Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Reindeer Art


These cute little reindeer are visiting our class right now!  Thanks to the generosity and artistic talent of Mr. Terry Morrow, 4th grade group 1 had the opportunity to have a painting class where he taught us how to paint a reindeer. I love how the personalities of the kids really came out even though they all had the same directions!  

We are fortunate that Courtney will share her grandfather with our class!

Please enjoy this slideshow of this class painting their version of a Christmas reindeer!  
Click below to view.



Origami Class


Monday, December 8th was another great day in GATE!  Our special friends came back to class to share more about their country of Japan.  Makiko, Nami, Sanae, and Akemi shared with students the secrets to folding paper into beautiful shapes.

Our 3rd grade GATE students folded Santa Stars, Wreaths, and Candy Canes just in time for the holidays.  Students were engaged with this hands on listening and learning lesson to create such beautiful ornaments.  They were so excited to take them home the same day to share with their families.  I hope each of these ornaments will find a special place on each Christmas tree and will be a wonderful reminder of these ladies and our GATE class.

The picture at the top of the post is showcasing our Santa Stars!  The photo below shows our colorful wreaths.


Akemi Suzuki is an official Kimono Master. She studied for 18 months to become a Kimono Master.  She brought a beautiful Japanese Kimono for me to wear in class on Monday.  There is a specific process to putting on a Kimono.  She even brought the special socks to wear with sandals and brought beautiful gold sandals and a purse, too!  Thank you, Akemi, for bringing your kimono to class. I loved it!


Please enjoy this slideshow of our 3rd grade GATE students making origami ornaments.  Click below to play the video.







Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Sushi, anyone? Yes, please!


We rolled SUSHI in GATE today!  Thanks to some generous, talented ladies, our GATE 4th graders had the rare opportunity to learn about sushi and roll their own in class!  Mrs. Makiko Jones (Ken's mom), Nami Hamai (Yukina's mom), Sanae Mikawa, and Sache Yoneyama presented information about the popular Japanese food and how to make it.


Sushi means "vinegar rice."  The ladies shared that sushi was usually served for special occasions like holidays, weddings, or other special occasions.  Many different foods can be used in preparing sushi:  rice, seaweed, vegetables, fish, seafood, and even foods like BBQ!  We made traditional sushi (Nori seaweed on the outside) and we also made "inside out" sushi (rice on the outside, Nori on the inside).  Students could choose to use crabmeat, cucumbers, and eggs if they wanted to use those for their fillings.

Students also learned how to use chopsticks!  Mrs. Jones works Toke Sushi & Thai Grill in Guntersville (1906 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville, AL).  Toke provided each student with his/her very own chopsticks.  Thank you to the restaurant for supporting this lesson!  We learned that sushi can be eaten with chopsticks or with your fingers.  Students used a bamboo mat to roll their sushi.


Enjoy this slideshow of the students being "Sushi Chefs" today in GATE!  Also, a huge thanks to the sweet ladies who spent their morning with us!