America's Meet Sumo Wrestlers for the 1st Time

This engaging primary source reading activity describes a colorful encounter between American sailors on the Matthew Perry expedition to Japan of 1852–1854 and a group of Japanese sumo wrestlers.

The primary source article includes a brief introduction to help students understand the background, then the short excerpt reading. This is a fantastic, colorful primary source that students can easily visualize and appreciate. The article is followed by a 1 page set of reading analysis questions.

One of my goals each year is to increase my students' reading skills and comprehension. I found that using short (1 page or so) readings like this that are interesting for students while also highlighting historic events is an awesome way to improve their reading and understanding of the events.

An answer key is also provided in the download for your convenience.

You can download this awesome resource for your classes by clicking here.

Thanks so much for looking!

PS: As a reminder, you can get this resource PLUS over 500 more amazing teaching activities for World or American History through a simple monthly subscription to my site StudentsofHistory.org! Joining gives you immediate access to every engaging resource — each highly reviewed by thousands of teachers across the world! Save yourself time, energy, and sanity by joining today!