Objectives

1. Students will be able to understand descriptions of other people's families in Japanese.
2. Students will be able to read aloud and understand the meanings of family terms written in Japanese.

Skills

listening/reading

Vocabulary/Structures

o-toosan (father)	o-kaasan (mother)	obasan (aunt)
ojisan (uncle)	o-jiisan (grandfather)	o-baasan (grandmother)
o-neesan (elder sister)	o-niisan (elder brother)	imooto (younger sister)
otooto (younger brother)	itoko (cousin)	fianse (fiance)
tomodachi (friend) and other relevant family terms
(shinnenkai (New Year's party))		(kakeezu (family tree))

Materials

A picture of a Shinnenkai (New Year's party) (for presentation to the whole class: see Sample 2-1-1)
Orthography cards for family terms (to place on the Shinnenkai picture: see Sample 2-1-2)
A family tree (for presentation to the whole class: see Sample 2-1-3)
Picture cards of Yuuki-kun's family/relatives (to place on the family tree: see Sample 2-1-4)
Worksheet 2-1 (one for presentation to the whole class and others for individual use)

1. Presentation

Review and introduce family terms by having a Japanese boy Yuuki Watanabe introduce his family and relatives who are gathered at a Shinnenkai (New Year's party). Show a large Shinnenkai picture (see Sample 2-1-1) of a living room in a Japanese house with a lot of people and introduce each person by name and relationship with Yuuki-kun. During the oral introduction, place an orthography card (see Sample 2-1-2) beside the corresponding person on the picture.

2. Input

Fill in a blank family tree with family terms (see Sample 2-1-3) for people at the Shinnenkai written in kana and kanji. Prepare picture cards for those who appear on the Shinnenkai picture (see Sample 2-1-4) and place them on the corresponding spot on the family tree, saying, —san wa Yuuki-kun no —desu ne (Mr./Ms. __ is a __ of Yuuki-kun, right?) Have the students decide where previously introduced family terms, such as okaasan (mother) and otoosan (father) should be placed. (You can ask students, Doko ni harimasu ka (Where do we put this?) or request them, Hattekudasai (Please paste this.)) Place pictures of tonari no o-baasan (the old woman next door) (use a picture of Ishikawa Mitsu: Sample 2-1-4) and Jim o-niisan (Jim the teen age boy/young man) (use a picture of Jim Smith: Sample 2-1-4) outside the family tree and tell students vocabulary items such as ojisan, obasan, o-niisan, o-neesan, o-baasan and o-jiisan can be used for people other than relatives.

3. Let's Read

Show Worksheet 2-1 to the class and have all the students read the family terms aloud. Refer to Yuuki-kun's family tree, completed in Procedure #2, and make sure that students understand the meaning of each term. Then, give the students worksheets and ask them whether they have these relatives in their family. If so, have them write the names of the relatives in English.

4. Discussion

Have the students report on when their families and relatives get together. They may give this information in English, but if they mention seasonal events, such as New Year's or Thanksgiving, have them say the names of these holidays in Japanese or with Japanese pronunciation. Then have the students imagine when families might get together in Japan. Once they have made some guesses, create a survey form in the following format and send it to your sister school (in Japan or the United States) or send it out over the Internet.

Example:

Itsu, kazoku ya shinseki ga atsumarimasu ka? Watashitachi no kurasu de no ree wa Sankusugibingu, kekkonshiki, Kurisumasu, Chainiizu Nyuu Iyaa desu. Anata no kurasu no ree o oshiete kudasai (When do your families and relatives get together? Examples from our class include Thanksgiving, weddings, Christmas and Chinese New Year. Please give us some examples from your class).

Suggestions

If Shinnenkai (New Year's party) is not seasonally appropriate, you may switch the situation to other occasions such as itoko no o-neesan no kekkon-shiki no paatii (wedding reception for an older female cousin).
Although students do not have to learn words such as shinnenkai (New Year's party) and kakeezu (family tree), you should use them in your explanations as much as possible.

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Sample 2-1-1
A Picture of New Year's Party at the Watanabes

(For the name of each character, refer to Sample 2-1-4. For their relationship to Yuuki, refer to Worksheet 2-1.)

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Sample 2-1-2
Orthography Cards for Family Terms

(Prepare more than one card for terms that can be used for non-related persons such as o-baasan and o-neesan.)

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Sample 2-1-3
The Watanabes' Family Tree

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Sample 2-1-4
Picture Cards of Yuuki's Family, Relatives, and Friends

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Worksheet 2-1