PS 376A, Felisa Rincon De Gautier School, Bushwick, Brooklyn, District 32

Kam Mak, My Chinatown: One Year in Poems: Chinese New Year stamp making workshop and field trip to Chinatown.

Visit 1: May 5, 2010
Visit 2: May 12, 2010
Visit 3: May 19, 2010

A 3rd grade class studying China worked with writer-illustrator Kam Mak, author of My
Chinatown: One Year in Poems, and creator of three U.S. postage stamps in celebration of Chinese New Year. Students read and discussed My Chinatown: One Year in Poems, in which Mr. Mak describes his childhood growing up in New York City's Chinatown. This led to a discussion about what it was like to immigrate to a new country at a young age, an experience to which many students could relate. Mr. Mak also led a walking tour of Chinatown, showing the students many of the scenes from the book. The students enjoyed a dim sum meal and learned how to eat with chopsticks. During the tour, the students took notes which they later used to draw their own postage stamps depicting their favorite parts of the trip. The students accompanied their stamps with written descriptions.

Students read from My Chinatown: One Year in Poems.		Kam Mak holds up a Chinese dragon costume. Dragons play a big role in New Year celebrations.
Third graders have fun as they try on the dragon head!		Kam Mak teaches students a traditional Chinese board game.
Students working hard to design their own Chinatown stamps.		A boy refers to My Chinatown: A Year in Poems as he contemplates his own artwork.

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