Our 9th grade Magnet field trip to Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles is the capping activity for an ELA unit focused on Wakatsuki Houston's memoir Farewell to Manzanar and thematically related topics. Students visit the Japanese American National Museum and tour nearby landmarks. As the epicenter of North America's largest Japanese-American population, Little Tokyo presents a unique opportunity for students to learn more about the Japanese-American experience first-hand. JANM in particular features an exhibit focused on the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, a painful period in America's history that is the focus of Wakatsuki Houston's book. Beyond this important historical connection, the museum also helps students place the internment of Japanese in the larger historical context of the 130-year history of Japanese-Americans in the U.S. Much like the United States as a whole, an important defining feature of Los Angeles is its cultural diversity, and our field trip is a chance for students to explore this diversity and learn about another culture in an authentic and engaging way.<br>
