WWII Studies and integrating the Japanese Language!

During the second part of the third quarter, I teach students about WWII and specifically about the Japanese internment camps during Readers Workshop. Today, to honor the Japanese culture, students worked on an activity to learn some Japanese words!

First they received a list of words and their meanings. I.e. Hai - Yes, hata - flag 

Next, they gathered the supplies needed to make the cards: cardstock paper, scrapbooking paper, scissors, glue, crayons, markers and colored pencils

Students cut the cardstock paper into smaller rectangles and then cut the scrapbook paper slightly bigger to fold over and glue to the back of the cardstock card in order to make them look like "playing cards". Within their groups, the kids divided up the work among each other. Some students were creating cards with written words and others were drawing pictures on the cards.

By the end of the activity, each group had a set of cards to play Memory by matching the picture with the correct Japanese word. 

I knew that 8th graders were planning to visit our classroom today (my first class I had when I arrived to this school!). I thought it would be a fun idea to have my 5th graders and 8th graders play the game together! They ended up playing a few rounds! When I walked around the room and asked for them to tell me the Japanese words they know, I was surprised at how many they had already learned! It turned out to be a really wonderful afternoon!