Submitted by Mike Smart

Language: Japanese Unit Cultural Theme or Academic Content Area: Social Studies Target Audience: Traditional High School Year of Instruction: 2 Proficiency Level: Novice High

Standards: Communication:    1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Cultures:    2.1, 2.2 Connections:    3.1 Comparisons:    4.2 Communities:    5.1

Unit Timeframe:

Approximately ten 50-minute lessons

Unit Overview:

The unit is a gentle, eclectic introduction to Japanese film. It also draws some comparisons between US films and Japanese films. Students examine US and Japanese film from multiple perspectives. The unit features readings, presentations, and interactive activities. For the culminating project, each student creates a simple website on a Japanese movie that he or she has chosen to watch.

Context:

Students should be familiar with basic tenses, be able to express likes and dislikes, and have a basic understanding of vocabulary that can be used to describe movies, e.g. omoshiroi, tsumaranai, ii, nagai, etc. (interesting, boring, good, long, etc.). It is also critical that students understand and be adept with large numbers in Japanese, and be able to express simple opinions (X to omou (I think X)). The unit should work well with class sizes larger than six.

General Unit References and Resources:

Clip art in the website sample and PowerPoint is used within the licensing guidelines of Microsoft Publishing.

Clip art in the handouts is from www.clipart.com, and is used within the established licensing guidelines for subscribers of that site.

Links or files for unit content:     A new window will open for each lesson.

Lesson 01: An Overview of US Film Genres
Lesson 02: Comparison of Movie Popularity in the United States and Japan
Lesson 03: The Seven Samurai? My Favorite Japanese Movie
Lesson 04: Mothra, Akira, and the Seven Samurai: An Overview of Japanese Film
Lesson 05: Shinema ni Ikou! Let's Go to the Cinema!
Unit Assessment