Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 130

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi ($6.99)
(Lesson by Mary Connor, Advisor, National Korean Studies Seminar)
Grades Pre-K -2 and Up
Reviews from Amazon.com
“I love this book because it reinforces the idea that children have a right to their given names and
that they have a right to expect their teachers and classmates to learn how to pronounce them. I
work with many Chinese, Korean and Japanese students and it is common for these kids to feel
the obligation to change their name….Accepting your name and teaching people how to pro-
nounce it provides children with empowerment and helps the acculturation process.”
“I bought this book for my elementary classroom and loaned it to a friend and they used it for a
high school class! I had a hard time getting it back. It is great, and will be used year after year in
my home and classes.”
“I bought this book to use in a college class I was taking. We had to find a cultural awareness
book that would be good for children. This book fit the bill It is about a girl who is embarrassed
by her name. The kids in her class end up writing names in a “name jar” so she can pick a new
name. In the end, she ends up embracing her name. It shows children that it is okay to come from
another culture. It’s good for students who are coming from another country and feel like they
don’t “fit in” and feel the need to assimilate….I would recommend for any teacher ”
“My students and I did research as to how we got our names and who helped to name us. Kids
really enjoyed this activity and this book for a beginning of the year.”
Lesson Objectives
Improve cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity to one’s classmates.
Provide ways for new students to feel welcome into one’s classroom.
Pre-Reading Activity
Ask students how they got their names and who named them.
If appropriate, ask children where they were born, where their parents were born, and where their
grandparents were born.
If suitable for the age group, locate these places on a world map.
If appropriate or if time permits, ask the children to say hello in their native language.
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