Activity

Explain the Culture

Use either as a poster for 'say the word' or as cards for 'taboo' and 'karuta'

An A3 poster with an assortment of Japanese cultural items such as Kyoto, mochi, the shinkansen and so forth.

I use it in a few ways.

Cut out as cards.

Karuta
Each group gets a set of cards that they spread around the table. The ALT and JTE take turns reading out a sentence clue about one card. The students listen to the clue and slap the card. The first to slap that card collects it. Play for however long and then see which member of each group got the most cards. I generally do this as a quick introduction.

Taboo
Each group gets a set of cards. You should make the backs of the cards dark so they can't be easily seen through. The students pick their order. The first student draws a card. Explains it to the group and the other members try to guess what he or she is talking about it. Once they get the answer the next student draws a new card and explains it. Continue until you reach a time limit. Then see how many cards each group could finish. The group that completed the most is the winner. This is a good cooperative activity.

As a Poster

Say the Word
Each group gets one poster and they think about a way to describe one word. I usually allow gestures and broken English but no Japanese words. Then one member goes to a teacher. Gives their description and the teacher tries to guess what it is. If they get it then the teacher circles that word and the member goes back to their team and a new member comes to a teacher with a new quiz. Continue until you reach a time limit then each group checks how many words were circled. The team with the most is the winner. This is my favorite way of using this poster.

Follow Up
I generally use this as an introduction to the students explaining about Japanese culture. For example New Crown 3 page 84 and page 85 has a project based on introducing things. Once they've played the game they can work on their own, in pairs or groups to explain something in Japan in greater detail. This is generally a composition writing project followed by presentations.

Files:
Medium files (requires an account to download) -
  • Say The JAPAN Culture.docx (1.75 MB)
  • How to CTRL H.pptx (1.18 MB)
  • 18
    Submitted by UonumaRobert January 15, 2020 Estimated time:
    1. kabochaski1990 November 24, 2022

      The instructions say すべて(A) to change all the 1s to 2s but how do I do that? Is it a certain key funtion or a button in word?

    2. UonumaRobert November 24, 2022

      @kabochaski1990, I added a short powerpoint to illustrate how to change the numbers. Hope it helps.

    3. Jed101 October 25, 2023

      awesome, thanks

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