Legalism, Confucianism, and Taoism are the foundations for an inquiry writing assignment connecting the past to the present. By having students explore alone or as a group the three Chinese philosophies, and then read about modern efforts to address common school behavioral issues today, they will then connect the past to the present in an essay/argumentative format. Included are the social studies standards for Illinois and C3, as well as connections to the WIDA "Can Do" descriptors for ELL stu