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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literature

For Teachers K
Students listen and respond to poems about rain. Then they review the continent of Asia and the country of Japan. They listen to a Japanese folktale about a peach boy. Next they listen to a story from Germany about musicians.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Common Theme in Folktale: 900 Versions of Cinderella

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine various stories that have a Cinderella theme.  In this Language Arts lesson, 7th graders compare and contrast stories.  Students write various journal assignments in regards to the stories. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Netsuke

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Book Creations

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners create a children's book version of the Japanese folk story "Momotaro Boy of the Peach" and present the story to elementary students. In this children's book lesson, learners design their book to explain Japanese culture to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Storytelling: Using the Arts to Enrich the Curriculum...

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the art of storytelling and stories from various cultures. Students experience Japanese and Chinese culture as well as Greek mythology. Students create and present their own Greek mythology topic to the class.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese Family Crests

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students create an artistic crest that represents either themselves, their group of friends, or their their family.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heart (and Arm) of Darkness

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read and translate a 19th-century American ghost tale into a Japanese hanging scroll in this exciting lesson for middle-level Language Art classes. The lesson can be completed in four or five days.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folk Tales Project

For Teachers K - 12th
Young scholars explore folk tales originating from other countries. They examine the countries language, culture, and values while reading their folk tales.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Study of "Twilight Crane" by Kinoshita Junji

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students read and analyze the Japanese play, "Twilight Crane," by Kinoshita Junji. They read a handout on Japanese theatre, conduct Internet research, answer discussion questions, and compare/contrast versions of the story.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Around the World, A Multicultural Unit

For Teachers K - 1st
Students investigate Native American tribes through their stories.  In this cultural lesson, students read stories of the Inuit tribe and discuss the themes, people, and customs.  Students illustrate a picture of the Inuit tribe...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Origami

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students create paper cranes using the art of Origami from Japan as a basis. This lesson includes three lesson enrichment activities, a vocabulary list, and ideas for possible origami materials.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Guided Reading with Ten Oni Drummers

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read the book, Ten Oni Drummers. Working in guided reading groups, they discuss fantasy as a genre and preview the book. They review word identification strategies and read the book silently. After reading, they confirm...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Passport to Asia

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore Asia. In this geography skills instructional activity, students design travel brochures that market Asia by highlighting its location, population, capital, landforms, famous places, and food.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Greek Mythology -- Part II

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students use the internet to gather information about Greek Mythology. They discover the role of the snake and shamrock and the history of St. Patrick's Day. They compare and contrast their culture to another.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animals in Art

For Teachers 1st - 5th
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 lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning About Japan Through Its Kites--Intermediate

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners read various readings on two kit making sessions. They locate places and human spatial patterns using a map. Students design in two dimensions using line to create details.
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eBook
Other

Sur La Lune Fairy Tales: Japanese Fairy Tales

For Students 9th - 10th
Online version of the book, "Japanese Fairy Tales," first published in 1908. It includes 20 or so tales translated from Japanese into English including the following: "My Lord Bag of Rice," "The Farmer and the Badger," "The Adventures of...
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Handout
Countries and Their Cultures

Countries and Their Cultures: Japanese

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of the Japanese. Gives basic facts about location, language, folklore, foods, social customs, family life, education, religion, pastimes, societal challenges, etc. (Note:...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Exploring World Cultures Through Folk Tales

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Using international folklore as subject matter, lead your students in a unit to research literary forms and foreign countries. There is a printout available for instruction and assessment.
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Website
Aaron Shepherd

Aaron's Storybook: Folktales

For Students Pre-K - 1st Standards
Many folktale resources are offered here. Texts of stories, "extras" including music and audio files, posters and background information can be found for some stories.
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Graphic
Other

Index of Ehon

For Students 9th - 10th
Folktales of many countries. Choose your language from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Indonesian, Korean, German, Italian, French, Spanish or English. This is an outstanding resource.
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Website
Encyclopedia Mythica

Encyclopedia Mythica

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The home page of Encyclopedia Mythica from which you can access its full range of content on myths from throughout the world. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Japanese, and Chinese mythology are the site's most popular areas, but many...
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Website
Other

Heike Monogatari

For Students 9th - 10th
A summary of The Tale of the Heike and important characters and themes in this epic which related to the miltary culture of the fourth century in Japan.
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Activity
Other

Database of Award Winning Children's Literature

For Students 4th - 9th
This is a phenomenal resource. It allows the user to create a reading list of quality children's literature based of choices such as reading level, type of book, genre, ethnicity, gender, etc. In addition, one can determine if a book won...