Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a wonderful winter holidays and have gotten used to getting back into the routine. We started the new year with a big clean and some mochi pounding and eating. 🍡The students enjoyed the experience and some were too excited that they ate too much mochi. 😅

The students did some goal setting and created an agamograph to present their 2024 goals. They were very creative with how they designed their artworks.

Unit 5 has started this year. The transdiciplinary theme is where we are in place and time and the topic is technology. The central idea for this unit is the usage of technology has changed over time, which has affected our lives. We will be learning about many different things related to technology this unit. Our first line of inquiry is technology around us. First, the students came up with things they thought are technology around us. After, the student researched what technology is and found that there were a lot more things that counts as technology in the world around us. The aim for this unit, is for students to really level up their research and thinking skills. They have already shown that they are improving their paraphrasing skills through our first few activities.

The students had their last growth measurment this week. Many students grew a lot during this year that I think they will become taller than me very soon.

On Thursday, we went to the Epson museum in Suwa. The students went into the Seiko-Epson history museum as well as the manufacturing museum. We had an amazing guide that explained all of the information in a simple way that is easier to understand for grade 5 students. Students learnt many new things such as how Epson helped make many technological advancements, finding out how Epson makes more than just printers, projectors and watches, as well as how each type of technology developed throughout time. They also learnt how Epson puts a lot of effort in sustainability and now found a way to recycle used paper into printing paper.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and see you next time!