Abstract
We analyzed fourth-grade elementary school students’ classes using teaching materials with two stories
based on the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake experience to help children without disaster experiences to feel someone else’s disaster experience as their own. We used a story entitled “Anoko wa Tenshi desu(the meaning is “She is an angel”)”about one mother who lost her child in the disaster, published in the sup- plementary reading material named “Shiawase Hakobo (the meaning is “Bring happiness to the world”),” which was developed by Kobe City for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders’ disaster education, and “Akko chan’s scis- sors,” a sequel to the story originally written by the authors as teaching material. Children’s learning in- creased, and they developed independence through lessons using these materials. We analyzed the lessons’ content and children’s reactions. The results indicated that the following points were essential for children in guessing the mother’s feelings and thinking about the disaster as their own experience: (1) task setting for increasing story comprehension, (2) expressing feelings using colors, and (3) stories before and after the disaster
