Year 11
Lesson 42
Japanese art and
culture
Consolidation
Describing the pictures and works of art
in the context of Japanese tradition
Video: tsuzami: (traditional Japanese
drums), miko (dancing girl), kimono
(traditional Japanese
costume),kaburenjo (theatre and
school), poise, poised, etiquette, grace,
graceful, elegance, elegant,
bind/bound, manners, fabric, layers,
traditional, tradition
Contents
Keywords
Aims
Learning goals:
Syllabus words: popular, powerful,
talented, (not) as…as, one of the ...
CLIL words: film poster, print, portrait,
landscape, illustration, impressionist
painting, background, foreground,
publisher, block-cutter, designer.
printer, carved, curves, iconic
Language Analysis
Watching and listening to identify, understand and interpret information
The video for this lesson involves watching and listening to some scientific facts. For the video activities
it is a good idea to let students read the questions/prompts first before they watch the video. It is also
sometimes useful to ask students to guess the correct answers before they watch (if appropriate of
course). Students should also be told that they will watch the video two or three times so they don’t have
to feel stressed if they haven’t worked out all the answers during the first viewing.
Describing pictures
The Lead-out and Production screens ask students to describe some pictures. We can describe what is
happening in a picture by looking at and asking:
What type of picture is it? Does it follow a particular style/genre?
What techniques do you think were used?
What is in the picture, e.g. people, animals, objects, etc.
What is happening in the foreground of the picture?
What is happening in the background of the picture?
What emotions are conveyed from facial expressions, body language of the people in the picture?
What about the size and shape of people, objects, etc?
What about the setting of the scene in the picture?
What about the curves, lines, shading and colours that have been used?
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Procedure
Lead-in
Key:
1 poise – a calm and attractive way of moving,
standing or sitting
2 bound – tied up
3 etiquette – learnt rules of behaviour in social
situations
4 manners – a way of behaving with polite respect
towards others
5 grace – a smooth and beautiful way of moving
6 elegance – the quality of being stylish and
attractive
Tell students to look at the photos and read the
glossary. Then ask them to match the words with
the correct definitions. Explain the difference
between being poised (ready to do something)
and to have poise or be poised (have a calm and
attractive way of moving, standing or sitting).
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Having been spared the bombs of the Second
World War the Japanese city of Kyoto remains
one of the most beautiful and traditional parts of
the country. And Kyoto is also the training ground
for one of the most famous symbols of Japan:
Miko.
In a custom that stretches back over three
hundred years, Miko celebrate the traditional role
of a Japanese woman with grace, poise and
elegance. A miko is the ultimate gentle woman
who’s only too happy to entertain people with her
skills of singing, dancing and music. The Kimono
is part of Japan’s traditional costume. They’re
made up of many layers of tightly bound fabric
and Miko wear them every day.
The kabaranjo is a like a western style finishing
school, where girls learn the art of entertaining
alongside etiquette and manners. Once a Miko
graduates, she’s given a job for life and ears huge
respect in the community.
Key:
1F
2T
3T
4F
5T
6T
7F
8F
Tell students to watch Part 1 of the video clip and
choose True or False. Then tell them to work in
pairs and check their answers.
Extension: Exploit the screen by asking students
to correct the false statements.
1F
Kyoto was spared from bombing during WWII.
4F
The Miko tradition started over 300 years ago.
7F
Kimonos are a part of traditional Japanese
costume.
8F
They consist of layers of tightly wound fabric.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 1
Video:
Having been spared the bombs of the Second
World War the Japanese city of Kyoto remains
one of the most beautiful and traditional parts of
the country. And Kyoto is also the training ground
for one of the most famous symbols of Japan:
Miko.
In a custom that stretches back over three
hundred years, Miko celebrate the traditional role
of a Japanese woman with grace, poise and
elegance. A miko is the ultimate gentle woman
who’s only too happy to entertain people with her
skills of singing, dancing and music. The Kimono
is part of Japan’s traditional costume. They’re
made up of many layers of tightly bound fabric
and Miko wear them every day.
The kabaranjo is a like a western style finishing
school, where girls learn the art of entertaining
alongside etiquette and manners. Once a Miko
graduates, she’s given a job for life and ears huge
respect in the community.
