This week we explored the rapid change that occurred in mid-19th century California, with the discovery of gold, statehood, and the building of the transcontinental railroad. In the classroom, the third graders watched a short film from Newsy (now Scripps News) called Remembering Chinese Railroad Workers. Though Chinese people made up 90% of the workforce that built the railroad that helped build America, their contributions were largely erased from the narrative about the railroad. We discussed how the themes of unequal pay for equal work, fear of immigration and job insecurity, racial divides, forgotten history, and the legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 continue to inform our current political climate.
In the kitchen, we celebrated the noodle (or mian in Mandarin), a Chinese culinary invention that has influenced foodways around the world, and made a simple stirred dish in the wok (a technique called lao in Mandarin) with carrots, bell pepper, bok choy, and baby broccoli. Noodles symbolize long life in Chinese culture, so we made sure not to break them while we practiced eating with chopsticks!
