Write About Asia: 2022 Freeman Award Winners
The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), the Committee on Teaching about Asia (CTA) of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), and Asia for Educators (AFE) at Columbia University sponsor the annual Freeman Book Awards for new young adult and children’s literature. The awards recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia.
During this online workshop, teachers studied and wrote about the 2022 Freeman Award books for children and young adults. Participants reviewed the 2022 Freeman Award Winners for grades 2-12 classrooms, read and wrote about the texts, and shared written responses with other writers.
Workshop facilitators
Lyn Jackson was an English and Japanese Language teacher for 35 years and enjoys working with teachers of all subjects and grade levels. Although she taught mostly high school students, she has experience working with middle and elementary students as well. Thanks to EARC, she has participated in countless experiences relating to Asia and Asian culture.
Nora Douglass has taught writing and drama to students of all ages, from third grade to senior adults. She received her MFA in playwriting from the University of Washington School of Drama. In addition to winning three Kennedy Center ACTF Awards, including the National David Library Award for best play about the American Experience, she placed first in the Drury College One Act Play Competition and received a fellowship at the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat. She has also served as Artist-in-Residence at three colleges. As a middle and high school teacher, Nora participated in many EARC workshops and seminars including an NCTA study tour to Japan. She has honed her own writing skills through ten years of Write About Asia with Mary Roberts. More about Nora’s playwriting can be found at noradouglass.com
Program details
This workshop spaned multiple sessions. The first session introduced the 2022 Freeman Award Winners and was mandatory for all participants. The other five sessions focused on individual titles; participants attend whichever they prefer (at least one). Since each session consisted of alone reading time, 1 hour of writing, and 1.5 hours of class time, participants received three clock hours for each session attended.
All participants attended:
July 18, 2023, (3:00 -4:00 PM, PDT): Introduction to the workshop and to the 2022 Freeman Award Winners.
Participants chose one or more of the following sessions:
Tuesday, August 1, 2023, (3:00 – 4:30 PM, PDT): Writer’s Workshop Sharing based upon Eighteen Vats of Water, by Ji-Li Jiang, Illustrated by Nadia Hsieh.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023, (3:00 – 4:30 PM, PDT): Writer’s Workshop Sharing based upon Nana, Nenek & Nina, by Shasha Aziz and The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart, by Chesil, Translated by Takami Nieda.
Tuesday, August 15, 2023, (3:00 – 4:30 PM, PDT): Writer’s Workshop Sharing based upon Berani by Michelle Kadarusman.
Tuesday, August 22, 2023, (3:00 – 4:30 PM, PDT): Writer’s Workshop Sharing based upon Morning Sun in Wuhan, by Ying Chang Compestine.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023, (3:00 – 4:30 PM, PDT): Writer’s Workshop Sharing based upon The Red Palace by June Hur.
Program benefits
- 3 Washington State OSPI clock hours for each session.
- Free copies of the workshop texts.
Books
You can view this collection at King County Library.
This program was sponsored by the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington and funded by a Freeman Foundation grant in support of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA)