Upper graders view a series of films that depict rituals or celebrations as they occur in different cultural settings. They conduct a cultural investigation about one culture, brainstorm and research objects that have cultural or...

Students descirbe everyday events typical in the lives of contemporary, young, Japanese school-age children and understand some of the underlying reasons for various practices. They see that Japan and the state of Washington have many...

Students use the internet to gather information on the Japanese Gardens. They discuss topics with a horticulturist and build a replica of the gardens at their school. They work together to identify different types of plants.

Students create a book about how life is different in America from Japan in order to help a pretend new Japanese student feel welcome.

First graders complete a two-week introductory unit on Japan and Japanese culture. They compare/contrast Japanese and American lifestyles, watch videos, design an original kimono, eat Japanese food using chopsticks, fold Origami shapes,...

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.

Fifth graders read a story about a girl living in Tokyo. Using the Internet, they research Japan while noting its unique characteristics. They virtually connect with a classroom in Japan and share information about their school with them.

Middle schoolers create drawings of dragons that could be found in the art of Japan or China. The lesson involves two-days of instruction and leads to student examples of dragons four-times larger than the originals.

Students study the Japanese art of Koi Nabori or carp kites. They create their own carp kites with repeating patterns.

Students listen to a story and view Japanese artifacts. They use the internet to explore the writings known as Hiragana. They create their own Japanese pictionaries and share them with the class.

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.

Students complete cross-curricular activities to study the culture and humanity in Japan. Students read the book Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes and complete social studies and art lessons related to the book as well as develop an...

Learners 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 instructional activity is developed.

Students look at how animals are shown in literature and art as representing emotions, telling a story, or sending a message in this elementary school Language Arts and Visual Arts instructional activity.

Students examine the indigenous religions of China (Daoism) and Japan (Shinto) to see how magical beliefs and practices form an integral part of these religions. This lesson plan may be controversial.

High schoolers examine the principles of Haiku as they relate to idealss found in Zen Buddhism in this High School lesson. The lesson concludes with the creation of individual haikus by each student.

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 lesson is in two parts (Part II continues throughout the school year).

Upper elementary and middle schoolers research and analyze some different types of governments. Democracies, Monarchies, and Dictatorships are some of the types that are looked at. Learners use the Internet to gather information that...

Fewer and fewer people have a strong grasp of world geography, but this activity helps students understand geopolitics by creating their own original historical map. The activity requires selecting a country from the list provided,...

High schoolers conduct Internet research in order to better understand the concepts of sustainable health design. In this design and architecture lesson, students gather data and creat a materials kit that responds to the challenges of...

Students read Talking Walls and discuss the walls presented and their importance to the culture. In this geography lesson, students locate and label each country/continent discussed in the book on a world map. Students take a walk and...

Sixth graders investigate a Japanese dyeing method, Arashi shibori, its history and its process. They are introduced to hachimaki, a Japanese headband, and make their own to wear.

Seventh graders look for similarities and differences in the culture of Eastern World countries by looking at the art from each country. They test their hypothesis and assumptions through further research in the media center. Finally...

Sixth graders are introduced to the technique of Arashi Shibori and its history. In groups, they discover how to perform this process and examine how to do hachimaki. To end the instructional activity, they make their own hachimaki to...