A Suggested List of Online Resources for Teaching About Korea
Prepared by Center for East Asian Studies staff
at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Summer 2006,
for Wisconsin K-12 teachers.
Information for Wisconsin Teachers on Getting Access to Teaching Materials:
CIMC- Center for Instructional Materials and Computing, School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Wisconsin teachers can borrow materials from the CIMC directly or through interlibrary loan through your local school or public library. For details see their website. Their collection includes textbook sets, curriculum materials, software, educational videos, and children’s fiction/non-fiction materials.
Online Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources:
AskAsia: Korea
• Contents: Good source of resources for teaching: maps, timelines, photos, etc. Also includes lesson plans, classroom readings. Subjects include geography, religion and world view, society, governance, literature, and math, science and technology.
Korea Society
**Best source of lesson plans about Korea online
• Contents: Extensive high quality collection of online lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school levels with accompanying resources online. Of particular note:
“Korea: Lessons for High School Social Studies Courses”, Lesson 6 "The Forgotten War" about the Korean War. Include lots of quotes from memoirs by people from all sides of the conflict, a real diversity of voices.
“Korean Voices: Growing Up During a Time of Crisis” a middle school literature curriculum of lesson plans for teaching the young adult novel Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook-nyul Choi.
“Getting to Know Korea: Resource Book for K-12 Educators” had background readings on Korea for teachers.
Education about Asia magazine
• Contents: Website of this magazine put out by the Association for Asian Studies for K-12 educators. An excellent resource. Back issues can be ordered. Tables of contents for past issues viewable online. In free downloadable sample articles section:
“Famous Koreans: Six Portraits” (Fall 2001) By Mary Connor.
Lesson plan and handouts for students profiling 6 famous Korean from pre-modern and modern history: King Sejong (inventor of han’gul writing system), Admiral Yi Sun-shin (inventor of ironclad warships), Yu Kwan-sun (nationalist who resisted Japanese colonial occupation), Kim Il-sung (leader of North Korea post-WWI through 1994), Kim Dae-jung (a Nobel Peace Prize-winning president of South Korea)
“Top Ten Things to Know about Korea in the 21st Century” (Winter 2002) By Edward J. Schultz
Series of articles on teaching Richard Kim’s Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood(Fall 1999)
Instrok (East Rock Institute)
• Contents: 2 lesson plans. Lesson 1: “Cultural Values of the Choson Dynasty”. Great companion lesson plans and resources online for studying the Ch’unhyang story, perhaps in conjunction with the film version by Im Kwon-taek. Includes online text of story, and accompanying interactives for students.)
Lesson 2: “Different Cultural Values: the 1882 U.S. and Korea Treaty”.
Indiana University – East Asian Studies website
• Contents: Many resources about Korea here, including a bibliography with additional links to sites of interest to art, literature, and music teachers.
National Geographic Website
Maps, flags, photos, short profile on North & South Korea.
Ohio State University East Asian Studies website – NCTA (National Consortium for Teaching About Asia )
Lesson plans about Korea, of varying quality, generated by teachers who participated in workshops sponsored by NCTA.
University of California – Berkeley – Center for Korean Studies
Online lesson plans from a K-12 workshop in 2003.
AccessAsia: Korea
• Online Contents: Resources for Kids (Korean numbers and basic word quizzes, virtual tour of Korea, PDF class activity worksheets). Designed to go along with a hardcopy Australian middle-school curriculum about Korea, available to order from this website. Hardcopy materials for students called “Inside King Sejong’s Gate” follow the journey of two Australian students who travel to the Republic of South Korea and meet their pen pals. Hardcopy teacher guide “Exploring Korea” provides accompanying materials suitable for Years 5-7, for individual or group work.
Online Audiovisual Materials about Korea:
Korea.net
• Contents: From their multimedia center, you can download short digital video clips on Korean culture and customs, food, clothing, etc., downloadable free, and playable through RealPlayer. Also available are basic language lessons via video clips, listed under “Let’s Speak Korean”.
