2016 IIME REPORTCountry/Region [ United States ]School[ Scales Mound Junior High School ] Teacher [ Karen Kelly ] Grade ( 8 )JP school [ Hyogo Prefecture Ashiyo International School ] Teacher [ Nao Fukuoka ]# Subjects, Activities and Times of the lessons
Subject
Conception of the lesson

Member ( 19 )Hours

Social Studies

Geography of Japan

3 hours

Social Studies

History of Japan

4 hours

Social Studies

Japan today – cultural understanding, culture of United States

5 hours# Theme and Message of the mural
ThemeCulture and symbols of our country

MessageOur beautiful countries peacefully walking togetherUnited thoughts toshare with the world# Effects and the Problems
Effects your students have gainedStudents learned from our partner class about theculture, school, favorite traditional Japanese toys,
environmental issues, and what it is like to be ateenager in Japan. Students also critically analyzed“what describes culture” and “what symbolsrepresent our countries”. The discussion createdby these two topics was very nice to listen to.

Points for further improvement
The program is so beautifully organized and managed
I do not have any suggestions for improvement.

# How has your impression toward your partner’s country/region and the world changed?
Changes in the students
Changes in the teachers
Students have a better understanding that a
Having the opportunity to message and email myteenager’s life in Japan is very similar to that of apartner teacher is always inspirational to me as ateenager in the United States. The students veryteacher. Teachers from both countries are verymuch enjoyed trying to master the skills of thededicated to their students’ education and I love
traditional Japanese toys.
being able to share that with my partner from Japan.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonth
MEET
Selfintroduction

Sept.

SHAREOct.
Nov.

Research onthe theme

UNITE
United message/Nov.

Mural design

CREATE
Mural painting

APPRECIATE
Reflection/Appreciation

Jan.

Feb.

What you did
We posted messages to theforum, sent links to two
introductory videos about
our school and community.
Students learned about thecountry of Japan: history,culture/traditions, today
Message through moodle
about the mural ideas.

Your students attitude/reflection
Students liked the introduction cards.
They always start the year very shy but
as the year goes along my students feelmore comfortable.
Students were very interested to learn
how our countries are similar and aboutlife in Japan.
Students were very excited for the mural
to arrive after our partner completed thefirst half.
Students worked very hard
Every student worked on the mural (alland took their job very
19 students). Some students stayedseriously. They wanted toafter school to paint. The students
make sure our partner
were very proud and made comments
school would be proud of the they could not believe how beautiful theirpainting we createdart (painting) was when finished.
The mural was hung in theThe students were very proud andschool hallway for students
enjoyed sharing their work with theand community to see thecommunity. They were also very
project. A reporter fromexcited to share their story and project
our local newspaperinterviewed the students for with the reporter from the newspaper.
an article in the paper.

Subject
SocialStudies

SocialStudies
SocialStudies

SocialStudies

SocialStudies# Aim of the Lessons and Result
Aim: Rank A to C in order you put emphasis on (A: very much/ B: much / C: not so much)
Result: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected Effect
Understanding our owncultures
Understanding theother’s cultures
Communication ability
in the class/with partners

IT skills
Creating friendshipin the class/with partners

Collaborationin the class/with partners

Attitude in learning
Expression ability
in words, in pictures

AimResultA

5

A5

A

5

How your students have reached it
Discussing out impressions of culture and what other countries
around the world think about our culture
Research the country, teacher shared 21 day travel experience
to Japan, our partners made wonderful videos to share with us
about their school, food, environmental issues, and community
We used moodle, sent notes and favorite snack foods throughthe mail, sent videos to partner school through youtube

B

4

Forum posts were shared with class.

B

4

Sharing what it is like at our schools and in communities, what
we do during and after school

A5

A

5

A

5

A

5

Appreciation ability
Appreciate the mural and thewhole collaborative learning

Students worked with classmates on mural, sharing ideas, andcomplementing each other’s work / collaborated with partner
school through moodle
Students learned about the culture of the U.S. and Japan, many
identified their artistic skills, all students were very excited tolearn and said they looked forward to the Art Mile program
Students develop confidence to trust his/ her artistic skills, theylearned about mixing colors, shading to provide details
Many compliments from other students and community
members, even some students from another school commented
how “cool” the mural was.