Hello, everyone! Strange two weeks are behind us – we had our long Golden week holidays, but have managed to squeeze some learning in as well. On Friday, we suddenly had a rainy day!  This has put a bit of a damper on the students’ plans to go hike up the nearby mountain in the morning, but the class was still able to have an (mostly indoors) interesting Nature activities lesson with Mr. Frith, talking about this year’s plans for Nature activities, things to be mindful of when exploring nature, the students’ hopes and reservations about walking in nature, and how to deal with possible complications when spending time in nature, such as everyone’s biggest fear: encountering bears!  Mr. Frith is very knowledgeable on these topics so the students will definitely be in safe hands with him this school year.

In the afternoon, all grades’ students moved all over the school to join their selected Interest Clubs. There isn’t a shortage of clubs this year, and Grade 6 and 7 students joined the Soccer club, the Chess club, the Arts and Crafts club, the Harry Potter Knitting club, and the Sk8 and Cre8 club. At the end of the day, everyone was full of impressions of a fun time spend doing their favorite activities, meeting up with new teachers, and spending time with their younger friends. The next Interest Clubs day will be held at the end of May.

On the following Thursday, everyone gathered at Gojo Sky Room for the year’s second all-class assembly. Grade 5 led the assembly this week, and, after a fun round of stretching, they talked about school-wide rules and behavior in the hallways. Grade 6 and 7 students have also discussed what they can do, as the oldest students at the school, for their underclassmen. The ideas shared included modelling proper behavior, giving kind reminders to younger students about the proper behavior, and the importance of staying positive, and not always resorting to reprimanding others for small mistakes.

After Music lesson, we had Literacy, and talked about the students’ interpretation of the characters in our book “Front Desk”. The students saw some similarities between themselves and the main character Mia, but some differences as well, resulting in the conclusion that each one of us is a complex individual in our own right, but there are still things that connect us, which we can use to establish common ground and communicate. 

An interesting Friday followed. During today’s first two periods, the students went on a nature walk with Mr. Ezra as part of their activities in nature. They decided to try to map out the area around the school, exploring new routes and taking risks going on new and undiscovered paths. As well as sketching out maps of the school environment, the students were able to discuss the importance of being open-minded and challenging themselves to try new things. They will complete their maps in their future outings.

After morning break, the entire school joined a fire emergency drill organized by the firefighters of the local Shiga fire station. The students discussed in the classroom about the importance of organizing emergency drills regularly and what to do in case of an actual fire. Then, everybody moved to the school yard, where the firefighters reiterated the importance of the main rules of successful evacuation.

This Monday was a beautiful, sunny day today at Gojo campus. Even the students who usually prefer spending their breaks inside joined the playtime outside! The students were also excited for their first two periods to be Computing (after a break of two weeks). The lesson was very productive: the students were able to make islands for the homes they created the last time, and start on creating their characters. Soon, they will animate them and have them walking around their homes and islands!

Following this, Grade 6 had a soft start on our new monthly concept: Animals, by reading an interesting article about elephants in Africa, and the hard work of people working with them. We were surprised to learn just how conscious and emotional elephants are, and how they can make friends and form connections and communities, just like people. The students learned about similes and practiced their summarizing skill.

Tuesday’s first period was P.E. and the students played an exciting game of soccer. After this, we had a Math lesson. While students are studying Math in Japanese every day, once a week we will also have a Math lesson in English, following the text book “Top Maths 6”. We believe this will be very useful for the students, especially with solving word problems and English names of concepts they previously acquired.

After splitting up after morning break and Grade 7 students proceeding to their Japanese lessons, Grade 6 had a double period of individual learning. This time is beneficial for the students to practice organizing their time on their own.

On Wednesday, we got some wonderful news: our pet crayfish Snappy has laid eggs! The students were excited to research the best possible ways of taking care of the new mom to ensure hers and the well-being of her children. We learned that the mother shouldn’t be under stress (caused by movement or changes in her environment) and that we should provide ample hiding places for the babies in the aquarium.

It was finally time for the students to present their monthly concept projects for April. Everyone showcased different ideas they’ve had for helping their communities and the environment. The students showed high levels of motivation for doing their part, but still seem to need a bit of help with practicing putting their excellent ideas into practice. We will work more on this throughout the year. The students’ work and recordings of their presentations have been uploaded to their portfolios here on Toddle. Please take a look and, if you have any trouble accessing them, the students should be able to help by showing them to you from their accounts.

After the morning break, we inquired deeper into our new monthly concept of “Animals”. The students researched animals of their choice, practicing focusing their research on key information that helps us classify and group animals, such as their classification, habitat, or conservation status. After this, it was Japanese time.

Thursday was a fun and largely relaxed Thursday today. The students enjoyed playing basketball in their P.E. lesson, and practiced their singing skills in Music. After the break, we continued reading our class reading book, discussing metaphors. In the afternoon, the school dentist came by and the students joined a dental check.