Japanese Carp Kites/Children's Day
1. Lesson Overview


A Lesson for Kindergarten Students, Ages 4 to 6
Designed by Loren Fawcett, Education Assistant, Allen Memorial Art Museum

Theme/Subject

Japanese Children's Day (Kodomo no hi)
Carp/Koi Fish

Objectives/Concepts

1. Students will listen to the story A Carp for Kimiko and discuss its theme/lesson.
2. Students will be introduced to the Japanese holiday, Children's Day, formerly known as Boy's Day.
3. Students will design and create their own carp kite.

Academic Content Standards

National

1. Visual Arts
• NA-VA K-4.1: Students use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner
• NA-VA K-4.3: Students know the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures
• NA-VA K-4.5: Students understand there are various purposes for creating works of visual art
• NA-VA K-4.6: Students identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum


2. Social Studies
• NSS-G.K-12.1: Understand how to use maps to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective (finding Japan)
• NSS-G.K-12.2: Understand how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.

Ohio State Standards

1. Visual Arts
• Benchmark 1A: Recognize and describe visual art forms and artworks from various times and places.
• Benchmark 1C: Identify and describe the different purposes people have for creating works of art
• Benchmark 2A: Demonstrate knowledge of visual art materials, tools, techniques, and processes by using them expressively and skillfully.
• Benchmark 3A: Identify and describe the visual features and characteristics in works of art.
• Benchmark 4A: Apply basic reasoning skills to understand why works of art are made and valued.
• Benchmark 5B: Use the visual arts as a means to understand concepts and topics studied outside the arts.


2. Science
• Identify that there are many distinct environments that support different kinds of organisms.
• Investigate the different structures of plants and animals that help them live in different environments (e.g. gills).

Vocabulary

Carp
A freshwater fish (Cyprinus carpio) of Europe and Asia that is frequently bred in ponds and lakes.

Kite
a light structure or framework that is covered with cloth, plastic, or paper, and is designed to be flown in the air/wind at the end of a long string.

Kodomo no hi
Japanese Children's Day; May 5 holiday that once only celebrated young boys but now honors all children

Koi
Bright-colored carp of Japan and eastern Asia.

Koinobori
Japanese word for Carp kites; traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Children's Day; made by drawing carp patterns on paper, cloth, or other nonwoven fabric and then allowed to flutter in the wind; also known as satsuki-nobori.

Windsock
A tapered, open-ended sleeve that shows the direction of the wind blowing through it.



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