Lesson Plan

Name: John Pollard

Class/Subject: Sixth Grade World History

Date: April 11, 2013

Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: By the end of the lesson students will be able to

recognize the different forms of art and culture that flourished in medieval Japan, and

analyze and connect a primary source to their own lives.

Note: The following lesson is my individual portion of a larger lesson taught in

conjunction with a co-teacher.

Content Standards: Common Core ELA-Literacy RH. 6-8.2: “Determine the central

ideas or information of a primary source; provide an accurate summary of the source

distinct from prior knowledge or opinions” and Common Core ELA-Literacy RH. 6-8.7:

“Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with

other information in print and digital text.”

Materials/Resources/Technology: Smart Board, PowerPoint on Heian Culture in

medieval Japan.

Teacher’s Goals: I intend to stress the connections between the daily lives of the nobles

and servants of the Heian Court to modern students by discussing how diaries and artistic

expressions of the period reveal medieval Japanese courtiers experienced things in

common with modern people.

Time

1 minute Start of Class: Take over the lesson from my co-teacher.

3 minutes Introduction of Lesson: Begin the class by asking the students what they

think of when they hear the words “art” and “culture.” Ask them for examples

of art and culture in their lives. Answers could include movies, books,

pictures, music, and the like.

Ask the students if any of them keep a diary. Without asking them for

specifics, ask them what they write in it. Ask them if they would like if

people read it.

Explain to the students that today you will be discussing art and culture in the

Heian court of Japan. Much of what we know of the court comes from diaries

of the people who lived at the time. Explain to the students that information in

the PowerPoint that needs to be taken down in notes is bolded and

highlighted.

10 minutes Lesson Instruction: The following explanation is separated according to

each slide in the PowerPoint presentation.

“Dwellers Among the Clouds”

Pull up the first slide. Explain that the Emperor and Empress moved the court

to Heian in 794 and the nobles followed. Explain that nobles formed a court

around the ruler and the court became a center of learning. Ask the students

why they think learning developed here (Nobles were rich and had time for

leisure and study). Point out the nobles referred to themselves as “dwellers

among the clouds.” Ask students why they would call themselves this label.

(They are above the common people.)

Literature

Pull up the next slide and ask the students if any of them have ever written

stories for fun. Explain that writing was very important to Heian court culture.

Explain that men wrote in Chinese and women wrote in Japanese. Emphasize

the cultural exchange that was taking place between China and Japan in terms

of language. This exchange meant that women developed written Japanese

while men stuck to Chinese. Point out women wrote in journals often. One

example of this is The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon, who was a 25 year-old

servant to the Empress Sadoko of the Heian court. Women also wrote novels.

For example, Murasaki Shikibu wrote one of the world’s first full-length

novel, The Tale of Genji. Explain that poetry was written by both men and

women.

The Pillow Book Excerpt

Pull up the next slide with this excerpt from The Pillow Book.

“When I first entered her majesty’s service I was indescribably shy…the first

evening…when [the Empress] passed me some picture or a book to look at…I

was all the time wondering if my hair was in order.”

Ask for a student volunteer to read it aloud. Once the student finishes the

passage, ask the following questions:

1. What is going on? (She is nervous meeting the empress for the first time.)

2. How can you tell she is nervous? (She keeps worrying about her hair.) 3. Why do you think she is nervous? (She is meeting the empress for the first

time.)

4. Have you ever felt this nervous? What did you do?

Other Arts

Pull up the next slide and explain there were many other art forms in the

Heian court. Painting, sculpting, and calligraphy took place. Explain that

calligraphy was a decorative form of writing. Make sure the students

understand painting usually depicted scenes from books and sculptures

depicted religious figures like the Buddha. Explain that Heian emperors

imported Chinese architectural techniques to Japan, which is yet another

example of cultural exchange. Explain that performing arts, like Noh plays,

were a big part of Heian court life, as well. Point out these performing arts

were similar to the upcoming middle school production of Fiddler on the

Roof. Ask if any students are in that production.

Zen Buddhism

Pull up the Zen Buddhism slide and explain to the students that there were

many different Buddhist paths. Ask the students if this reminds them of any

other religion (Christianity). Explain that nobles had very elaborate Buddhist

practices, while peasants practiced Pure Land Buddhism. Explain that in the

1100s Zen Buddhism came to Japan from China. It emphasized self-discipline

and meditation. Make sure students understand what meditation is. It was

adopted by the warrior class and gained prominence as warriors rose to

power.

12 inutes Assessments/Checks for Understanding: Have the students take out a sheet

of paper. Tell them that they are to either write a short paragraph about their

day yesterday or draw a picture depicting their daily lives. When they are

finished ask the following questions:

1. What did you draw/write about?

2. Why did I have you do this? (Make sure they realize they are depicting

their daily lives the same way the Heian court did with their lives.)

3. Do you think what you drew/wrote about is similar to the lives of Heian

nobles? Why or why not?

Closure/Wrap-Up/Review: Close the lesson by pointing out that the Heian

court had similar art forms to what we have today, wrote in diaries they way

we do today, and experienced emotions (i.e., nervousness) the way we do

today. Explain that just because people are separated by hundreds of years

that does not mean they are very different.

Ask the students if they have any questions or concerns.

Self-Assessment: Reflect on the lesson and make changes as needed.