Digital Resources

Overview Guides

Historical Overview: a 7 page summary of Japanese history from ancient to modern periods

Cultural Overview: a 4 page summary of Japanese cultural foundations and social norms

Book and Film List: links and descriptions for popular entertainment and literature to help learn about Japan

School Connections: template for prompts to help teachers reach out and start building relationships abroad

Curricular Resources

Asia for Educators (Columbia): extensive Elementary through Secondary curricular database along with guided programs, videos, and sources 

National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (Pittsburgh): links to Elementary through Secondary teaching book lists, films, resources, and workshops

Program for Teaching East Asia (Colorado): curricular projects on Modern Japan, Japan in World History, Visual Art, and Children's Literature

Japan Society (New York): cultural education organization featuring virtual workshops, gallery tours, video resources, and online student classes

Asian Art Museum (San Francisco): thorough teacher packets and class activities for Elementary (K-3+4-5), Middle School (6-8), and Upper School (9-12)

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles): collection of activities, videos, lessons, and virtual visits exploring experiences of Japanese Americans

National Museum of Asian Art (Washington DC): searchable collection of Japanese art along with a variety of Asian resources and virtual visits

East Asian Gateway: forum to connect with other teachers that includes a searchable collection of resources and lesson plans 

Freeman Book Awards: awards and recommendations divided in sections on Elementary (K-3+3-5), Middle School (6-8), and Upper School (9-12)

TeachAAPI: resources organized by grade level (K-2+3-5+6-8+9-12) as well as an Educator Circle platform sign-up to connect with other teachers

The Asian American Education Project: collection of teacher resources and lesson plans that can be filtered by grade, subject, period, and theme

Language Resources

Duolingo: free, very beginner level, can be individual or set up group that allows for progress tracking

Pimsleur: free trial, very beginner level, focuses on speaking/listening, not reading/writing practice

LingoDeer: free trial, beginner to intermediate levels, similar to Duolingo, but more potential to advance

Lirer: subscription, beginner to intermediate levels, speaking/listening, vocabulary, and reading/writing

Bunpo: subscription, intermediate to advanced levels, same developer as Lirer, but more grammar

Benkyo: free, intermediate to advanced levels, focuses on vocabulary and writing, but not grammar

Renshuu: free, intermediate to advanced levels, structured like language textbook, less speaking/listening

Human Japanese: free, intermediate to advanced levels, structured like language textbook with cultural trivia