Overview
Listening to a non-fiction story, youngsters view pictures of Japanese
artifacts. They access the Internet with their grade five mentors
to study Hiragana, a simplified writing of Japanese syllables. Then
they make Japanese Pictionaries and share then with e-pals and seniors. |
For more about this special from
A Glimpse of Japan ~ From Our World to Yours e-mail
Mary Rudder,
author and AT&T Teacher Disseminator. |
Learning
Standards
Listen for information from a non-fiction text.
Recognize similarities and differences among people.
Develop print and letter awareness.
Sort items by use, create and read a graph.
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Classroom
Activities
Listen to the story A to Zen.
Compare and contrast pictured items. What do or do not appear
in the United States?
Review and add to KWL chart (Special 3).
Sort pictured items by use and graph (clothing, food, furniture,
etc.).
Visit KidsWeb with grade 5 mentors and learn Japanese words and
syllables.
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- Select Japanese words for each student and practice Hiragana.
- Draw and label words on 8 x 12 pages.
- Mentors help assemble pages and bind Japanese Pictionary with
yarn.
- Send books to e-pals and share them with seniors visiting the
classroom.
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Community
Activities
Students read their Japanese Pictionaries to senior visitors and donate
copies to the senior center and to the school library. |
Careers
Children discuss interpreters and their jobs. ESL children who interpret
for their parents will recognize this skill as career-related. |
Materials
Pictures of Japanese items, A to Zen, by Ruth Wells
1992: Simon & Schuster; KWL chart, chart paper, book making materials
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Technology
Students create book pages with Kidpix and an inkjet printer. They
use the Internet to research life in Japan and to e-mail their new
friends. |
Assessment
Updated "Glimpse of Japan" folders, KWL chart, and Pictionaries document
children's growing understanding of Japanese life and culture. |
Web Sites
Japanese
Language Lab
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