Launch

🏯 Feudal Japan Marketplace

Reflection Core Content Project Launch Essential Question Submission Required

Students rotate through short role stations using trade cards, job task cards, rice tokens, tool cutouts, and village need cards to keep one community functioning for a day. As a class, they pause to trace who needed food, tools, protection, and trade, then build a quick dependency web with string or arrows on chart paper. The teacher introduces the essential question and key vocabulary: samurai, peasant, artisan, merchant, tax, trade, and hierarchy.

Plan day

Day 1

Duration

45 min

Grouping

Whole Class

Steps

5 steps

Lesson plan

5 steps · 45 min

#	What teachers do
1	Open with the essential question and a fast visual hook. Show the four role cards for samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, introduce the words tax, trade, and hierarchy with brief student-friendly definitions, and tell students they will test how one town works by acting out each role. (8 min)
2	Model one sample exchange in front of the class. Use rice tokens, a tool cutout, and a need card to demonstrate how one group produces, another makes useful items, another trades, and samurai provide protection, then ask students to notice who depended on whom. (7 min)
3	Run the marketplace role rotation. In small groups, students rotate through stations with trade cards, job task cards, rice tokens, tool cutouts, and village need cards as they try to keep the town functioning for one day; pause midway to switch roles so more students experience different social classes. (15 min)
4	Pause for a whole-class dependency web. Invite students to name exchanges they made, then connect the four classes on chart paper with string or drawn arrows labeled with food, tools, protection, taxes, and trade so the class can see how the community depended on shared work. (8 min)
5	Close with a quick reflection circle and preview the next activity. Each student shares one connection they noticed among the classes and one social-emotional skill they used, such as listening, turn-taking, problem-solving, or cooperation, then records one new vocabulary word on an exit slip. (7 min)

Preparation (8 items)

Prepare four clearly labeled role station sets for samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants with picture-supported role cards and simple task directions.
Print, cut, and sort trade cards, job task cards, village need cards, rice tokens, and tool cutouts into separate bins or envelopes for quick distribution.
Create a large chart paper dependency web template with the four social classes spaced around the page and room to add arrows, strings, or labels during discussion.
Post the essential question and key vocabulary with brief definitions and visuals: samurai, peasant, artisan, merchant, tax, trade, and hierarchy.
Set up station locations with enough space for movement, clear rotation paths, and a visible timer so transitions stay quick and organized.
Prepare sentence starters for discussion and reflection such as 'I depended on ___ because ___,' 'Our group needed ___ from ___,' and 'I used ___ when ___.'.
Plan mixed-readiness groupings and identify support materials such as color-coded cards, partner readers, and icon-based directions for students who need reading scaffolds.
Place exit slips, pencils, and sticky notes in an easy-access spot for the closing reflection and vocabulary check.

Student-facing instructions

You will step into the role of a samurai, peasant, artisan, or merchant and help keep a feudal Japanese town running for one day. Your task is to use role cards, trade cards, job task cards, rice tokens, tool cutouts, and village need cards to figure out what your group can provide, what you need from others, and how the town depends on everyone working together. As you rotate, you will speak in role, trade fairly, solve problems, and pay attention to how food, tools, protection, and services move between groups. When the class stops, you will help build a community web on chart paper and then share one connection you noticed and one skill you used well.

Success criteria

You know you are successful when you can name the job of at least one social class, complete at least one trade or service exchange during the simulation, and explain one way two or more groups depended on each other. You also contribute one idea to the class dependency web, use at least one vocabulary word correctly during discussion or reflection, and share one social-emotional skill you used during the activity.

Facilitator notes

Keep directions short and concrete since this is the launch activity. Model one full exchange before releasing students so they understand that the goal is not to 'win' but to keep the whole town functioning through interdependence. For varying reading levels, use visuals, color-coding, icons, partner support, and read-aloud directions at each station; assign strong readers as station helpers without making them do all of the thinking. Common pitfall: students may assume merchants grow or make goods, so listen for misunderstandings and redirect with prompts about who produces, who crafts, who trades, and who protects. If energy gets too high, freeze the action and ask students to silently point to who they need next before speaking. Encourage equal participation by giving each student a small role such as trader, recorder, materials manager, or speaker. If time runs short, shorten the midpoint role switch but keep the dependency web and reflection circle because they anchor the essential question and set up the next evidence-sorting activity.

Resources

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