Curated OER
Origami
Students investigate Japanese culture by creating origami. In this Asian heritage lesson, students utilize the Internet to view origami tutorials which they use to create birds and other animals. Students discuss what "heritage" means...
Curated OER
Say Hi to Haibun Fun
Students examine the Japanese writing form of Haibun. They identify the elements of Japanese prose and poetry, analyze a haibun for writing devices, complete a graphic organizer, and compose an original haibun as a form of journal keeping.
Smithsonian Institution
Racism and Removal: Japanese Incarceration During World War II
During World War II people saw how far the government's control would go, but it was at the expense of its citizens. The resource brings the conditions of Japanese American internment camps to light using primary documents. Scholars...
Japan Society
Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool
From Manga to Godzilla and Pokemon, Japanese pop culture has been taking the globe by storm. This phenomenon is called "soft power." Learners will examine the differences between hard and soft power, as well as learn the historical and...
Curated OER
Geography of Japan
Students complete a worksheet that guides them through an overview of Japanese geography. Students research the topography, climate, population and size of Japan and consider how these factors work together to produce Japanese culture.
Curated OER
JAPANESE CULTURE
First graders explore what life in Japan is like including, home and daily life, food and eating customs, school life, games and sports, holiday customs, and religion.
Curated OER
Haiku and Beyond: Exploring Genres of Japanese Literature
Fourth graders compare and contrast the literature of Japan as they study the culture, history and geography of the island nation. They read various genres of literature, describe geographic and landform features of Japan, and find...
Japan Society
The “I” Novels in the Context of Early 20th-Century Japan
Although this lesson plan covers the rather obscure topic of the Japanese "I-novel", it also includes a great deal of historical information and material for an in-depth discussion of universal literary concepts. Specifically, young...
Curated OER
Japanese-American Relocation
Consider the causes and effects that led to the internment and relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII. Learners read the story "Baseball Saved Us" and selected chapters from Farewell to Manzanar. Then, they view a slide-show, and...
Curated OER
Japan Communication
The Japanese communicate in very different ways than people in the US. Using three essential questions as a guide, learners look at different scenarios (included) and compare customs seen here and there. All the materials you need are...
Curated OER
Lesson: Communication, What's Valued, and the Written Word
Upper graders compare their cell phones to a lacquer box from the Japanese Edo Period. They consider how each is a form of communication and how the very nature of each object communicates social norms, ideology, and beliefs. A really...
Curated OER
What is a Haiku? How Do You Write a Haiku?
Haiku poetry is explored in this language arts lesson. Yong readers identify the characteristics of haiku and read several examples. Students make connections between their study of Japan and the poetic form of haiku, and they write...
Curated OER
Famous People of Japan: Literature, Politics, Film, Television, Sports, and the Imperial Family
Students research biographical information about a famous Japanese, investigating how this person has impacted Japanese and American culture. Students then create an oral report and technological presentation based on the research.
Curated OER
Folktales (African American, Chinese, Japanese and Korean)
Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...
Curated OER
United States-Japan History
Students compare the histories of Japan and the United States by creating horizontal time lines of the two countries. They conduct research via the internet and available text books to complete their time line. The class discusses the...
Curated OER
Japanese Culture
First graders research information about Japanese people and culture. They read a Japanese story listening for rhyme schemes. They create their own rhyme schemes. They discuss Japanese food and sample rice cakes. They read Haiku and then...
Curated OER
Japan: A Cultural Study
Third graders "take a trip" to Japan. They discover what life is like for a typical Japanese child and compare/contrast it to life in America. They give an oral presentation of Japanese holidays and festivals.
Curated OER
Japanese Haiku and the American Experience
Twelfth graders research the history to Haiku Poetry. They read classical haiku to comprehend their special sensibility and form. Students encounter the Buddhist philosophical background of this poetry and its roots. They write original...
Curated OER
Guardian Figure Sculpture and its Significance in Japanese Culture
Learners utilize research skills in learning about Japanese culture and write a journal entry about their impressions of Japanese culture.
Curated OER
Sadako: A Tribute to a Girl with Cancer
Students explore the story of Sadako, a young girl, who had leukemia as a result of a bomb being dropped on Hiroshima in 1955. They create a chain of paper cranes and design a fund-raising event. They write poems in the Japanese style of...
Curated OER
Stereotypes and Cross-Cultural Understanding
Students continue to examine the topic of stereotypes. In groups, they role-play the roles of the "in-group" and "out group". Using the internet, they research the role of polarized stereotyping in war situations and read an article to...
Curated OER
Japanese Folktales
Learners identify that Japanese folktales reveal information about Japanese history, life, and customs. Students identify and interpret the work kamishibai, paper play and explain that in Japanese folktales are told through a series of...
Curated OER
Japanese Poetry: Tanka? You're Welcome!
Students analyze Japanese tanka poetry. In this Japanese poetry lesson, students identify analyze the structure of tanka poetry. Students complete the activities at the given links for the lesson and compose two tanka poems.
Curated OER
Arts of Asia in Reach
Students explore the traditions and celebrations of another culture and research a city or community in Japan. They then examine traditional Japanese music as well as practice several dance steps and discover their significance in...