We have been so lucky to have Hana, a helper teacher from Japan, spend time with us in KG this week! Hana is a student at Showa University in Tokyo, which partners with the Lawrence School each year to give Showa students the chance to observe and learn about American schools. Hana spent time with us in the classroom, at music, P.E., an art, as well as outside with us on the playground. She helped us make origami during activity time. On Wednesday, she read us the story of Momotaro, or Peach Boy, which is a traditional Japanese story. Momotaro is discovered by an old couple who brings home a peach almost too big to carry. As they open the peach, they find Momotaro inside! Momotaro grows up to be brave and strong, and works with some animal friends he makes to keep his community safe from mean and scary ogres. The next day, we got to make our very own origami ogres! Hana also showed us a traditional Japanese game to play with our ogres. We will miss Hana very much. Although she only spent a few days with us in KG, she taught us so much and we loved having her! We wish her the best as she continues her studies of Early Childhood Education in Japan.
We recently celebrated Hinamatsuri, or Japanese Girls Day, in my classroom with our Japanese families. Hinamatsuri was on March 3rd this year. Our families taught us all about the traditions of Girls Day! We learned about the red cloth that is on display with the dolls representing the Emperor and Empress. Our families brought in a sweet rice and sugar cracker to try, which we thought was delicious! We then created our own Emperor and Empress drawings on pre-made Origami (thanks to our families!) and colored some traditional Japanese pictures. It was so much fun!
My Kindergarten class has been so excited about origami ever since we made paper cranes! We have had some parent volunteers come back during activity time (playing and learning time) in KG to help us make more cranes as well as other origami shapes! I also went ahead and bought a beginner's origami book of animal shapes. I hope my KG students and I can learn how to make these together! Origami has been such a wonderful activity to reinforce the message to my students that "Everybody is working on something." Origami has a lot of intricate steps to follow, so it is certainly a challenge not only for my students, but for me as well! As we continue to practice, we will make progress. Thanks to the SET-J community for sparking our interest in this fabulous cultural activity that will continue to reinforce an important social/emotional message for my students (and me!).
Members of SET-J visited our Kindergarten classroom and helped us make origami paper cranes. We worked together with our third grade buddies in 3L, Mrs. Leman's class. With help from our buddies and the SET-J families, we made lots of paper cranes for me to bring on my trip! My Kindergarten students loved it so much that they asked if the grown-up helpers can come back to make these with us again soon!
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Jessica
Kindergarten Teacher traveling to Japan in June 2017. |
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