SOCIAL STUDIES
Geography – Taro and his family live in the country of Japan, a
chain of islands off the eastern coast of Asia’s mainland. If your
student isn’t familiar with what an island is, explain that it
is a piece of land entirely surrounded by water. Have student locate
Japan on world map and place story disk there. Look up Japan in Children’s
Atlas.
Japanese Culture – Introduce your student to the various aspects
of Japanese culture. Look at pictures of the clogs and kimonos the people
are wearing, and the kotatsu (low table) that the Japanese eat at. Discuss
the Japanese diet of fish, rice, vegetables, and of course, tofu. For
fun, why not have a Japanese tea party, sitting on the floor serving
some green tea, and maybe even some tofu soup! Info
on tofu and oodles of recipes.
SCIENCE
Stars – The first page of the story says “Taro could see the
evening star already twinkling in the eastern sky.” Stars are fiery
balls of gas that make their own light. While they seem small because
they are so far away, stars are larger than the earth, and some are
even larger than the sun. Why did Taro notice the star twinkling in
the evening sky? Stars do not go away in the daytime, yet we can’t
see them. Try this experiment with your children to see why: Go into
a dark room and shine a small flashlight. The little light seems very
bright in the dark room. Then turn on the lights and see what happens
to the little light of the flashlight. It does not seem very bright
now, does it? The stars are the same way. The stars are bright at night,
when you see them shine in the dark sky. But you can’t see them
against the bright sky.
Levers – Look at the picture of the tofu seller carrying his crates
of tofu. He is using a simple machine called a lever, a stick with his
crates at either end. A lever is helping the man to use his muscles
as if he were stronger. Have your child experiment by attaching different
objects to the ends of a pole and carrying them over his shoulder like
the tofu seller. How important is it for the items to weigh the same?
What happens if the pole is moved either forward or backward? Have child
try to hold the same objects in front of him without the use of the
pole. Which way is easier? See if your child can find any other levers
around your house. A seesaw, a screwdriver used for prying, and a bottle
opener are all levers.
MATH
Japanese Characters – The Japanese write their numbers differently
than we do. Print out the Japanese
counting book and have children practice writing the Japanese characters.
Then have the children go on a “number hunt” through Taro
and the Tofu , looking for any of the Japanese number characters on
the signs.
Money/Addition – Set up a candy store. Make a display of an assortment
of penny candies, raisins, peanuts, etc. and give children a handful
of change. Take turns with children being the seller and buyer, practicing
addition, subtraction, and money value skills. Student may like to make
a sign for the store, writing out a price list giving additional practice
in writing monetary amounts.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Italics – The student may notice that some words through out the
story are written in a different, slanting print. This style of printing
is called italics. Italics are used to bring attention to a certain
word, show feeling, or in the case of Taro and the Tofu, to show words
of a foreign language. Can your student pick out these Japanese words?
Tofu – bean curd
Ojiisan – old man
Obasan – Miss
Maybe your student would like to learn some more Japanese words:
Sayonara – good-bye
Arigato - thank you
Bonsai – art of growing miniature trees
Origami – art of paper folding
Onomatopoeia – The use of words whose sound suggests a sound referred
to is called onomatopoeia. Examples would be “Crash!” or “Bang!”
The author of Taro and the Tofu has used this literary device
to make the story more interesting. Can your student pick out any of
the onomatopoetic words? The “Pooo…Pooo…Poooooo…”
of the peddler’s trumpet, or the “Pitcha…Pitcha…Pitcha…Top…Top…Top…”
of the water sloshing in the tofu pan are both examples of onomatopoeia.
Can your student think of any other examples?
Repetition – An author will sometimes use the repetition of words
or a sentence to tie a story together. Can your student pick out the
repetitive phrases in this story? The author tells you that it is cold
and windy no less than ten times! The author really wanted to emphasize
to the reader that it was cold and windy; possibly to show us just how
hard of a decision it was for Taro to return the money to the tofu peddler.
It surely would have been one less factor in Taro’s decision if
the weather were pleasant. But Taro made the right decision, and even
in spite of the cold, windy weather, the author tells us on the last
page of the story that Taro felt warm.
ART
There is a lot of motion in the pictures, especially the effects of
the wind. Look at the illustrations of the trees with bent branches,
the leaves flying, and Taro’s scarf blowing in the wind. Have students
dip a feather in paint and drag it along paper to make a windy picture.
GO ALONG BOOKS
A Pair of Red Clogs by same author
General Japan
info and unit
study ideas
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