Eating Sushi

For part of our study on Japan we went to Ginza, a local Japanese restaurant. The kids mostly ate hibachi. They all tried sushi, they ate the vegetable ones and the California rolls. I had two that actually tried the raw tuna.

Photo and Art Exhibit

As part of my follow on plan, I said that I would do a photo exhibit from some of the photos I took while I was in Japan. The photo shown is the exhibit at school along with some of the souvenirs that I bought. We also displayed the students Japanese paper washing journals.

Japanese Paper Washing

Another activity that I did with my students and the other students in the art class was Japanese Paper Washing. I got to do this with the special education class while I was in Japan. The Japanese Paper that I bought here in the states was not as sturdy as what we used in Japan. After doing the paper washing which is very similar to Tye dying we turned them into journals.

Children's Day Celebration

On May 5th the Japanese celebrate Children's day. It used to be boy's day and girls day was celebrated at another time. Now it is combined. For boy's day the families would put out carp streamers. My class made their version of the Carp Streamers.

Maneki Neko

The Maneki Neko "Beckoning Cat" is very popular in the Japanese culture. Almost all the restaurants and stores have one welcoming the customers. A raised right paw beckons money and a raised left paw beckons friends or customers. It was stated by one of our guides while in Japan that both hands raised means "greedy". My students made their version of the Maneki Neko in Mrs. Feibeiger's class while the class was working on clay.

Art Activities

As part of my unit of Japan, I Incorporated Japanese art into my lesson plans. We made good luck necklaces out of go-yen coins. We made colorful carp that are used in Children's day celebration. We made kimono book marks and paper lanterns. In art class when they were working on clay, my students made waving cats. I also presented to the 7th grade art classes (my students included) and we practiced Kanji and origami. The art club participated in a day of origami making also. All of the students really seemed to enjoy all of the activities.