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Japanese Places Around Town

Fifth graders learn the names of places (ばしょ, basho) around town in Japanese — がっこう (gakkō, school), こうえん (kōen, park), としょかん (toshokan, library) — and sort places you go to learn or shop from places you go to play.

Grade 5Places Around Town45 minutes1 class periodACTFL / World LanguagesExplicit teaching4 StandardsACTFL
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name places.
  • ✓Tell learn/shop from play.
  • ✓Sort the places.
  • ✓Talk about town.
Essential Question

Where do you go around town? Let’s learn the names of places in Japanese.

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Learn/Shop or Play?

Project this and sort each place into Places to Learn/Shop or Places to Play.

🏡 Sort each — a place to learn/shop or to play?Try it
🏫 Learn / Shop
🎡 Play / Relax
Tap a place, then tap a box.
The Lesson · Language Flow (Warm-Up · Present · Practice · Speak · Reflect)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Around Town

5 min

Where do you go around town? Let’s learn places in Japanese.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a school & a park.
  • Ask their Japanese names.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Present — Places Around Town

12 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Learn/Shop or Play?
  • Sort each one.
  • Say them aloud.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Say.
  • Repeat.
3

Practice — Practice

12 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a place you go.
  • Say if you learn or play there.
  • Say kōen.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name it.
  • Say it.
  • Say it.
4

Speak — Speak

10 min

Students speak.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say “Gakkō ni ikimasu” (I go to school).
  • Name three places.
  • Ask a partner.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Name it.
  • Ask.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a place.
  • Say what you do there.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Novice-Mid).

ACTFL
Communication 1.2

Interpretive: understand place words.

ACTFL
Connections 3.1

Connect to community.

ACTFL
Comparisons 4.1

Compare place vocabulary.

ACTFL
Communication 1.1

Interpersonal: talk about town.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Place cards with romaji.
  • Sentence frame: “___ ni ikimasu.”
  • Use pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with gakkō & kōen.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add eki (station) & resutoran.
  • Draw a town map.
  • Give directions.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🏡Place cards
  • 💻Learn/Shop or Play?
  • 🗺️A town map
  • ✏️Notebooks
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

ばしょ (basho)placeがっこう (gakkō)schoolみせ (mise)storeとしょかん (toshokan)libraryこうえん (kōen)parkうみ (umi)sea / beachいえ (ie)homeまち (machi)town
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
How do you say “school” in Japanese?
がっこう (gakkō).
QUESTION 2
What does こうえん (kōen) mean?
Park.
QUESTION 3
Is a としょかん (toshokan) a place to learn or to play?
To learn (it’s a library).

Reflect: places around town.

Have students name two places in their town in Japanese. A printable Japanese places sheet is in the World Languages library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Japanese Places Around TownFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Japanese Places Around TownQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Japanese Places Around TownPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: いえ (ie), うみ (umi), がっこう (gakkō), こうえん (kōen), としょかん (toshokan), ばしょ (basho), まち (machi), みせ (mise)
  1. store
  2. place
  3. park
  4. school
  5. town
  6. home
  7. library
  8. sea / beach

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How do you say “school” in Japanese?
  2. What does こうえん (kōen) mean?
  3. Is a としょかん (toshokan) a place to learn or to play?
Answer key — Part A: 1) みせ (mise) · 2) ばしょ (basho) · 3) こうえん (kōen) · 4) がっこう (gakkō) · 5) まち (machi) · 6) いえ (ie) · 7) としょかん (toshokan) · 8) うみ (umi)
Part B: 1) がっこう (gakkō). 2) Park. 3) To learn (it’s a library).