1.1.1 - The First Lunar New Year Celebration in the United States
OverviewObjectivesLesson ImplementationEssayVocabularyDiscussion Questions Activity 1Activity 2Activity 3 Activity 4 Extension Activities Further Information StandardsCredits
“Chinese New Year Lion Dance.” PBS, 11 Dec. 2015.
Grade: K-2Subject: Social Studies, U.S. History, English Language Arts
Number of Activities: 4 + Extension Activities
The lion dance troupe performs in front of a store to bring good fortune in the new year.
Credit: “Year of the Monkey in San Francisco’s Chinatown” by Nancy Wong via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Overview:
According to the California History/Social Studies Standards, kindergarten students study "historical connections between the world today and the world long ago" and develop "historical empathy for how people lived long ago." Kindergarten students learn about holidays celebrated in America. However, most curricula only cover the typical "American" holidays, such as Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Presidents' Day, etc. Social Studies lessons in kindergarten less often teach celebrations such as the Lunar New Year, which was celebrated as early as 1851 in San Francisco's Chinatown during the California Gold Rush era. This lesson covers the first Lunar New Year celebration in the United States, and how Asian Americans adapted throughout the years since to continue embracing their heritage today.
 

Learning Objectives:
Students will:
 

Lesson Implementation:
This lesson can be completed in one instructional session or over a period of 1 week. Here are options for lesson implementation:
 

The First Lunar New Year Celebration in the United States Essay:
Lunar New Year is a big celebration. It's celebrated all over the world.
It takes place in January or February. It's based on the lunar calendar. So, the date changes every year.
The first U.S. Lunar New Year celebrations took place in San Francisco. San Francisco is a city in California.
Early Lunar New Year celebrations started in the 1850s. These celebrations were small. They were done in secret. This is because Chinese immigrants were unwelcomed at the time. They were treated badly.
But, the immigrants were proud of their Chinese culture. They wanted to celebrate. The first public Lunar New Year celebration was in 1860. It was hosted by the Chinese American community in San Francisco.
Early Chinese Americans combined Chinese and American traditions. They hosted a festival. They hosted a parade. There was dragon dancing and firecrackers.
More fun things were added later. There was art. There were dances. There were fashion shows. There was a Miss Chinatown contest.
Today, the San Francisco celebration is called the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade. It is the biggest Lunar New Year celebration in North America. Today, Lunar New Year is celebrated in many cities and in different ways.
 

Bibliography:
Hung, Melissa. (2018). "A Chinatown tradition, San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade is 'American like chop suey'." NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/chinatown-tradition-san-francisco-s-chinese-new-year-parade-american-n847661
Masino, Kye. (2019). "Chinese New Year Parade." Found SF. https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Chinese_New_Year_Parade
Woods, Arnold. (2021). "Chinese New Year in the City: A Closer Look." Open SF History. https://www.opensfhistory.org/osfhcrucible/2021/02/14/chinese-new-year-in-the-city-a-closer-look/#:~:text=The%20genesis%20of%20the%20modern,on%20Grant%20Avenue%20that%20year.
Yeh, Chiou-Ling. (2004). " 'In the Traditions of China and in the Freedom of America': The Making of San Francisco's Chinese New Year Festivals." American Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 2 (Jun., 2004), pp. 395-420. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068199
 

Vocabulary1
 

1Definition is adopted from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
 

Discussion Questions (Suggested Time: 15 minutes):
  1. How are Lunar New Year celebrations the same or different from U.S. or Western New Year celebrations that take place on December 31?
  2. Why were early Lunar New Year celebrations done secretly? (Why would people have to hide their cultural traditions?)
  3. Why did the Chinese American community in San Francisco organize the Lunar New Year festival and parade?
  4. How is Lunar New Year celebrated? What are some Lunar New Year traditions?
  5. How have Lunar New Year celebrations changed over time since the Gold Rush era?
 
