With the start of the second term, we held our first 4C lesson. Students from Grades 1 through 9 gathered in the Book Plaza to share their summer vacation memories. But it wasn’t just a casual chat—there was a purpose behind it. To ease the tension and encourage interaction with many different people, we set aside time to talk after playing rock-paper-scissors.
As a warm-up, everyone played regular rock-paper-scissors and counted the number of times they won. One student even declared, “I won 15 times!”—showing just how many people they had approached and challenged in such a short time.
Next, we did “Ad-Jan” (a game where you show numbers with your fingers). Students formed groups of 4–5 and played Ad-Jan. They added up the numbers shown and then talked about the topic corresponding to the total.
Using “summer vacation memories” as the theme, students shared things like:
- Their favorite shaved ice
- Places they went with their family
- Things they worked hard on during summer vacation
Students shared fun summer vacation memories, such as:
- “I went to Hawaiians!”
- “I went to Lake Inawashiro.”
- “Aquamarine was fun.”
- “I traveled to Hokkaido.”
They also shared memories of hard work, like:
- “I worked hard on my homework. There was so much and it was tough.”
- “I only did homework.”
They took turns talking about the theme and were able to share their summer vacation experiences with each other.
Reflections:
- “I talked about what I enjoyed and what I worked hard on. It was really fun, and I enjoyed listening to everyone’s stories too.”
- “Usually, I only get to talk with people in my own grade, so this was a good opportunity to talk with many different people.”
- “Thanks to the first rock-paper-scissors game, I could talk with students from other grades, and it was fun to share summer memories with everyone.”
- “It was my first 4C in a while. I was happy to talk a lot with students from other grades.”
