This curriculum development project has been made possible by the New
York State Local Government Record Management Improvement Fund.
The purpose of the project is to use government archives and historical
materials to create a customized curriculum to address the special needs
of our immigrant students.
All the students of our school are immigrants who have recently arrived
in New York City. Frustrated by their lack of English proficiency and
confused by the new strange culture, they need to have a truly welcoming
study environment where they feel competent and confident. To accommodate
their needs, a group of teachers from our school wanted to develop a curriculum
that would enable teaching that would genuinely reach them. They found
the possibility of creating such a favorable study environment by developing
a curriculum in the educational uses of New York City government archives
and records.
In the past two years the participating teachers in the project focused
on the history of Chinatown in New York City. They researched records
of the New York City Archives, National Archives Northeast Region, Museum
of the Chinese in the Americas, the Community Boards, and some other government
organizations. Based on the historical materials selected, they developed
this curriculum, which covers the curriculum areas of Social Studies,
Chinese Native Language Arts, and English as a Second Language. This curriculum
can be used in those three classes as supplementary lessons or resource
materials.
The instructional objectives of the lessons in the curriculum fit the
New York State Regents curriculum, which requires the students to develop
skill in the use of primary resources. Students will have a great opportunity
to examine a series of social issues in the context of massive immigration
and great cultural diversity. We hope the authenticity of the instructional
materials about their predecessors in the city will arouse genuine interest
in the immigrant youngsters, who will be motivated to strive to achieve
the new learning standards.
For more information, email Sherry
Tu at Liberty High School.
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New York City Chinatown, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is the
result of the collective effort of the following Liberty High School teachers:
Joan Ji, Youkun Jiang, Lixiang Lei, Jimou Lu, Betty Qian, Shangsan Qian,
Amy Shaheen, and Sherry Tu. Guo Qin Gu, a consultant of our project in
1998-1999, helped by sharing her research experience with us. We would
like to thank Julie Daniels, New York State Archives and Records Administration
Officer, without whose encouragement the project would not have been possible.
We also wish to extend our special thanks to Brenda Parnes, Regional Advisory
Officer, who provided us with important resource information and gave
us specific guidance at every stage of the project.
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In order to distribute the curriculum widely, four of the teachers--Youkun
Jiang, Shangsan Qian, Amy Shaheen, and Sherry Tu--created the current
website during the year 1999–2000. Dr. Susan Lowes, a consultant from
the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teachers College, Columbia
University, and Harumi Yoshimura, a Teachers College graduate student,
patiently guided us through all the steps in designing and building the
website. We greatly appreciate their dedication, expertise, and generosity.
Bruce Schnur, Principal of Liberty High School, participated in all the
project activities and provided all kinds of conveniences at school to
ensure the success of the project.
Thanks also to the staff of the following institutions, who helped us
with our research: New York City Municipal Archives, National Archives
– Northeast Region, and Community Board No.3, Manhattan. It is the historical
materials they carefully maintain that inspired us to create this curriculum.
Unless otherwise noted, all the photos were taken in Chinatown by Amy
Shaheen, Susan Lowes, and Shangsan Qian during a trip to Chinatown, using
a digital camera. The photos of Washington Heights were taken by Amy Shaheen.
Sherry Tu, Project
Director,
and all the participants of the project
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