Glastonbury Foreign Language Program
Curricular Unit: Geography (Japanese)
Grade: 5
Subject/Topic Area(s): The geography of Japan
Key Words: north, south, east, west, geography, maps, climate, mountain, sea, island, Europe, Russia , Asia, Korea , China , India

Standards:

Major standards— 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1
Supporting standards— 2.2, 3.2, 5.2

Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals):

Grade 5 students will continue on the map themes covered in grade 3: locating, naming, and identifying areas of Japan and neighboring countries.
- The students will review the continent of Asia .
- The students will identify, name, and locate specific continents, countries, and capitals.
- The students will identify, name, and locate general landforms of Japan .
- The students will understand how climate, elevation, and natural landforms have an affect on the people of Japan .
- The students will discover why certain locations are or are not habitable.

Number of days for activity: 3 weeks

Materials and resources (including technology and multimedia):

  1. Physical maps (nearby continents and countries and of Japan )
  2. Globes
  3. Culture Grams
  4. Flashcards with names of continents, countries, capitals, and landforms
  5. Posters and photographs of locations within Japan
  6. Particle flashcards
Compass

Identifying Desired Results

•  What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching/learning?

What do physical maps look like?
How does geography determine where people live?
How do people adapt to the environment?
How does geography determine where animals live?
What is the weather and climate like in Japan ?
How is the weather affected by surrounding natural landforms?
What are the boundaries between the continents and countries?

•  What enduring understandings are desired?

Student will understand...

That Japan has four seasons and several regions.
That some of the boundaries are due to landforms.
That the environment affects where people choose to live.
That the environment affects where animals live.

•  What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

Students will know…

The names of the countries and capitals of Japan 's neighbors
The general landforms that exist in Japan
That the climate in Japan is affected by seasons, elevation
That people adapt to the environment (physiologically)
The names of some animals that live in the different regions of Japan

Students will be able to…

Identify, name, and locate countries and capitals on a map or globe
Name the landforms that affect the boundaries between continents and countries
Understand how the environment affects where people choose to live
Understand that people adapt to the environment
Apply grammatical concepts such as: particles, interrogatives, and adjectives

Vocabulary:
Chuugoku, Kankoku, Roshia, kita, minami, higashi, nishi, kikou, tenki, taifuu, yama, umi, ame, yuki, kaze, kisetsu, shiki. Structures: Chuugoku wa doko desu ka. Chuugoku no tonari wa nan desu ka. Nihon no tenki wa dou desu ka. Hokkaidou wa kita desu ka. Minami desu ka.

Grammar:
 Use of the particle “no” to show posesion, to describe something, and to indicate location. Either-or question pattern, Place wa X desu ka. Y desu ka.

•  What do they already know that will help them learn new information? Where and when did they learn it?

Numbers, Colors, Body Parts, Animals (Kindergarten and 1 st grade)
Continent of Asia, Neighboring Countries, Japan 's 4 Main Islands and large cities, (3 rd grade)

Determining acceptable evidence

•  What evidence will show that students understand?

Performance Tasks:
Complete a color coded map of Japan and its neighbors, depicting continents and oceans; complete a color coded map of Japan , according to a listening comprehension activity

Quizzes, Tests, Prompts, Work Samples:
 Quiz on continents, oceans, etc.; quiz on countries and capitals of Japan 's neighbors

Unprompted Evidence (observations, dialogues):
Class participation, partner dialogue

Student Self-Assessment:

Lessons:

Links to Relevant Web Sites:  

Assessment Blueprint (Performance Tasks)

Task Title:
Approximate Time Frame:
Standards:
Purpose: check those that apply Formative – Summative –
Description of Task:



Evidence of desired understanding:

Criteria of judgment:

Evaluative Tools: check those that apply
Analytic Rubric –
Holistic Rubric –
Criterion (performance) list –
Checklist –

Assessment Blueprint (Other Evidence)

•  What is being assessed?

•  Describe the assessment.  

•  What is the purpose of the assessment?      

•  Criteria of judgment/evaluative tools: