Elementary

How Do You Live?"begins as a fairly typical coming-of age story, exploring a young boy's experiences and emotions as he begins his first year of middle school.  The opening scene begins on a rooftop in Tokyo, where our main character (Copper) first begins to question his place in the world.  He–like many of us–grapples with feelings of insignificance, and wonders what kind of impact he could possibly have, given his smallness.  This theme plays out slowly, passing from season to season through Copper's first year at his new school.  His experiences mirror the struggles we all face—making friends, dealing with bullies, and finding our balance between fitting in and standing out. The story digs into heavy moments like poverty's impact on education, tackling bullying, feelings of failure and shame, and the importance of honesty and friendship.  These moments definitely make Copper more relatable as the story progresses.

I ended up giving this book a 4-star rating, for a few reasons: It might be more appropriate for high schoolers, since every other chapter digs into some fairly deep philosophical musings from Copper's uncle.  Their correspondence adds a lot of depth, but I definitely think it would be too challenging for younger readers.  With current concerns about learning gaps in ELA and reading skills, I worry that some of the more difficult words and concepts would frustrate some students.  I think it could work, but it would likely take some heavy lifting in preparatory lessons, to keep them engaged.  That, or a lot of creativity and time for supplemental activities, thought experiments, etc. as "hooks" for those chapters.  There are also opportunities to discuss Japanese culture by looking at some details about education, food, and attitudes towards personal and social responsibility.  Also, it is no wonder why Miyazaki was heavily influenced by this book.  Like a lot of his well-loved films, the main theme in How Do You Live? is one of personal responsibility.  That being the "best" version of oneself–rather than trying to be the best version of someone else–is what allows humanity to flourish.  Even though we are imperfect, and we will make mistakes, our small acts of goodness and kindness towards others have value in a bigger world.

Overall, it is worth the read, even if you don't use it with your classes. 

This lesson unit was written by educators who have a deep love and respect for tea and tea drinking as both an art form and a rich, cultural celebration. The authors do a wonderful job at providing the history of tea, explaining the difference between tea varieties(think green, black or white), and how it is processed. They then create a step-by-step plan to help students design and execute their own chanoyu(pronounced chah-no-you), or Japanese tea gathering. I use the word 'gathering' here because the authors make a point of emphasizing that although the Japanese tea tradition is highly ritualized, it is not so much a religious ritual or ceremony, but instead a celebration of culture and history. It is a highly organized event that embodies four main principles prized throughout the history of Japanese culture: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. These principles are expressed throughout the planning and execution of the tea gathering and it is hoped that they are then cultivated into each participant's life.  Students have many opportunities throughout the lesson to understand their importance and to put them into practice.  

The lesson book is very well organized and easy to follow.  It includes many useful handouts and detailed descriptions accompany each lesson. There are also key definitions placed in the columns of each page that highlight important terminology used in the main text. The unit begins with the history of tea and provides many interesting facts. For example, did you know that iced tea was invented in St. Louis at the World’s Fair of 1904? Or that tea harvesters might pick upwards of 30,000 shoots a day and it takes 3,200 shoots to make a single pound of tea! That is a lot of shoots and as a tea drinker, learning these fun facts made me appreciate my own morning ritual even more. They also served as an invitation for me to dive deeper into the lessons. 

Scavenger hunts, imaginative play, storytelling, and humor are used throughout the lessons to keep students engaged and interested. Students complete work individually and in small groups and are evaluated using a variety of different methods.  Quizzes, homework, and other useful handouts are provided and make it easy for teachers to gauge student learning.  

Chanoyu might unfold in a very ceremonial way, but it is considered to be a very relational activity, where the interaction between the tea makers and participants is emphasized. The tea gathering is also meant to be an event that celebrates community. It is believed that everyone who attends not only has something important to learn from it and each other, but that everyone has the potential to be transformed in some essential way. Students participating in this lesson will learn not only about the history of tea and Japanese culture, but have the opportunity to make interesting discoveries about themselves.  

Tea and the Japanese Tradition of Chanoyu is most appropriate to use with high school students, as some of the historic references in the lessons are for more mature students and many of the lessons require fairly advanced organization and interpersonal skills. However, as an elementary school teacher, I can imagine how you could pick and choose parts of this unit to introduce younger students to the tea gathering and utilize their interest in imaginative/creative play to bring the tea gathering to life in the elementary classroom.  

I'm Mengyu and I work in a pre-school room with 3 year-olds. (I also have teaching experience with 5 year-olds.) The book No Steps Behind talks about a story where Beate Sirota went to Japan with her family in 1929. Beate was talented in learning foreign languages and she became fluent in Japanese. She fell in love with her new home quickly and made a best friend Akara. Beate noticed in Japan women did not have equal rights like men, for example, women had to walk three steps behind men. The world became more hateful as she grew and Beate had to go to the United States for college. Beate’s communication with her family was cut off by war, but eventually she got a job in the US army thanks to her perfect Japanese which brought her back to Japan. At age 22 Beate was asked to help write the constitution for Japan and she fought to give women equal rights. Her contribution to women’s rights is so great that people called her "Beate-san" when she returned to Japan many years later. (I might be wrong about the importance of this suffix. It just caught my eye when it appeared twice and I googled it. In Japanese business life, “san” is an honorific suffix meaning “honorable Mr/Mrs”.)  

I enjoyed reading No Steps Behind. The book used plenty of visuals to help students understand how does life in Japan look like as well as the written form of Japanese language. I very much loved reading the author's note which answered some questions I had when I was reading it. I would recommend this book for kids ages 5 and older since the book has long passages of words and is more fact-based than a story-telling book. It has several lines of written Japanese in parallel with pronunciation and English translation. A book of relevant background would be very helpful for students to understand the international relationship during WWII. When I read the book it raised a doubt about why it was the Americans who were writing the constitution for Japan? If I were to use this book with my 3 year-olds, I probably would use a shortened version to tell the story and utilize more of its visuals with this age group. For example, it would be important for kids to know what do Japanese people wear; how do they entertain themselves; how does an open market look like in Japan; and especially what language do they speak and kanji writing. (I did try to read this book with my 3 year-olds and I was only able to keep their attention for 3 minutes.) This book can also be used during “women in history” month as Beate Sirota did change women’s social rights and status in Japan and her advocation and contribution are fundamental.