LESSON 1:
THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE CULTURE

OBJECTIVES

" To acquaint the student with chronological development of Japanese society
" To provide a vocabulary of terms significant in Japanese history

NOTES TO TEACHER

This activity is designed around a board game. You will need to reproduce the materials provided in the handout sections. You will also need to procure chips or other tokens to act as playing pieces. Also, five or six die will be needed for students to roll.

No reading on Japanese development is necessary as a prerequisite for the game, but it would greatly enhance the activity. This lesson concludes which will have to be duplicated.

PROCEDURE

1. Divide the class into five or six groups of four to six students each. Give each group a playing board (tape the two sheets together) and give each group a set of activity cards. (All the game material must be reproduced five or six time.) Distribute Handouts 1 & 2 and Charts 1 - 4.

2. Instruct the students that they are Japanese samurai nobleman and are therefore all males. The object of the game is twofold:
a. To get to space 51 first (the teacher may want to offer extra credit points as an incentive).
b. To learn about Japanese history and culture. Tell them that following the game they will get a quiz on the information contained on the activity cards. Thus, the game does not stop until all players reached space 51.

3. Distribute Handout 3. Instruct the students to familiarize themselves with the chronology sheet and how it relates to the gameboard.

4. Have each student roll the die to establish the order of play within the group.

5. Collect the games and administer the quiz on Handout 4 as an assessment of what they have learned.

Answers: