J

Catlin Hanna

Morioka Jr. College

Overview:  This would be a 3 day (half-days) intensive orientation for the study trip to Washington State.   During the course of the orientation students would learn key facts about Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.  They would also learn about the ethnic diversity of the state – focusing mainly on Native Americans and Japanese Americans.   Students will practice using American money and useful homestay language.  Students do some activities in the classroom and some on their own online.

Level:  First year junior college students

Day 1 :  (in room with computer access for all students)  Students begin by accessing the Trip to Washington lesson online  http://lessonpro.net (password: Washington) or Catlin’s homepage at http://iwate401.tripod.com/ .  In pairs they take the Washington Quiz.  Basic geography of the Pacific Northwest is introduced and instructors go over the itinerary and students follow on map of Washington State.  http://www.wamaps.com/regional_maps/washington_state_map.pdf

American money is introduced.  Students practice in groups with real money – learning how to identify coins and read amounts of money.

Students explore the Washington websites at http://lessonpro.net in the Resources section.  Students search for answers to questions about the information on the websites (handout).        

Students are each given a card with a question they may be asked in the US. They walk around the room, asking and answering questions and exchanging cards after each interaction.  Questions include:  “What sports are popular in Japan?”  “Do you have any hobbies”

Day 2 

Students begin with last activity from Day 1 as warm up.  Various ways to answer questions are discussed. 

American money is reviewed.  Students play bingo (with purchased game) with one student reading out amounts of money and students working in pairs to check whether the correct group of coins.

American customs and homestay language is introduced by instructors.  Students are grouped and given role play situations to act out in front of class (for example, offering to help host parent with meal preparation) 

Students are given a brief overview of the history of Japanese Americans.  Students are shown excerpts of films to illustrate.

Picture Bride (Japanese immigrants to Hawaii to plant sugar cane)

Snow Falling on Cedars (Japanese immigrants to Washington during World War II)

Something Strong Within (home movies shot in internment camps during the war)

For homework, students access http://lessonpro.net and read about Native Americans and answer the questions .

Day 3

Review homestay English as warm up and students do Katakana English crossword puzzle in pairs to draw their attention to words that they may mistakenly believe have the same meaning in Japanese as in English. **Katakana Crossword Attachment**

Discuss Native American reading and show photos of Native American art.  Students guess which animal is depicted.  Introduction of Chief Sealth who Seattle is named after and his comments on changes in Washington. http://www.chiefseattle.com/history/chiefseattle/chief.htm

Students brainstorm in pairs thing that they should pack and things that they should not bring on the trip.  Answers are put on the board and discussed.