Tea with Milk - Tanya Beers

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children's Literature Lit Kit

Book: Tea with Milk by Allen Say

Lesson Plan and Selling Tool:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WSbJf948Gm-H9JyktlcNrrHZoID_hLx76FCeBO8vE9E/edit 

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children’s Literature

Share Blog Post – Week 6

   

       

Title: Tea with Milk

Author: Allen Say

Lexile Level: AD630L

Age Range: 5 – 8 years

Grade Level: Kindergarten to 3rd Grade

ISBN #: 0547237472

Tea with Milk is about a Japanese girl named Masako who is born and raised in Los Angeles, 
California. Her friends call her May and she enjoys many American social customs and traditions. 
Then May’s parents decide to move to Japan because they miss their home. May is devastated 
because for her, America is home. She moves to Japan with her parents but will she ever feel 
like Japan is her home? Will she learn what home really means for her?   

Lesson for 3rd  graders:

Students will listen to a reading of Tea with Milk by Allen Say.

Afterward, I will discuss with the class, through a short PowerPoint presentation the meaning 
of culture, multiculturalism, and show a map of Asia so students can see where Japan is 
geographically.

Students will write a 2-page essay describing the differences between Japanese culture and 
American culture. They also need to discuss in the essay:

1. What they learned from the reading.

2. What surprised them, if anything, about the story.

3. Either write an alternative ending to the story or state why they think the ending should stay 
the way it is.

4. What does the word “Home” mean to them?

5. How would you feel about living in a culture different from yours?

The lesson will conclude with a tea party with many different kinds of tea, including Japanese 
tea, and of course cookies and snacks.

Learning Standards:

ISTE 6: Creative Communicator – Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively 
for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate 
to their goals.

6b. Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new 
creations.

6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their 
intended audiences.

Learning Goal:

Students will learn about a different culture through the reading, lecture, and writing assignment. 
They will express their learned information and their own opinions and imaginations through 
the writing assignment.

Learning Objectives:

1. Through their writing assignment, students will discuss their feelings of what “home” means 
to them and how they would feel about living in a culture different from theirs. (Affective)

2. Students will describe, in their essay, the differences and similarities between American and 
Japanese culture and explain what they learned from reading Tea with Milk by Allen Say. 
(Cognitive and Psychomotor)

Learning Outcome:

Students will be able to compare their own American culture with a foreign culture, discover a 
culture different from theirs, and learn more about how culture shapes society.

Works Cited:

Say, Allen. Tea with Milk. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE Standards for Students. 
Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/for-students, 2017.

Selling Tool: Book Trailer of Tea with Milk:

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yyons_O-TQ