Learning About Japanese Culture Through Folktales and Artwork: Sample Primary Grades Lesson Plan by Darcy Long 3 grade, Coronado Elementary School West Contra Costa Unified School District rd 1 Japan Art, Artifacts, and Folktales - LESSON PLAN Name / Grade Level Unit Topic CA H-SS Content Standards ELA CCSS Lesson Focus Question Darcy Long – 3rd Grade History-Social Science Topic: How American Culture Differs From Other Cultures Reading and Language Arts Topic: Folktales From Around the World 3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context. Reading Standards for Literature - 2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. Writing - 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration - 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. What can we learn about Japanese culture through their folktales and artwork? Lesson Teaching Thesis Lessons about important Japanese cultural practices, Japanese economics, and the geography of Japan can be learned bystudying and researching representative folktales and artwork. Primary Source and Literacy Strategy Primary Source: Tanuki (raccoon dog) that turned into a tea kettle (from the folktale Bunbuku Chagama), by Mitsuyuki (Japanese), 1850-1950. Japan. Ivory with detail staining. The Avery Brundage Collection, B70Y78. Text and Literacy Strategy Text: The Lucky Tea-Kettle Literacy Strategy: Top Ten List, Keep It or Junk It? Reading/Writing Strategy: Passage Level Analysis, Sentence Level Analysis Lesson Assessment UCBHSSP Literacy Strategy: Analyzing artifacts: Primary and Secondary Sources Writing Instruction / Prompt: If the badger could transform into a special object from your kitchen or eating utensils, what item would it be? Write a descriptive paragraph explaining the transformation of the tanuki into your special object. Use the “springboard” text outline from The Lucky Tea-Kettle to help you choose interesting action verbs and descriptive details to help your reader visualize this transformation! 2 Name________________________Date______________________ Name_____________________Date__________________ (KEY) Using the text you have read, create a top ten list of the most important events in the story. Remember that number 1 is the most important! Using the text you have read, create a top ten list of the most important events in the story. Remember that number 1 is the most important! Text: ________________________________________ Text: ___________The Lucky Tea-Kettle____________ Author:________________ ______________________ Author:__________Unknown______________________ Top Ten List 10. _________________________________________ Top Ten List 10. They become rich, retire, and the tanuki decides to live in the temple as a kettle. 9. __________________________________________ 8. __________________________________________ 7. __________________________________________ 6.___________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________ 9. The tinker and his wife make a performing tea-kettle show. 8. The tanuki says it can perform acrobatic tricks as a kettle. 7. The tanuki retransforms and tells the tinker about his gratitude and how he wants to help him get rich. 6. The priest believes the kettle is bewitched so he returns it to the tinker. 4. __________________________________________ 5. The priest has a tea ceremony using the kettle, but when he 3. __________________________________________ 4. The tinker and his wife donate the tea-kettle to the temple. 2. __________________________________________ 3. The tanuki transformed itself into a tea-kettle. 1. __________________________________________ heats the kettle the tanuki jumps off the fire. 2. The tanuki decided to repay the tinker for his kindness. 1. The tinker freed a tanuki he found caught in a noose. 3 Name_______________________________ Date___________________________ In time order, sequence the “Top Ten” Events in: ___________________________________________________ 4 Name_____________________________ Date_______________________ (KEY) In time order, sequence the “Top Ten” Events in: The Lucky Tea-Kettle A poor tinker found a tanuki caught in a noose and freed it. The tanuki decided to repay the tinker for his kindness. The tanuki transformed into a tea-kettle and hopped into the tinker’s bag. The tinker and his wife discover the beautiful tea-kettle and decide to donate it to the temple. The priest has a celebration tea ceremony using the kettle, but when he heats it on the fire the tanuki jumps off. The priest believes the kettle is bewitched so he returns it to the tinker. The tanuki retransforms and tells the tinker about his gratitude for having been saved and how he wants to help him get rich. The tanuki says it can perform acrobatic tricks as a kettle. The tinker and his wife make a show with the performing tea-kettle. They become rich, retire, and the tanuki decides to live in the temple as a kettle. 5 Name_____________________________________ Date_____________________________________________ Directions: Group the “Top Ten” events into the sequence categories. Fill 10 spaces TOTAL below. Title:________________________________________________________ Author:_______________________________ Category title: Category title: Category title: Beginning Middle End 6 Name_____________________________________ Date__________________________________(KEY) Directions: Group the “Top Ten” events into the sequence categories. Fill 10 spaces TOTAL below. Title:______The Lucky Tea-Kettle___________________________ Author:________ Unknown_____________________ Category title: Category title: Category title: Beginning Middle End The tinker and his wife discover the beautiful A poor tinker found a tanuki caught in a The tinker and his wife make a show with the tea-kettle and decide to donate it to the performing tea-kettle. noose and freed it. temple. The priest has a celebration tea ceremony The tanuki decided to repay the tinker They become rich, retire, and the tanuki using the kettle, but when he heats it on the decides to live in the temple as a kettle. for his kindness. fire the tanuki jumps off. The tanuki transformed into a tea-kettle The priest believes the kettle is bewitched so and hopped into the tinker’s bag. he returns it to the tinker. The tanuki retransforms and tells the tinker about his gratitude for having been saved and how he wants to help him get rich. The tanuki says it can perform acrobatic tricks as a kettle. 7 Name ___________________________________________________ Story Title: __________________________ Date________________________________ First Next Finally In the end ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Author: __________________________ ______________________________________ Characters: __________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Then 8 Name ___________________________________________________ Story Title: The Lucky Tea-Kettle Date_______________________________(KEY) First, a poor tinker found a tanuki caught in a noose and freed it. The tanuki decided to ______________________________________ repay the tinker for his kindness by transforming into a tea-kettle ______________________________________ Author: Next, The tanuki kettle hopped into the tinker’s bag. The tinker and his wife discover the beautiful tea-kettle and donate it to the temple. Unknown ______________________________________ Characters: Tinker, wife, tanuki, priest ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Then the priest has a celebration tea Finally, the tanuki retransforms In the end, the tinker and his ceremony using the kettle, but when he heats it on the fire the tanuki jumps off. The priest believes the kettle is bewitched so he returns it to the tinker. and tells the tinker about his gratitude for having been saved. He wants to help the tinker get rich by performing acrobatic tricks as a kettle in a show. wife make a show with the performing tea-kettle. They become rich, retire, and the tanuki decides to live in the temple as a kettle. 9 Name________________________________ Date_________________________ Reading Instruction Passage 1 Directions: Circle or highlight the adjectives describing the teakettle. Underline the context clues that show the value of the tea-kettle. Passages from The Lucky Tea-kettle Suddenly an idea struck him, and calling on his one magic power, he started to transform himself into a beautifully ornamented tea-kettle. His body grew fatter and rounder and his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. His tail curved into a handle, and his four furry paws shrank to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected where the spout should be. They carried the kettle to their room and placed it on the floor, where it's dull sheen glowed against the poor threadbare straw matting. They knelt beside it and gazed at it in silent admiration. “It is indeed a miracle, a miracle,” murmured the tinker. “There is no more beautiful kettle in the whole of Japan,” murmured his wife in reply. They fell into silence again, their eyes lost to all but the delicate form of the little kettle. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ When the tinker had departed, the priest examined the kettle more closely and thought to himself: “It is indeed a kettle of exquisite rarity...”. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ….. the priest brought out a fine silk cloth and spread it on the floor, On it he placed the kettle and the guests fell to examining it and praising its simplicity of line, its symmetry, and the lustre of the metal. 10 ( Student Sample KEY) 11 Name________________________________ Date_________________________ Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 1 Directions: Using the paragraph below, insert the missing words in the blank boxes. Next, look up synonyms for the VERBS and write them in the “Ideas/Questions/New Vocabulary” box. Suddenly an idea struck him, and calling on his one magic power, he started to transform himself into a beautifully ornamented teakettle. His body grew fatter and rounder and his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. His tail curved into a handle, and his four furry paws shrank to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected where the spout should be. Time marker/ connector Suddenly Who/What Noun (use complete subject) an idea Who, What, Where Ideas/Questions/New Vocabulary (List SYNONYMS you look up using the thesaurus, when possible.) him, on his one magic power, and he His body and Action or State of being Verb his fur His tail himself into a beautifully ornamented tea-kettle. fatter and rounder into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. into a handle, and his four furry paws to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose where the spout should be. 12 Name__________________________ Date_________________________ Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 1 ( KEY) Directions: Using the paragraph below, insert the missing words in the blank boxes. Next, look up synonyms for the VERBS and write them in the “Ideas/Questions/New Vocabulary” box. Suddenly an idea struck him, and calling on his one magic power, he started to transform himself into a beautifully ornamented teakettle. His body grew fatter and rounder and his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. His tail curved into a handle, and his four furry paws shrank to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected where the spout should be. Time marker/ connector Suddenly Who/What Noun (use complete subject) Action or State of being Verb an idea struck and and calling Who, What, Where him, on his one magic power, he started to transform His body