Hello Aurora families!

We have had another great week at ISN!
ISN長野キャンパスAuroraクラスの保護者の皆様こんにちは！

Spring has come to Nagano, that is for sure! We have been very lucky this week, and had the chance to play outside every single day! Most of the time was just spent playing with our classmates in Aurora, but a couple of times we were able to play with our friends in Rainbow too! When we played with the younger students, it was amazing to see how mature and helpful Aurora has become this year, helping and guiding their friends as they played alongside them. Popular activities outside included playing in the sandpit, climbing on the playground, chasing/being chased by teachers, and playing soccer with our rubber balls. Hopefully the warm and sunny weather continues, so we can continue exercising outside every day!
もう春が来たようです！お天気も良く毎日外で遊ぶ時間がとれました。Rainbowさんと一緒の時間には、小さいお友達が遊ぶのを手伝ってあげるAuroraさんの大きく成長した姿を見ることができました。砂遊び、遊具遊び、鬼ごっこ、ボール遊び、この天気が続いて来週も外で遊ぶ時間が多くとれますように！

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Our main activity this week was another fun music lesson. We started off by using flashcards of the Do, Re and Mi sounds, recognizing them by sight. After that, we walked around the classroom, accompanied by our teacher’s piano playing. When she stopped playing, we had to freeze, face the front, and state which flashcard she was holding up. Next, we practised playing on the castanets. Our teacher would play a specific pattern, and we had to first listen to the pattern, and then repeat it back using our castanets. We practised a 1-2-3 rhythm, as well as a beat with a long pause, and then several rapid sounds one after the other. Finally, we got out our pianicas, taking them out of their cases by ourselves, and setting up the hoses. Once we had done this, we practised making the Do note several times, and then limiting it to only playing it three times before stopping. We repeated the same using the Re note. For both of these, we made sure to use the correct hand placement, using our dominant hand’s thumb for Do, and our dominant hand’s index finger for Re. Students are already able to remember which keys on the pianicas are Do and Re, well done!
ミュージックでは、今週もドレミの音を目で確認できるカードの練習から始めました。先生のピアノに合わせて動き、音が消えるととまり、先生が出したカードの音を答える活動では、すぐにドレミで答えることができます。次はカスタネットで、リズムの真似っこです。先生が叩くリズムを真似して同じように叩きます。何回かの挑戦の末、みんな揃って上手な真似っこができました。次のピアニカでは、ドとレの音を、手の形に気をつけながら、そして呼気の入れ方を工夫しながら弾く練習をしました。ほとんどの子は「ド」の場所を覚えてしまいました！これからどんどん上手になっていきましょう！よろしければ、おうちでも練習してみてくださいね。

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Thank you everyone, and see you again next time!
ここまでお読みいただきありがとうございました。また来週元気なみんなに会えますように！みなさま、良い週末を！