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Suki's Kimono
Below-Level Reader
East Meets West
East Meets West: Japan and America
Unit 5 Week 1
Target Skill COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Target Skill PREDICT/CONFIRM PREDICTIONS
LESSON VOCABULARY cotton, festival,
graceful, handkerchief, pace, pale, rhythm,
snug
SUMMARY This book lets students compare and contrast Japanese and American cultures.
INTRODUCE THE BOOK
BUILD BACKGROUND Discuss with students what they know about Japan and Japanese culture.
PREVIEW/ILLUSTRATIONS Invite students to look at the illustrations in the selection and ask if anything in the photographs is familiar to them.
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY Review vocabulary with students. Then, for the word cotton, ask students, "If I were wearing something cotton, what would it feel like?" Personalize all other vocabulary words this same way.
ELL Review vocabulary with English learners, and then have them use each word in a sentence.
TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
Target Skill COMPARE AND CONTRAST Remind students that comparing and contrasting two or more things shows how they are alike and different. Clue words can be like and as. Review similes, which are comparisons that use these clue words, and metaphors, which are comparisons that do not. Tell students that a contrast can use clue words such as but and unlike. Invite students to compare winter and summer. Suggest students use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast as they read the selection.
Target Skill PREDICT/CONFIRM PREDICTIONS Remind students that predicting means to guess what will happen next based on what they have already read. Ask students to predict what they think this selection is about based on the title, illustrations, and captions.
READ THE BOOK
Use the following questions to support comprehension.
PAGES 5 AND 7 What can you generalize about Japanese holidays for children? (The holidays show that the Japanese love and celebrate their children.)
PAGE 10 Compare and contrast Japanese and American comics. (Both Americans and Japanese enjoy comics. Japanese comics are read from right to left, and they have their own style.)
PAGE 12 Predict how you would enjoy learning a new game in Japan. (Possible response: I would love it, I would have fun, I would be confused.)
TALK ABOUT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE
1. Japanese: Tamaire, 50 balls
 Same: 2 teams, basket on a pole
American: basketball, 1 ball
2. Responses will vary.
3. the pattern of a song
4. Possible response: The kimono is more colorful and fancy.
RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING Ask students to write a letter to imaginary pen pals in Japan, discussing U.S. culture and asking questions about theirs.
CONTENT CONNECTIONS
Time for SOCIAL STUDIES SOCIAL STUDIES/ART Invite students to have their own Children's Day celebration. Draw and paint fish banners and hang them in the classroom.
 
   
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Compare and Contrast
Compare and Contrast
Vocabulary
Vocabulary