Overview
Intergenerational Communication and Memory
Author: Tori Phù and Duyên Tống
Grades: 11-12
Suggested Amount of Time: 60 - 70 Minutes
Area of Study: Vietnamese Resettlement and Community Building
Compelling Question
What is Vietnamese America?
Lesson Questions
- How do postwar generations learn about the experiences of war and migration from their elders?
- What are the challenges and opportunities for working through memory in the Vietnamese American community?
- How do Vietnamese Americans of different intersecting identities and generations come into dialogue with each other as a community, and what are the causes and effects of such dialogue?
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to explain the impacts of intergenerational communication by observing oral history testimonies and engaging in a silent discussion.
Lesson Background
Through this lesson, students will be able to delve more deeply into the commonly perceived taboo within Asian families regarding the display of emotional vulnerability. When sharing emotions or expressing feelings, it is seen as a sign of weakness. Through exploring different sources, students are exposed to detailed and emotionally complex depictions of pain, sadness, and hidden realities spanning generations among Vietnamese people. What is perceived as love from the older generations such as: offering food, silently making sacrifices, working hard, and ensuring that their children get the best opportunities in America may not be seen as love by their children. Through understanding the impact of war, challenges of refugee migration, and hardships creating a new life in America, students can further understand how those experiences affect intergenerational communication and formation of identity.
Image Citation: Vietnamese refugee. (n.d.). Calisphere. https://calisphere.org/item/6758e540b43f74abfe5ae3a093c1ef18/
Skills
Historical Thinking Skills
This lesson will facilitate student proficiency in cause and consequence one of Seixas’ historical thinking skills (Seixas & Morton, 2013). To help students understand and assess the varying importance of causes. Students consider how change is a process, with varying paces and patterns. Turning points are moments when the process of change shifts in direction or pace.
Materials
Supplies
- Graphic Organizer, suggested text in lesson
- Poster Paper
- Post-it notes
Videos
- “No Crying at the Dinner Table” short film
Handouts
- Oral History Stories
- Memory of Victors, Progressives, and Empire Builders of Vietnamese Americans
- 25th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon: American Narratives of Vietnamese Refugees
- The Gift of Freedom
- I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It
- Link to handouts: https://ucdavis.box.com/s/s65r7vk87hnprv8868vl7jn0q8dinygd
Procedures
- Cultural Energizer (5-10 minutes)
- Prompt students to answer the following questions with an elbow partner: How have you learned about your culture?
- Possible Responses: parents and/or grandparents sharing, media, class, reading, movies, etc.
- Allow for class share out.
- Preface students with lesson objective and background: The lesson will revolve around intergenerational communication and the impacts of intergenerational communication in relation to understanding one’s Vietnamese American identity in relation to the past.
- Before continuing on with the lesson, students will need to create or have access to a graphic organizer with the suggested sections:
- Overarching Essential Question(s) noted at top:
- How do postwar generations learn about the experiences of war and migration from their elders?
- What are the challenges and opportunities for working through memory in the Vietnamese American community?
- How do Vietnamese Americans of different intersecting identities and generations come into dialogue with each other as a community, and what are the causes and effects of such dialogue?
- Center Event or Detail: How do Vietnamese Americans of different intersecting identities and generations come into dialogue with each other as a community, and what are the causes and effects of such dialogue?
- Left Side: Causes
- This side includes ways of communication (or lack thereof), factors that contribute to intergenerational communication, etc
- Right Side: Effects
- This side addresses how the particular non-communicative factor plays a role on Vietnamese Americans identity and understanding of their culture and history.
- Overarching Essential Question(s) noted at top:
- Interaction with first source: “No Crying at the Dinner Table” (20 minutes)
- Teacher to model how to complete the graphic organizer using this first source.
- Play “No Crying at the Dinner Table” (Short Film) (https://vimeo.com/482032869)
- Provide the following interview context to class: Filmmaker Carol Nguyễn interviews her own family to craft an emotionally complex and meticulously composed portrait of intergenerational trauma, grief, and secrets in this cathartic documentary about things left unsaid. An exploration of the common stigma in Asian families against expressing emotional vulnerability, the film centers on interviews Nguyễn conducted with her family, played back around the dinner table at a family gathering.
- After watching the short film, revisit the cause and effect graphic organizer with students
- Possible Response: Cause #1 Parents at work often and not physically available to child; Effect #1 Child feels lonely, abandoned, lacking physical affection and this may cause Vietnamese American to see culture as lacking that emotional and physical connection and closeness. Additionally, the child may not understand the sacrifices their parents make by working too much. On the other hand, the parents may feel that their child is being ungrateful and not acknowledging their dedication and commitment to raising them to be a better person. The lack of communication may cause a drift in their relationship.
- Shared Learning (20 minutes)
- Allow for students to work in pairs or triads to analyze sources one through four
- Advise students that they will continue to complete the cause and effect graphic organizer as it pertains to the information in the following sources (see handouts):
- “Memory of Victors, Progressives, and Empire Builders of Vietnamese Americans”
- 25th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon: American Narratives of Vietnamese Refugees
- The Gift of Freedom
- I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It
- Optional: Students can split up the sources and reconvene, or work on each one together
- Community Collaboration (5 minutes)
- Once students have completed sources one through four, allow for class discussion.
- Ask for students to share their findings for causes and effects to ensure all students have access to the content and understand the sources.
- Cultural Production: Written Discussion Board
- Teachers will have prepared large posters (alternatively, teachers can create this using a digital format) for students to interact with the lesson questions and respond.
