TEACH JAPAN
Resources for students and educators
TEACH JAPAN
Resources for students and educators
Explore the Denver Art Museum’s comprehensive collection of lesson plans and resources for educators. Lessons range from 30 to 50 minutes, and are based on objects from the Denver Museum’s Japanese collection. Resources available for all ages and learning levels.
This lesson focuses on the story of the Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion and the definition of “compassion.” Students will work with visual images and tools to enhance oral and listening skills, while building upon kindness in peer relationships and with others around them
Objectives
Students will be able to:
use listening and oral skills;
make connections to the world around them; and
work with classmates to complete a visual diagram about the Bodhisattva.
Students will critically examine and discuss the image of the Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion. They will then discuss and view examples of mind maps. In small groups students will create an original mind map to organize their thoughts and ideas around the concept of compassion.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
describe and analyze what they see in the Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion;
discuss symbolic and actual demonstrations of compassion; and
collaborate in groups to design and create a mind map as a graphical representation of compassion.
The projects in this guide connect to a wide range of core curriculum subject areas and can be adapted for a
variety of grade levels to meet Washington State Standards and Common Core Standards of Learning. The projects and discussions outlined in this guide may be conducted independent of a trip to the exhibition Luminous: The Art of Asia. Each section of this guide includes works of art from SAM’s permanent collection featured in the Luminous: The Art of Asia. Additional information can be found on SAM’s website (seattleartmuseum.org/luminous) as well as in the resource section of this guide.
OBJECTIVES
1. Introduce students to the art and history of Asia across time and place.
2. Prompt discussions that allow students to share their own insights and perspectives.
3. Encourage creative exploration and discovery.
4. Deepen students’ understanding of how culture and art are shaped by context and that the meaning
and interpretation of these objects can shift over time.
5. Build thematic connections between works of art and classroom curricula.
Discover Tawaraya Sōtatsu, one of the most influential figures in the history of Japanese visual culture, with images collected by the Freer|Sackler Education Department from the museums’ permanent collection.
An introduction to Zen, a form of Buddhism that emphasizes seeking one’s own Buddha nature through meditation.
Find out more about TeachJapan.
Lead funding for the Asian Art Museum’s TeachJapan is generously provided by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.
Additional support is provided by Susan and Kevin McCabe.
Teach Japan was created in collaboration with the following arts organizations:
