Student Workshops

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Due to limited capacity and space, CAM has currently suspended its student workshops. When safely possible, CAM will offer on-site workshops for student learners in conjunction with a guided tour of the museum. Museum Education staff and docents will lead hands-on activities that engage students with Chinese American history, arts, and culture. Workshops must be requested and booked at least three (3) weeks in advance AND must be scheduled in conjunction with guided tours. Workshops are contingent upon staff/docent availability.

If you have any questions, please contact (213) 485-8484 or tours@camla.org.

The cost of the workshops is free but donations are always welcome. We suggest a donation amount of $10.00 for School Tours & Workshops per student.


CAM will proudly provide the following workshops for students/educators to enjoy:

Lantern Making Workshops

Recommended Age: 2nd – 3rd grade (although there is no set age limit)
Length of workshop: 30-45 minutes
Capacity: 30 students (1 adult chaperone for every 10 students)
Available: Tuesday-Friday, 10am – 1pm
California Visual Arts content standards: 2.2.3; 3.3.5

CAM’s cultural art workshops engage students, families and adults with Chinese American customs through easy-to-learn art projects that utilizes a variety of creative methods, styles and materials. One such popular workshop teaches the tradition of making lanterns using colored construction paper, makers, yarn, streamers, and other materials. Led by a trained museum staff member or docent, participants will learn how to make their own personalized lanterns from among 2-3 different styles.

Lanterns are very symbolic in the Chinese culture, as they represent a “lighting of the way,” literally and metaphorically. The tradition to create and string up lanterns in homes and in the streets started in China as a way to signal the end of the New Years’ celebration. Over the many years, the function of a lantern also evolved to include ornamental and aesthetic purposes. The use of lanterns as both ceremonial and decorative elements continues to thrive to this day both in China, America, and throughout the world.


Family History Scrapbook Workshops

Recommended Age: 4th-5th grade
Length of workshop: 30-45 minutes
Capacity: 30 students (1 adult chaperone for every 10 students)
Available: Tuesday-Friday, 10am – 1pm
California History-Social Studies content standards: California Content Standards for History-Social Science – 4.3.4; 4.4.3; 5.8.1; 5.8.5; 8.6.3; 8.6.4; 8.12.5; 8.12.6

The Family History Scrapbook (FHS) is an educational tool used to enhance classroom lessons on U.S. history and immigration experiences and serves as the centerpiece of enriching workshops, offered free to schools as a supplement to class tours of CAM.

FHS workshops are designed to help students grades 4-8 and their families to discover, explore, and preserve their personal family history and cultural heritage through interactive workbook exercises that promote intergenerational dialogue. All workshops are led by a trained museum staff or docent. Participants will each receive a complimentary copy of the FHS activities book to take home.


Our American Journey: Lower Division

Recommended Age: 6th – 8th grade
Length of workshop: 55 minutes
Capacity: 30 students (1 adult chaperone for every 10 students)
Available: Tuesday-Friday, 10am – 1pm

This workshop explores what immigrants may be confronted with when they migrate to a different country.  The first part of the activity discusses tough decisions immigrants had to face prior to actually leaving the country, particularly what they could take with them or what they had to leave behind on their journey to a new country.  The second part of the workshop continues to discuss the Chinese American experience as immigrants, specifically at the Angel Island Immigration Station.  In order for students to understand what the interrogations were like, they are first asked to prove to the facilitator that they are indeed students of the classroom or the school.  With the teacher’s help, students are asked several questions about their school such as “how many windows are in the classroom” or “where is the nearest grocery store to the school.” If students are able to answer the question accurately, they will take a step forward; students will take a step back for incorrect answers.


Our American Journey: Upper Division

Recommended Age: 9th – 12th grade
Length of workshop: 55 minutes
Capacity: 30 students (1 adult chaperone for every 10 students)
Available: Tuesday-Friday, 10am – 1pm

This workshop is developed for 9th to 12th graders  and is an educational supplement used to foster a deeper understanding of the Chinese American communities as discussed in our current exhibition, Origins: The Birth and Rise of the Chinese American Communities in Los Angeles. The workshop shows how three Chinese American communities – Historic Chinatown,  Chinatown (formerly known as New Chinatown), and Monterey Park – adapted to life in America when discriminatory laws and regulations were in place. Utilizing a variety of exercises and activities such as mock job hunting or matching trinkets sold in souvenir shops in Chinatown to their original use, participants will explore how the California Alien Land Law and the Chinese Exclusion Act forced Chinese Americans into only a handful of occupations and how various local propositions passed in Monterey Park in the 80’s and 90’s created conflict between older residents and new Chinese Americans immigrants in the city.

The above workshops were made possible through the support of the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

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