- Each poster should have the following questions at the top.
- How do postwar generations learn about the experiences of war and migration from their elders?
- What are the challenges and opportunities for working through memory in the Vietnamese American community?
- How do Vietnamese Americans of different intersecting identities and generations come into dialogue with each other as a community, and what are the causes and effects of such dialogue?
- Each poster should have the following questions at the top.
- Teacher will remind students that this is a silent discussion. Students are to choose one of the three lesson questions to answer.
- If paper posters, provide students with a post-it to construct their response on.
- Responses should be four or more sentences in length and referencing at least one of the four sources covered in the lesson.
- Alternatively, students can engage with a reflection through a video recording, a journal entry, or a social media post that addresses the questions. The final product can be open to a written, visual, or audio narrative.
- Reflection (5–10 minutes)
- After each student has included their response, they will read their peers' responses from all three prompts.
- Conclude class with asking students to share key learnings or standout responses from their observations.
Assessments
Students will complete a cause and effect graphic organizer as they review various oral histories and testimonies. Upon completion of the graphic organizer, students will be able to revisit the lesson questions and reflect upon their findings with a written discussion board. Alternatively, students can engage with a reflection through a video recording, a journal entry, or a social media post that addresses the questions.
Scaffolds
- Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:
- Differentiate the degree of difficulty or complexity within which core activities can be completed
- Provide alternatives in the permissible tools and scaffolds
- Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:
- Link key vocabulary words to definitions and pronunciations in both dominant and heritage languages
- Key Vocabulary words: intergenerational, communication, memory, generation, identity, communities, oral histories, experiences
- Link key vocabulary words to definitions and pronunciations in both dominant and heritage languages
- Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:
- Provide graphic organizers and templates for data collection and organizing information
- Embed prompts to “stop and think” before acting as well as adequate space
For additional ideas to support your students, check out the UDL Guidelines at CAST, 2018 http://udlguidelines.cast.org.
Multilingual Learner Supports
- Emerging: Consider the following method to support with emerging students:
- Reading: Preview the text content with pictures, videos, demos, charts, or experiences
- Reading: Pair students to read one text together
- Students read with a partner and concisely summarize text together using critical content vocabulary, but limiting summary to essential words. Begin in pairs of two, but move to partnerships of four for more practice.
- Teacher deliberately partners specific students for conversations.
- Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students:
- Reading: Provide a content vocabulary word bank with non linguistic representations
- Students use a Frayer graphic organizer to support understanding of a key word or concept. Place the target word in the center amid four surrounding quadrants to support different facets of word meaning.
- Reading: Provide a content vocabulary word bank with non linguistic representations
- Bridging: Consider the following method to support with bridging students:
- Reading: Use focused questions to guide reading
- Students use inquiry posing their own questions and wonderings to guide shared research experiences.
- Reading: Use focused questions to guide reading
For additional guidance around scaffolding for multilingual learners, please consult the following resources:
- English Learner Toolkit of Strategies, https://ucdavis.box.com/s/ujkdc2xp1dqjzrlq55czph50c3sq1ngu
- Providing Appropriate Scaffolding, https://www.sdcoe.net/educators/multilingual-education-and-global-achievement/oracy-toolkit/providing-appropriate-scaffolding#scaffolding
- Strategies for ELD, https://ucdavis.box.com/s/dcp15ymah51uwizpmmt2vys5zr2r5reu
- ELA / ELD Framework, https://www.caeducatorstogether.org/resources/6537/ela-eld-framework
- California ELD Standards, https://ucdavis.box.com/s/vqn43cd632z22p8mfzn2h7pntc71kb02
Enrichment
- Communication Practices - Students can look up ideas on ways to strengthen their communication skills. As they look up ideas, they can consider their relationship with their family members, friends, acquaintances, and others. Prompt them to think about what strong and productive communication looks like. Students can also practice these communication skills in class with peers and or the teachers.
- Letter to Future Self - Have students write a letter to their future self in 5, 10, 15, or 20 years. In this letter, have students highlight the present-day world, and how they view themselves at this moment in time. For the other part of the letter, have students connect to their future self and share what goals they hope to have achieved by then and or any gentle wishes for the future. Additionally, have them write about memories that they hope will not be forgotten by their future selves.
Works Cited
Britt, K. 2020, May 11. English learner toolkit of strategies. California County Superintendents. https://cacountysupts.org/english-learner-toolkit-of-strategies/
California Department of Education. 2021. 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
Lê Espiritu, Y. 2006. The" We-Win-Even-When-We-Lose" syndrome: US press coverage of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the" Fall of Saigon". American Quarterly, 58(2), 329-352.
Nguyễn, M.T. 2012. The Gift of freedom: War, debt, and other refugee passages. Duke University Press.
Nguyễn, C. (Director). 2020, November 21. No Crying at the Dinner Table [Short Documentary Film]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/482032869
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
Sexias, P. & Morton, T. 2013. The big six: Historical thinking concepts. Nelson Education.
Thu-Hương, N.V. 2005. Forking Paths: How Shall We Mourn the Dead?. Amerasia Journal, 31(2), 157-175.
Tulare County Office of Education. (n.d.). Strategies for ELD. https://commoncore.tcoe.org/Content/Public/doc/Alpha-CollectionofELDStrategies.pdf
Việt Thanh Nguyễn. 2018, November 15. I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It. Time. https://time.com/5455490/american-like-me/