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LESSON 1: INVESTIGATING THE LIFE OF SHI-HUANG DI, THE “DRAGON KING”

Part II Intro   |  
Lesson One
   |   Lesson Two


Three or four 40-minute Sessions

Materials Needed:


Student Objective:
Students understand the role of the emperor in Chinese history by examining the life of Shi-Huangdi, the first emperor to unify China.

Activities
1. Initial discussion exploring the relationship between the symbol of the dragon and the emperor. Brainstorming session to explore how much students know about the world Emperor.

2. Teacher will explain the Mandate of Heaven and the idea of the Middle Kingdom as well as a bit about the conditions in China at the time of the First Emperor to the group,

3. Begin reading together the first two chapters of Day of the Dragon King (this is a very easy read but useful for pointing out the differences between fiction and nonfiction. Book should be completed by the next class.

4. Students should understand that even a simple book like Osborne’s requires a large amount of research. Each student will choose a topic of research related to the novel (they may find others in the reading):
 5. Students have two weeks to complete research.

6. Second class meeting will be used to discuss the book and the MagicTreehouse series in general. How good and accurate is its history? If time allows, students may continue research and share difficulties.

7. Third class, students will share findings and discuss how they relate to the book. Important dates will be added to a timeline constructed on the Software program Timeliner, Tom Snyder Productions. Watertown, Ma, but could be constructed as well on a long piece of shelf or butcher paper.

Assignment

1. Students should complete book, Day of the Dragon King, for the next class making sure to check the fact pages at the back of the book.
2. Pay a brief visit to The Magic Tree House website .
3. Take notes on the Notetaking page and fill out the Dragon King Information Sheet due in final form two weeks from the day it is assigned.



LESSON WORKSHEET: The following assignment is best viewed and printed as a PDF file. The link below will open the worksheet in a new window.

DRAGON KING NOTE TAKING PAGE




Name of book used for research______________________________page___

Notes:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name of book used for research______________________________page___


Notes:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________







Name of book used for research______________________________page___

Notes:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name of book used for research______________________________page___

Notes:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



LESSON WORKSHEET: The following assignment is best viewed and printed as a PDF file. The link below will open the worksheet in a new window.

STUDENT ASSIGNMENT
DRAGON KING INFORMATION SHEET


Find out all you can about your chosen topic make sure to include key dates associated with your topic.


Name of topic____________________________________________

Important dates Happening


____________ _____________________________

____________ _____________________________

____________ _____________________________

Explain how your topic relates to the story, Day of the Dragon King.




Explain ten important facts or events you located which help you to understand your topic.






Why do you think your topic is important to Chinese History?






Design an overhead to present your information to the class





BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR
DAY OF THE DRAGON KING



Osborne, Mary Pope. Day of the Dragon King (Magic Treehouse#14).Ages 4-8
Paperback (68 pages,April 1998). Random House, ISBN:0679890513, $3.99.
Synopsis
Jack and Annie set off to find an original copy of an ancient Chinese myth. Armed with only their magic library cards, they must take on a book-burning emperor. But with the help of a scholar and a silk weaver, they triumph again.

About the Author
Mary Pope Osborne grew up in the military, and by the time she wasfifteen had lived in Oklahoma, Austria, Florida and four different army postsin Virginia and North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill inthe early 1970's, Mary traveled all over Europe, and spent the first six weeksof her trip living in a cave on the island of Crete. She then joined up with agroup of European young people and traveled in rickety vans through sixteenAsian countries, including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. She was a bartender, an acting teacher, a waitress, a travel agent, a window dresser, and a medical assistant -- all before becoming an author! Nowshe is the author of many highly acclaimed picture books, early chapter books,middle-grade biographies, and young adult novels. In February 1993, Mary was elected the 27th president of the Author'sGuild, the oldest, most established organization for writers in the UnitedStates. Mary her husband Will spilt their time between an apartment in GreenwichVillage, New York and a cabin in Pennsylvania. They own a terrier named Bailey, who sleeps on the top of Mary's desk every day while she writes! For a more detailed biography click on Web biography


Calliope Magazine Articles on various dynasties:


November/December, 1993       The Mongols    ISBN 0382405994
May/June, 1995             The Ming Dynasty: The World of the Yongle Emperor    ISBN 0382406079
October, 1997       China's First Emperor: Shi-Huangdi    ISBN 0382408942
October, 1998      The Han Dynasty of China    ISBN 0382443896
October, 1999    Confucius    ISBN 0382445120

October, 2000    Daoism (Taoism)    ISBN 0382445775

February, 2002   Silk Road    CAL0202
December, 2002    Song Dynasty of China    CAL0212
November, 2003    Tang Dynasty   CAL0311



Teachers guide to studying the Song Dynasty available at http://www.cobblestonepub.com/pages/TGCALLSongDynasty.html
Teachers guide to studying the Tang Dynasty available at
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/pages/TGCALLTangDynasty.html

Information on how to order back issues available at the Cobblestone Publishing Web Site

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Part II Intro   |  
Lesson One
   |   Lesson Two