Gaining prior knowledge on Japan

Using the Hot Potato strategy will draw out students' prior knowledge of Japan. The Hot Potato topics could include: food, clothes, language, people, books, comic and films, including anime films, sports and leisure, and history. As Japanese is the language students have been studying, they will have some prior knowledge of these topics. If not prompt some knowledge by supporting groups during the activity.

The students then present the gathered information. Continue to ask questions to further assess students' prior knowledge.

Encourage students to share their knowledge to build up a spirit of co-operation, giving and thoughtfulness as this is an important theme that is pursued later in the learning element.

RESOURCES Prepare the Hot Potato sheets prior to lesson. Alternatively you could come up with the Hot Potato topics with the students.

Teaching tips

To help pre-assess students you can complete the attached worksheets which assess knowledge and attitude about learning Japanese. This can be used to form an action research.

Introducing Hiroshima 2010

During this activity students will take an in depth look into present day Hiroshima. Students will participate in a Jigsaw activity to gain new insight into modern day Hiroshima.

Students are first placed into 'home' groups. In this home group each child will be given a coloured card, to help them remember their 'home' group. Eg Home group 1 = yellow. Each student in the 'home' group will receive a different piece of jigsaw from six different pictures. (See attached in resources below). Students are then asked to move into their expert groups by finding others who have a matching piece of Jigsaw.

In their 'expert' groups students are then asked to assign roles, including facilitator, scribe, timer and reader. Assigning roles will assist student accountability.

In their new groups students' then read through the information provided (by teacher - see below) and then discuss the ideas which they believe are the MOST important. All students will have to take their own notes to help them present their topic to their 'home' group. Students then regather into their 'home' groups and present the topic from their 'expert' group.

RESOURCES

'Hiroshima 2010 jigsaw pictures'

Hiroshima Facts - Jigsaw Information.

Teaching tips

Using the Jigsaw strategy is an excellent way to assure that all students have accountability, and are therefore more likely to engage in the lesson. For students who need extra support, it may helpful to pair them up with another student. In this case there would be five people in a group to help support each other.

Defining respect

The purpose of this activity is to explicitly teach respect. It will provide the opportunity for students to define respect. Students will be asked to describe what respect looks, sounds and feels like.

Students will complete a class 'Y' chart on respect.

Explain to students that as they delve into learning more about the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, they will need to show respect to the devastating event.

Provide students with three sticky notes. In silence students write what they think respect looks, sound and feels like.

Students then place their sticky notes on three posters labelled; looks, sounds, feels. As a class gather the information and fill out the 'Y' chart from the students' ideas.

Decoding respect

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to deepen students' understanding of respect.

Ensure students collaboratively discuss the questions first so they can respectfully build on each other's ideas. It will also prepare them for the activity that follows.

Hiroshima - Atomic bomb

The purpose of this activity is to evoke students' emotions and to provide opportunity for students to discuss the feelings that arise by looking at the images and text.

The teacher pre prepares the classroom by blacking out the windows, displaying the provided images, texts and DVD clips throughout the room. To help set the sombre mood the teacher may like to play soft music.

Gather students outside the classroom and look at the Y-chart that was created in the previous activities. Discuss with students that you will be expecting to see the things written on the Y chart.

It might be beneficial to brainstorm ways students can be respectful during the activity. You might also like to discuss the fact that students might see images that disturb them and to just move on to the next part of the room.

Students enter room in silence. Give the students enough time to wander around the room and take in all the various texts in different mediums provided. Gather students on the floor and watch the DVD clips provided. Students complete a Think-Pair-Share activity about how they feel, or a comment the students would like to make.

In a circle time activity, ask students to share one feeling, thought or comment about what they have just seen. Thank each student for their contributions - WITHOUT comment. As a class, then discuss the atomic bomb, answering any questions the students might have.

RESOURCES

Hiroshima Images

Hiroshima Clip 1

Hiroshima Clip 2

Timeline of events before and after Hiroshima.

The purpose of this activity is for students to understand the series of events leading up to the dropping of the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima and the order in which these events occurred.

Place students into pairs. Provide students with a timeline card of an event leading up to Hiroshima. Allow students time to read their card and discuss in their pair what they might already know about this event.

During and Handup/ Pairup/ Shareup activity, pairs will join other pairs to read each other's timeline card. Remind students to thank each group after they have finished.

Students sit in a circle and ask them which event do they think occurred first. Place events in order that the students describe to you. Re-read order. Ask students if they would like to make any changes.

Make appropriate changes so that the order is correct.

Teaching tips

Placing students in groups will help you assist those students who are in extra need of support.

The purpose of this activity is for students to understand why the USA felt they had grounds to attack the Japanese.

Provide students with a copy of their own timeline of events. Students will cut and paste the timeline in order. Ask students to colour in all the events that included the USA involvement.

To scaffold students' reflections/thoughts on the United States involvement, ask students to discuss their feelings with their shoulder buddy.

Ask students to write these reflections individually into their books.

USA involvement Part 2

The purpose of this activity is for students to discuss if this attack was justified and the positives and negatives of this attack.

Following students' reflections in the previous activity, ask students to write a positive and negative aspect of the dropping of the bomb. For example: POSITIVE - The war was ended. NEGATIVE - The deaths of innocent people.

Students will place their sticky notes on a T-chart poster. Read out students' thoughts to the class and discuss these thoughts with students.

Transcript of an interview

Students form groups of four. Each student is given a copy of an interview transcript of Mitsuo Tomosawa - a survivor of of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. After reading the transcript, students are assigned Cooperative Reading roles:

Illustrator - will draw what they visualised as they read the transcript. This should be their personal interpretation.

Codebreaker - will analyse the text, listing words which were unusual or eye catching and why they thought they were.

Investigator - will compose a list of questions they could ask Mitsuo Tomosawa on top of the questions already asked. They could also come up with possible reasons as to why the interviewers asked the questions they asked during the interview.

Discussion manager - will compose a list of questions to ask their group. The questions are related to the events that happened to the speaker in the transcript.

After completing these tasks independently, all individuals are given the opportunity within their group of four to share their work, and for discussion with group members.

Purpose

These roles scaffold students' responses to the text and enable them to comprehend and think deeply about its content.

Pre-required

Students would need prior knowledge of how a Cooperative Reading session runs and operates in order to make this learning activity more successful.

Resources

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwii/interview/trans.htm

http://www.myread.org/guide_cooperative.htm

Hiroshima construction

This is a special activity where a number of classes come together to help apply their knowledge of Hiroshima. A good place to do this activity would be the school hall, as the learning activity requires more space for a larger group of students.

In a large group, students are shown a short movie about life in Hiroshima today. Students will also look at Hiroshima's geography and layout, as well as significant landmarks, buildings and structures. Students are also given maps of the layout of the city.

After viewing the short video, students will work in 12 separate teams to construct allocated parts of the city using recycled materials. NB. Students will be required to collect materials (such as boxes / containers) and bring them to school before this activity.

At the end of each group's construction, all the groups will come together to place all the constructed areas / districts of Hiroshima together.

The destruction of a city

Whilst the students are on a break from activity 6 (away from the area so they are not aware of what is happening) the teachers will cover the constructed city with material so as to give the effect that the city has been destroyed.

Before re-entering the building, students are not told what has happened, but are directed to come in silently and have time to think. After a few moments students are instructed to form into groups to discuss their emotions relating to what has happened. Students brainstorm their thoughts on butcher's paper within their groups.

After this students are shown a few projected images of some of the aftermaths of the nuclear destruction. Students are instructed to once again brainstorm on butcher's paper what they think people living in Hiroshima would have felt at the time.

Analyzing the destruction of Hiroshima

The purpose of analyzing this activity is to provide students the opportunity to empathise critically with those affected by the dropping of the nuclear bomb.

After students have created their first brainstorm, students are shown a few projected images of some of the aftermaths of the nuclear destruction. Students are instructed to once again brainstorm on butcher's paper what they think people living in Hiroshima would have felt at the time.

Provide students to individually reflect on this activity and their thoughts in their books.

A thought for some different scenarios

The purpose of this activity is to provide an opportunity for students to 'analyse critically' the devastating event, and to draw out thinking about the individual and national consequences of being attacked.

Students are shown a brief video of some images to remind them of the devastation caused by the bombings during WWII. This will get them thinking and place them back in empathetic state of minds.

After being reminded of the horrible and dramatic impact this made, students are posed with some 'what if scenarios', including questioning the students on their predictions and thoughts had there been different outcomes/events.

Students work together in a variety of Kagan cooperative learning activities to engage each other and share.

At the conclusion of these students independently write a personal reflection responding to these what if scenarios.

Examining features of a letter

This activity provides knowledge about how to write an empathetic letter, and supports the students writing their own letters in the 'Applying' activity. It also allows an opportunity to identify the quality criteria with students for the assessment activity.

Students study a letter to identify structural and language features. See:

Steps Professional Development.(2005). First Steps Writing Resource Book. Melbourne: Rigby Heinemann.

Complete the table as a class, asking the students to discuss their ideas in pairs and then share ideas with the whole class. This will scaffold the activity for students. Independently students could find other examples to add to the chart.

An empathetic letter

This activity is one of two culminating activities to finish the unit of work. This activity will also provide an opportunity to assess the students' knowledge of Hiroshima and observe how students do/do not empathise with the survivors.

Read an account from a Hiroshima survivor (see attached).

Tell students they are going to be writing a letter to the survivor who wrote the above account.

As a class discuss criteria for the letter and make a CQ rubric together.

To help students plan their letter ask students to complete a Fishbone(see attached) which is linked to the CQ rubric.

Students write a draft letter. After they have edited their own work and a teacher has checked it, students can write their published copy. This piece of work can be used as a portfolio piece, including the Fishbone and CQ rubric.

Teacher Tip

As this activity is asking for personal feelings, it is best for students to complete this activity individually.

Pre-required

Students will need some prior knowledge of the structure and purpose of a letter.

Resources

'Hiroshima survivor account'

'Fish Bone worksheet'

All students who participated in this unit of work will travel to Cowra. Here they will visit the Cowra Japanese Gardens, the Prisoner of War camp and the Japanese War cemetery.

Through this activity students will not only gain an insight into Japanese customs but will also have an opportunity to gain an insight into the Japanese and Australian involvement in WWII.

Introduction to Photographs in the Mud

To complement the study of Hiroshima in their Japanese lessons, students also study a picture book, Photographs in the Mud in literacy. There is useful background information available on the author's inspiration and the Kokoda Trail. The following activities can be taught in parallel with the Hiroshima study. The initial activity will enable students to express their opinions about war. They may have personal connections because of family members who have gone to war. They will also have formed some opinions based on what they are learning about Hiroshima.

Use the inner - outer circle strategy for students to explore different points of view. Keep strict time limits so students are thinking, talking and sharing. If you find that students end up speaking to the same person, just ask them to take another step again. The aim is to speak to as many different people in the class as possible to develop speaking and listening skills and build positive relationships.

It is important to include the reflection so students can articulate what was important in their discussion and to be respectful during the reading of the text in the next activity. The reflection can also provide some data on students' attitudes and knowledge. Use a Circle Time as a tool to facilitate this.

Resources

Wolfer, D. & Harrison-Lever, B. (2005). Photographs in the Mud. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.

Reading and responding to Photographs in the Mud

In the text prediction, be explicit that predicting is what good readers do.

Scan the front cover so students can refer to it in their group work.

Ensure that students respond to the text through open-ended questions which value the knowledge they bring and their personal responses to the story.

A placemat strategy ensures individual participation and group accountability.

Cooperative Reading roles

Work through all the Cooperative Reading activities collaboratively, modelling for the students and providing opportunities for group discussion.

In the codebreaker work, be explicit and tell students that this is what good readers do to make meaning of parts of the text. For an Interesting Words chart see First Steps Reading Resource Book, p.162.

Instead of the retrieval chart in the Discussion Manager activity, you could use a Character Self-Portrait strategy from the First Steps Reading Resource Book p 144. Another option is for students to record what they know about each soldier and themselves around an image from the text and/or drawn by the students.

The discussion questions draw together the theme of that people are more alike than they are different.

