Hiragana - Perfect ~ Writing a Japanese Pictionary

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.
  • 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.

    • 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.
    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
    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