Anime recommendations for school club?

I'm a Canadian elementary school teacher who used to live in Japan many years ago. Our school is starting up 30-minute weekly club activities and I've been asked to start up a Japan Anime Club as such characters (Pokemon, Inuyasha, etc...) are popular in our school and I've had experience in Japan.

Good idea. Only thing is, I've never really been into anime and I don't know any good shows that elementary-age students would like and that's school-appropriate. I'm hoping to get some suggestions from the Japan-Guide readers.

Thank you!

Ahhh that's actually risky business.
You'll have to be sure to mostly use on the editied versions like the ones from 4kids. I know for one thing a lot of shows for kids also cater to adults and so they tend to have some things that may not be appropriate. Namely stuff like Dragonball. I love that show and the manga but man if my parents knew what I was reading when I was 8 years old...
So yeah going off of my younger cousin's(he is 9) likes
i suggest :
4kids version of pokemon
Beyblade
Yu-gi-oh
Pretty cure
Naruto -edited down version but still has some minor perverted parts
that's all I can think of that would be okay at schools. I'm sure other people will have even more and better suggestions

You should ask your students for recommendations. Other than that, on the more "all-generation/maestro" side, the works of Hayao Miyazaki are a must for teachers. In particular, "Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi" has won an Oscar. Then if you want to explore further, the late Osamu Tezuka is the father of animation in Japan.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594503/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856804/

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've thought about the Miyazaki films, but I was worried that the 30-minute weekly time block wouldn't give them the proper continuity. I should also clarify that this club is for grade 4,5 and 6 students. The club will last until winter break. We'll choose new clubs in January.

I'll have our AV room for my club so there's a built-in LCD projector, wide screen, surround sound and a high-speed Internet connection.

Keep the suggestions coming. I appreciate it.

I might want to include an episode from "Sazae-san" and "Doraemon". I am not sure if it would be a hit among older kids, but an episode from "Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi" would be interesting, too.

Both Miyazaki and Tezuka did a lot of TV series. You might want to check them out. As a Japanese, I also recommend "Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi" which is way underestimated in foreign countries. But I prefer "Chibi Maruko-chan" over "Sazae-san." The former is actually a lot more popular among the current Japanese youth and more based on real life which is the life of the author back in the mid 1960s. Maruko-chan is a 3rd grade goofy girl with a 6th grade sister, by the way.

How about "Tonari no Totoro"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Neighbor_Totoro

"Tonari no Totoro" is too long to see in 30 min...

These are some anime shows I used to watch when I was a kid (I'm a high schooler now):

Beyblade (Cartoon Disney, watched around 9-11 years old)
Yu Gi Oh (cartoon network had this, watched in 4th grade)
Pokemon (um... 4 years old to 2nd/3rd grade)
Prince of Tennis (5th to 6th grade.)
Transformers (4th grade, maybe?)
Astro Boy
Digimon
Hamtaro
Speed Racer

That's all I can think of for now. I'll post more later if I can think of anything. Hope it helps!

Thanks for all of your responses! For those who are curious, I've decided to show Astro Boy for the first Anime club meeting this week because the Hollywood-version is opening in movie theatres soon. I've asked some students and they've already seen the trailer. Again, thanks for all your help!