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)