Key:
1 beautiful
2 famous
3 custom
4 traditional
5 elegance
6 gentle
7 entertain
8 costume
9 layers
10 fabric
Ask students to watch Part 1 of the video clip and
complete the sentences with the words from the
box.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Part 2
Video:
My next lesson involved learning to play a
traditional Japanese drum called a sutsumi. There
was a time when many Japanese girls wanted to
be a Miko, but today the Miko tradition is much
less popular.
I’m not supposed to use hands to get up, I can’t
without…
Key:
Ask students to watch Part 2 of the video clip and
choose the correct answers.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Video Parts 1 and 2
Video:
Having been spared the bombs of the Second
World War the Japanese city of Kyoto remains
one of the most beautiful and traditional parts of
the country. And Kyoto is also the training ground
for one of the most famous symbols of Japan:
Miko.
In a custom that stretches back over three
hundred years, Miko celebrate the traditional role
of a Japanese woman with grace, poise and
elegance. A miko is the ultimate gentle woman
who’s only too happy to entertain people with her
skills of singing, dancing and music. The Kimono
is part of Japan’s traditional costume. They’re
made up of many layers of tightly bound fabric
and Miko wear them every day.
The kabaranjo is a like a western style finishing
school, where girls learn the art of entertaining
alongside etiquette and manners. Once a Miko
graduates, she’s given a job for life and ears huge
respect in the community.
My next lesson involved learning to play a
traditional Japanese drum called a sutsumi. There
was a time when many Japanese girls wanted to
be a Miko, but today the Miko tradition is much
less popular.
I’m not supposed to use hands to get up, I can’t
without…
Explain that the sentences are in the wrong order.
Tell students to watch and put them in order.
Then tell them to work in pairs and check their
answers.
Key:
Correct order
The kaburenjo is a like a western style finishing
school.
Girls learn the art of entertaining alongside
etiquette and manners.
Once a miko graduates, she's given a job for life.
She earns huge respect in the community.
There was a time when many Japanese girls
wanted to be a miko.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Today the miko tradition is much less popular.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 1
Key:
1 famous
2 beautiful
3 elegant
4 tradition
5 custom
6 etiquette
7 entertainment
8 happy
9 poised
Ask students to choose the correct words to
complete the sentences.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Follow-up 2
Key:
1 the most popular
2 as emotional as
3 were composed by
4 were used to
5 not often based
6 a wider, than
7 are closer to
8 as talented as
Read the poems to the class and explain what
haiku and tanka are. Then tell students to
complete the second sentences about Japanese
poetry so they have a similar meaning to the first.
Get them to use three words, including the word
given.
Extension: Set a homework task. Ask students to
write a haiku or tanka poem of their own. Explain
that it can be about anything they want as long as
it follows the rules for each type of poem. Then
get students to read out their poems in the next
lesson.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Content and language consolidation
Key:
1 made out of stone or wood – carved
2 shapes or lines which aren't straight, but bend –
curves
3 the main part of a picture at the front –
foreground
4 the part of a picture, behind the main people or
things in it – background
5 a person who makes marks or holes in a piece
of wood or stone – block-cutter
6 the person who makes plans or drawings of a
thing before it is made – designer
Tell students to read the definitions and match
them with the correct words.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Lead-out
Key:
Students’ own answers.
Tell students to listen to the recording. Then get
them to look at the two pictures and discuss them
in pairs. Encourage them to use the prompts to
help them.
Monitor and feed in ideas if necessary.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Production
Key:
Students’ own answers.
This is a ‘free practice’ stage. The aim is
personalisation. Give out a copy of the Handout
and tell students to make notes on the questions.
Then give students the following instructions:
Look at the two pictures and write an art review
for your English language magazine. Use your
notes to help you.
Extension: Choose some students to read their
reviews to the class.
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout
Picture 1
Type of picture
Modern or classical?
What techniques were used?
What is depicted?
What’s in the foreground?
What’s in the background?
How are lines, curves,
shading and colour
depicted?
What are the similarities?
What are the differences?
Which do you prefer? Why?
© Young Digital Planet 2015 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Picture 2