For history class, eighth-grade students must write an article on a historical event of their choice as though they were actually there as newspaper reporters. All three grades are given workbook assignments for English and math. A t another middle school in Tokyo one summer, an English teacher assigned his students the task of talking to an English-speaking foreigner they meet somewhere and handing in a report on the experience. Aside from writing about the conversation itself, the students were free to include other materials, such as photographs they took on the occasion or ticket stubs from the amusement park where they met the foreigner. The students enjoyed the assignment, the teacher recalls, since it resulted in fun and colorful reports that can be kept long after graduation.
T here are largely two types of students in the way they tackle their summer homework.
Some younger students catch insects and write reports about them.