CLCIn this Term, CLC students learned about Japanese New Years and Family. Students were enthusiastic to sing the Zodiac Animal song and Family song in Japanese. They also worked hard to say higher numbers (21-99) to say the age of their family members. YYLCYYLC students explored the following two topics in this Term: Japanese New Years celebrations and Sports. For Japanese New Years learning, students investigated how people in Japan celebrate new years with special decorations and food. For Sports topic, students learned about popular sports and traditional sports in Japan such as Sumo.
PLCPLC students are off to a wonderful start in their first year of learning Japanese. In the past few weeks, students learned greetings in Japanese: こんにちは (Konnichiwa: Hello) and さようなら (Sayounara: Goodbye). To get familiar with Japanese writing, students traced Japanese letters with playdough and did a great job! Two videos below are the Japanese greeting songs we have been practicing in class. SLCSLC students have settled in amazingly. We have started the year by jumping into our Japanese new year unit, learning about the year of the dragon. As a whole learning community project, we made a dragon wall art with their traced hands and names with Japanese writings.
PLC In this term, PLC students are learning to count up to 10 and also read 1-10 in Japanese writing. Students also leant how to say their age in Japanese. They all excited to turn Roku Sai (6 years old) and Nana sai (7 years old). SLC SLC students have been exploring the topic of nature in Term 4. Students have learned five nature terms in kanji characters. Kanji characters and calligraphy were introduced by Chinese people in the old days. Students practiced making shapes of kanji characters using playdough and Japanese calligraphy pen called Fudepen. CLC The topic CLC students are learning is Transport. Students have learnt eight transport terms in Japanese with memory clues. Every week students are investigating into unique Japanese transport systems such as multi-level underground bike parking, and anime themed public transport. YYLC The topic YYLC students are learning this Term is Weather Forecast. YYLC students have learnt six new vocabularies for telling the weather. In this unit, students are developing their language skills of composing sentences using future tense in Japanese. As a summary of this unit, students researched the weather tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in Melbourne, Tokyo and another city of their choice. It was interesting comparing the weather and temperatures across these three cities. In Term 3 Japanese, YYLC students explored the Japanese food culture including eating manners and cooking techniques.
At the end of the Term, students made Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls) with Japanese rice, seaweed and salt. Students enjoyed the Japanese cooking lesson!
YYLC In Term 3, YYLC students are learning about Japanese food culture including eating manners and cooking techniques. Last week, students explored the history of chopsticks, different styles of chopsticks and how to use them correctly. CLC In Week 1 and 2, students have learned about Furoshiki wrapping cloth. Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese fabric which has existed in Japan for over 1200 years. Students explored the history of Furoshiki, and how to use them. Since Furoshiki is reusable, we discussed about being eco-friendly and reducing paper wrapping waste. SLC In Week 1 and 2, students have explored Tanabata which is a Star Festival and celebrated every year on July 7. Tanabata is based on a Chinese legend. It celebrates the meeting of two stars which are usually separated by the Milky Way. Students learned how people celebrate the festival throughout Japan. As a Tanabata decoration, students wrote their wishes on strips of paper. PLC
As a part of the 100 Days of School celebration, students have been practicing to say "やったー! (Yatta~!)" which means "Hooray" in Japanese. Students are very excited when saying "やったー! Yatta~!" and ready for the 100 Days of School next week. PLC students have been exploring a variety of language learning opportunities on the topic of body parts. Students have been practicing two songs during Japanese class: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Japanese. In Term 3, we are looking forward to performing these two songs at assembly. The topic SLC students are exploring is Sea Animals. Students learnt the names of 6 animals and have been practicing to describe these animals in Japanese. Students have been practicing to sing and dance a song called Ebi Kani Dance. CLC students have been practicing to ask questions and respond in Japanese. For the speaking practice, students have been enjoying working in a pair to ask a question and answer to the question in Japanese. Students are incredibly excited to be experimenting with asking questions in Japanese! The topic YYLC students are covering this Term is on taking a ‘Virtual Trip to Japan’.
Students did some research about three Japanese cities in Term 1 as a cultural learning, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo. In this Term, students learnt how to make past tense sentences to say which city they went in Japanese. In the last a few weeks, students have been creating a virtual photo album that shows students went to Japan virtually. PLC students have worked hard to remember five key words in Japanese throughout the Term. As a summary of the unit, each student demonstrated their speaking skills by saying Konnichiwa (Hello) and Sayounara (Goodbye) with a bow, and counting Ichi (One), Ni (Two) and San (Three). As a part of cultural learning, students were introduced to a Japanese folktale called 'The Rolling Rice Ball'. After watching the video of the Japanese folktale, students shared their favourite parts of the story, and talked about the cultural aspects they found. SLC students have learned about Sakura (Cherry blossom) and developed their appreciation towards the fragility and beauty of the nature. In this unit, students investigated the relationship between Sakura and the Japanese culture. Firstly, students explored the Japanese Flower Viewing culture called Hanami. Then, students read the Japanese children's book called Sakura's Cherry Blossom to enrich their understanding about Sakura and the Japanese culture. As a summary of the unit, all SLC students contributed to make a big Sakura tree in the learning community. I hope this Sakura tree reminds students to continue doing their best. CLC students have worked hard to be able to introduce themselves in Japanese. As a summary of the unit, students did a roleplay with their partners using self-introduction sentences in Japanese. It was amazing to see that everyone joined in this activity and performed well. Students also practiced writing their names in various ways such as creating Japanese name tags for their lockers and self-portrait posters. At the end of the term, students explored the Setsubun which is a bean throwing festival to get rid of a bad luck and welcome a good luck for the household. Students made the Oni display as a part of the Setsubun celebration. YYLC explored the map of Japan, learned about the three major Japanese cities: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Students worked in a pair to do some research about these cities and found places they would like to visit one day! Next term, students will begin learning the language needed to say where they will go and what activities they will do on their 'virtual trip' to Japan.
PLC students have learnt a lot about Japan and Japanese language in the past 7 weeks. Students have been building their communication skills with respectful Japanese manners, and developing their intercultural understanding. In every lesson, we practice how to say Konnichiwa (Hello) and Sayounara (Goodbye) with a bow, and count Ichi (One), Ni (Two) and San (Three). I am very proud of the preppies adjusting to the new learning environment and showing great enthusiasm finding out about Japan and Japanese language. SLC students started a new unit focusing on positivity for the last 3 weeks.
In this unit, students explored the power of using Positive Self-Talk. Students learnt the six positive Japanese words and are encouraged to use them anytime, anywhere. Students made the colourful band with a choice of Positive Japanese words and placed it on their school bag to take home. I hope your child has shared with you and family what they wrote in the band. Another new thing students are learning is to sing "If you are happy and you know it" in Japanese. I cannot wait to share their beautiful singing in Japanese once they learn the whole song! |