

Quan Su, the "Ambassadors' Pagoda" was built in the 1400s for diplomats from the neighboring Buddhist countries of Laos and Siam (now Thailand). It is the most active Buddhist center in Hanoi. Here a man prays for the soul of a relative whose picture joins others on the communal altar.

Human, Cultural, and Physical Geography in Vietnam

WL.CL2.S: Cultural Products, Practices, and Perspectives, WL.CN2.S: Diverse Perspectives and Distinctive Viewpoints, RI.9-10.1

Students will be able to describe the cultural, linguistic, and geographical differences of present-day Vietnam by exploring various sources and creating a collage.

Sustaining Vietnamese Language and Culture in the US

HSS 10.9, RI.9-10.7, W.9-10.8

Students will be able to identify and describe the changes in Vietnamese family dynamics along the acculturation process by engaging in a jigsaw activity and creating an identity collage.

Famous composer Trần Chí Phúc, known for his work on “refugee music,” stands next to the Vietnam War Memorial in Liberty Park, Westminster, CA.

Vietnamese Refugee Stories and Music: Mini-Project

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.7, W.11-12.6, SL.11-12.5

Students will be able to analyze and interpret the historical and personal significance of the Vietnamese refugee experience by examining song lyrics and biographies of composers related to the refugee experience, as well as engaging in a several-week project that involves research, discussion, script-writing, video production, technology application, and a final presentation.

Oral history of Hung Viet Nguyễn, born on Christmas Day in 1957 n Saigon, Vietnam. He discussed his memories of growing up and attending school in Saigon. He escaped Vietnam by boat in 1981 by himself and passed through a few refugee camps in the Philippines before being sponsored by his brother to Santa Clara, California. He settled down in Torrance, California with a wife and two sons. While he works as a Graphics artist, he is also an artist who has exhibited his work in both mainstream and Vietnamese Am

Vietnamese Refugee Oral History Project

HSS 11.9, RI.11-12.7, W.9-10.7, SL.9-10.1

Students will be able to apply their knowledge of the Vietnamese American experience and conduct a full oral-history interview with a member of the Vietnamese American community and synthesize their findings into a presentation.

Stressed out Vietnamese falling mentally ill in the millions

Mental Health in Vietnamese American Resettlement

HSS 10.9, HSS 11.9, RL.9-10.2, RL.11-12.3

Students will be able to analyze and reflect on the psychological experiences of Vietnamese refugees during their resettlement process by interacting with various excerpts from "House of Sticks: A Memoir.” (Simon and Schuster) and creating a medium of choice.

Intergenerational Trauma and Healing

RI.8.1, SL.7.1, RI.9-10.1, W.9-10.4, SL.9-10.1, W.6.8

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.