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Unit prepared by Amber Hightower

Social Studies

Geography: Vietnam
Locate Vietnam on a wall map, globe, or world atlas. Use a printable world map to locate Vietnam on color the country. You may also like to use a blank printable map of Vietnam by itself.  Vietnam is also known as The Socialists Republic of Vietnam and is on the continent of Southeast Asia. Hanoi is the country’s capital. Vietnam has a Communist government and their money is the Dong.

Activities: Assign your older student a report on Vietnam. The report could be a traditional report, a travel brochure or if they know of someone from Vietnam they could do an interview.

Vietnam Flag minit book
Vietnam Shutterflap minit book
Vietnam Outline Map by Wende
Vietnam Flag
Kids Culture Center-- Vietnam

Geography: Oceans
The principal says, “The girls sailed many oceans to be here.”
What is an ocean? How many oceans can your child name? Using a globe or wall map, locate all the oceans. What oceans (or seas) are around Vietnam? What oceans are around the United States? Use a blank outline map of the world and label the oceans. Then on the map locate the United States and Vietnam. Trace the route the girls may have taken from Vietnam to the US.

Vietnamese Culture
Language- This story includes words (and pronunciations at the bottom of each page). Point out the Vietnamese words and meanings to your students. Practice pronouncing them together.

Dress- The children make fun of the way the girls dress. The outfits the girls wear are called Ao Dai and are a traditional form of clothing in Vietnam. The outfit consists of a long tunic that is split on the sides worn over long flowing pants. The outfit covers the body leaving very little exposed.  Look through the pages of the book and reread if needed. Then make a list of the differences in American clothes and the Vietnamese clothes. A good activity is to draw an Ao Dai and an American outfit and describe what is similar or different. Another activity might be to make an outfit for a paper doll from construction paper, vellum or other paper.

Food-You may want to discuss with your student that different people in different parts of the world eat different foods. Some foods are based on tradition; some foods are more common to certain parts of the world because of the natural resources available. This story mentions some foods that Ut's family eats.

Food- identification: Look at the food on pages 12-13 in the book. Can you identify the foods on the table?

Rice noodles are a pasta noodle made using rice flour. The pasta noodles we are used to eating are made from wheat flour (both whole wheat and processed into white flour). You can find rice noodles in the specialty isle at the grocery store or a specialty store. Make a dish using rice noodles and regular noodles and note the differences.

It might also be fun to look up the national resources of Vietnam and the United States and compare them. How do these influence each countries food choices? What foods are grown only in Vietnam? Only in the US?
You may also like to map these on a map of each country.

Here are some recipes so that you and your student can try some Vietnamese fare.

Sesame Cookies
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
flour, for dusting
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water
Preheat the over to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare the sesame seeds. Reserve 1/4 cup to use as a garnish for the cookies; grind the remaining seeds (they should be coarse). Combine the ground seeds, flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. In a different bowl, cream the shortening with the sugar until it's fluffy. Add the eggs (one at a time) and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture (a little bit at a time) and mix until combined. The dough should be moist and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Dust a work surface with about 1/4 cup flour. Knead the dough to form a smooth ball. To shape each cookie, roll about 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Press lightly with the palm of your hand to form a 1-1/2 inch round. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets; freeze for 20 minutes. Brush the cookies with the egg/water mixture. Press the extra sesame seeds into the dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
3-1/2 oz. dried vermicilli (a type of rice noodle)
1 egg
1 lb. ground pork
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 small onion, chopped
1-1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 one-pound package lumpia (about 25 wrappers)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Soak vermicelli in water according to package directions. When soft, drain and cut into two-inch lengths with a sharp knife or scissors. In a large bowl, beat egg well. Add noodles, pork, carrots, onion, fish sauce, pepper, and scallions. Mix well. Place one wrapper on a flat surface. Cover remaining wrappers with a slightly damp kitchen towel so they do not dry out. Roll up according to directions below. In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium heat for one minute. Carefully place three rolls into oil and fry slowly, about ten minutes or until golden brown. Turn and fry other side. Keep fried rolls warm in a 200 degree oven as you fry remaining rolls. Cut each spring roll into two or four pieces. You may wish to serve them with a few sprigs of fresh mint and coriander wrapped in a lettuce leaf.
How to wrap spring rolls:
Have ready one beaten egg and a pastry brush. 1.Place about 1-1/2 tbsp. of filling mixture just below center of skin. 2.Fold bottom edge over filling. 3.Fold in the two opposite edges so that they overlap. 4.Brush top edge corner with beaten egg. Roll up toward top edge and press edge to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
From Cooking the Vietnamese Way  by Chi Nguyen and Judy Monroe, Lerner Publications, 1985

Human Relationships-- Diversity (Accepting Other's Differences)
After the lesson on culture, your student will realize that there are many differences between someone who grows up in Vietnam and someone who grows up in the United States. Which group of people is right? -- Who wears the right clothes, who eats the right foods, who speaks the right language? Both!  Discuss that there isn't one right way to do these things.

Human Relationships—Nicknames
What is a nickname? Do you have a nickname? Can nicknames be bad? If so how? What does Ut’s nickname mean? This would be a fun time to discuss nicknames in your family and how the person or persons received them. It is also a good time to discuss how nicknames cause hurt feelings and how to avoid this.
Remember to read the back of the book and the information it provides on names.

