Let's Learn About Japan 日本について学びましょう！(Yr 1-6) Culture and Japanese fusion

When I studied Japanese at school (a long time ago!) we learned the language but not as much about the fascinating culture of Japan. My Japanese teachers were amazing and I was hooked from the first minute of the first lesson - 40 years ago! With all of the technology and gadgets that we have to compete with in the classroom, we need to try engage students and provide purpose for the learning if we want them to invest time and energy into it. I have aimed to ignite some curiosity in students by providing some information, but not ALL of the information. By bridging the gap between what they know now and what they want to know, engaged and purposeful learning will be transpiring. Motivation is known to be a major factor in whether students learn or not and the rate of their learning. Why does one student master tasks much more quickly than others - who may be of a similar level?

In these pages, culture is gently introduced, plus some vocab that students can learn and later build on. By giving students some choice in activities, you will be amazed and what they give you back. Many of these pages are open-ended so there is the chance for you, as the teacher, to decide where and how the activity goes, plus the students can be involved in some decision-making.

Honda-sensei makes another appearance and helps with the explanations.

• Using the pages as a starting point for your lesson helps the students to see the purpose of the lesson.
• 2 teacher explanation pages are included
• Sample answers to the questions are also included
• You can take it in any direction you want.
• You can do the pages in any order.
• There are no minimum or maximum requirements.
• The follow-on unit will be 日本に行きましょう　where the verbs will be introduced to go to these places, see the animals and eat the delicious food.
• I hope you enjoy the unit and all the oohs and aahs as students discover new aspects of Japanese culture and language :-)