Today was a special day for the 3rd grade GATE students! Makiko Jones (3rd grader, Ken's mom) and her two friends, Akemi Suzuki and Nami Hamai visited our class this morning. These ladies were so interesting! Last week our 3rd graders wrote a list of questions that they wanted to know about Japan. I sent these to Mrs. Jones in an email. Today, she addressed each of the questions for the students.
Our students wanted to know about the popular sports in Japan (Sumo wrestling and baseball). They also wanted to know about Japanese food and if they use chopsticks (the answer is yes!). She also shared with the students that traditional houses in Japan are wooden, but there are also apartments made of concrete and steel. She brought yen, Japanese money, for the students to see. The students asked questions about the language, schools, government, time zones, travel, and holidays. Mrs. Jones and her son, Ken, answered all of our questions...and more!
Akemi Suzuki is a certified Kimono master. She studied a year and a half to become a Kimono Master! She and Nami let EVERY student (and me!) try on a Kimono if they wanted. It was an exciting morning with lots of great pictures!
Our essential concept this year is Celebrating our Differences...meaning that we all are different in some aspect and together we can learn to appreciate our similarities and our differences while learning more about other places in the world making us more accepting of others. I am so appreciative of these three sweet ladies who gave their morning to my students. I know that we will always remember all the things we learned about Japan today. Thank you, sweet Japanese friends!
Mrs. Lakur Yu, our AES Chinese Enrichment teacher, will be speaking to 4th graders soon. Our 3rd graders will be creating "Paper Blogs" about Japan to share with 4th graders and the 4th graders will create "Paper Blogs" about China to share with 3rd graders. Students will learn the basic of "blogging" safely, learn to be responsible "digital citizens" learning to post comments, and the best part...learn about China and Japan!
Please enjoy this slideshow of our 3rd graders!