Social Studies: History—Immigration
Immigrate means to come into a foreign country intending to live there permanently. Discuss the reasons someone might want to immigrate from one country to another. Interview someone you know who immigrated to our country, America.
This website for the Ellis Island Immigration Museum has two videos and an audio tour.
This site also has some good information on Ellis Islan

Go-along books  (Note: not all books listed have been previewed)
Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Coloring Book by A. G. Smith
If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine
Ellis Island by Patricia Quiri
Hands-on History- Immigration by Michael Gravois

Science

Boats
The book mentions sail boats. What other types of boats are there? How do boats work? A fun activity would be making several different sailboats and then having a race.  This resource should help: How to have Fun Building Sailboats by Creative Educational Supply

Plant an Herb Garden
The book mentions two herbs: mint leaves and chives.  What other herbs is your student familiar with? Many people use herbs to make their food more tasty and flavorful.  Herbs are low-growing plants with a fleshy or juicy stem (when it's young). As it grows older, it develops hard tissue. The word herb comes from the Latin herba which means grass, green stalks, or blades. Botanists use the word to describe any plant with soft tissue.  Herbs have many different uses including flavoring foods, scents for perfume, and medicinal. Different parts of herbs are used for these purposes; people use the leaves of some, the buds/flowers of some, and the seeds of some. Many kinds of herbs can be used indoors.

Plant an herb garden and use the fresh herbs in cooking. You may also want to do a scent experiment with the herbs and see if you can identify by scent. You can also practice learning to identify by site.

Seasons
Talk about each season and its characteristics.  You may even want to make a picture for each season.

What makes the seasons? The seasons are the result of the tilt of the Earth's axis. The Earth's axis is tilted from perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic by 23.45°. This tilting is what gives us the four seasons of the year - spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter. Since the axis is tilted, different parts of the globe are oriented towards the Sun at different times of the year.

Another way to talk about the seasons is to discuss the weather that occurs during that season. In winter many areas see snow. Discuss what snow is and how it is made. Make pictures of snow by coloring them or you can use sugar to make pictures by watering down glue and spreading it on paper and applying sugar. You can also make snowflakes and talk about them. For spring you can discuss rain and the water cycle. Spring is also a time to talk about thunderstorms and storm safety. For summer you can discuss droughts and what causes them. How can we conserve (save) energy and water during these periods? For Fall you can discuss the cooler weather, wind, and changing colors of the leaves.

Language Arts

Legend
What is a legend? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a legend is a story coming down from the past especially one regarded as historical although not verifiable. Read the legend at the back of the book. Legends can be passed down by written word or orally.  Can your child think of any other legends?  If interested, read some legends; there are many books at the library with American legends.

Vocabulary words ending in –ed
The –ed ending can be pronounced three different ways: /ed/ as in counted (there is a mark above the e), /d/ as in phoned, and /t/ as in wished.
skipped
hugged
peeked
pointed
jangled
whispered
When adding the –ed to the end of words, watch for consonants that need to be doubled before the –ed can be added; words such as hug and skip. When learning the words, draw their action and write out their meaning.

Listmaking
What is a list? A list is a simple series of words or numbers. A list can be in the form of a grocery list where each word is written below the one before or a list can be in sentence form using commas to separate each entry. Make a list  (or chart) of ways Ut is an Angel Child and a Dragon Child.

Math

Skip Counting by Twos
Ut”s sisters skipped through the gate two by two. Introduce your child to the concept of skip counting by two. Skip counting is an early introduction to multiplication. Look at the two pages where the girls are going through the gate, what else can be counted by twos? (the windows, feet) Make use of a hundreds chart or number line and show how to skip count by whispering the number to be skipped or covering the number up.

Go-along book: Minnie’s Diner: A Multiplying Menu by Dayle Ann Dodds

Art

Medium: Colored Pencils
Colored pencils can be used to draw or color in pictures. The colored pencils give a soft edge to pictures. Here are some activities to do with colored pencils.

When coloring, change the pressure you use to color with from light to hard. See the differences in the two.
Make a picture using stippling which is using lots of dots to form the picture.
Use the side of a pencil to color instead of the tip. You might like to compare several different media by drawing or coloring the same picture with each one and note the difference. For example: would the book have the same effect in marker or crayon or ink alone?

Bible

Memory Verse
Proverbs 18:24a- “ A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…”
Explain the principle of this verse. How did Ut show herself friendly? How could she have chosen to act? (ugly, nasty, uncaring) What was the final consequence of her kindness? (Her friend helped organize a way to make money so that her mom could come to America.)

Library List
Postcards from Vietnam by Denis Allard
Countries of the World: Vietnam by Michael Dahl
The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
Children of Vietnam by Marybeth Lorbie
Cooking the Vietnamese Way by Chi Nguyen and Judy Monroe
The Kid’s Multicultural Art Book: Art Craft Experiences from Around the World by Alexandra Terzian
Minnie’s Diner: A Multiplying Menu by Dayle Ann Dodds
Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Coloring Book by A. G. Smith
If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine
Ellis Island by Patricia Quiri
Hands-on History- Immigration by Michael Gravois