A Comparison of Grades

Today's elementary school lesson was more or less the same for every grade: make a Christmas card, and write the message in English.
I provided hiragana/romaji charts (for figuring out how to write names in English) and some clipart-style pictures of Christmassy things as a starting point for drawings. The results were as follows:

1st /2nd grade: they haven't learned the alphabet yet, so the teachers did all the writing. Pictures were restricted to trees, presents and snowmen, but they were original. One girl said, "Dad might not understand it, so can I write the Japanese above the English?" Most cards addressed to the teachers. One girl asked a teacher to write the English on another piece of paper, so she could copy it onto the card by herself.

3rd/4th grade: I'd planned for them to write only their names, but they actually wrote the whole thing by themselves. Cards mostly addressed to other classmates. Drew pictures of the same things that I provided (plus a few reindeer) but they were original drawings.

5th grade: Wrote the whole thing, but found it difficult. All the pictures were copies of the examples I provided. One girl covered her card with Winnie the Pooh stickers. Addressed to people other than classmates or teachers.

6th grade: Wrote the whole thing, very easy for some, very hard for others. Girls did excellent drawings and designs, including some nicer lettering than I can imagine. Boys mostly drew simple trees and presents. Addressed to classmates and family; some wrote "to my family."

Interesting variation over the years, no?