grew his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. curved into a handle, and shrank to become the four feet. His tail his four furry paws Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected Ideas/Questions/New Vocabulary (List SYNONYMS you look up using the thesaurus, when possible.) himself into a beautifully ornamented teakettle. fatter and rounder where the spout should be. 13 STUDENT SAMPLE Name__________________________ Date_________________________ Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 1 ( KEY) Directions: Using the paragraph below, insert the missing words in the blank boxes. Next, look up synonyms for the VERBS and write them in the “Ideas/Questions/New Vocabulary” box. 14 Name___________________________________________ Date________________________________ Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 2 Special object chosen from home: __________________________________________________________________________ DIRECTIONS: Using the “springboard” paragraph below, insert YOUR OWN WORD CHOICES in the blank boxes. TRY to use a synonym for the VERBS you looked up. REMEMBER that the tanuki is transforming into YOUR OBJECT in this version! Suddenly an idea struck him, and calling on his one magic power, he started to transform himself into a beautifully ornamented teakettle. His body grew fatter and rounder and his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. His tail curved into a handle, and his four furry paws shrank to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected where the spout should be. Time marker/ connector Who/What Noun (use complete subject) Suddenly an idea and Action or State of being Verb Who, What, Where him, on his one magic power, to transform himself into he _________________________________________________________________________. His body _________________________________________________________________________ into and his fur _________________________________________________________________________. into His tail _______________________________________________________. his four furry paws to become into _________________________________________________________________________. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose where the _________________________________________________________________________. 15 Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 2 Special object chosen from home: (TEACHER SAMPLE KEY) coffee mug DIRECTIONS: Using the “springboard” paragraph below, insert YOUR OWN WORD CHOICES in the blank boxes. TRY to use a synonym for the VERBS you looked up. REMEMBER that the tanuki is transforming into YOUR OBJECT in this version! Suddenly an idea struck him, and calling on his one magic power, he started to transform himself into a beautifully ornamented tea-kettle. His body grew fatter and rounder and his fur sleeked into the rich brown luster of an antique kettle. His tail curved into a handle, and his four furry paws shrank to become the four feet. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose projected where the spout should be. Time marker/ connector Suddenly Who/What Noun (use complete subject) Action or State of being Verb an idea came to and using Who, What, Where him, his one amazing magic power, to transform himself into he His body began shrunk a cylindrical, polished, ceramic coffee mug. several inches shorter and into and his fur smoothed the dark, black, glazed surface of the mug. into His tail turned the mug's handle, and to become his four furry paws Only shortened little feet at the base of the mug. from the his pointed and bewhiskered nose protruded mug's lip. 16 Reading/Writing Instruction Passage 2 (STUDENT SAMPLE KEY) DIRECTIONS: Using the “springboard” paragraph below, insert YOUR OWN WORD CHOICES in the blank boxes. TRY to use a synonym for the VERBS you looked up. REMEMBER that the tanuki is transforming into YOUR OBJECT in this version! 17 Writing Prompt Name ________________________________ Date ______________________ Background: In the folktale, The Lucky Tea-Kettle, you read about the transformation of the badger (tanuki) into a lucky tea-kettle. We analyzed the author’s writing style and vocabulary to learn how it helped us visualize the transformation. Directions: If the tanuki could transform into a special object from your kitchen or eating utensils, what item would it be? Write a descriptive paragraph explaining the transformation of the tanuki into your special object. Use the “springboard” text outline from The Lucky Tea-Kettle to help you choose interesting action verbs and descriptive details to help your reader visualize this transformation! Expectations: Write one, very detailed, paragraph: Use the “springboard” paragraph to help you! Edit your work when you think you’re done! Illustrate your paragraph using the blank space at the bottom of the page. CHALLENGE: See me if you’d like to extend your paragraph into a more expanded story! Vocabulary Bank (TEACHER SAMPLE KEY) Directions: If the tanuki could transform into a special object from your kitchen or eating utensils, what item would it be? Write a descriptive paragraph explaining the transformation of the tanuki into your special object. Use the “springboard” text outline from The Lucky Tea-Kettle to help you choose interesting action verbs and descriptive details to help your reader visualize this transformation! Suddenly an idea came to him, and using his one amazing magic power, he began to transform himself into a cylindrical, polished, coffee mug. His body shrunk several inches shorter and his fur smoothed into the dark, black, glazed surface of the mug. His tail turned into the mug's handle, and his four furry paws shortened to become little feet at the base of the mug. Only his pointed and bewhiskered nose protruded from the mug's lip. (STUDENT SAMPLE KEY)