Resources

Students will summarize and illustrate the main events of a folktale from Japan in the format of kamishibai slides and retell their stories using their kamishibai slides.

Students will become members of the “literati/scholar” class by demonstrating their understanding of Chinese history, philosophy, and poetry. They will also display high achievement in the “Three Perfections”: calligraphy, painting, and poetry. This project is designed to be a creative alternative to daily or weekly assignments which might otherwise be assembled in a notebook or binder at the end of the 7th-grade Medieval China unit.

Students brainstorm the qualities of good and evil and draw conclusions about the Balinese concept of “dynamic” or balanced opposites. Then, students will relate the idea of “dynamic opposites” in the Ramayana (Story of Rama) to present-day situations by identifying a current problem, creating a visual identify for their own pair of opposing characters, and scripting a dialogue.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in the museum’s Japan galleries.

Students use visual evidence to convey character by constructing a visual identity for their shadow puppet, and demonstrate principles of shadow-casting and puppet-making by performing their shadow play.

Watch a Lunar New Year story about a beast named Nian.

Students will use images of samurai armor and weaponry to learn related vocabulary. They will describe the functional and aesthetic aspects of armor through focused viewing and reading, and they will draw conclusions about the changing code of the samurai over the course of 800 years.

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry made of three lines (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables) that is commonly a meditation on nature. Make an image using colorful paper and ink, and then write a haiku inspired by your creation.

This selection of resources introduces students to the vocabulary, techniques, and values of East Asian ink painting. Lessons and background information compliment the Brushpainting: Nature in Art school program at the Asian Art Museum.

Students will discuss the ways in which spiritual belief supported and enhanced the military func­tion and cultural values of the samurai. They will experience this practice through an ink painting activity.