Makanai Cooking Episode

Overview

Students watch the first episode of The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House and use guided viewing strategies to understand key information, opinions and ideas about food, roles, and daily life in a Japanese cultural setting. They then respond by creating a short multimodal plan for a “food moment” using culturally appropriate Japanese.

Learning intentions

• WALT interpret information and opinions from a spoken and multimodal Japanese text to show understanding.
• WALT respond to ideas in the video by selecting evidence (words/images/actions) and explaining what it suggests about food culture.
• WALT exchange information and opinions using simple, culturally appropriate Japanese language structures and gestures/actions.

Success criteria

• I can identify 3–5 foods or ingredients mentioned/shown and match them to what I think they are for.
• I can use evidence from the episode to explain at least 2 ideas about Japanese food culture.
• I can produce and perform 2–4 short Japanese responses (e.g. liking/disliking, “it is …”, “because …”) with correct pronunciation and clear gestures.

Curriculum links

• Understanding texts: students interpret and respond to information, opinions and ideas in texts to demonstrate understanding.
• Interacting: students exchange information and opinions in familiar contexts using culturally appropriate language.
• Interacting (gesture/actions): students communicate with others using culturally appropriate language, actions and/or gestures.
• Understanding texts (responding to multimodal): students respond to spoken, written and multimodal target language texts.
• Creating texts (light touch via planning): students create a short spoken or multimodal response using language appropriate to purpose and audience.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Activate prior knowledge (Food & culture). Teacher shows 3 picture prompts (e.g. rice, dashi/soup, seasonal sweets) and asks: “What do you think people eat at special places and why?” Students share quick ideas in English, then predict 2 foods they expect to see in the episode.

2. 5–12 min · Pre-teach viewing supports. Teacher gives a “Viewing Map” (print or slide) with columns: Food I notice / What people do with it / What I think it means. Students receive dyslexia-friendly supports: simplified headings, icons, and an audio option for the teacher reading the task directions.

3. 12–27 min · Guided first viewing (episode opening). Teacher plays the first episode up to a predetermined stop point (based on your class needs) with subtitles on if your school policy allows. Students tick items on the Viewing Map and jot one symbol per section (food, action, meaning). Teacher pauses at 2–3 key moments to ask: “What is happening? What might this suggest about culture?”

4. 27–35 min · Check understanding with “Stop & Prove”. Teacher displays 4 statements about food culture (some accurate, some likely incorrect), e.g. “Cooking for others shows respect,” “The food is only for eating,” “Seasonal ingredients matter.” Students work in pairs to decide True/Not sure/False and must add one piece of evidence from the video (an image, action, or spoken clue).

5. 35–48 min · Target language response (mini practice). Teacher models 4 short Japanese sentence frames with gestures, focusing on familiar concepts:

• 好きです / すきです (I like it) + gesture
• 食べたいです (I want to eat it) + gesture
• ～があります (There is/has …)
• ～からです (Because …) Students practise with prompts on the board using call-and-response and a class “gallery movement” where students point, then say one sentence.

6. 48–58 min · Create & perform (Food Moment). Students choose one food/scene from the episode and create a 20–30 second spoken or multimodal response:

• What it is (or what it looks like)
• What people do with it
• Opinion (like/want) + one “because” reason Students then perform to a partner using clear gestures. Teacher circulates for formative feedback on meaning, clarity, and use of sentence frames.

7. 58–60 min · Exit ticket (understanding + interaction). Students complete an exit ticket:

• One new food/ingredient I noticed: ______
• One idea about food culture I learned: ______
• One Japanese sentence I said/used (copy from frame or adapt): ______

Resources

• Video device and speakers; pre-selected stop point for the first episode opening
• Subtitles setting ready (if permitted by school)
• Viewing Map printable (3-column table) with icons and simplified headings
• Statement cards for True/Not sure/False
• Sentence frame cards (Japanese + English cue)
• Student recording sheet for “Food Moment” (or half-sheet)
• Markers for gesture cues (optional)
• Dyslexia-friendly reading option: teacher audio recording of instructions, larger font print, and reduced text prompts

Assessment

• Formative: Viewing Map ticks/jottings checked during guided pauses and post-viewing.
• Formative: “Stop & Prove” partner responses must include evidence from the episode.
• Summative within lesson: “Food Moment” performance assessed using a teacher checklist (evidence of understanding + correct use of at least two sentence frames).
• Exit ticket: checks interpretation of ideas and ability to produce a short target language response.

Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence frames with visual cues; allow students to write only key words (not full sentences) and use gestures to secure meaning.
• Support for EAL learners: Permit evidence to be shown via labelled drawings; allow English explanations alongside Japanese sentence frames.
• Dyslexia-friendly reading: use audio for instructions, larger font, and icon-led prompts; reduce copying by providing partially completed frames.
• Extension (advanced learners): Ask students to add one extra clause (e.g. 季節です = it is seasonal, or 食事の時です = during a meal) and include one intercultural comparison: “In Japan/Here, people …”