Asian American History and the Making of the U.S. Immigration System

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 26.03.08

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Rationale For Teaching Asian American, Native Hawaiian, And Pacific Islander Heritage
  2. Introduction
  3. Content
  4. Teaching Strategies
  5. Classroom Activities
  6. Appendix On Implementing District Standards
  7. Endnotes
  8. Annotated Bibliography

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month for Kindergarten to 5th Grade

Alima McKnight

Published September 2026

Tools for this Unit:

Endnotes

1. “Why Do We Have Heritage Months? — HHRCMAINE,” The Holocaust and Human Rights Center The Michael Klahr Center, accessed July 15, 2026, https://www.hhrcmaine.org/blog/why-do-we-have-heritage-months.

2. Michael Romano, “The New Teacher’s Toolbox: Parting Tips for Your Toolbox,” The Science Teacher 81, no. 9 (December 2014): 11–11, https://doi.org/10.2505/4/tst14_081_09_11.

3. Karon LeCompte, Brooke Blevins, and Brandi Ray, “Teaching Current Events and Media Literacy: Critical Thinking, Effective Communication, and Active Citizenship,” Social Studies and the Young Learner 29, no. 3 (January 1, 2017): 17–20, https://doi.org/10.66392/105603017820654165.

4. Gloria Ladson‐Billings, “This Issue: Culturally Relevant Teaching,” Theory Into Practice 34, no. 3 (June 1995): 150–51, https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543673.

5. And 6. Geneva Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching, January 25, 2010, https://doi.org/10.65528/9780807776704.)

7. Geneva Gay, “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching,” Journal of Teacher Education 53, no. 2 (March 2002): 106–16, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003.

8. “Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings: The Impact of One City’s Public Charter Schools - Youtube,” YouTube, May 2, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KflJiuctHkg.

9., 10., 11. Geneva Gay, “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching,” Journal of Teacher Education 53, no. 2 (March 2002): 106–16, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003.

12. Harmon, Deborah A. “Culturally Responsive Teaching Though a Historical Lens: Will History Repeat Itself?” Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning Eastern Michigan University. VoL 2, NO. 1 (Spring 2012)

13. Ceren Su Abacioglu, Monique Volman, and Agneta H. Fischer, “Teachers’ Multicultural Attitudes and Perspective Taking Abilities as Factors in Culturally Responsive Teaching,” British Journal of Educational Psychology 90, no. 3 (December 9, 2019): 736–52, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12328.

14. “Projectimplicit,” Take a Test, accessed August 12, 2026, https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html.

15. Kevin Nield, “The Problems of Applying Labels of Learning Style to National Cultures,” The International Journal of Learning: Annual Review 16, no. 7 (2009): 425–34, https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/cgp/v16i07/46426.

16. Jessica Helen Lopez and Kara L. Bobroff, “Rooted Indigenous Core Values: Culturally Appropriate Curriculum and Methods for Civic Education Reflective of Native American Culture and Learning Styles,” Multicultural Perspectives 21, no. 2 (April 3, 2019): 119–26, https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2019.1606640.

17. Eleni Korosidou and Eleni Griva, “Fostering Students L2 Writing Skills and Intercultural Awareness through Digital Storytelling in Elementary Education,” International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education 16, no. 5 (September 30, 2024), https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2024.355.

18. and 19. Sara Atske. “Educational Attainment of the Asian Population, 2023.” Pew Research Center, (April 29, 2025), https://www.pewresearch.org/chart/educational-attainment-of-the-asian-population-2023/.

20. “Nationality Act of 1790,” Immigration History, January 31, 2020, https://immigrationhistory.org/item/1790-nationality-act/.

21. Moon-Ho Jung, Coolies and Cane: Race, Labor, and Sugar in the Age of Emancipation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009).

22. Jedidiah Morse, Samuel Hill, and Samuel Hall, map, 1797, A New Map of North America Shewing All the New Discoveries, 1797, 1797.

23. “Ellis Island Chronology,” National Parks Service, accessed July 31, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/ellis-island-chronology.htm.

24. Erika Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island. ; Immigrant Gateway to America (Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2012).

25. Russell Nauman, “Room 115: Section W1: Angel Island Immigration Station - San Francisco,” AIISF, June 5, 2026, https://www.aiisf.org/poetryfinder/115w1.

26. Erika Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island. ; Immigrant Gateway to America (Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2012).

27. Mary Paik Lee and Sucheng Chan, Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019).

28. and 29. Dan Blackaby, “Libguides: Hawai`i Legal History: Timeline,” Timeline - Hawai`i Legal History - LibGuides at William S. Richardson School of Law, accessed August 9, 2026, https://law-hawaii.libguides.com/hawaiilegalhistory.

30. Tom Coffman, The Island Edge of America: A Political History of Hawai’i (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003).

31. Jens Manuel Krogstad, “Hawaii Is Home to the Nation’s Largest Share of Multiracial Americans,” Pew Research Center, June 17, 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/06/17/hawaii-is-home-to-the-nations-largest-share-of-multiracial-americans/.

32. And 33. Kaori O’Connor, “The Hawaiian Luau,” Food, Culture & Society 11, no. 2 (June 2008): 149–72, https://doi.org/10.2752/175174408x317543.

34. “From Bento to Mixed Plate: Americans of Japanese Ancestry in Multicultural Hawai`i,” Japanese American National Museum (JANM), accessed August 1, 2026, https://www.janm.org/press/release/bento-mixed-plate-americans-japanese-ancestry-multicultural-hawaii.

35. Paul Pinto, “What Are the Different Types of Poke?,” Pipeline Poke, September 25, 2025, https://pipeline-poke.com/2025/09/21/what-are-the-different-types-of-poke/#:~:text=Across%20Hawaii%20and%20beyond%2C%20there,Machine%20is%20a%20must%2Dtry.

36. Alima McKnight, “Unit: Hispanic Heritage Month for All: 31 Days of Latinxellence,” Teachers Institute of Philadelphia, 2024, https://theteachersinstitute.org/curriculum_unit/hispanic-heritage-month-for-all-31-days-of-latinxellence/.

37. Jill Rosen, “U.S. Textbooks Miss Opportunities to Teach Latino History,” The Hub, May 16, 2023, https://hub.jhu.edu/2023/05/16/latino-history-textbooks-report/.

38. Karen Umemoto, “‘On Strike!’ San Francisco State College Strike, 1968–69: The Role of Asian American Students,” Amerasia Journal 15, no. 1 (January 1989): 3–41, https://doi.org/10.17953/amer.15.1.7213030j5644rx25.

39. Chiou-Ling Yeh, “2 ‘In the Traditions of China and in the Freedom of America’: The Making of the Chinese New Year Festival ,” essay, in Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco’s Chinatown (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 29–55.

40. David Brand, “The New Whiz Kids,” Time, August 31, 1987.

41. And 42. Theodore S. Gonzalves and Erika Lee, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History, Art, and Culture in 101 Objects (Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Books, 2025).

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