For kids in certain parts of India, going back to school is like a party! Students and teachers celebrate back to school, which usually happens around June, with balloons, music, and gifts.
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Back to School Around the World
Not everyone prepares for back to school the same way—or at the same time of year! Here’s what it’s like to go back to the classroom in different countries around the globe.
From the September 2022 Issue
Complexity Factors
Standards
Carlo Girelli/Courtesy Two Points Couture (Grembiule); Courtesy of Alessandra Potenza (Alessandra Potenza); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
India
Japan
If you lived in Japan, you would likely head back to school carrying a square, hard-sided backpack called a randoseru. Kids have been using the bags since the 1800s, when many were made with pigskin!
Chile
In Chile, kids typically begin school in March—and are ready to spend a long time at their desks. Elementary school students there are at school about 1,007 hours per year, compared with an average of 790 hours in many other countries.
Italy
What should you wear on your first day of school? For many elementary school students in Italy, the answer is easy! It’s a tradition to wear a smock called a grembiule over their clothes.
United States
Pencils? Notebooks? New shoes? Back-to-school shopping is big in the U.S. Every year, Americans spend millions of dollars on school supplies, like calculators, clothes, and pens.
Write to Win
Write a letter to a kid living in one of the countries above. In your letter, explain your back-to-school traditions and include two questions, based on what you read, about what going back to school is like in their country. Send your letter to “Back to School Contest” by November 1, 2022. Five winners will each receive a Storyworks prize. Visit the Storyworks Contests page for more information.
This infographic was originally published in the September 2022 issue.
Activities
(3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
1. Reading and Discussing
Project the infographic as students follow along in their magazines.
Prompt students to use the headline, subhead, and central image to identify the topic of the infographic.
Ask: Is the purpose of the infographic to
- explain something to you?
- convince you of something?
- tell you how to do something?
Have students look over the labels and images surrounding the central image. Ask:
- How are they related to the central image? (They provide details about the main idea.)
Break students into groups to read each section of the infographic and discuss what they find interesting, surprising, or convincing.
Come back together as a class and ask volunteers to summarize the main idea and supporting details from the infographic.
2. Writing
Preview the writing prompt in the “Write to Win” box.
Download and distribute the guided-writing activity that goes along with the infographic.
Have students respond to the writing prompt. If you wish, send their responses to our infographic contest.
3. Ideas to Engage and Inspire
Have students create their own infographics! Download our “Make Your Own Infographic” activity from Storyworks Digital.
Text-to-Speech