Asia Education Foundation

Countries of Asia Discovery Tour

cover image: English/Literacy Unit: Countries of Asia Discovery Tour

This unit gives students the chance to become familiar with a number of books in the Snapshots of Asia series – at least four, depending on the size of the class. Working in small tour groups, students will visit different classroom stations, each of which represents a different country. They will look at the relevant book, then write a travel journal entry and some postcards for family and friends. In doing so, students will enjoy exposure to a variety of different cultures and to informative material about those cultures.


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Index

Unit Overview

Stage of Schooling: Lower Primary

Learning Focus: Writing (Asia Scope and Sequence for English, p 16)

Students write simple information texts such as descriptions, reports, recounts and explanations that draw on their knowledge of Asia, formulating opinions on topics and supporting these based on personal judgement. They:

  • write about the peoples and places of Asia based on personal experience and texts they have read, viewed and heard
  • use culturally specific vocabulary appropriate to their subject matter.

Students understand that writers in all cultural contexts present information and ideas about people and events and give opinions which can be positive or negative. They:

  • understand that the words they use express ideas that can be positive or negative
  • recognise how their language choices, including the thinking, feeling and doing verbs they use, support their opinions.

Texts/Resources

Access Asia: Primary teaching and learning units (Curriculum Corporation, 1996) Selection of big books from the Snapshots of Asia series (Curriculum Corporation, 1998-2004):

Overview

The Snapshots of Asia series is a collection of big books about countries in Asia designed to be used individually or in conjunction with other books in the series. This unit provides a method for using a number of the books together, at a minimum four, depending on the size of the class. Students work in small tour groups to visit classroom stations representing different countries. At each they look at the relevant big book and write a travel journal entry and some postcards for family and friends, enjoying exposure to a range of different cultures and to texts that inform their speaking and writing about countries in Asia.

Duration

This unit is flexible and can be adapted to provide a whistle-stop tour for students (they could write only one postcard from each station) or a more extended learning experience (they could undertake a 'daytrip' or spend a whole week 'travelling' in Asia).