Lesson Title: Fashion Statements: Clothing as a Reflection of Class Status

Grade Level/Content Focus: Grades 9-12/Japanese Language, English Literature, World History
This lesson is a visual introduction to class structures in England and Japan in the 1600's through individual portraits. With variations in presentation the lesson can be used in Japanese language classes as well as British Literature, British, Japanese, or World History. The lesson could also be used in elementary, or middle school, or with adult learners.

Time Period: 45 minutes (about half of an 80 minute block)
For the first ten to fifteen minutes the students will take notes on Elizabethan England's social structure. During the next five to ten minutes they will view the pictures in singly or in pairs and assign status. Students will explain orally to the class why they have made their decisions. The next ten to fifteen minutes will have students comparing the English social structure with the Japanese and then chart similarities and differences. The five minute closure introduces modern fashion interaction and assigns homework.

Standards: (Benchmarks, Standards, Indicators)

Skills For Success
Goal 2 Thinking Skills
The student will think creatively, critically, and strategically to make effective decisions, solve problems, and achieve goals.

Expectation 2.2
The student will evaluate ideas, information, issues, and positions critically
Indicator 2.2.5
The student will recognize bias, vested interests, stereotyping, manipulation, and misuse of information.
 
Expectation 2.3
The student will demonstrate strategic thinking to make effective decisions, solve problems, and achieve goals in a variety of situations.
Indicator 2.3.1
The student will demonstrate an awareness of his or her own strategic thinking and that of others.
 
Expectation 3.1
The student will plan for successful communication experiences.
Indicator 3.1.1
The student will identify purposes, intended audiences, proposed messages, and specific situations for communicating.
Indicator 3.1.3
The student will construct spoken and other messages in forms appropriate to purposes, audiences, and situations.
 
Expectation 3.2
The student will gather, manage, and convey information, using a variety of skills, strategies, resources, and technologies.
Indicator 3.2.1
The student will gather information from a variety of sources, using appropriate skills, strategies, resources, and technologies
Indicator 3.2.2
The student will use listening skills and strategies to gather and interpret verbal and nonverbal messages.

Goal 4 Technology Skills
The student will understand, use, and evaluate technologies for a variety of purposes in a rapidly changing technological society.

Expectation 4.2
The student will use technologies effectively for a variety of purposes and situations.
Indicator 4.2.3
The student will use appropriate technologies to access, store, manage, analyze, and communicate information.

Goal 5 Interpersonal Skills
The student will work effectively with others and participate responsibly in a variety of situations.

Expectation 5.1
The student will demonstrate effective interaction strategies in groups.
Indicator 5.1.2
The student will show respect for others in group activities.
Expectation 5.2
The student will work cooperatively with others in a variety of group situations.
Indicator 5.2.3
The student will demonstrate understanding of and assume various roles in group activities.
Indicator 5.2.4
The student will contribute personal resources to group activities.

English Core Learning Goals
Goal 1
The student will demonstrate the ability to respond to a text by employing personal experiences and critical analysis.

Expectation 1.3
The student will explain and give evidence to support perceptions about print and non-print works.
Goal 2
The student will demonstrate the ability to compose in a variety of modes by developing content, employing specific forms, and selecting language appropriate for a particular audience and purpose
Expectation 2.1
The student will write compose oral, written, and visual presentations which inform, persuade, and express personal ideas.
Indicator 2.1.3
The student will compose to express personal ideas, using prose and/or poetic forms
Expectation 2.3
The student will locate, retrieve, and use information from various sources to accomplish a purpose.
Indicator 2.3.2
The student will use various information retrieval sources (traditional and electronic) to obtain information on a self-selected and/or given topic. Electronic sources include automated catalogs, CD ROM products, and on-line services like Internet, World Wide Web, and others.
Indicator 2.3.4
The student will take a position and support it with documented information from an authoritative source

Objectives: (What will students know and be able to do?)
Students will

Vocabulary/Concepts

Tokugawa Japan (Edo Period) 1600-1867
Shogun (military leader), emperor, nobility, daimyo(minor chiefs), samurai (warriors), ronin (masterless soldiers), farmer, artisan, merchant, geisha (educated, talented, beautiful female companion), floating world, courtesan, prostitute, status, Kyoto(where emperor lived, Edo(Tokyo)(the shogun's new capital), kimono(robe worn by men or women), sakoku (national seclusion)

Elizabethan England 1558-1603
Aristocracy (nobleman, lord, lady, duke, duchess, earl, viscount, queen, king, prince, princess), peasant (usually a farmer or landless laborer), pauper (poor person), merchant, soldier, clergy, craftsman, apprentice, journeyman, indenture (promise to work in return for instruction), beggar, courtesan.

Materials/Resources: (For Teacher and Student use)

Text Source
Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor, et al. World History: Connections to Today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.*
Goheen, Richard Craig. Literature and Language: English and World Literature. Evanston, Il:McDougal Littell, 1994.*
Storey, Robert, Chris Taylor and Clem Lindenmayer. North East Asia. Lonely Planet Publishing, 1995.
Yang, Sunny and Rochelle M. Narasin. Textile Art of Japan. Japan Publications Trading Co., 2000.

*Prince George’s County texts, readily available to students.

