Musical Statues: Train to become a Ninja!

Students disguise themselves as animals and learn animal names and their calls/cries in Japanese as part of a camouflage training drill. They then participate in a Ninja musical statue game.

How to use the resource

This resource comprises of a PPT and a poster of different animal names and their cries in Japanese.

Musical Statues (PPT 5913KB)
Animal Poster (Word 1443KB)

Preparation

Download some spooky Japanese background music.

Procedure (Whole class)

1. Using the PPT, the teacher explains some background information on ninjas to students.

2. Students familiarise themselves with animal names and their cries using the PPT. The teacher may also use the animal poster as support material. Please note that although these are the most commonly used, there are other variations for the sound of animals in Japanese.

3. Students then play musical statues. They walk slowly and silently like Ninja to the spooky background music. When the music stops, students freeze into statues. The teacher picks a student and asks if s/he is a particular animal, and the student must reply with the corresponding animal cry. If the student makes the wrong sound, the student will be eliminated from the training.

E.g.
Teacher: Neko desu ka? (Are you a cat?)
Student: Nya-nya (makes an animal sound)

4. The music resumes and the game continues.

 

Resource created by The Japan Foundation, Sydney (May 2018).

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