October 01, 2006

School Days: Fifth Grade Science Class Observation


There were class observations on Friday at Little Brother's elementary school. Parents could choose the class or the time they wanted to observe. I went to observe the science class.



There were 16 microscopes for 40 students. Desks were pulled together for a group of students to work together. One person from each group went to the storeroom down the hall to get the microscopes. The microscopes were in wooden boxes like this one in the picture.




Each group went to the teacher's desk to choose specimens. There were several choices. This is a picture of the flower selection after they had picked through it the first time. It was slim pickings after they made their first selections.




Another member of the group picked up tweezers and slides and a science booklet from a side table.




The students followed the instructions the teacher had written on the board beforehand.




This point was highlighted. See the "X" with the dots? That is a way in Japanese to tell the reader that it is an important point. Can you tell by the drawing what the important point is?

After they were finished the microscopes were packed up and taken back to the storeroom. The classroom was then readied for lunch service.

3 comments:

Ruth said...

I was surprised to see the kids weren't wearing uniforms. Don't most Japanese school kids wear them?

Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu said...

Hi, Ruth. Good question. I thought so, too, before my children started school.
It seems most kindergartners I have seen wear some sort of a uniform. Sometimes the uniform is only a smock over regular clothes.

Children who go to public elementary school don't usually wear uniforms. Children who go to private elementary schools do.

My daughter goes to a public junior high school, and she wears a uniform. Private junior high school students generally wear uniforms. all uniforms are specific to the school. Each student wears a school badge.

My daughter is looking at different high schools for next year. Some of them require uniforms some of them don't. There may even be exceptions to all that I've written here.

Ruth said...

Interesting. Thanks for answering.