Resource+2+-+Just+Beat+It!

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 * http://www.taiko.com/taiko_resource/history.html [[image:http://taikoz.com/Images/Taikoz/Gallery/img3-full.jpeg width="843" height="511"]]

The resource is a link to the Taikoz homepage which is an Australia percussion group who study the ancient traditional drumming ‘Taiko’. ‘Taiko’ translates into ‘fat drum’ in Japanese and the Taiko are used in nearly all of Japan’s cultural celebrations including festivals and religious events although they began as war drums. The students will attend a class at Taikoz to learn the basic history of Taiko and also get an opportunity to play the Taiko themselves.
 * Resource Description**

During the unit students will be learning about many different aspects of Japanese culture and heritage. Taiko is one of Japan’s oldest traditional elements and has been used across the history of Japan through both war and peacetimes (Takata 1998). Knowledge of the history of Taiko will enrich the students understanding of Japan and its diversity.
 * Relevance to the outcome**

The aspect of literacy explored with this resource is the writing and construction of a factual recount on Taiko and its Japanese origins. The focus is on the associated grammar of this text type including the use of pronouns and general human and non-human nouns using the correct Japanese terminology to write a factual recount (Droga and Humphrey 2003, p.141). The English syllabus outcome addressed - WS2.10 //Produces texts clearly, effectively and accurately using the sentence structure, grammatical features and punctuation conventions of the text type// (English Syllabus K-6 2006, p.19). The students will through hands on application be able to take notes about any key pieces of information on the Taiko and its place in Japanese culture. A link to information regarding the different types of Taiko and a brief history has been included for students to add more specific information to their recounts when back at school. Because Taiko are a traditional Japanese instrument, the terms used to identify Taiko and their characteristics are predominately in Japanese. Language features include noun group classifications of Taiko used in the Taikoz training centre or ‘dojo’ as it is known such as the ‘kakko’ double-headed drum, ‘san-no-tsuzumi’ hourglass-shaped double-headed drum, ‘dadaiko’ huge-drum, and the  ‘ōdaiko’  which when translated becomes the ‘great drum’. Students will research and record translations in English to cross-reference with any Japanese language gathered. During the exercise students will also develop information skills in ‘//locating and sorting information on a topic from a variety of resources//’ (RS2.6, English Syllabus K-6 2006, p. 31). The information found in the overview and history link needs to be provided for students to use as a reference. Terminology used to describe Taiko and it relevance to Japanese culture can be collated from the excursion to Taikoz and is easily accessible through a plethora of different websites and books (see extra link included). Further development of the resource could also include a multimedia presentation of information gathered by using a powerpoint or other media software.
 * Aspects of literacy that could be explored**

Resources: Board of Studies (2006) English K-6 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies. Droga, L., Humphrey, S. (2005). Grammar and meaning, an introduction for primary teachers. Berry: Target Texts. Takeshi Takata (1998). The thundering world of the taiko. Look Japan. Cited on 30th September 2009 from http://www.taiko.com/taiko_resource/history/thundering_takata.html