A School Day in Japan and Maryland

miniQUEST

A School Day in Japan and Maryland

Outcomes/Indicators/ Introduction/ Step One/ Step Two /Conclusion

Essential Understanding
Culture exhibits traditions and continuity through time.

Social Studies Indicator:

Students will describe and compare the cultural characteristics of different groups of people. (MLO 6.1)

Technology Indicator:

Students will employ technology tools to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources. (5.2)

Introduction:
Your class is going to have two Japanese students visiting your class for a few weeks. In order to inform them about the routine of your school day, you need to learn about what they do in a typical day so you will be able to tell them the differences between your day and their day.

Step One:
Read the article about Schools from the "Kids Web Japan" site to find information.

As you read, you may want to use the following questions to guide your reading.

Step Two:
After reading the article above. Create your own graphic organizer called "A School Day in Japan and Maryland" using Kidspiration or Inspiration. You might want to record information such as:

Transportation (how students get to school)
Food (what students eat for lunch)
Games (games at recess)
After school activities
Calendar (length of the school year)
Age (age in which students start school)

Complete your graphic organizer using the information that you read.

(Optional: (School Day in Japan and Maryland)PDF file (MSWord Table) )

Conclusion:
Think about what you have learned about the Japanese school day and how it compares to yours. How could you tell the visiting Japanese students about the differences? What important differences would you include in your explanation?

Recommended for Grade 4
School Day in Japan miniQuest by Sarah Deakin August 2000
Last updated September 2002.