Lesson Plan

Japanese New Year Lesson Plan: Littles Edition

Ring 108 bells, build a kagami mochi, and play a giggly New Year face game.

This is the Littles Edition of Japanese New Year: one ready-to-teach week written just for grades K-3. Every day follows the same rhythm: Reading on Monday, Writing and Words on Tuesday, Science and Math on Wednesday, a Hands-on Project on Thursday, and Show and Tell on Friday.

The big question: How do families in Japan say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new one?

The Week

• Mon: A Gate for the New Year (Reading) • Tue: My First Nengajo (Writing & Words) • Wed: Ring 108 Bells (Science & Math) • Thu: Make a Kagami Mochi (Hands-on Project) • Fri: A New Year Party (Show & Tell)

Teaching more than one level? The all-levels edition of Japanese New Year has Littles (K-3), Middles (4-6) and Bigs (7-8) in one file, so siblings or a mixed classroom can study the same topic together.

Perfect for homeschool families, grade K-3 classrooms, co-ops and substitute plans.

What's inside

• 5 ready-to-teach days for Littles (grades K-3), about 30 to 45 minutes a day
• Lab sheet: Ring the 108 Bells
• Sequence cards (Making Mochi) and a cut-and-sort page (Goodbye or Hello?)
• Writing page: My New Year Card
• Hands-on project: Play Dough Kagami Mochi
• Word search, maze, scramble and secret code puzzles
• 8 fact cards, 9 vocabulary cards and a book list of 4 titles
• A certificate and an answer key for the grown-up

Instant PDF download after checkout. Print at home.