Exploring World Cultures Through Folktales

Contributor: Marlene Vogel. Lesson ID: 10497

Do you know any stories about your family and your culture? Read a Japanese folktale, learn about Japanese culture, then write and present your own folktale about your own family and background!

categories

Writing, Writing

subject
English / Language Arts
learning style
Kinesthetic, Visual
personality style
Lion, Otter
Grade Level
Intermediate (3-5)
Lesson Type
Quick Query

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio: Image - Button Play
Image - Lession Started Image - Button Start
  • Are you familiar with stories known as folktales?
  • What is the purpose of a folktale?

During this lesson you will learn about a culture that is different from your own. You will be working on writing projects, as well as performing research and presenting your final project.

Your journey will begin with reading a story about the Japanese culture, summarizing the story, and using that summary to develop a visual aid to help you explain the story and the culture to others.

You will be involved in the act of research, as well as, developing a computerized presentation.

  1. To begin this lesson, take a few moments to discover the origins of your family.

Use the World Map (found in the Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar) to mark the country/countries that your family members come from. Have discussions with the older generations of your family, such as your grandparents and great-grandparents.

  1. As was stated in the opening of this lesson, you will explore the culture of the country of Japan through a folktale. Locate and mark Japan's location on the world map.
  1. Next, read the folktale Tokoyo and the Sea Monster (found in the Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar).
  1. Complete the Story Sequence Form (Downloadable Resources).

The information you place on this form will be transferred to your PowerPoint presentation for your final project. This form will assist in organizing the information you will need to make a PowerPoint presentation about the story.

At the top of the form is an area for you to list the characters from the story. Below that section are the numbers 1-5. Next to each number, write an explanation of an event from the story. When you have finished you will have a summary of the story.

Image - Button Next