Pursuit of Poetry:
The Forbidden City

The Oakland Museum of California hosted an exhibit from Beijing, "Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace," October 14, 2000, through January 24, 2001. The Museum's education department sponsored "Pursuit of Poetry," a program for students touring the exhibit. Diane Wang, as a Museum poet, visited classrooms before and after students saw the exhibit. She explained the importance of poetry in the Qing Dynasty Court and helped students write poetry, using objects from the exhibit and examples of Chinese poetry as inspiration. In some classes Diane introduced students to Chinese calligraphy.

Here you will find poetry written by several classes:

• Chadbourne: Mrs. Streight's 4th Grade Class
• Crocker Highlands: Ms. Oretsky's 5th Grade Class
• Crocker Highlands: Ms. Wesselman's 5th Grade Class
• Haight: Ms. Mebine's 4th Grade Class
• Jefferson: Ms. Baumgarten's 4th Grade Class
• Willard: Ms. Uyeda's 7th Grade Class
• Willard: Ms. Cambell's 7th Grade Class
• Wood: Ms. Toczynski's early 7th Grade Class
• Wood: Ms. Toczynski's later 7th Grade Class

The lesson plan for the classes Diane used is also posted at this site.