Bánh chưng, a traditional food for Têt, Vietnamese New Year.
Credit: “Chung cake, van chung, Vietnamese New Year image” by Minhbuiart via Pixabay (Free to Use Image)
Activity 1: An Introduction to Lunar New Year (Suggested Time: 20 minutes)
Students will be introduced to the Lunar New Year holiday.
  1. Have students draw a picture of their favorite holiday and have them finish this sentence frame: "My favorite holiday is _____. I love it because _____."
  2. Tell students that celebrating the New Year is a popular tradition. Ask students, "How does your family celebrate the New Year?" Give students time to share out loud. Record their comments on chart paper.
  3. Ask students, "Have you heard about the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?" Have students share out loud what they know about it. Record their comments on chart paper.
  4. OPTION: Show students the video entitled, "Bet You Didn't Know: Chinese New Year." Have students summarize what they learned from the video.
  5. Tell students that Chinese New Year is specific to how the Chinese celebrate Lunar New Year. Explain that the Lunar New Year is celebrated by several countries in Asia and that each country has similar and different traditions.
  6. Tell students that Asian Americans have been celebrating Lunar New Year since the first Chinese immigrants settled in the United States in the 1850s.
 
A procession of a dragon during a parade in San Francisco Chinatown in 1892.
Credit: “Procession of the Dragon” by Adolph Wittemann & Jos. Hofmann via Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images (Public Domain Image) Source
A drawing of Chinese immigrants celebrating Chinese New Year in San Francisco, 1871.
Credit: “Harper’s Weekly 1871-03-25: Vol 5 Iss 743” uploaded by MicrofilmIssueGenerator via Internet Archive (Public Domain Image) Source
Activity 2: Lunar New Year Over the Years (Suggested Time: 45 minutes)
Students will learn about the first Lunar New Year celebration in the United States and compare it to a recent celebration.
  1. Read the essay aloud to students. Choose one of these options:
    1. OPTION 1: Create a slide deck with the essay content and add visuals. Read aloud to the students.
    2. OPTION 2: Write each section on large chart paper. As you read each section aloud, draw visuals in collaboration with the students.
  2. Facilitate a discussion (see Discussion Questions) about the essay to ensure comprehension.
  3. Show students these two pictures:
    1. Picture 1: "Procession of the Dragon" (1892): "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Procession_of_the_Dragon.jpg."
    2. Picture 2: "Chinamen Celebrating Their New Year's Day in San Francisco" (1871): "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinamen_Celebrating_Their_New-Year%27s_Day_in_San_Francisco_(Harper%27s_1871-03-25).jpg."
  4. Have students describe what they notice in each of the pictures.
  5. Ask students, "How was Lunar New Year first celebrated in the United States?"
  6. Show students the video entitled, "Chinese New Year Parade 2022 Recap".
  7. Have students describe what they noticed in the video.
  8. Ask students, "What was the same and different between the early Lunar New Year celebrations presented in the pictures and the Lunar New Year celebration in the video?"
  9. Ask students, "Why do you think traditions change over time?"
 
Red envelopes or packets, also known as hóngbāo (Mandarin), lai see (Cantonese), and bao lì xì (Vietnamese) are “lucky money” given by adults/married couples to children and unmarried adults during Lunar New Year. The red packets symbolize good luck and fortune in the new year.
Credit: Photo by Kristen Luo (Free Use)
Firecrackers are used to create loud noise and scare away evil spirits.
Credit: Photo by Elina Sazonova via Pexels (Free to Use)
During Lunar New Year, families eat particular foods, such as dumplings, which represent wealth as it looks like older Chinese money (ingots).
Credit: “Homemade Dumplings for the Lunar New Year” by Silar via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lunar New Year dishes like Buddha’s delight, lo han jai is a vegetarian dish commonly eaten the first five days to follow the Buddhist tradition of self-purification. It includes multiple ingredients that each have a meaning- noodles for longevity and at least eight other items for prosperity. Meat such as a whole chicken means ‘luck’ and ‘wholeness’ while pork can represent ‘strength,’ ‘wealth,’ and ‘blessing’ (pictured: Chinese barbecue sausage & Chinese barbecue pork char siu). Vegetables also have different meanings, chinese broccoli, gailan represents harmony.
Credit: Photo by Kristen Luo (Free Use)
In Chinese culture, people eat glutinous rice cake called niángāo to go “higher” in the new year, for example, making more money, getting a promotion, better grades, etc.
Credit: “A homemade nian gao from old woman in yuen long” by Peachyeung316 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Activity 3: How to Celebrate Lunar New Year (Suggested Time: 45 minutes)
In this activity, students will demonstrate what they have learned about Lunar New Year.
  1. Read aloud Popo's Lucky Chinese New Year, by Virginia Loh-Hagan. Have students summarize the story and share new facts that they learned.
  2. Teachers can choose one or more of the following options:
    1. OPTION 1: Guide students in researching how Lunar New Year is celebrated in your local community. Show videos and pictures and/or have one of the organizers speak to the students. Have students compare and contrast their local community's celebration to San Francisco's Lunar New Year celebration.
    2. OPTION 2: Have students draw a picture or create an artifact that represents a part of the first Lunar New Year celebration in San Francisco (i.e., parade, firecrackers, dragon dance, lion dance, drummers, lantern festivals, lucky foods, etc.). Have students include captions or tags for their pictures or artifacts. Organize the pictures or artifacts around the classroom. Have students do a "museum walk." Have students discuss what they learned.
 
