Welcome to Tokyo, Japan! This trip isn't going to be your average vacationing trip. Along with seeing different sights like the Imperial Palace and the cherry blossoms, you get to hike Mount Fuji and have a battle in sumo wrestling. I hope you have a great experience. To begin, click on one of the sights below.

MOUNT FUJI

BUILDING UP SENTENCES

In order to appreciate the sights of Tokyo, your trip would not be complete unless you climbed to the top of Mount Fuji. As you read about the trip up Mount Fuji, be careful to remember what precautions you are given because they will benefit you on your trip down the mountain. Here goes...

First, you get on a bus in Tokyo with all of your belongings to help you survive the next two days. After a two and a half hour bus trip, you arrive at the base of the mountain. At this point, you buy a walking stick because the climb is a difficult one. As you travel up the mountain, you pass several different stations along the way. Once you reach the fifth station, you prepare to climb the 2305 meter stretch ahead of you. You decide to put your coat on here because it is beginning to get a little colder. Then you decide to put your gloves on because in a number of spot you have to pull yourself up the mountain by a chain. By the seventh and eighth stations, you see little huts in which people call, "The Inns of Mount Fuji." These huts are where you settle in for the night and sleep in a cramped little room with several other people. It is here that you wish you bought water and a flashlight at the last station because it is really dark and the only way to wash yourself is by the water you brought. As you wake up the next morning, you hurry up and start your climb because you are not that far away from the top of the mountain!!!

YOU'VE REACHED THE TOP... (this is the sunrise you see)

Now that you have reached the top of Mount Fuji, you have an even greater challenge--getting back down the mountain. By doing this sentence-combining activity, you must go down each level of the mountain by making a stronger sentence each time. If you don't make the sentence stronger then the last, the mountain will crumble and your trip to Tokyo is over! (However, if you liked Mt. Fuji, I am sure you wouldn't mind being buried there.) As you create your sentences, explain what precautions you will take going down the mountain from the lessons you learned by going up the mountain. Good Luck!!

Here is a framework to start you out.

I grabbed my walking stick.

(simple sentence)

A compound sentence here.

Now form a complex sentence.

Try a compound--complex sentence.

Make as many sentences as you like, until you finish your

story of how you got down the mountain. Be sure to make them more complex as you go!

(see how your sentences can form the shape of a mountain)

IMPERIAL PALACE

TRANSLATING--MAKING SOME SENTENCE SENSE

Your art teacher offered you an extra credit project during your visit in Tokyo. You decided to write a paper on the Imperial Palace. By looking at the pictures and reading the signs around the garden, you are now able to create an introduction for your paper.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS?

You didn't think you would end your trip to Tokyo without a challenge, did you? Well, the cherry blossoms aren't in season right now so this activity will have to wait for another time. Furthermore, I am sure you didn't want to miss the Sumo Wrestling event. Click on this image for your final battle. (P.S. Best Wishes!)

SUMO WRESTLING

Sumo wrestling has been called the true national sport of Japan. A sumo match involves two opponents. Each tries to force the other out of the circular rope-lined ring or to knock him down on the ground. Shear weight can be a winning quality, and most sumo wrestlers are conspicuous because of their huge bodies. Nevertheless, agile, quick-thinking wrestlers of smaller stature can defeat their more massive opponents to the delight of the spectators.

***NOW PREPARE FOR THE

SUPER-SUMO SENTENCE CHALLENGE***

You need a partner for this sentence activity. Instead of battling an opponent in the ring, you are going to do it on paper. By using agile, quick thinking skills, you and an opponent will write five sentences on a chosen topic. (You can do it on a separate piece of paper if you like.)

Rules: Each sentence will be compared with your opponent's respective sentence. The first paper to be looked at is the first member who has finished the activity. You will be graded upon correct grammar and complexity used within the sentence. If you both have the first sentence correct then the following sentences will be reviewed until there is a winner. Whoever demonstrates the best use of sentence combining will win.

Everything you learned in your activities at Mount Fuji and the Imperial Palace will be important here. After you and an opponent write the five sentences, give your papers to your teacher to decide who wins the super-sumo sentence challenge. (P.S. Even if you don't have a partner, you can still practice writing the sentences and have your teacher go back over them.)

Thank You for visiting Tokyo, Japan! I hope you enjoyed the visit--even if it may have been a little challenging.