This week was filled with engaging learning experiences, meaningful collaboration, and wonderful moments shared with our friends and families.

We began the week with our much-anticipated School Open Day. It was a joy to welcome parents into our classroom hiand have them join us during our Morning Circle. Afterward, the students proudly took their parents on a classroom tour, introducing different learning areas such as our Calendar Area, Sight Words Area, Phonics Area, UOI Area, and their Cubbies. It was heartwarming to see the children confidently explain the purpose of each area and share what they have been learning. They also proudly showed how organized their cubbies were. This experience beautifully demonstrated the IB Learner Profile attribute of being Communicators, as the students expressed their ideas and shared their learning with confidence. Following the classroom tour, we moved on to our Unit of Inquiry (UOI) lesson. Together, we reviewed the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—and discussed how waste affects our environment, particularly through land, water, and air pollution. After the recap, students and parents were challenged to work together to create a poster illustrating one environmental problem and one solution that families can practice to help care for our Earth. It was wonderful to see parents and children collaborating, sharing ideas, and creating thoughtful posters together. Once the posters were completed, it was time for presentations—hurrah! The students proudly stood in front of their parents and classmates and shared their work. Some students needed a little extra support, and the teachers were happy to help them find their confidence and share their ideas with the group. To conclude our special morning, we sang our lively 3Rs Song together before saying goodbye to our parents. Thank you to all the parents who took the time to join us for School Open Day. Your presence, encouragement, and participation made the experience even more meaningful for the children. We truly appreciate your partnership and support in your child’s learning journey. Seeing students learn alongside their families was a wonderful reminder that learning grows stronger when school and home work together.

Milky Way students had an engaging phonics lesson focusing on the difference between the long e and short e sounds. Through discussions, examples, and guided practice, students learned how to identify and distinguish these vowel sounds in different words. To reinforce their learning, students completed a cut-and-paste sorting activity. They carefully read each word and placed it in the correct category based on whether it contained a long e or short e sound. This hands-on activity encouraged students to listen closely to the sounds in words and apply their phonics knowledge independently. Our students demonstrated the IB Learner Profile attribute of being Knowledgeable as they applied what they had learned during the lesson to complete their work accurately and confidently. It was wonderful to see them using their understanding of phonics to make thoughtful choices and explain their reasoning.

Our young learners had an exciting hands-on learning experience in the school garden as we planted cucumber plants in the soil. Before we began, Mr. Koyama explained how to care for the cucumber plants. He taught us that cucumbers need plenty of sunlight and should be watered every day, except when it is raining. After planting the cucumbers, the students eagerly took turns watering them. They were excited to help care for the plants and are looking forward to watching them grow. The activity sparked many thoughtful questions from the students. They asked Mr. Koyama: Why do cucumbers grow so many cucumbers? How long does it take for a cucumber to grow if we plant it now? Why do cucumbers need so much water? The students demonstrated the Learner Profile attribute of being Inquirers by asking meaningful questions and showing curiosity about how plants grow. Mr. Koyama carefully answered their questions, helping them understand more about the needs and growth of cucumber plants. To continue our learning journey, we will be creating a Cucumber Diary. Students will observe and record the growth of their cucumber plants from planting through harvesting. This will help them reflect on their learning and track the changes they see over time.

The Milky Way class continued with our group presentations as part of our Unit of Inquiry learning. The students worked in five groups and explored different causes of air pollution: Volcano Eruptions, Smoke from Factories, Cars and Airplanes, Wildfires, and Spray Can Fumes. During their presentations, students followed a structured format. They began by greeting their audience and then used the sentence starters: “This picture shows…”, “This is caused by…”, “This causes…”, and “We should…”. They concluded their presentations by saying, “Thank you for listening.” These sentence frames helped students organize their thoughts and communicate their understanding effectively. One of the most wonderful parts of this activity was seeing the students collaborate within their teams. It was interesting to observe how they worked together to decide who would speak first, second, and so on. They listened to one another’s ideas, shared responsibilities, and supported their teammates throughout the presentation process. These experiences helped them develop their communication and teamwork skills while building confidence in speaking in front of others. After the presentations, students reflected on their performance through a self-assessment. They reflected whether they spoke clearly and loudly, looked at the audience while speaking, ensured that everyone had a turn to speak. The audience also played an important role in the reflection process. As they listened to their peers, students showed a thumbs up whenever they noticed a presenter meeting one of the criteria. This simple form of peer feedback helped students stay engaged, recognize positive presentation skills, and encourage one another. We are very proud of the effort, cooperation, and confidence our students demonstrated throughout this activity. Well done, everyone!

We had an exciting Playdate with Rainforest, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students at the Gojo campus. Students from all four classes were mixed into different groups, giving them a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and work together. Our playdate began with a Scavenger Hunt. It was amazing to see how each group stayed together and cooperated to find the objects on their list. Students practiced their communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills as they searched around the campus. Everyone worked hard to complete the challenge. Finally, there was only one more item left to find, but time was up! Oh no! We couldn’t find the last object—a red mushroom. When all six groups gathered together to compare their lists, we discovered that every group was missing the same thing—the red mushroom! Was there really a red mushroom? We still don’t know! After the scavenger hunt, we visited the Grade 1 classroom and played Animal Charades. Milky Way students took turns acting out different animals while their friends guessed. There were lots of smiles and laughter as everyone joined in the fun. Next, we moved to the gym and enjoyed ABC Stretches, starting slowly and gradually speeding up. Students followed along enthusiastically and had a great time moving their bodies. Soon it was lunchtime. After washing our hands, Milky Way and Rainforest students enjoyed lunch together in the Sky room. Students happily ate the delicious meals prepared by their parents. Their smiling faces showed just how much they enjoyed every bite! After lunch, we headed back to the big school yard and played with the Elementary students. It was wonderful to see everyone playing together and building friendships across different grade levels. Before heading home, we helped the Grade 1 class clean their classroom. First, they showed us how to sweep the floor, mop the floor, and wipe the tables. Our students proudly helped by wiping the tables and taking part in keeping the classroom clean. Through this activity, students learned responsibility and the importance of helping others. Before leaving, we thanked our friends and the Elementary teachers for a wonderful day. Then, Rainforest and Milky Way students collected their backpacks, boarded the bus, and headed back to the Shimauchi and Minami campuses. Back in the campus, during our afternoon circle, we reflected on the exciting experiences we had throughout the day. Students eagerly shared their favorite moments and were ready to tell their families all about the fun adventures they enjoyed during the playdate. What a fantastic day filled with friendship, teamwork, learning, and fun!

Don’t miss our blog next week! We have many exciting events coming up, including swimming lessons, a special Father’s Day craft, Traffic Safety Education School, gym lesson, and tennis lesson. We can’t wait to share these wonderful experiences with you!

Please see the attached link for the songs we will be singing this month. We encourage families to enjoy singing along at home and celebrate our learning together.

Have a wonderful week ahead!