People playing yut nori, a traditional game played during Seollal, Korean New Year.
Credit: “2013 Seollal Sketch” by Korea.net via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) Source
Activity 4: The Importance of Lunar New Year (Suggested Time: 45 minutes)
In this activity, students will complete an art activity about Lunar New Year and discuss the importance of cultural preservation.
  1. Teachers can choose one or more of the following options:
    1. OPTION 1: Have students create an event flyer about the first Lunar New Year celebration in San Francisco, including when and where it took place, and what people can expect to see (parade, dragon dance, firecrackers, etc.).
    2. OPTION 2: Have students draw and describe the differences between Lunar New Year celebrations in the United States from the past and present.
    3. OPTION 3: Have students draw and describe their favorite part of a Lunar New Year celebration (i.e., parade, dragon dance, firecrackers, etc.).
  2. Have students discuss why it's important to preserve cultural traditions.
 
Extension Activities (Suggested Time per Option: 30-60 minutes)
  1. Show students the PBS video entitled, "Chinese New Year Parade," to learn more about the art behind creating floats for the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. Have students draw their own design for a float or make a miniature version out of recycled materials.
  2. Have students learn about Lunar New Year myths and legends by reading aloud Nian, The Chinese New Year Dragon, by Virginia Loh-Hagan. Have students identify Lunar New Year traditions presented in the book and discuss how this is a retelling. Have students create a dragon puppet. Or, hire a dragon dance performer to teach students some choreography. Or, show this Smithsonian video about the dragon dance tradition.
  3. Research Lunar New Year celebrations in different ethnic enclaves in the United States (i.e., Los Angeles Chinatown, Westminster's Little Saigon, New York Chinatown, etc.). Show students videos and pictures of Lunar New Year celebrations in each ethnic enclave. Ask students, "What are some things that are the same and different about the celebrations in the different communities?"
  4. Guide students in researching about the history of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce that directs the annual San Francisco Lunar New Year Festival and Parade. Have students create a poster about the group.
  5. Guide students in researching Penny Wong, the first person to be crowned Miss Chinatown in San Francisco's Lunar New Year contest. Have students write a biography about Penny Wong.
  6. Read aloud the page "L is for Lunar New Year" from A is for Asian American, by Virginia Loh-Hagan. Have students summarize what they learned. Have students discuss the artistic choices the illustrator made to create this page. Have students create their own illustration for "L is for Lunar New Year."
  7. Explain that Lunar New Year is a celebration of Asian culture and traditions. Host your own classroom parade by allowing each student to share a tradition from their culture or family.
  8. Read aloud picture books about Lunar New Year. Here are some examples:
    1. Bringing in the New Year, by Grace Lin
    2. Chloe's New Year, by Lily LaMotte
    3. Lunar New Year, by Hannah Eliot
    4. New Year, by Rich Lo
    5. Ruby's Chinese New Year, by Vickie Lee
  9. Have students learn more about Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, by showing this video entitled, "What is Tet?" Have students compare and contrast Tet to the Chinese New Year.
  10. Have students learn more about other Asian New Year holidays and discuss how they have evolved as immigrants moved from Asia to the United States:
    1. Tet - Vietnamese New Year
    2. Seollal - Korean New Year
    3. Losar - Tibetan New Year
    4. Tsagaan Sar - Mongolian New Year
 
Further Information
Note: These lessons will enhance the teacher's knowledge. They are not designed for Kindergartners.
The Asian American Education Project lesson entitled, "The Contributions of the Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers": https://asianamericanedu.org/1.2-Transcontinental-Railroad-lesson-plan.html.
The Asian American Education Project lesson entitled, "Chinese Exclusion Act and the Exclusion of Asians, Pacific Islanders & Chinese Women": https://asianamericanedu.org/chinese-exclusion-act-exclusion-of-asians.html.
The Asian American Education Project lesson entitled, "Angel Island & The Chinese Exclusion Act": https://asianamericanedu.org/angel-island.html.