Daily Routine

1. Imagine what a day with Grade 6 Class 1 would be like from the photos. Compare a day in Grade 6 Class 1 with a typical day in your own life, and learn about Japanese elementary school life.
2. Learn Japanese vocabulary related to activities in elementary schools (じゅぎょう, やすみじかん, きゅうしょく, そうじ). Learn ～があります／～がありません, ～をします／～をしません.

20 minutes

1. Photos
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i03_j.htm (Entrance: Changing our shoes)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/jugyou/j08_j.htm (Class: Raising our hands in class)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/asobi/a17_j.htm (Recess: Jumping rope in the school field)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i06_j.htm (Serving lunch)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i07_j.htm (Cleaning)

2. Japanese vocabulary cards related to school life: じゅぎょう, やすみじかん, きゅうしょく, そうじ

3. Worksheet (In the top section, students write what they learned in English, and in the bottom section, the new Japanese vocabulary they studied in the lesson.)

1. Show photos from a typical day in Grade 6 Class 1. Ask students to imagine and discuss what the subjects of the photos are doing (English).
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i03_j.htm (Entrance: Changing our shoes)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/jugyou/j08_j.htm (Class: Raising our hands in class)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/asobi/a17_j.htm (Recess: Jumping rope in the school field)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i06_j.htm (Serving lunch)
http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/6-1/donna/ichinichi/i07_j.htm (Cleaning)

2. Provide brief explanations for any activities with which the students are not familiar.

Changing shoes:

http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/02kutsu.htm

げんかん: Schools have large genkan, lined with lockers where the school children store their outdoor shoes. Inside the school they wear soft, slipper-like shoes called uwabaki. Some schools require special sneakers to be worn on the school grounds and yet another pair of sneakers for use inside the school gym. The indoor uwabaki and gym shoes are generally color-coded for each school.
For more information: The Japan Forum Newsletter No.8 “A Day in The Life” June 1997 Removing Shoes http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/02kutsu.htm

School lunch:

http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/kentaro/ school/s07_j.html

http://www.tjf.or.jp/deai/contents/teacher/mini_en/html/kyushoku_j.html

きゅうしょく: School lunches are provided in public elementary schools. Part of the cost is borne by the students’ parents. Though prices depend on the community, the fee at Sakura Elementary School is about 4,000 yen per month. Meals are prepared in the school kitchen following a menu drawn up by a trained nutritionist for the school. School lunches prepared at a local school-lunch center are delivered to elementary and junior high schools without school-lunch kitchens of their own. In the 2003 school year, 96.2% of public elementary schools served lunches. School lunches were introduced in the period after the end of World War II in order to supplement the diet of children at a time of many hardships in Japan. Today the educational objectives of school lunches in elementary and junior high school are to foster proper eating habits and table manners, and to learn cooperation with classmates through the tasks of serving, clearing away, etc.

Cleaning:

http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/kentaro/ school/s08_j.html

http://www.tjf.or.jp/deai/contents/teacher/mini_en/html/soji_j.html

そうじ: In many schools, each group of students (han) takes turns cleaning a designated area every week, such as the classroom and corridor, the gym, the entrance hall and special classrooms. They use brooms, dustpans, hand cleaning mops (zokin), and sometimes handled mops. Each school designates a specific time for cleaning, the most common times being during the lunch break or after school. Cleaning equipment is stored in each classroom. At the end of the term, a thorough cleaning (osoji) is undertaken, including tasks that cannot normally be done such as waxing the floors.

3. Have students compare the activities of Grade 6 Class 1 with their own. Discuss, using in English as appropriate, and practice the following patterns using the discussion content.

Example 1
Teacher:（きゅうしょく）がありますか。
Student: あります。／いいえ、ありません。

Between Students Student
A:（きゅうしょく）ある？
Student B: ある。／ううん、ない。

Example 2
Teacher:（そうじ）をしますか。
Student: します。／いいえ、しません。

Between Students
Student A:（そうじ）する？
Student B: する。／ううん、しない。

4. On their worksheet, have students summarize what they have learned through a comparison of Grade 6 Class 1 and their own class. In addition, have students write new Japanese vocabulary words they have learned.

Note The aim of this exercise is for students to take an interest in the daily life of Grade 6 Class 1 through a comparison. Thus, the subject of comparison should be Grade 6 Class 1 and the students’ own class.

Show students a timetable from Grade 6 Class 1, and discuss what kind of subjects they study. Have students explain their own timetables using 〇じかんめは～です. Next, practice the pattern どんなべんきょうがしたいですか。～のべんきょうがしたいです, and have students create their ideal timetable. Finally, have the students present their timetables using わたしのじかんわりです。～のべんきょうが〇じかんあります. In English, discuss the reasons for the timetables and the students’ ideal school.