Yoko and the Sushi Party, Authors: Debi Popovich, Mary Alyce Brinkman, Jean Jackson, The story Yoko will be used to initiate a discussion of Japanese culture, customs, and foods. The experience can be done in conjunction with a social studies unit on Japan, Culture, or Foods of the World.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Yoko and the Sushi Party

LE Title: Yoko and the Sushi Party

Authors: Debi Popovich, Mary Alyce Brinkman, Jean Jackson

LEARNING CONTEXT

The class will read Yoko by Rosemary Wells. The story is about a Japanese cat. The story will be used to initiate a discussion of Japanese culture, customs, and foods. The experience can be done in conjunction with a social studies unit on Japan, Culture, or Foods of the World.

Declarative Knowledge

List the characteristics of Japanese culture
List different kinds of foods eaten in Japan
List steps for making sushi.
List appropriate table manners specific to the Japanese culture

Procedural Knowledge

Locate Japan on the map
Follow step-by-step directions to make sushi

CONNECTION TO STANDARDS

FRAMEWORK	STANDARD	PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
Social Studies	Students will demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, and themes in world history. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the world in which we live.	Explore the lifestyles, beliefs, traditions, rules, and social/cultural needs of people indifferent parts of the world. Listen to narratives about children and families in different cultures throughout the world. Ask/answer questions about where people are located; why they are located where they are; what is important about their locations, and how their locations are related to the location of other people and places.
English Language Arts	Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.	Gather and interpret information from children’s books. Select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas form one context to another. Make appropriate and effective use of strategies to construct meaning from print, such as prior knowledge and structural and context clues. Use details, examples, anecdotes, or personal experiences to explain or clarify information. Include relevant information and exclude extraneous material. Listen attentively and recognize when it is appropriate for them to speak Recognize the kind of interaction appropriate different circumstances, such as story hour, group discussions, and one-on-one conversations.
Math, Science, and Technology	Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to use and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human needs.	Use appropriate graphic and electronic tools and techniques to process information.

PROCEDURE

CLASSES	TEACHER	STUDENT
Lesson #1 Objective: Students will be introduced to the Japanese culture through reading of the book Yoko.	Introduce unfamiliar vocabulary to the students Read the story Yoko to the students Chart the steps to make sushi	Attend to the story Engage in a discussion of the story Locate Japan on the map Recall the sequential steps for making sushi described in the story.
Lesson #2 Objective: Students will discuss Japanese culture and begin planning for a class sushi party.	Guide a discussion on Japanese culture and customs Explain that they will be having a sushi party. Discuss the foods they will have at the sushi party. Discuss how the party should be set up and how students should behave. Demonstrate how to use chopsticks	Engage in the discussion of Japanese culture and customs. Recall from the story foods that would be appropriate for the sushi party. (i.e. sushi, red bean ice cream, green tea ice cream) Describe how the party should be set up and how they should behave at the party. (i.e. shoes off, dining on the follow, sitting appropriately according to gender, use of chopsticks.) Practice using chopsticks.
Lesson #3 Objective: Students will prepare for the class party.	Set up step-by-step direction chart Set out supplies for the sushi party	Arrange classroom for the party Follow the sequence chart to make sushi Use the digital camera to record the sequence of events during the party. View, edit, and print pictures using the PhotoStudio 2.0 software.

ASSESSMENT

Each student will be instructed to write a letter to the author. Their letter will be written in a friendly format and must explain:

Why they liked the story about Yoko.
What they learned about Japan from listening to the story.
How they used their knowledge to plan a class party.

The letters will be mailed to the author. The class will send the digital pictures from the party with their letters.

Following directions to make the sushi:

CRITERIA/SCALE	COMPREHENSION	PERFORMANCE	PROBLEM-SOLVING
4	Can paraphrase the directions	Follows the directions correctly be self	Recognizes he/she made a mistake – corrects mistake be self
3	Needs help with 1 or 2 vocabulary words – can paraphrase directions	Needs 2 –3 guided questions to complete the task	Recognizes he/she made a mistake or is confused – needs 1 or 2 guided questions to correct mistake or clarify confusion
2	Needs help with 3 or more vocabulary words Needs guided questions to explain the steps in the task	Needs a detailed or visual step-by-step checklist with teacher intervention to complete task	Recognizes he/she made a mistake – needs 1-to-1 intervention and supervision to correct mistake
1	Needs directions read and explained	Needs direct 1-to-1 teacher intervention to complete task	Needs errors identified by teach Requires 1-to-1 intervention and supervision to correct mistake

Writing rubric

CRITERIA/SCALE

ORGANIZATION

USE OF DETAIL

LANGUAGE

MECHANICS

You did an outstanding job of planning your letter

You have a clear focus

Your letter has a greeting, a message, a salutations

You use a lot of excellent details

You used many real life examples

You made connections to your knowledge

You used some advanced words

Your language is descriptive

You used a variety of sentences

Your composition is interesting to read

You remembered to use capital letters and periods all of the time.

You also use commas and question marks appropriately

You did a good job of planning you letter

You are focused through most of the letter

You attempted to organize the content

You used many good details

You have some examples from real life

You made some connections to your knowledge

Your used mostly basic words

Your used mostly simple sentences

Your composition is easy to read

You remembered to use capital letters and periods all of the time

Your plan is clear enough for a reader to understand the message

Your letter gets off track several times

You need to work on the organization of you thoughts

You used some details

You have very few examples from real life

You made no connections to your knowledge

You used very basic words

You used only simple sentences

Your composition is difficult to read

You remembered to use capital letters and periods appropriately most of the time

You need to work on your plan

Your letter is off track and confusing

Your composition is not organized

You have very few details

Your examples are not relevant

You used simple words

Some of your words are incorrect

Your sentences are incomplete

You repeat information

You used capital letters and periods appropriately only a few times