Text Investigator involves the inferring strategy. Revise its definition, refer to a wall chart, or if this is new, students can record the following definition in their books:

When you infer you use your own knowledge and understanding to interpret or infer meaning from the written and/or visual text. You think about the deeper meaning of the text and what is not directly stated by the author or illustrator.

Then students can complete the retrieval chart in their groups. The third column is left blank intentionally as it is part of the 'conceptualising by theorising' activity. As you model, continue to emphasise that inferring is what good readers do. You can extend this activity by asking students to make inferences about other images in the text.

Resources

Steps Professional Development. (2008). First Steps Reading Resource Book. Melbourne: Rigby Heinemann.

Cooperative Reading questioning

This activity makes direct links to the questions typically asked by Text Investigators. Role sheets with examples of these questions are available on the MyRead site.

Skinny questions only require one or two word answers and do not generate much discussion.

Fat questions are open questions that require more than a short recall of facts or a single word answer. They require the reader to think about the text, to make inferences, and to call on their own experiences.

In discussing the questions, again emphasise the importance of inferring to help students make meaning of the text. The answers to the questions are not explicitly stated in the text; students must infer them.

Working in groups will support all students to discuss the questions. Ensure accountability by asking students to record responses.

Visual and linguistic grammar

In Photographs in the Mud, the two images are juxtaposed to reflect the same event for two different characters. This enables the reader to make connections through inferences.

Model the effects of juxtapostion for two double pages from the text. Then ask students to infer from the juxtaposition of other pages. Look at pages where Jack and Hoshi are juxtaposed - landing in Papua New Guinea, scene with wife/child, battle with family photos in film strip, reflecting in the jungle, lying wounded, and sharing photographs.

These images will also be very useful for completing the retrieval chart on the visual grammar.

In completing the tables on the visual and linguistic grammar, model for the students initially and then ask them to work in their groups. Encourage discussion as talk is a scaffold to thinking and understanding. The chart will also scaffold the discussion in the 'Analysing critically' activities.

Students will easily draw out the choice of colour, especially the soft pastel colours and the change in mood once the soldiers are injured. There are frames within frames to emphasise the importance of photographs for memories and for survival. Note also how the framing changes in the text. It shows how the characters have become closer and how their differences disappear. The layout includes the placement of photographs within an image or the film strip across the top.

In the linguistic text, note how the words used to describe the actions of the Japanese soldiers are very aggressive while the verbs to describe the actions of the Australian soldiers are not. The cumulative effects of these choices by the authors subtlety position the audience to be more positive towards the Australian soldiers.

Throughout all of these activities, emphasise the importance of inferring to help students understand the text and also that this is what good readers do.

Inferring the deeper meaning of the text

The retrieval chart is very open-ended so students can used their background knowledge as well as what they have learned about Hiroshima.

Use an Open Mind Portrait (First Steps Reading Resource Book, p 153) to explore the different perspectives of people who would read the text.

Ranking the themes is a way of thinking more deeply about them and also helps the group decide which theme to report to the whole class.

Ensure extensive collaboration and discussion as a scaffold for the final journal reflection. As an extension, students may write this as a persuasive text (see First Steps Writing Resource Book pp.103 - 106).

The structure of a persuasive texts includes:

Thesis - a statement

Arguments/Assertions - supporting evidence

Conclusion - a request for action

Language features include technical terms, timeless present tense, frequent use of passives, verbs changed into nouns (nominalisation), signal words, formal objective style nd nouns and pronouns that refer to generalised participants.

Resources

Steps Professional Development. (2008). First Steps Reading Resource Book. Melbourne: Rigby Heinemann.

Steps Professional Development. (2005). First Steps Writing Resource Book. Melbourne: Rigby Heinemann.

Using visual and linguistic grammar to position an audience

In this activity students draw upon the visual and linguistic grammar they have learned about in the 'Analysing functionally' activity. Their purpose is to make choices which position the audience in a positive way and create empathy for the Japanese people.

Interview students so they can explain the choices they have made.

Independent research

Use this final activity to extend students and allow them to pursue an area that interests them.

Choice provides agency for the learner but some scaffolding will be still required if all students are to be successful. Suggest possible focus areas and where to locate information.