| LU Title: Japan: A Cultural Study | Author(s): Nancy Perry |
| Grade Level: 3rd | School : Memorial Park Elementary |
| Topic/Subject Area: Japan/ Social Studies | Address: 134 East Bacon Street |
| Email: nrperry_99 @yahoo.com | Phone/Fax:841-3700 |
OVERVIEW
This is a knowledge based study of the geography and culture of Japan.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
| Declarative
Students will: |
Procedural Student will: |
| Identify the main points of social and cultural aspects of a world community. | Interpret various visual presentations such as photos, paintings, film, etc. for information. |
| Compare the social and cultural aspects of world communities. | Locate a bookmarked site on the Internet. |
| Compare local community to communities around the world. | Use a number-letter grid and cardinal and intermediate directions to plot locations |
| Compare the effects of geographic features on the economy of various world communities. | Interpret various types of maps for data. |
| Describe how a community's economic tables choices are influenced by limited resources and increasing and growing wants and needs. | Interprets various charts and graphs for data. |
| Identify the environmental and geographic effects on a communities' wants and needs | Use the writing process for various types of writing |
| Use various graphic organizers. | |
| Create a sequence of a typical day of a Japanese child. |
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
How do people learn about other ways of life?
How are communities around the world alike and different?
How do people depend on their environments to survive?
How do people use resources, both natural and man made to meet their needs/wants?
Why are different holidays and festivals celebrated?
What is government?
How do you construct meaning from information presented in text, magazines, reference books and technology?
How do you categorize and organize information?
How do you use graphic organizers to improve written work?
How will you organize and present information through posters, stories, summaries, reports, and paragraphs?
CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS
List Standard # and Key Idea #: Write out related Performance Indicator(s)
or Benchmark(s)
Learning Standards in Social Studies
Standard 3 - Geography
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live - local, national, and global -
including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth's surface.
Elementary
1. Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historical, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues.
These six elements include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings (including natural resources), human systems, environment and society, and the
use of geography. (Adapted from The National Geography Standards, 1994: Geography for Life)
Students:
study about how people live, work, and utilize natural resources draw maps and diagrams that serve as representations of places, physical features, and objects
Standard 4 - Economics
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated
institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem
through market and non-market mechanisms.
Elementary
1. The study of economics requires an understanding of major economic concepts and systems, the principles of economic decision making, and the interdependence of
economies and economic systems throughout the world.
Students:
know some ways individuals and groups attempt to satisfy their basic needs and wants by utilizing scarce resources
explain how people's wants exceed their limited resources and that this condition defines scarcity
Standard 5 - Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the government system of the U.S. and other
nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
Elementary
1. The study of civics, citizenship, and government involves learning about political systems; the purpose of government and civic life; and the differing assumptions held by
people across time and place regarding power, authority, governance, and law. (Adapted from The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994)
Students:
know the meaning of key terms and concepts related to government, including democracy, power, citizenship, nation-state, and justice
describe the basic purposes of government and the importance of civic life
Learning Standards in English/Language Arts
Standard 1 - Language for Information and Understanding
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
Elementary - Listening and Reading
1.Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas, discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and
using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.
Students:
gather and interpret information from children's reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams.
select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another
Standard 3-Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Elementary - Listening and Reading
1. Listening and reading to analyze and evaluate experiences, ideas, information, and issues requires using evaluative criteria from a variety of perspectives and recognizing the difference in evaluations based on different sets of criteria.
Students:
read and form opinions about a variety of literary and informational texts and presentations, as well as persuasive texts such as advertisements, commercials, and
letters to the editor
Standard 4 - Language for Social Interaction
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Elementary - Listening and Speaking
1.Oral communication in formal and informal settings requires the ability to talk with people of different ages, genders, and cultures, to adapt presentations to different audiences, and to reflect on how talk varies in different situations.
Students:
listen attentively and recognize when it is appropriate for them to speak
take turns speaking and respond to others' ideas in conversations on familiar topics
Learning Standards in Mathematics/Science/Technology
Standard 2 - Information Systems
Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
Elementary -
Information Systems
1. Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.
Students:
use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display, and communicate information on different forma, using text, tables, pictures, and sound
INITIATING ACTIVITY
Fill out a passport, activating prior knowledge through example, in anticipation of a journey to another country. Set up a culture box, each day adding another item specific to Japan. Using a modified
K-W-L chart to discuss and fill ideas about identifying the objects.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
In chronological order including acquisition experiences and
Extending /refining
experiences for all stated declarative and procedural knowledge.
Using a semantic map students will identify religion, geography, language, and climate of Japan after lecture and research.
Using a paragraph frame students will synthesize information from the semantic map.
Students will use induction to write a summary of the geography, language, religion and climate found in Japan.
Using a Guided Imagery Story students will use a graphic organizer to sequence a typical day for a Japanese child
Using a graphic organizer students will compare and contrast daily life in the United States and Japan.
Students will use comparison to write a compare/contrast composition based on the guided imagery story, comparing a typical day of a Japanese to child to that of an American child.
Using the strategy Use of all Senses students will illustrate a Japanese home.
Using a 3 Ring Venn Diagram students will graph breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods in Japan.
Using Think/Pair/Share students will research Japanese holidays/festivals for class presentations.
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
Include rubric(s)
1. Summary of geography, language, religion, and climate of Japan.
2. Compare/Contrast composition comparing a typical day of a Japanese child to that of an American Child.
3. Oral Presentation of Japanese holidays and festivals.
4. Using decision making, students will write an essay regarding a choice of living in Japan or the United States.
PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS
Using Think Aloud/Written set of steps to write summary, compare and contrast, and note taking skills.
Writing Process
Use of computer software and internet
Use of maps and globes to locate places and regions
MODIFICATIONS
Any and all IEP requirements for each student were accommodated.
UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN
1. 3 weeks for classroom instruction, research, and sharing.
TECHNOLOGY USE
Microsoft Word
Bookmarked sites:
Cultural Connections
Yahooligans