Japanese Homework and Test
Dear JDL 5/6th grade parents,
The following directions are communicated with the students, but I would also like you to know the
expectations. For the weekly homework, the students go over all of the contents during class and they are
asked to do the same task at home so that their knowledge can be reinforced. Thus, taking good notes is
necessary to complete the homework. Here are the items listed on the homework cover page.
Read Aloud:
The title and pages to read are given. The expected time to finish reading the part is also indicated. You
should aim to be able to read within the time limit without mumbling. However, it should be in a natural
speed, not too fast, not too slow. Read it to show your understanding of the story with the right intonation
and emotion. Read Aloud is expected everyday spending about 10 minutes. You are expected to take
notes on the reading pages in class to understand the story.
Parts of Speech
Identify verb, noun, particle, and gerund from the pages for Read Aloud. Make sure you indicate the page
number and line number where you found them. There are many, but select only 3 that you are most
comfortable with. If there is none (There might not be many gerunds), then indicate NA “ありません”.
Refer to the classwork for help.
Subject and Predicate
Answer the questions and identify the correct subject and predicate from the pages for Read Aloud. Refer
to the classwork for help.
Kanji
Follow the writing stroke order and practice writing Kanji three times for each Kanji. Make sure you write
Hiragana on the Kanji, which helps you study for the weekly quiz. Also, make a sentence with your own
words using the Kanji vocabulary. Refer to the dictionary notebook (AKA cheat note!) for help.
Writing and Picture
Write on a free topic. The topic suggestions include your daily experience, something about yourself,
suggestions for class activities, Japanese lessons you found difficult, and questions about lesson. This is
meant to help you build a habit of writing and to keep communication with me or Ms. Ogaya. Online
translation is not recommended. Show what you can write in 2 pages (leaving 1-2 lines is ok) and I will
help you improve your writing. Don’t forget to draw a picture to support your writing.
Math
All of the math problems are also the same ones that we did in class together. The only thing that would
be changed is the numbers used in the question. All of the Japanese sentences and vocabulary are the
same. Try to provide a picture, graph, and/or steps to show how you solved the problem. Refer to the
classwork for help.
List of vocabulary for weekly quiz
Every Friday (subject to change by school holiday), you have quiz on the vocabulary learned for the
week. You will write Hiragana on the Kanji vocabulary and match the definitions. For this quiz, you are
not allowed to refer to the dictionary notebook (AKA cheat note!). The grade will be reflected to the
Japanese language Arts.
Challenging assignments for homework:
You are welcomed to try, but it is optional.
Read Aloud: Extra reading material is provided to read.
Parts of Speech: Find 4 or more verbs, nouns, particles, and gerunds.
Subject and Predicate: Create a question to identify a correct subject or predicate from the pages for Read
aloud and answer your question
Writing and Picture: Use more than 15 Kanji
Math: Create a similar question and answer your question
Test:
For Math, Science, and Social Studies tests, you are allowed to refer to your dictionary notebook (AKA
cheat note!). You complete the cheat note in class for the academic vocabulary and key vocabulary for
each subject matter. The tests will require you to use those vocabulary with good understanding. You are
free to use the cheat note during tests for Math, Science, and Social Studies only, but not for Japanese
Language Arts.
Resources to complete homework:

Your Japanese folder with the Kanji list and rules of writing convention on the Masu sheet

Dictionary notebook (AKA Cheat Note!)

All of the handouts and classwork in your binder

Reading materials with your notes
Resources to complete tests for Math, Science, and Social Science:
Dictionary notebook (AKA Cheat Note!)
Resources to complete tests for Japanese language arts and weekly quiz:

Your memory!
10-minutes question time
At the end of each Japanese class, we have 10-minute question time where you may come to me or Ms.
Ogaya for questions. If you are unable to communicate your questions in Japanese, you may whisper to us
in English. You may also use this time to read a book or to work on your homework.
First homework and Quiz
Due to the Labor Day holiday, we don’t have school on Friday and Monday. Thus, we agreed to submit
the homework on Tuesday and have the weekly quiz on Tuesday. Since it is a short week, we completed
some parts of the homework together in class. Please let me know if you have any questions.
August 31, 2015
Ms. Koga