As part of a national tour sponsored through the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Hiroshima survivors Susumu Yoneda and Yukio Yoshioka shared their testimonies with a group of teachers at a TEAworkshop, Voices from Hiroshima, on October 27. The men were 16 years old and 5 years old respectively on the day of the bombing. After sharing their stories, they answered questions from the group of teachers.
Susumu Yoneda and Yukio Yoshioka share their experiences of surviving the Atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, in Hiroshima, Japan.
Teachers in the Voices from Hiroshima workshop look through materials on Hiroshima available for loan through TEA's Resource Center.
As part of their TEA-sponsored events, the survivors visited Trail Ridge Middle School in Longmont, Vantage Point High School in Northglenn, and Westlake Middle School in Broomfield to share their testimonies with students. Their stories are available here:
On October 6th, the North Denver NCTA group completed their 35-hour seminar with an informative tour of the permanent Asian art collection at the Denver Art Museum. The participants' tour guide, Gina Hander, focused on artifacts, woodblocks, and ink paintings that might be interesting for students on a field trip. Museum staff hope to expose more students to art at the museum.
North Denver NCTA participants complete their seminar with a visit to the Denver Art Museum.
Meredith Melzer, TEA staff member and teacher at Vantage Point High School, is the NCTA leader of the North Denver seminar and will conduct another seminar starting in January 2008. Registration is available here.
Left to right: Front row Gayle Green, Alexander Dawson School and Axel Reitzig, Trail Ridge Middle School; Back row Jill Fenn, McGraw IB World School and Casey McMorrow, Lansing Elementary School.
The teachers had a chance to browse through Japan-related children’s literature, curriculum guides, and audio-visual materials housed in TEA’s resource center. They also met individually with TEA staff to plan their inservices, in which they will share the lessons they developed and other new curriculum ideas with colleagues in their schools and districts. Elementary teachers interested in this approach to teaching about Japan are invited to the January 19 workshop by TEA, during which study tour alumni will share lesson plans.
Nov. 3: India Through the Lens of the Ramayana workshop for educators. Professor Philip Lutgendorf will introduce the epic tale. Participants will experience a Hindi language lesson and a catered North Indian meal and receive curriculum materials. For more registration information, please download the registration flyer or contact Courtney Zenner.
Nov. 10: China's Environmental Challenges workshop for educators. Part of China's Transformations on the Eve of the Olympics series. "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes." This New York Times headline of August 26, 2007 underscores the link between China's economic boom and its environmental health, as it reflects the global significance of that nation's environmental situation. This workshop will offer an introduction to China's environmental challenges; an examinination of case studies in water pollution, land use, and resource conservation; and a curriculum session. 8:30am-3:15pm, $15 donation to confirm registration. More infomation and registration.
Nov. 19 (applications available): 2008 Texts and Contexts: Japan through Children's Literature study tour for Colorado elementary educators, June 12-July 10, 2008 (tentative). The tour is an opportunity for elementary educators to engage in experiential and in-depth study of Japan and its culture. This year's CCTEA study tour and its spring orientation, fall follow-up meetings, and yearlong follow-through program will emphasize integrating Japan across the elementary curriculum through children's books. More information and application available at www.colorado.edu/CAS/TEA.
Jan. 19: Texts and Contexts: Japan through Children's Literature workshop for K-6 educators. Explore hands-on teacher-developed activities for integrating Japan into your elementary curriculum through exemplary children's literature. Discuss resources for Japan exchange programs for your classroom and school. Learn about Japanese educational practices and elementary-school life. Presenters include alumni of the 2006 and 2007 Texts and Contexts elementary study tours to Japan. Participants will receive lessons from colleagues who have visited the places and spaces described in authentic literature. Registration deadline: January 11. More information and registration will be available at www.colorado.edu/CAS/TEA.
Asian Art Association at the Denver Art Museum Events:
E-mail hquist@denverartmuseum.org
Website http://www.denverartmuseum.org/asianartNov. 16: “Islamic Art and Architecture in the Silk Road Cities of Western Asia.” 6:30-7:30 pm, C-Level Lecture Room. Ms. Judith Frey will trace a medieval journey along the Silk Road trade routes of western Asia with photographs of Islamic architecture. She begins in Istanbul and travels through Isfahan and Mashhad, Iran, Herat, Afghanistan, and on to Samarqand and Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The photos of Iran and Afghanistan were taken in 1970 by Huntley Ingalls, whose work has appeared in National Geographic magazine.
