Japan Kit (artifact box of cultural materials)

Japan Culture Kits

The Center for Japanese Studies (CJS) at the University of Michigan has many resources available for the K-14 educator, including our "Japan Kits."  These kits are organized around five broad themes and are free to use, requiring only a $50 refundable damage/replacement deposit and return shipping cost.  For the language teacher, each kit will be supplemented with a "mini-kit," including Japanese games, videos, and manga.  The following kits can be reserved for use in your classroom by contacting Heather C. Littlefield at hclittle@umich.edu, or calling 734.764.2302:

Customs & Traditions; Contemporary & Popular Culture; Folk Tales, Myths, and Cross-cultural Experiences; and, Food & Society Please visit the CJS website for more information: http://www.ii.umich.edu/cjs/resources/teacherres.

anime "Ponyo" (bonus Assignment)

thanks to Sachiko R.
http://renovich.blogspot.com/2009/09/ponyo-is-now-playing-in-local-theatres.html
[click link to Bonus Assignment, MS-Word document]

words and tune, "shiki no uta"

The words and the music for Shiki no Uta are in the  Files section of Sensei Online.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/senseionline/files/
Fun song for the class to sing together with a guitar.
[C.Meyer]

quick-Kana online exercise

simple training program to improve student's recognition speed of kana
http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/hatasa/QuickKana/

online via Public Radio International (movie content)

Recreating Pre-War Nagasaki in 3D

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Students at the University of Nagasaki are attempting to recreate a community that a nuclear weapon destroyed. The Urakami neighborhood in Nagasaki was ground zero for the second atomic bomb the U-S dropped on Japan in World War Two. That attack killed 39-thousand people. And it destroyed most pictures of life in Urakami before the war. The students are recreating pre-war Urakami...with the help of memories and 3-D technology. Akiko Fujita sent us this short video. Hear her radio report here.

 

Clarkboyd-RecreatingPreWarNagasakiIn3D157.mov

winter break scholarship to Japan

The Youth for Understanding program is offering winter scholarships
for high school students to spend the winter break in Japan.
Details can be found online at
http://yfuusa.org/american-students/scholarships/japan-america-friendship-scholars-jafs---winter.php
______________________________________________________
Youth For Understanding USA (YFU USA) is proud to announce a new
short-term scholarship opportunity for students to study in Japan! As
educators, many of you are already familiar with YFU USA scholarship opportunities
for studying in Japan for a summer, semester or year. This year, a new winter
program has been introduced: the Winter Japan-America Friendship Scholars Program
(JAFS)!
 
This three-week Winter JAFS Program runs from December 26, 2009 to
January 16, 2010. Students will have an orientation prior to departure and
will then live with a host family. By living with host families, YFU students are
immersed in both the language and culture of Japan. JAFS Scholars will attend a
local Japanese school for one-week. JAFS scholars will also have the
opportunity to further their understanding of this complex culture by
participating in excursions to museums and other cultural events. Students will also be present
for the Japanese New Year celebration.
 
Students that will have completed at least one semester prior to departure on
program are eligible for this scholarship. There is a $1,700 program contribution.
The application deadline is September 21, 2009.
 
Marianna Di Meo, admissions@yfu DOTorg
Youth For Understanding USA, 1.800.TEENAGE

online video, elementary school in Japan

Time for School Series (12 year project, started in 2002 & ending with graduation; 7 countries)
>>Benin, Brazil, education, India, Japan, Kenya, Romania

2003 [first day at Saho Elementary, age 6, first 10 minutes of program]
Time for School, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/time-for-school-series/full-episode-time-for-school/667/
 
2006 [Benin & Japan, Nara, age 9 - starting at minute 7 of segment]
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/time-for-school-series/full-episode-back-to-school/272/ 
 
2009 Time for School 3 is not yet posted online

 
[from the intro page, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/time-for-school-series/introduction/4340/]
 
These children's stories put a human face on the shocking fact that more than 75 million children are currently out of school; of these, two thirds are girls. One in four children in developing countries does not complete five years of basic education, and there are nearly one billion illiterate adults — one-sixth of the world's people. WIDE ANGLE plans to continue revisiting all the children, and their peers and families, through 2015, the year they should graduate — and, not coincidentally, the U.N.'s target date for achieving universal education, a Millennium Development goal endorsed by all 191 members of the United Nations.
 
While each child in Time for School 3 has a unique story, taken together their lives tell an epic tale, shedding light on one of the most urgent and under-reported stories of our time.