The Run Up to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics
Author：Yoko Nishimura-Parke
Topic／Goals：Body and Health、Communication、Link with Other Subjects、Link with Outside of Classroom、School Life、Spare Time and Sports
2019.06
Learn about Ikeda Mikio by reading the article and watching the video of his training for Paralympics and see examples of Ikeda's resilience.
| Objectives | • Learn about Ikeda and his challenges. |
|---|---|
| Target | Junior High School |
| Japanese Level | Intermediate |
What to prepare
Procedure
1. Watch the video and discuss the following points.
a) What kind of physical challenges does Ikeda have?
b) What training does Ikeda do differently from other members?
c) What does he do in the same way as other members?
d) How did the video strike you? Share your thoughts and impressions with your classmates.
2. Questions to help students' comprehension of the abridged article
e) What kind of physical challenges does Ikeda have?
f) Which sports did Ikeda play when he was young?
g) When did Ikeda join the athletic club?
h) Why is Ikeda training hard now?
i) How does Ikeda describe his weak points?
j) What did Ikeda do to overcome his weak points? How did it help?
k) Explain Ikeda's aspirations.
3. Discussion points and research
l) Find the words for parts of the body in the article. Highlight them in yellow.
Find the words relating to sports in the article. Highlight them in green.
Find the words relating to the Paralympics. Highlight them in pink.
You may make your word list in your notebook if you wish.
m) Choose an athlete who is expected to represent your country in the Paralympics in Tokyo. Research the following; Name, age, nationality, name of the sport, how they are training, etc. Share your findings with your classmates.
4. Creative tasks
n) Create a profile of one of your country's athletes.
Use the information you found in your research, create a profile of the athlete in Japanese. If you use a photo, don't forget to mention the source of the image.
You may use the suggested guideline below if you wish.
この人は＿＿＿＿＿(name) さんです。＿＿＿＿＿(age) 才です。
＿＿＿＿＿(nationality) （の）人です。＿＿＿＿＿(sport) のせんしゅです。
Other information.
東京パラリンピックをめざして、がんばっています。みんなでおうえんしましょう！
o) Decorate your classroom with positive words
Work in groups. Make a collection of words or expressions in Ikeda Mikio's story that you felt were positive. Use dictionaries to make your collection bilingual (in your language and in Japanese). Feel free to make the collection colorful and fun with illustrations. Put your collection up in the classroom.
