9. My Book: Time Capsule

Objectives

Students will be able to write in kana the names of their school, the town, and the state where they live.

Skills

writing

Vocabulary/Structures

*Names of the state and the town where students live
*Number necessary for stating the population of the town where the students live
taimu kapuseru (time capsule)

Materials

Containers to be used as time capsules (One very large time capsule into which each student can put a small individual capsule that s/he has prepared for this whole-class time capsule. Each student should receive 2 much smaller time capsules for individual use of an appropriate size and shape for putting work samples that s/he has been collecting since the beginning of Stage I in "My Book." The student should prepare two individual time capsules. One capsule should be put into the whole-class time capsule" and one should be taken home by the student.)
Cards on which students write their names on and use as a seal (the right size for the individual time capsules)
A strip of paper on which the names of students' school and the town and the state it is located in as well as the year the class is producing the time capsule (matching size for the prepared class time capsule will be written)
Worksheet 9-9

Procedures

1. Output

First, show the whole class Worksheet 9-9 and go over with the students what should be written down for each item. Then, give the students the worksheet and have them fill in the blanks individually. Have them refer to the information they wrote on Worksheet 9-7 used in 7. Let Us Introduce Our Town. Post the gojuuon chart while students are working on this task. If a student claims that he or she cannot fill in a certain blank, first have that student listen to the vocabulary pronounced slowly and clearly and then figure out which kana is needed to transcribe each sound. Then, have him or her search for the kana on the posted gojuuon chart. When the students have completed the worksheet, give them containers for their individual time capsules and place the worksheet along with a photo copy of the picture map they made in 4. Let's Draw A Map inside. In addition to these, have each student select some of the work accumulated as "My Book" since the beginning of the Stage I and place photocopies of them in the container. At the end, have each student write his or her own name in Japanese on a small card and seal the container with it. Students should take those time capsules home and keep them until they are ready to open them.
Have the students make a similar time capsule for the class. Collect everyone's container and place them into a larger container. Seal this class time capsule with paper with the names of the state, the town and the school written in kana as well as the year. You may prepare this seal by yourself, or have each student in the class write one in kana.

Suggestions

You may ask students to include the handprints or footprints they made in Stage I, Unit 8 in the time capsule. In that case, you may have them make another print to show how they have grown. It is up to individual teachers to decide when to open the class time capsules depending on how easy it is to store them. One suggestion is to open the capsule when students complete Stage III and graduate from elementary school.