Dec. 3 (deadline): The Goldman Sachs Foundation and Asia Society are seeking applications for the 2007 Goldman Sachs Foundation Prizes for Excellence in International Education. The prize program was created in 2003 to raise awareness of the growing importance of international knowledge and skills for U.S. students and annually awards prizes totaling $150,000 in five different categories. Categories include elementary/middle school, high school, district/state, and media/technology. For more information and to access the online application, please visit http://www.internationaled.org/prizes.
Dec. 10 (deadline): The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (JFMF) Teacher Program, sponsored by the government of Japan, provides American K-12 teachers and administrators with fully-funded short-term study tours to Japan. The program is designed to increase understanding between the people of Japan and the United States by inviting U.S. elementary and secondary educators to visit Japan and share their experiences with fellow Americans upon their return. For application and more information, please visit: http://www.iie.org/Website/WPreview.cfm?WID=194.
Feb. 1 (deadline): The Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Awards recognize exceptional teachers who further mutual understanding between Americans and Japanese. The national awards are presented annually to two pre-college teachers in two categories, humanities and Japanese language, and consist of a certificate of recognition, a $2,500 monetary award, and $5,000 in project funds. The awards are named in honor of Elgin Heinz for his commitment to educating students about Asia as well as for the inspiration he has provided to the field of pre-college education. The 2007 winner of this award is Colorado Springs teacher Alex Echevarria. Congratulations, Alex! More information available at: www.us-jf.org.
Join an NCTA 30-hour professional development seminar in your area, offered through the NCTA national coordinating site at the Program for Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado.
Six new seminars will begin in January 2008:
Adams 12/North Denver Suburbs, ColoradoJefferson County/West Denver Suburbs
Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois at Augustana College
St Louis, Missouri at the International Education Consortium
Ongoing information and registrations available at: http://www.colorado.edu/CAS/TEA/nctasites.html
The Program for Teaching East Asia
University of Colorado at Boulder
595 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
(303) 735-5122
New Elementary-level Trunk Available: Japanese Children at Play
The Program for Teaching East Asia’s Japan Resource Center offers a new elementary-level trunk available for classroom use. The trunk, entitled Japanese Children at Play, includes sections on toys, traditional games, songs, television, and children’s favorite places.
Selected items from the Japanese Children at Play trunk.
Suggested Hiroshima Resources
The following are selected materials on Hiroshima provided at our Voices from Hiroshima workshop on October 27. For more selections in each category, click here.
Art and Photography
The Hiroshima Murals: The Art of Iri Maruki and Toshi Maruki. Ed. John W. Dower
and John Junkerman. San Francisco: Kodansha International Ltd., 1985.
A collection of murals painted collaboratively by Toshi and Iri Maruki depicting scenes of Hiroshima which the two saw in the month after Hiroshima as they worked to aid the city.Eyewitness Accounts
Children of the A-bomb. Ed. Arata Osada. Trans. Jean Dan and Ruth Sieben-Morgen.
Tokyo: Uchida Rokakuho Publishing House, 1959.
This is a compilation of 105 compositions written by grade-school, high-school, and university students of Hiroshima in the years following the bombing.Historical Texts
Barker, Rodney. Hiroshima Maidens: A Story of Courage, Compassion and Survival.
New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1985.
Twenty-five young women who were crippled and disfigured in the bombing of Hiroshima come to the United States for reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai.Literature, Poetry and Graphic Novels
The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath. Ed. Oe Kenzaburo. New
York: First Grove Press, 1985.
A collection of seven short stories provides a range of views on the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Edited by one of Japan’s foremost authors.Literature for Young People
Coerr, Eleanor. Mieko and the Fifth Treasure. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1993.
A girl whose village was destroyed in the bombing of Nagasaki struggles to regain the “beauty in her heart” and the use of an injured hand that had allowed her to paint in the past.Video
Barefoot Gen: An Eyewitness Account of the Bombing of Hiroshima. By Keiji Nakazawa.
Dir. Mori. Orion Home Video and Streamline Pictures, 1995.
An adaptation of the graphic novels by Keiji Nakazawa, this animated movie tells the story of a six-year-old boy and his family as they struggle to survive after the bombing of Hiroshima.For more selections in each category, click here.
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