PRE-READING ACTIVITIES
Lesson:
Pre-reading activity to connect the 5 Confucian Relationships to Chinese
Aim:
What effect did Confucius have on Chinese society? What were the rules that governed the five basic Confucian
relationships?
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Examine relationships and explain what they think these relationships and explain what they think these relationships should be
like
- Describe who Confucius was and what Confucianism was about
- Identity and Five Confucian relationships
- Identity how power was determined in these relationships
- Explain and categorize various Confucian sayings about the five relationships
Future Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Analyze the relationships through five different Chinese stories and discuss what they reveal about Chinese culture
Resources and Materials:
- Confucius, The Analects, ed. Betty Radice, trans. D.C. Lau (Penguin Group, 1979) passim.
- Erwin Rosenfeld and Harriet Geller, Global Studies I, 2nd ed., Barron's Educational Series, (Barron's
Educatinal Series, Inc., 1993)
- Graphic Organizers for notes and the five relationships
Procedures:
Students will write about three different relationships that exist in their lives and share one with the class
- Students will take notes on handout, as teacher reads passage (attached) about Confucius
- Students will receive a graphic organizer and they will write down what they think each relationship would be like
after hearing about Confucius.
- Pairs of students will then receive a slip of paper that will contain a Confucian saying about one of the five relationships.
The teacher will have signs for each of the five different relationships posted around the room. Students will discuss with their partner
what the quote means, whether or not they agree with it, and what relationship this quote is describing. They will put their quote by the
appropriate sign.
- Students will then copy down the quotes and discuss the different relationships in detail.