Each May in the United States, we observe Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, taking the time to reflect on the experiences and contributions of the AANHPI community. Schools nationwide greet the faces of AANHPI students every day, embodying the rich diversity and cultural tapestry of our classrooms. In fact, every county in the United States has an AANHPI presence. The Pew Research Center projects the AANHPI population in the U.S. will reach 46 million by 2060.
To truly embrace representation in schools, it’s important to provide authentic opportunities to learn about the diverse cultures, languages, contributions, and experiences of the AANHPI community during AANHPI Heritage Month and year-round. This not only gives students who identify as AANHPI the opportunity to see themselves in their learning, but also allows all students to learn from diverse perspectives—fostering empathy, understanding, and a more inclusive educational environment for everyone.
Resources and activities for teaching about AANHPI experiences
To help you integrate exploration and celebration of the multifaceted history and culture of Asian Americans, we’ve curated a list of resources and activities for teaching about AANHPI communities.
Use these resources to deepen understanding during AANHPI Heritage Month and throughout the school year.
- Drive discussions and reflections with the Celebrating and Honoring AANHPI Heritage Collection from Flip, a free web and mobile app for recording, editing, and sharing video assignments. Explore the wide variety of AANHPI topics for all grade levels.
- Discover the Māori culture and language in Minecraft Education with Ngā Motu. Students can explore the ecosystem of Aotearoa (New Zealand) as well as Māori architecture, arts, economics, and language. Minecraft Education empowers educators to bring to life indigenous culture and build social-emotional skills all through immersive, game-based learning.
- Plan a virtual visit to the Japanese American National Museum. With tailored tours for students by grade band, students learn about various aspects of Japanese American culture, art, and history.
- Ask students to analyze how history affects the AANHPI community now and in the future. Select one or more activities from the American Asian Education Project and use Search Progress (for an assignment) or Search Coach (for a live, in-class activity), two digital literacy tools from Microsoft, to help students form effective search queries, find trusted sites, and think critically about their results.
Use Search Progress to help students craft effective search queries and evaluate their findings.
- Once the Search Progress and Search Coach activities are completed, use Insights to discuss the most common resources that students visited and explore the queries and key terms that the class used to do their research.
- Explore a collection of books from Learning for Justice designed to help humanize AANHPI communities, challenge stereotypes, and make their stories central to the broader American narrative. Consider recording yourself reading multiple books with Microsoft Stream, a video platform available in all Microsoft 365 Education plans, and create a playlist for students to choose from.
- Use this Asian American timeline to help students better understand how the AANHPI community was impacted by various historical events. Create a page in the Collaboration Space in Class Notebook in Microsoft Teams for Education to engage students in collaborative reflection.
- The AANHPI community has made vast contributions to the field of STEM. Check out this list which showcases some of the AAPI scientists and engineers who have made—and continue to make—significant contributions to STEM.
- Discover more ways to honor AANHPI contributions and teach about AANHPI history from Microsoft Education.
From historic milestones to pioneering leadership, AANHPI individuals have left an indelible mark on the world. While May is designated as AANHPI Heritage Month, it can be used as a catalyst for learning in your classroom year-round. Together, we can ensure ongoing, conscious representation of AANHPI peoples, fostering a truly inclusive learning environment for all.