Web Sites (all accessed since August 2004) hard copies in notebook
For Elizabethan and Tudor England
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/sca/tudor/
http://costume.dm.net/content.html
http://www.burbage-jun.leics.sch.uk/tudors/
http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/education/forfun/tudorchallenge/en/
http://reconstructinghistory.com/
http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium
http://springfield.k12.il.us/schools/eliz/elizabethanengland.html
http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/macro/5009/49.html
http://spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Tudors.htm
http://tudorhistory.org/
http://tudors.crispen.org/
http://www.elizabethi.org/us/
http://historyonthenet.com/Lessons/worksheets/tudor_stuart.htm
http://www.luminarium.org/lumina.htm

For Tokugawa Japan
http://ic.ucsc.edu/~naso/hist159b/presentations/tokugawa%tensions%20pres/
http://www.auelib.aichi-edu.ac.jp/lib/postcards/pic/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2128.html
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/TOKJAPAN/SHOGUN.HTM
http://www.cjn.or.jp/tokugawa/

Student worksheets
Tudor Society
Name that Career
Objects: The pictures

Lesson Abstract
The purpose of this lesson is to visually introduce the class system of Elizabethan England by using pictures of how representatives from each of the levels were dressed. Examples were taken from various internet sites and correlated to school texts. The pictures have been printed onto cardstock and laminated so that they may be used over again in other content areas. First the students will (singly or in pairs) examine the pictures and try to assign the people to different "classes". There will be no prior preparation concerning labels or terms used during the Elizabethan time period. The teacher will record on the board the names that students use. Then the chart and vocabulary list will be handed out and students will use the Elizabethan terms for the people in their pictures. (If time permits, a discussion of family names related to careers will be included. See appendix for worksheet.)

The teacher will briefly discuss the levels of society, education and living conditions in Elizabethan England. Students will take notes according to instructions. Japanese language classes will have one student worksheet, history and British English classes others. Students may raise their hands with questions during the lecture and time is built in for discussions. The teacher will ask students to sum up their understanding of noblemen, peasants, clergy, soldiers, craftsmen, merchants. Students will then compare the British system with what they know of Tokugawa Japan. (This lesson is a companion to the one created by Harumi Ozaki Robertson for her Japanese IV class.) Students will find similarities and differences between East and West. (Worksheet of suggested questions for students to consider is included.) Students will be cautioned about oversimplification and stereotyping. (Examples: All samurai wear silk kimonos. A peasant could not change his class in Elizabethan England.)

As a closing activity, a few modern pictures will be shown of Japanese students imitating American fashion (boys with droopy drawers showing boxer shorts and Japanese girls with hair dyed blond or red and sporting cornrows and extensions) and also a current US fashion magazine for women that borrows heavily from Japanese traditional clothing. Students will be asked to find one or more photos that show modern fashion trends and bring the examples in to class.

The questions to ponder:
Is class status as easy to determine based on clothing today as it was in Elizabethan England or Tokugawa Japan? Why or why not? Cite specific examples.
Are there different social classes in the modern United States? Name them. Give examples of members of each class.

Lesson Development

Motivation/Warm Up
Review Tokugawa class structure and predict Elizabethan system. Use students prior knowledge from previous lessons.

Modeling
Teacher discusses chart of the Elizabethan social system. Students take notes on chart provided, noting any new vocabulary terms. Teacher will show a portrait of Elizabeth I and identify her as the Queen.

Guided Practice
Students choose from a pile of pictures which are face down, or teacher distributes them. Each student will have two to four pictures (and possibly a partner, depending on class size. In small classes students may work independently). Students will consult the Elizabethan society chart, examine their pictures, and orally assign them a particular social status and perhaps a job description. Descriptions of clothing should be used to explain why or why not a person should be assigned to one group or another.

Independent Practice
The Elizabethans are then compared and contrasted with the Japanese of the Edo Period. (Tokugawa's reign).

Assessment
Students write in their journals: 1) One fact I learned. 2) One area I would like to know more about.

Closure/Summary
Modern Japanese and American fashion photos are shown. (Some examples are American women in kimono jackets, and Japanese teens with corn rows and hair extensions.) Briefly discuss cross-cultural influence of fashion. Assignment is to bring in one photo for discussion of 1) Modern class distinctions and 2) Cross-cultural fashion influence.

Lesson Extensions: Pictures can be used in a variety of subjects and the format used to spark discussions of culture, history, and literature.

Keywords: See vocabulary.

Appendix

The following are the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum Goals. These are used K-12 and mirror the Core Learning Goals. Each grade level has its own indicators, objectives, and assessment limits.

Social Studies: History
Students will examine significant ideas, beliefs and themes; organize patterns and events; and analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time in Maryland, the United States and the world.

SS: Geography
Students will use geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities and spatial connections throughout time. Students will use geographic concepts and processes to understand location and its relationship to human activities.

SS: Economics
Students will develop economics reasoning to understand the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers participating in local communities, the nation, and the world. Students will identify the economic principles and processes that are helpful to producers and consumers when making good decisions.

SS: Peoples of the Nations and World
Students will understand the diversity and commonality, human interdependence, and global cooperation of the people of Maryland, the United States, and the World through a multicultural and historical perspective. Students will understand how people in Maryland, the United States and around the world are alike and different.

See http://www.mdk12.org/mspp/vsc/social_studies/bygrade/grade8.html

Reading: Fluency
Students will read orally with accuracy and expression at a rate that sounds like speech.
Indicator Statement: Use a rate when reading that reflects high accuracy and meaningful expression.

Reading: Vocabulary
Students will use a variety of strategies and opportunities to understand word meaning and to increase vocabulary.
Indicator Statement: Develop and apply vocabulary through exposure to a variety of texts and visual stimulations.
Indicator Statement: Refine and extend a conceptual understanding of new words.
Indicator Statement: Understand, acquire and use new vocabulary.

See http://mdk12.org/mspp/vsc/reading/by grade/grade10.html