The
Land of the Rising Sun - Japan
Lesson
1--KWL chart
Objective:
Begin a social studies unit on Japan. Find out what the students already know, what they want to know, and how
we can find out. This information
becomes the basis for their research throughout the unit.
Materials:
Chart paper, loose-leaf paper, Inspiration software program
Books
and videos from Bibliography
Procedure:
Give a homework assignment a day or two before asking the class to write
down what they know about Japan and what they want to know about Japan.
Gather the class in meeting area. Ask
the class what they already know about Japan either from their homework or other
sources and write it on the chart paper. List
the child's name next to his/her information.
Some responses
may include: They eat sushi; The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor; it's am island;
They speak Japanese.
Then do the same with their list of questions about things they'd like to
know or learn about Japan. Hang the
charts in a visible place in the classroom for future reference.
Responses may vary from simple to complex: Where is Japan?; What kind of money
do they have?; Do they have McDonalds there?; What is school like?; What is the
biggest city?
Extensions:
Using Inspiration, students in pairs will create KWL webs on
information gathered about Japan. (See
sample)
Give small groups of children the questions typed onto
paper. Have the groups cut and paste
the questions into different categories of their choosing. Then rewrite the chart of questions reflecting the categories of the
children.
Some categories may be: transportation, education,
daily life, American things in Japan, food, geography, history, clothing.
Each group may create different categories. As the teacher, you need to
combine their answers with the others and with your own as well.
What children know about Japan - brainstorming
Lesson
2--Geography
Objective:
The children will draw conclusions about Japan's unique geography and how
it effects the Japanese lifestyle by looking at maps and reading literature
based in Japan.
Materials
The
Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck
physical maps of Japan
vocabulary words on chart paper
Post-its
chart paper
compare
and contrast chart
Procedure:
Look at the physical maps of Japan and discuss with the class what things
they notice (i.e. Japan is an island, mountain ranges...)
Begin the read aloud of The Big Wave . While reading the book, put post-its in places where the children notice
lifestyle choices dictated by the geography (i.e. farming and fishing). Also, descriptions of Japanese life will come up. They live on a
farm that is terraced. What does that mean? Why? What are the
houses like? They have paper walls. Post it on a large chart later
and keep it hanging while the book is being read.
As vocabulary comes up, share the words and definitions with the class.
Examples: tsunami, volcano, tatami mat...Each class will come up with their own
list of words depending upon their prior knowledge. See
our list.
Teachers will have an idea about prior knowledge from Lesson 1.
Lesson
3--Japanese Poetry
Objective:
The students will learn
different styles of Japanese poetry (haiku) while incorporating arts and
writing.
Materials:
book(s) of haiku poetry
or samples from The Shiki Internet Haiku Salon (http://mikan.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/ )
haiku worksheet
writer's notebook
watercolor paints and paper
KidPix software program
Procedure:
Share some haiku poetry and see if children notice the syllabic pattern
of 5-7-5. Discuss what other
elements make up haiku poetry like the topic of nature, the seasons, without
telling the reader exactly what the specific topic is.
Have children brainstorm lists of topics in their writer's notebooks and
then pick one topic to brainstorm descriptive words that go with that topic.
Example 1: Snow - wet, cold, snowmen, blizzard, storm, blanketing the
ground. Example 2: Frogs - green, brown, slimy, tongue, warts,
toads, eat flies, hops lily pad.
Using their lists let children write as many haiku poems as they want. Suggest that they write more than one about a specific topic.
Once the poetry has been written, children should illustrate the poem
using either watercolors or KidPix. The
poem can then be written onto the picture using calligraphy.
Final
Project:
Have students pick one or two of their illustrated poems to contribute to
the class book of haiku poetry.
Lesson
4--Origami
Objective:
Using
literature, children will learn about a small part of Japanese history and
origami. The time period covered is after WWII. The children will be
able to relate to the other Japanese children in the book by learning this
Japanese art.
Materials:
Sadako
and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
origami paper or colorful paper cut into perfect squares
How
to Fold a Paper Crane - Video
origami directions
origami books with directions for many different origami
creations
Web resources:
Joseph Wu's Origami Page http://origami.vancouver.bc.ca/
Eric's Origami Page http://paperfolding.com
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes http://sadako.com/contents.html - hear Liv Ullman narrate the story
Procedure:
After reading the book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes,
discuss the relevance of origami in Japanese life.
Discussions during and after the book may include:
Final
Project:
Use the children's paper cranes and display them in the room, like Sadako's
brother did in the book; or use them as a bulletin border.
Lessons
6-8--Shake, Rattle and Roll: Understanding the role of Plate Tectonics
Objective: Students will be able to understand the forces that contribute to natural
disasters, specifically those in Japan.
Materials:
Windows
on Science: Earth Science, vol. I.
AMNH web site: http:// www.amnh.org (Search Earthquakes and other sites
related to hall of Planet Earth - information about earth processes and
formation.)
http://www.fema.gov/kids/quake.htm
Our Dynamic
Planet, The American Museum of Natural History
Worksheets
from Earth Movements, DSMII (Delta Education, Inc.)
Styrofoam (one
thick piece, one thinner )
Procedure:
1. Students
will look at laser disc sections describing the structure of the earth. Student will complete worksheet: Our Earth.
2. Students
will look at laser disc program on plate tectonics. They will observe how the
plates have moved away from each other
over time. Without access to Windows on Science, teachers can make their own
models of plates and show how they shifted on a globe.
Students
will complete Continents Adrift activity sheet.
This is a
worksheet with the continents shapes on it. Students are directed to cut
them out and try to fit together to form one large land mass. The name of
this "supercontinent" is: ?
3. Using
Windows on Science (or teacher presentation) students discuss different results
of shifting of plates.
Students can perform Earthquake Shake.
4. Ask students
to recall previous lesson. Predict
what would happen when a continental and an oceanic plate collide. Students then work at stations set up with styrofoam "plates." Have them move "plates" together and record observations.
Station set up for lesson #4:
Final
Activity: Students are assigned to be newscasters. Working in teams they can report the occurrence of an
earthquake. They can be assigned
various roles. They can give
current news, provide background news and historical events, show charts, maps,
explain the science behind the news. They
can then act out their roles.
Lessons
9-12--Research
Objective:
Teach research skills while having the children answer their questions
about Japan (lesson 1).
Materials:
books about Japan - fiction, non-fiction (see bibliography)
Post-it notes
computers with Internet access
Web
sites:
http://yahooligans.com -
direct students to search "countries" keyword "japan" -
there are a lot of great sites for each topic.
http://jinjapan.org/kidsweb/ - Kids Web Japan
CD-ROM
encyclopedias- Grolier's or Encarta's
Inspiration program
HyperStudio, Kid Pix or ClarisWorks
Procedure:
Using their categories,
break the class up into small groups and give each group a category to research. Some topics are daily life, clothing, transportation, education, food,
geography, history...
To help the children organize their ideas and questions, they will make
webs using Inspiration so they will know what information they are looking for.
Through the readings in books, on Grolier's or Encarta's CD-ROM, and from different
web sites, the class will learn to take notes and rewrite them in their own
words. Then the information will be
rewritten onto post-it notes and organized into an order that makes sense
to the children.
Researching Japan!
Final
Project Ideas:
Using their information, each group can
¥ make a travel brochure
about their topic.
(See Sample Brochure Requirements)
¥ make up a test about
Japan and give it to the class. (See Sample of test)
¥ make up Jeopardy
questions for a class Jeopardy game.
And
the answer is . . .
Playing
Japan Jeopardy |