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Voyages of Discovery
Young scholars create individual "travel logs" for a world explorer whom they studied in history class. This lesson is an interdisciplinary activity for the Language Arts and History classroom.
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From Book To The Big Screen
Students create a six-panel byobu (Japanese visual storytelling) based upon the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" in this lesson suitable for an early High School Language Arts or Social Studies classroom.
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Noh Theater
Learners compare Noh drama to western drama and trace the influence of Japanese theater on modern western drama. In this Noh drama lesson, students read the play Black Tomb (Kurozuko) defining the elements and conventions of Noh...
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Views And voices From Within
Students investigate the life and artwork of Estelle Ishigo. They use a timeline and primary sources in order to understand the influence of living in a relocation camp during World War II. The lesson includes an extensive historical...
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Netsuke
Students identify different objects from Japanese culture and their purpose. They read Japanese folktales and discuss common themes. They create a sketch and clay sculpture of a character or animal in one of the folktales.
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Natural Wonders of China And Japan
Students identify some of the attributes of China and Japan and compare and contrast the way Chinese, Japanese, and American artists represent nature in art. The lesson is for upper-elementary classrooms.
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Words And the Images They Create
Students explore how the written languages of China and Japan evolved, creating representations of Chinese and Japanese Poetry. Emphasis is placed on small, cooperative learning groups.
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Utamoro Prints
High schoolers discuss the art work of Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamoro and investigate the term "commercialization" and its affect on societies. The lesson concludes with individuals presenting their own findings and examples of...
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Haiku
Students work collaboratively to create a class Haiku and illustrate the poem individually in this elementary school activity. The activity includes five possible enrichment activities.
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Lawson Fusao Inada
Students read and analyze poetry written by Lawson Fusao Inada. They read and discuss the executive order issued to Japanese Americans during WWII, take a field trip to the Nikkei Legacy Center, and read and discuss poems.
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The Artist As Storyteller
Students practice the art of storytelling by examining scroll writing techniques of Asia and applying them to a monthly story of their own classroom. This instructional activity is in two parts (Part II continues throughout the school...
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Narrow Road to the Interior
Students investigate the life and work of the Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho as the Japanese poetic forms are studied. Nature, symbolism, and history are probed as the lesson is developed.
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Writing & Language
High schoolers examine Chinese and East Asian writing characters. They discuss how their writing systems differ from others found in the world. They practice reading and pronouncing Chinese and Japanese names and words.
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Courtship and Calligraphy in The Tale of Genji
Students discover through an examination of The Tale of Genji the importance of calligraphy to courtship rituals in the Japanese court culture of the late Heian period ( 897-1185). Three possible enrichment activities are included
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Horses
Students discuss the importance of the horse as a "beast of burden" animal in Japanese culture and create a legend, myth or tall tale set in Japan with a horse as the central character.
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Hidden Messages
Students examine the concept of censorship in authoritarian government and how Japanese and Chinese artists used their work as political commentary. This lesson includes possible lesson enrichments.
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Creating A Wall Hanging Or Scroll
Students create wall hangings or scrolls in the Asian style known as Sumi-e in this cross-curricular lesson intended for use in the Language Arts, Social Studies, Humanties, or Art classroom.
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Flora, Fauna, and the Passing Seasons
Students discover representations in art, religion and cultural practices of the flora and fauna of specific geographical regions in this early elementary lesson plan. The instructional activity ends with a mural project by the entire...
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Nature and Haiku Poetry
Pupils compose haiku poems and recognize how cultures value nature and
natural forces through the study of Japanese poetry. This lesson includes a bibliography of resources.
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Standing Woman
Students explore a Japanese science fiction story that deals with the dangers of technology, failed attempts at utopia, mind control, and loss of loved ones through the reading of Yasutaka Tsutaka's "Standing Woman."
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A Day in the Life
Students, while studying the "day-in-the-life photographs" of a Deai student, compare and contrast the lives and activities of Kojiro, one other Deai student and themselves. Sequential order plays an important role within this lesson for...
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Fortunes
Students discuss ways people attempt to know their fortune. They study how in Japan people go to a shrine and get their fortunes. They write fortunes for their peers and share in an activity modeled on that of a Japanese Temple fortune.
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Getting Oriented
Young scholars explore the geography, culture, and philosophy of Asia using all five senses and information about China and Japan. This lesson plan is detailed and may take several days of in-class activities to complete.
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The Role of Monuments And Memorials
Students investigate the use of monuments and memorials in various cultures in this three day Language Arts or Social Studies lesson plan. Emphasis is placed on in-class discussions, research, and individual creative projects.