Lesson Plan Library

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers

WHDE offers a set of free resources for teachers to help students better understand Korea. The lesson plans cover a variety of topics including geography, religion, economic development, culture, history, and the Korean War. Search our archive of lessons plans by topic, skill or grade level. You can find more teaching resources on the Korean War on the Korean War Legacy Foundation website. Visit teachingaboutnorthkorea.org to find lesson plans and activities for teaching about North Korea.

 
Skills
 
Topics

A Gallery Walk of Ancient Korea

temple with mountains in background

This lesson can serve as an introductory lesson to a unit on Korea. In this lesson, students will be interacting in a photo gallery walk activity. In various places around the classroom, there will be exhibit stations that pertain to different factors regarding Ancient Korea’s geography, history, and culture. Students will work in pairs or small groups. They will have 3 minutes at each station to read the descriptions, analyze images, and answer questions about Korea. Afterwards, students will come together as a class to discuss the new information they learned.

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PDFWord

Author: Mariah Pol

Grades: Middle (6-8)

Time: 1 75-minute class

Participation Year: Fellowship 2019

Skills: Comparison

Topics: Geography, Geomancy, Jikji, Joseon, Religion

Innovation in Early Modern Korea

metal artifact

Much of East Asian History focuses on China and Japan. Korea is often an afterthought, or taught as a tributary state under the influence of China. Also, much of Korean History is taught with a modern lens, where Korea is a victim of China and Japan. This lesson will introduce students to the cultural achievements of Korea during its Early Modern Era, showing that Korea has important cultural achievements of its own and is not always influenced by other cultures, but has its own history. It will focus on Moveable Type Printing, King Sejong and Hangul, Admiral Yi and Turtle Ships, and citizen governance under the Joseon. These topics tie into the Iowa Standards about cultural advancement as well as those about individuals impacting history. They also tie into change over time and causation standards in the C3 Framework.

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PDFWord

Author: Kelsey Hudson

Grades: Secondary (9-12)

Time: 2 45-minute classes

Participation Year: Fellowship 2019

Skills: Continuity, Inquiry

Topics: Jikji, King Sejong

Metal Movable Type: The Jikji and the Gutenberg Bible

book with Korean writing

The main topic of this lesson is the place of Korea in the global history of printing technology. Students examine both video and written sources to determine the comparative importance of Korean and European moveable metal type printing.

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PDFWord

Author: Patrick Whelan

Grades: Middle (6-8), Secondary (9-12)

Time: 1- 45 minute class

Participation Year: Fellowship 2019

Skills: Comparison, Evaluation

Topics: Jikji

What makes an invention successful? A case study on the Jikji

tablet with Korean writing

This lesson will have students assess the impact of jikji movable print on Korean society and beyond. Though the Gutenberg Press is credited as being the birth of movable type, the jikji predates the Gutenberg Bible by 70 years. In this focused inquiry lesson, students will focus in on what ideas were preserved within the jikji. This exploration can supplement analysis of the Gutenberg Press, providing students a case study in assessing the factors that hinder or promote different inventions’ influence. Likewise, assessing jikji and other inventions that influence mass communication allow students to grapple with how such mediums can preserve the past or be the mechanism that brings global change.

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PDFWord

Author: Carly Mutterties

Grades: Middle (6-8), Secondary (9-12)

Time: 1- 2 50-minute classes

Participation Year: Fellowship 2019

Skills: Analysis, Inquiry

Topics: Jikji

What Would We Do Without Printing?

stone tablet

In this lesson, students will analyze primary and secondary sources which depict three different printing technologies. Background knowledge for this lesson includes the purpose and significance of cuneiform and the Gutenberg Bible. Students will analyze images of primary sources and artifacts in order to compare the origins and purpose of printing technology.

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PDFWord

Author: Lisa Kissinger

Grades: Secondary (9-12)

Time: 1 50-minute lesson

Participation Year: Fellowship 2019

Skills: Comparison, Contextualization

Topics: Jikji