Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 9, Lesson 1

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 9, Lesson 1: Land of the Rising Sun (pp. 222-226)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Continuity Isolated by the sea, the early people of Japan established a distinct culture that developed with few influences from other countries, except China.

Start by making a word web around the phrase "living together on an island." Have students brainstorm all the advantages and disadvantages to living in an island community. Advantages might include close friendships with neighbors, protection from enemies, and controllable borders. Disadvantages might include overcrowding, lack of resources, and boredom. Then have the class vote for whether or not to allow outsiders to come into their island community.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to write a report for Prince Shotoku on how he should go about introducing Chinese culture into Japan, and why this is a good thing. You might want to have some students take the role of a Soga leader and argue against introducing Chinese culture.
Have students create a thematic map of Japan, representing as much information from the lesson as they can. They might include Japan's resources, location of early peoples, items representing cultural interaction between Japan and Korea and China (for instance, the introduction of Buddhism), and so on.

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