The Culture of Japan

A WebQuest for 3rd Grade

Designed by Barbara Baldner

Hillsdale Schools

Introduction  Task  Process  Evaluation  Conclusion  Resources  Teacher's Page


 
 

Introduction

1abu235.gif  Your family has to move to the United Stated because your father has been transferred to a new job.  You become an immigrant when you move from your native country to a new country.  Many people immigrate for a better education, job, lifestyle, and for adventure.  You will bring your own culture of food, art, music, and literature to America.  Let's learn about that culture!


 
 

The Task

1abu222.gifSince you are a new immigrant to the United States, your classroom teacher has asked you to give a short talk about the culture of Japan.  The information and the projects produced  will be displayed at your school's "Culture Fair."
 
 


 
 
 
 

The Process

You will research and explore the Japanese culture by finding information about food, arts and crafts, music, and folk legends and literature.  You will complete the following activities in your group of three.

chinese_food_box_noodles_hanging_md_wht.gif

Activity 1:  Learn to eat withchopsticks.  Chopsticks are provided and you will visit the web site in order to learn how to use them.  You will practice on mini-marshmallows and chow mein noodles.  You will use chopsticks again at the "Culture Fair" to try out different Japanese recipes.

Activity 2:  Read theJapanese Cookbook and print out the recipe that you would like to try.  The cookbook has an explanation about the customs and traditions of eating certain foods.  Recipes are given for sushi, rice and miso, and soba and udon.  Japan is an island surrounded by water so many of their dishes have rice, noodles, and fish in them.

frog_hop_md_wht.gif

Activity 3:  Create an origamijumping-frog.  Origami is Japanese paper folding.  Most origami is folded into animals, flowers, boats, and people.

    This website shows a fairly easy jumping frog.  If you want to make more complicated origami animals, there are books provided by the "Culture of Japan" bulletin board.

Activity 4: Fill in the Venn Diagram that is provided of the comparison and contrast of Japanese and American landscapes.  Landscapes are outdoor scenes that have land, water, mountains, trees buildings, and people in them.  There are three Japanese landscapes and three American landscapes up on the Japan bulletin board.  There are books provided showing more landscapes.

Activity 5:  Paint a watercolor landscape.  After viewing examples of landscapes, you are to create your own landscape using watercolor paint, watercolor paper, brushes, and Japanese bamboo brushes.

Activity 6:  Listen to Japanese music on the C.D., Microsoft Encarta 96 World Atlas.  Do they have instruments that sound like our instruments? Click on Japanese Traditional Musical Instruments to learn more about their musical instruments.

Activity 7: Read about Japanese Folk Legends.  There are several legends to read.  Can you find any legends that are similar to our fairytales like Cinderella or Snow White? In your group of three students, you will create a play of your favorite folk legend.  Materials will be provided so you can create your own props.

Activity 8:  Read Grandfather's Journey in your reading book.  This story is about a Japanese man who came to live in America for many years.  He went back to Japan, but he missed America.  His grandson who was born in America went to Japan and he learned about what his grandfather loved about Japan.In Microsoft Works, you are to write to a friend or relative about what you miss most about your native country of Japan.  Write about what you like and don't like about the United States.

Evaluation

1abu247.gif Your group of three will be evaluated on how successfully you completed the activities.  The areas that you will be evaluated on will be:

1.  Did you work cooperatively together?

2.  Did you contribute your share of the work by researching the websites, putting on the play, and word processing the letter?

3.  Did you contribute your share of the work in creating the final project that is the poster for the "Culture Fair?"

    Your will be give a score of 1 to 4 with 4 being the highest and best that you can achieve.

1- You are a Beginner group member.

2- You are a Satisfactory group member.

3- You are a Cooperative group member.

4- You are an Outstanding group member.


 
 

Conclusion

1abu242.gif (288 bytes)Japanese-Americans come to the United States to seek a better life.  They will learn about the American culture and blend it with the rich traditions of the Japanese culture.  You have learned about a very small part of the Japanese culture.  Hopefully, you will explore further the books and additional resources to find out even more about the Japanese people and their rich traditions.  The Japanese people take great pride in their culture and now we see why.


 
 

Resources

   Additional Resources-Books about the Asian-American Experience
Mei Mei is a recent immigrant from Hong Kong and she has moved to New York's Chinatown.  Mei Mei understands most of what she hears in the English language, but she refuses to speak it.  Her teacher finds a way to help. Nico and Angel are adopted from Korea and they don't look like their mom and dad.  Nico wants to look like her mom and dad.  Her mom tells her that "there are different kinds of families, glued together with a special kind of glue called love." The author takes a trip back home to Korea with her mother to visit her grandparents and her aunt.  They take leather work gloves for the grandfather, an apron for the grandmother, and a picture book for the aunt.  She returns home with a charcoal drawing, dried persimmon necklace, and a Korean poem.  A lovely story with beautiful illustrations.

Teacher's Page

Overview:  "The Culture of Japan" Webquest focuses on the culture of Japan that includes the food, arts and crafts, music, and folk legends and literature.

Major Curriculum Area:  Social Studies

Other Curriculum Areas:  Language Arts and Art

Proficiencies, Outcomes, and Objectives.

1.  Ohio Fourth Grade Proficiency Outcomes

    *Reading - Constructing Meaning with Fiction Selections.  Outcomes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.c.,11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.

    *Writing - Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9.

    *Citizenship - Outcomes 4, 6, 7, and 8.

2.  Grade 3 - Comprehensive Arts Course of Study Objectives

    * Program Goal 1 - Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts: Understanding the Role of the Arts in People's Lives.  1.  Subject - Discover how arts develop ideas for their works of art by observing various subjects.

    * Program Goal II - Personal Expression and Production/Performance: Communicating Through the Arts.  2. Theme - Experiment with different ways to express personal ideas of a theme in creating art.

    *  Program Goal III - Arts Criticism: Responding to the arts. 3. Media - Discuss the various meanings that different cultural groups in society attribute to art materials and forming processes.

3.  Grade Three - Social Studies Instructional Objectives

    *Strand-People in Societies-(3.)recognize that many different peoples with diverse backgrounds (cultural, ethnic, linguistic) make-up our community today

    *Strand-World Interactions-(5.) compare communities of selected cultures around the world with the student's community.

Grade Level:  Elementary: Grade 3

Length of Lesson: 3-4 weeks

Materials Needed:

Prior Knowledge:  Students should know how to word process and print a document.