We continued our exploration of Ancient China today by asking the question: What is a natural barrier? We then went on compare the story of the legendary Chinese heroine Mulan, with the Disney version. During this compare and contrast exercise we established the importance of certain ideas and values to the Ancient Chinese, such as honor, ancestor worship, dragons as representative of power, strength, and luck. We finished the class by dividing into groups responsible for researching the significant mountains, deserts, rivers, and seas that severed as natural barriers in Ancient China.

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Thursday, May 9th; Come to class with your Literature Circle job completed and ready to discuss pages 1 - 63 with your Lit Circle members.
Due Wednesday, May 15th; Complete your work on the "natural barrier" you chose to research. Please come ready to share what you learnt with your classmates.