Name: Bonnie Stevens

Lesson Title: Japanese Writing

Class and Grade level(s): 7th Grade Exploring Languages and Cultures

Goals and Objectives The student will be able to: 1. Make comparisons between schools in the U.S. and Japan. 2. Identify the general differences between kanji, hiragana, and katakana. 3. Speak at least one Japanese phrase.

Time required/class periods needed 1-2 class periods

Primary source bibliography http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/index.html Home page http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/quickkanji/index.html Kanji http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/hiragana/index.html Hiragana http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/katakana/index.html Katakana http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/index.html Spoken Language http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/index.html Schools

Required materials/supplies Copies of the worksheet Computers with headphones

Vocabulary Kanji Hiragana Katakana

Procedure 1. Talk to students about how the Japanese took the Chinese characters and way of writing and began to use it as their written language. 2. Take the students to the computer lab. Go over Part 1 (worksheet) with students. Have students answer questions a and b and then discuss answers in class. 3. The students will then complete the worksheet. 4. At the end of class or the next day students will teach the class the phrase that they learned. If the class is large, break them up into small groups and have them teach their phrase to the group. Then rotate so all get to teach and learn all the phrases.

Assessment/evaluation There will be a quiz at the end of the unit that will include questions about Japanese culture and language. The teacher will also use class discussion to gauge the students’ learning. Assessment and evaluation will also include the completion of the worksheet with correct comparisons and answers.

Japanese Writing Name ______

The Japanese alphabet consists of 99 sounds formed with 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and 14 consonants (k, s, t, h, m, y, r, w, g, z, d, b, p, and n). I. Japanese alphabet. a. Think of 3 English words that use (only) the Japanese alphabet. List them..

b. Think of 3 English words that use letters not in the Japanese alphabet. List them.

Japanese uses three writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They have different functions, and combinations of the three are used to write sentences.

Like the English alphabet, each hiragana letter represents a specific sound and does not have any meaning per se. But unlike in English, there is only one way of pronouncing a single hiragana letter or combination of letters. For example, "e" can be pronounced many different ways in English, as in red, redo, and poorer. The hiragana " ," though, is always pronounced as "a" in father.

Katakana is another way of writing the hiragana sounds and is usually used for foreign words.

(Chinese characters) The Japanese imported kanji from China a long time ago and absorbed it into their language by assigning Japanese pronunciation though the meanings of the characters are the same in China and Japan and Korea. Kanji is different from hiragana and katakana because the characters are about meaning rather than sound. II. Japanese Language. Go to the following websites and answer the questions below:

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/language/q3.html http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/language/index.html

a. What is the definition of Kanji? b. When was Kanji brought to Japan? c. Are the characters/pictures used in today’s Japanese language the same as the original characters used? Why or why not?

d. By the time a Japanese student is finished with middle school, how many Kanji would he/she know? ______e. Explain a basic difference between hiragana and katakana.

f. During which time period were both writing systems (hiragana and katakana) developed?______g. Both writing systems (hiragana and katakana) use ______characters. III. Speaking Japanese. Go to the following website and listen to at least 5 of the phrases in Japanese. Make sure to use your headphones. http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/index.html

After you are finished listening to the phrases in Japanese, choose one of the phrases you listened to, and write it below in Japanese and English. Listen to the phrase again and again—you will be teaching the class this phrase in Japanese. Japanese: English:

IV. Schools in Japan. Enjoy reading about Nushima Middle School. Go to: http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/nushima/index.html . Compare and contrast at least 3 similarities and/or differences between Nushima and your school. (Stating the obvious doesn’t count. Example: Both schools have homework, math, science, is not a legitimate comparison point.)