【西粟倉小学校】4年生総合 学んだことを発信！地域の取組み共有会〈実施報告〉

西粟倉村では毎年、地域の取り組みを小学校・中学校・役場で共有する「地域の取組共有会」を行っています。今年は小学校4年生が取り組みを発表しました。

1年間、川や野草についての学習を行ってきた4年生。今回の発表が集大成となります。

学校外で発表を行うのは初めて。年明けから1年間の学習を振り返り、役割分担をして、スライド作りや原稿作りを進めてきました。1学期に川の調査を行っていたことを振り返り、「思っていたより生き物が少なかったんだよな」「だからバーブ工(こう)のお手伝いをして、生き物を増やしたかったんだよね」と自分たちの学習の繋がりをみんなで再確認することができました。

発表練習では「私が話しているときはスライド変えるのは○○ちゃんがやってくれるとスムーズかな」と1つ1つの動作もみんなで考えていきました。準備に時間がかかったものの、みんなで作り上げた発表がついに完成。

いよいよ、発表の日です。会場である、あわくら会館に到着すると緊張の面持ちの子ども達。発表では緊張のせいで、早口になったり、移動するときに戸惑ったりすることもありましたが、自分たちの取り組みを1人1人の言葉で伝えることができました。質問タイムでは「見つけた野草の食べ方を教えてください」「バーブ工の設置で大変だったことは何ですか？」など、たくさんの質問をいただきました。子どもたちは「えーっと。これってどうだったかな？」とみんなで話し合いながら質問に何とか答えることができました。

発表を終え、一安心したのか子どもたちの表情も明るくなります。その後も中学生や役場の人の発表を聞きました。

振り返りでは、「言う言葉を間違えたけど上手く続けることができた」「役場の人がやっていたみたいに写真に映っているのは何をしているところなのか説明しても良かった」などの言葉が。発表をやり切ったという達成感と、他の発表からの学びがあったようです。

今年度は、5年生になった子ども達。次の学年でも今回の経験を活かして行ってほしいなと思います。

[4th Grade: Sharing Our Learning! The Community Project Showcase]

Every year, Nishiawakura Village hosts the “Community Project Showcase,” an event where local initiatives are shared across the elementary school, junior high school, and village office. This year, the 4th-grade students stepped up to present their own projects.

Having spent the entire year studying the local rivers and wild plants, this presentation served as the grand finale of their learning journey.

This was their very first time presenting outside of the school walls. Since the start of the new year, they had been looking back on their year-long studies, dividing roles, and working hard on creating slides and writing scripts. Reflecting on their river survey from the first semester, they reconfirmed the connections in their learning together, with comments like, “Remember how there were fewer living creatures than we expected?” and “That’s why we wanted to help build the wing dams (babu-ko) to help increase the wildlife.”

During their presentation practices, they meticulously thought through each movement as a team, suggesting ideas like, “It might be smoother if you change the slides while I’m speaking.” Although the preparation took a considerable amount of time, the presentation they built together was finally complete.

Then came the day of the big event. Arriving at the venue, the Awakura Kaikan community center, the children looked visibly nervous. During the actual presentation, the nerves caused some to speak a bit too fast or feel a little lost when moving on stage. However, they successfully conveyed their hard work using their very own words. When the floor opened for questions, the audience chimed in with many inquiries, such as, “Can you tell us how to eat the wild plants you found?” and “What was the hardest part about installing the wing dams?” The children huddled together, whispering, “Let’s see, how did we do that part again?” and managed to answer each question beautifully through teamwork.

Once the presentation was over, a collective sigh of relief washed over the children, and their faces instantly brightened. They then settled in to listen attentively to the presentations given by the junior high students and the village officials.

In their post-event reflections, the students shared mature insights, noting, “Even though I messed up my words, I was able to keep going smoothly,” and “I realized it would have been better if we explained what was happening in the photos, just like the village office staff did.” They walked away not only with a great sense of accomplishment from giving it their all, but also with valuable takeaways from observing others.

Now, these students have officially moved up to the 5th grade. We hope they will carry this wonderful experience forward and continue to apply it to their future studies!