Japanese Language and Culture

Subject:

General linguistics

Writing

Other

Subject (Other):

Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, Cross-Cultural Communication

Topic:

Japanese Language and Culture

Grade Level:

Any Grade

Overview:

This lesson is designed to give students exposure to Japanese language and culture through a variety of short activities. By the end of the lesson, students will have been introduced to Japanese writing systems, learned basics greetings and the cultural significance of bowing in various contexts, had the opportunity to participate in traditional Japanese origami, and discuss several things pertaining to Japanese society. Perhaps most importantly, this lesson is an opportunity for students to interact one on one with a native Japanese speaker and practice cross-cultural communication skills which students in the state of Washington are required to learn in accordance with the Essential Academic Learning Requirements for Communication in all grade levels. Linguistically, the lesson is intended to inform students about pragmatics, writing systems, and matters of sociolinguistics, and can easily be adapted and expanded to cover other content areas as well. In order to do this lesson successfully, it is not necessary, but extremely helpful if the teacher is somewhat knowledgeable about Japan and the Japanese language and is able to bring actual native speakers of Japanese into the classroom, as this is what really makes it exciting for the students.

Lesson Plan:

For this lesson, you will need approximately 1 hour, adult helpers for each station (preferably Japanese, and the numbers will vary depending on the age and number of students) and the following materials for each station:

1. Origami station - origami paper, crane folding instructions, a model crane for the kids to see the final product.
2. Conversation station - handout with Japanese greetings, some kind of Japanese costume or clothing for the kids to wear when they practice is more fun.
3. Culture station - book about Japan with big, colorful pictures, various objects representing Japanese culture, such as a fan, chopsticks, a karate outfit, a flag, sushi, or whatever you can find.
4. Writing station - Hiragana “ninja” handouts, Kanji handouts, pencils (This could also be a calligraphy station).

Warm up - Start off by introducing the topic of the day's lesson and asking the students to share some things that they already know about Japan. Then introduce your Japanese guests and number the students off (in Japanese) into 4 groups. (5 minutes)

Presentation - Explain that the students will be rotating to different stations to do various activities to help them gain a better understanding of Japanese language and culture. The Students will have about 10 minutes at each station and be sure to remind them to be respectful and listen to their Japanese guests and that they really need to pay attention and be on task or they won't have time to finish everything. (5 minutes)

The Stations:

1. Origami Station: Students will have the opportunity to learn about Japanese origami and will make a paper peace crane. This can be difficult for younger kids to make, so it is good to have a lot of adults to help out because many kids might not finish it in 10 minutes. You may want to pick something that is easier to make instead if you are short on time or extra helpers. (10 minutes)

2. Conversation Station: Students will learn basic greetings in Japanese and be introduced to the Japanese practice of bowing. Students will learn the phrases together as a group, and then can practice saying the phrases with a partner. After a few minutes, students will get the chance to put on some kind of Japanese hat or clothing and practice bowing and saying hello in front of the group. (10 minutes)

3. Culture Station: Students will have the chance to look at pictures of Japan and see and touch different objects relating to Japanese culture. Here they will be able to ask questions about the culture and take home some wooden chopsticks. (10 minutes)

4. Writing Station: Students will learn about the idea of having a writing sytem and be introduced to Japanese writing. They will write the word “ninja” in Hiragana, and write the basic kanji for the words tree, river, and mountain. (10 minutes)

Closure/Snack Time - Bring all of the kids back together and allow a couple of them to share what their favorite thing they learned was. Students will learn how to say “good bye” in Japanese and will get a Japanese treat or sticker or some other prize. (10 minutes)

Total time: 1 hour

Please use the link below to download all handouts and materials for this lesson in PDF or doc format.

Note: The best thing about this lesson is bringing native speakers of the language into the classroom. The students love having the opportunity to hang out and talk to someone from a different country. If it is difficult to find Japanese speakers, this lesson can easily be adapted to teach students about any language and culture. For example, if you live in a community with a lot of Spanish speakers, you may be able to do a similar lesson to teach the students about Mexico or another Spanish speaking country. If you live in a community that is very linguistically diverse and you are fortunate enough to know people who may be interested in this type of activity, you might want to think about repeating this lesson multiple times by bringing in speakers of a different language each time. The kids love it too!

Class Time Needed:

1 hour