Theme Unit Planning
Becky Yang
Jennifer Yang
Theme: The Hmong People
Language and Culture
Grade level: 5th Grade Social Studies - Culture
Common Core State Standards
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3
 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or
concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
Essential Standards/Clarifying Objectives
 5.C.1 Understand how increased diversity resulted from migration, settlement patterns and
economic development in the United States.
 5.C.1.2 Exemplify how the interactions of various groups have resulted in the borrowing and
sharing of traditions and technology
 5.C.1.3 Explain how the movement of goods, ideas and various cultural groups influenced the
development of regions in the United States.
 5.C.1.4 Understand how cultural narratives (legends, songs, ballads, games, folk tales and art
forms) reflect the lifestyles, beliefs and struggles of diverse ethnic groups.
Essential Question: What does it mean to be Hmong?
Topical Questions:
 Who are the Hmong people? What are their
customs and traditions?
 What can we learn from the Hmong culture?
 What reason did the Hmong people choose to flee
to the United States?
 What kind of impact do you think migrating to the
United States had on the Hmong people?
 What types of barriers do Hmong people encounter
in the United States?
 What are some of the problems Hmong people are
faced with in and outside of the classroom? Why?
Overview/goals
From firsthand experience, we have both come across numerous people that are unaware of who we, the Hmong,
are. We chose this theme because as Hmong people, we strive to promote and preserve our culture, along
with the language. Not only do we aspire to further promote the culture and language, but our main goal is that
we hope to spread awareness of this topic. Through the many experiences that the Hmong people have come
across, we want our students to understand where this minority group come from. Growing up may not have been
so tough for us but we would not be who, what and where we are if it weren’t for the survivors of the Vietnam War.
Through folktales and stories that have been passed down from our ancestors throughout the generations, we want
to share the richness of the people and culture. However, beyond the preservatives of our heritage, we want
to do much more than just educate our students.
We chose this theme because we want students to:
 1) understand the struggles of adapting to a new place and to call it their home
 2) broaden their interests on a universal level
 3) expand their curiosity on other customs of in the world. Even though the texts we selected are mainly for
informative purposes, readers will be opened to an unfamiliar culture in various aspects.
The activities we chose allow students to be open-minded to a new culture, language, and tradition.
Lenses/Perspectives
 Race or ethnicity
 Traditions
 Language
 History
 Art
 Geography
 Morals & Values
 Storytelling approach
 Celebrations & holidays
Text Set
Primary text
(Memoir/Biography)
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir
By: Kao Kalia Yang
Reading level: N/A
Summary: During the Vietnam War, the United
States CIA seeked out the Hmong people for
aid. The Hmong people volunteered to help
the United States, under one condition: a
promise of home. “After the Americans left
Laos, they left thousands of
Hmong people behind to wait for a fight that
would end for so many in death.” This book is
about how the Hmong people became
refugees and migrated to the United States.
This is a memoir of Kao Kalia and her family.
The themes that we see in her book are of war,
love, family, and home.
Additional text sources
Fiction/Folktale
 Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella
By: Jewell Reinhart Coburn, Tzexa Cherta Lee
Informational Text
 Teaching with Folk Stories of the Hmong: An Activity Book
By: Dia Cha, Norma J. Livo
 The Hmong - By: Dolly Brittan
 Long Road to Freedom: Journey of the Hmong
By: Linda Barr
 Hmong for Beginners - By: Annie Jaisser
Traditional Literature
 Grandfather’s Story Cloth (Yawg Daim Paj Ntaub Dab Neeg)
By: Linda Gerdner, Sarah Langford
Picture Book
 Hmong Textile Designs - By: Anthony Chan
(Before) Hook:
Storytelling, Language
 Start out with an introduction
(speak entirely in Hmong).
Following the intro, have students
jot down in their journals what was
said. (Even though the scene is
entirely in another language, how
do our actions speak out to others
who don’t speak the same
language?)

Prior Knowledge: Picture Word
Inductive Model—A picture will be
shown to students. While viewing
the picture, students will need to
answer the following questions:
What do you see?
What connections do you have to this
picture?
What do you think we are going to be
studying about?
(During) Text Engagement:
Sketch to Stretch—The
Latehomecomer: A Hmong
Family Memoir
 5 passages, most
appealing to their senses
 Sketch in their journals
what they see, hear, smell,
feel, and taste.
Following the activity…
 Share sketches, have their
classmates respond
1. Brochure
Must include:
 Who the Hmong are
 The history with a map
 Traditions with pictures
 Various cultural aspects
(ex. clothing, gardening,
etc).
Text Connection:
 Long Road to Freedom:
Journey of the Hmong
 The Hmong
Lens/Rationale:
History, Geography, Traditions
Brochures serve to be informative but simplistic
and attention-grabbing. Pictures play a very
important part in serving as attraction, as well as
eye-opening the text. Because of the brightly
colored clothing and salivating food, using the
combination of text and pictures indulges viewers
to have a closer connection with the Hmong
culture.
2. Tell a Story
 Each student assigned
varying quilt patterns from the
text among 3 to 4 different
choices.
 Write own story based on quilt
(who, what, where, when,
why).
 Afterwards, students with the
same quilt will come together
to compare/contrast story
ideas.
Text Connection:
 Hmong Textile Designs
Lens/Rationale:
Traditions, Storytelling, Art,
Geography
Students will understand the importance of
pictures. Not only does capturing a still
image create a memory, but pictures
can store hundreds of tales. The
perspective of one student may vary from
another, but no one really knows the real
story behind the quilts other than the
maker.
3. Timeline
Lens/Rationale:
History, Race/Ethnicity, Traditions
 Past events
 Ideas of the Hmong
Timelines tell stories in brief moments. The
use of a timeline to map out the Hmong
people will allow students to see how far
they date back.
Text Connection:
 The Latehomecomer: A
Hmong Family Memoir
 Long Road to Freedom:
Journey of the Hmong
4. Venn Diagram
 Compare/contrast the classic
Cinderella with Jouanah.
Lens/Rationale:
Storytelling, Morals & Values
Text Connection:
 Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella
Though everyone knows the story
and moral of our classic
Cinderella, viewing the story from
another perspective of a
different culture could teach
something very valuable: people
all around the world aren’t too
different. Students can not only
pull from the text but as well as the
images to compare and contrast
from the typical Cinderella they
already know.
5. Recipes of Traditional Holiday
 Students will be given a list of
a variety of traditional Hmong
ingredients/spices/seasonings
 Selecting a few from the list,
students will use them to
create their own dish.
 Along with their dish, they are
to make up a holiday to
incorporate why the dish they
made is important.
Text Connection:
 Teaching with Folk Stories of
the Hmong
Lens/Rationale:
Celebrations & holidays, Traditions
Creative writing will be involved.
Many of the dishes in the Hmong
culture are an alteration of another
Asian ethnic group’s. The ingredients
used in traditional Hmong recipes
are grown in their own gardens, but
the uniqueness of the flavor come
with adding the various sauces.
Learning about these sauces are
important because they are some of
the many items that cannot be
found on any old Wal-Mart shelf.
6. Two-Voice Poem
Compare the tragic events
experienced through the
eyes of both the Jews and
the Hmong
 Holocaust vs. guerilla
warfare
Text Connection:
 The Latehomecomer: A
Hmong Family Memoir
Lens/Rationale:
History, Race/Ethnicity
The Vietnam War is very similar
to the Holocaust in retrospect
to the aim and for what
reasons: the Hmong and the
Jews were both the targeted
race to be rid of. However,
many people are unaware of
the similarities, let alone the
existence of the Hmong
people.