Indiana University – Audio/Slide Program for Use in Korean Studies
• Contents: Downloadable sets of digital images on different aspects of Korea, with an accompanying essay on the subject for either teacher background or high school students. One unusual topic: The History of Science in Korea. Good source for materials for instant powerpoint presentations for teachers.
The Ultimate Source of Online Maps for Use in Classrooms:
The Perry Castaneda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin
Mostly copyright free public domain maps, political, historical, topographic, thematic, etc.
Online Resources for Specialized Topics:
Information about Korean feature films and cinema:
Koreanfilm.org
• Contents: Great source of reviews of Korean feature films, information about directors, what most popular films were in Korea for the year.
Online Environmental Science Curriculum about Korea:
Exploring the Environment: modules and activities. “Korean Enigma”
• Contents: Focuses on how past history, present political ideology, and the natural environment have shaped North and South Korea today. Includes lesson plans, teacher resources, background information for students on Korean history, etc., and a student assignment working with satellite and space shuttle remote sensing images to estimate population, energy use, and GDP based on images taken at night showing city lights, etc.
CNN News Site on Korean War and 2000 Summit:
CNN In-Depth Special: Korea: States of War
A somewhat dated website marking the anniversary of the start of the Korean War and focused on the historic June 2000 summit between the president of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il. Lots of supplementary materials online, interviews, maps, timelines, photo galleries. Could perhaps make an interesting exercise in seeing how unable we are to predict the future, comparing views expressed then about future of relations with North Korea with situation now.
Arts and Architecture Websites, including student inter-actives, virtual tours, and lesson plans related to art and architecture of Korea.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Arts of Korea
• Contents: images of Korean ceramics, paintings, metalwork, and Buddhist sculptures, with thought problems for students.
Korean Brush Painting- A one day lesson plan for 7th grade by Sue Lindemulder
• Contents: A lesson plan with images, including materials list and step-by-step procedure, for helping students explore Korean brush painting.
Detroit Institute of Art - Asian Art Collection - Exploring Asia through Art
• Contents: A resource guide for teaching about the art of China, Korea, Japan, and Cambodia, which includes a helpful overview of art history for each country and curriculum units for elementary (The Way of the Brush) and middle school (Taoism: The Way) students. Focuses on ways the arts reflect philosophy and uses works of art to explore philosophy. Each unit includes linked lessons for social studies and art classes. Many images of their Asian art collection are available online elsewhere on their website:
Seattle Museum of Art - Explore Korea: A Visit to Grandfather’s House
• Contents: Lesson plan and accompanying virtual tour to explore the architecture, composition, function, and design of the house. The unit theme of Explore Korea: A Visit to Grandfather’s House links traditional objects from Korean households to their original setting within a certain area of the house and to their purpose in this culture.
Online directions for making 2 Korean kites:
Websites for Basic Korean Language Information:
Korean Studies at Monash University:
This Australian university has some useful online handouts on Korean language under the course links. A great PDF file lesson about doing greetings in Korean can be downloaded from their website here:
KOSNET (Korean Study Net)
This has a full-fledged multimedia online course in Korean and it is free.
Let’s Speak Korean
Online video clip basic language lessons playable on your computer using Real Player.
Online Images and Materials about Korea for Students to Browse:
Life in Korea: Cultural Spotlight
• Contents: Illustrated websites on culture suitable for students. Takes an in-depth look at different aspects of Korean culture, society and customs.
Images of Korea
• Contents: Nicely illustrated short web features on cultural topics and famous sites put out by Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Indiana University – East Asian Studies Center website – Cultures Speak : Korea
• Contents: Short online readings to handout in class where one Korean person discusses an aspect of Korean customs or festivals in their own life. Topics covered are: Fortune-telling, Marriage, Eldest Sons, New Year’s Day, 60th Birthday, First Birthday, Names, and Daughters.
“Koreain East Asian and World History: A Guide for Teachers”
byCharles K. Armstrong, Associate Professor of Korean History, Columbia University
• Contents: A capsule summary of Korea history, done as bullet points. Background for teachers, or very suitable as a class reading/handout for students.