Abstract
In this article, I clarified one of the developments of reading instruction by the thematic unit in elementary school Japanese Language Arts, in particular, pointing out the existence of efforts that related the thematic unit and life experience writing (Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata). The subject of consideration here is the inschool research of Showa 49 in NAKAUCHI Elementary School, Mino City, Gifu Prefecture. NAKAUCHI Elementary School adopted a method called the thematic unit for reading instruction and let the children express the results of their learning in the school essay collection. This collection was influenced by life experience writing (Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata). In other words, it means that efforts were made to relate the thematic unit and life experience writing (Seikatsu-Tsuzurikata). However, there remained some issues: for example, the teachers of the school were not able to share the concept of the thematic unit among themselves, and it was not made clear how to develop an instruction in the subject other than “labor”.
