End of Unit 2

 Over the last two weeks, we continued making connections between things from the past to those of today. Last week on Tuesday, we had a day where we went back in time- Old School Day 1922!

On this day, the students dressed formally (and so did Mr. Brabant!) They sat up very straight in their seats and would be punished by having to wear the dunce cap, sit in a squat position, or have their knuckles whacked with a stick by the teacher! (Many thought for sure that Mr Brabant would do that, or whack them on the bottom! As they had seem images of corporal punishment in some of the photos of school in the past!) Fortunately, those that did misbehave got off with a warning as Mr Brabant only whacked the table with the stick! But it did get their attention!

Ms Marie also came in a couple times and helped teach the class how to crochet. This proved to be quite fun for some but quite frustrating for others.

On Thursday, we went on a field trip to Minpaku- the National Museum of Ethnology. Thanks to help from Maria’s mom and Nako’s dad, it was a fun but busy day. We looked at many traditional artifacts from all around the world and answered some of the questions that the students had asked in this unit such as, ‘How did people in the past catch fish?’

This week was also quite eventful as several students were away for various reasons, but we still managed to complete our inquiry into life in the past by using what we know about how things have changed from the past to now to help them predict how something might change in the future. 

Students also worked on their reflections about this unit and started adding things from the unit to their Seesaw portfolios.

In PE, we kept working on our Karate moves, and have added a front stance, cat stance and punches. The students also started learning the first kata, Taikyoku Shodan! Let’s see how much they know in their final week next week!

Finally, in preparation for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony next Monday, the students made some cute ornaments out of play dough today!

School Then and Now

During unit this week, the students used research skills to look into how some everyday items have changed over time. It was an ICT heavy week as we learnt about how to use our Google Drive and the Google Slides App as well as search engines such as Kiddle and Google. An important skill that we learnt was how to copy and paste a photo from a website into a Google slideshow presentation. 

We also inquired into the second line of inquiry, schools then and now. We began by having the students share what they knew about school in the past, “The boys and girls were separated”, “They wore uniforms or had to dress in formal clothes”, and “No talking!” we’re some of their responses. Then we did a photo sort of pictures from schools today and from the past, and commented on some more differences that they noticed. “There were many students in the class.” “Today they use computers.” “They (students in the past) don’t look happy.” “The teacher is hitting the bad student’s butt with a stick!”

Over the weekend the student will be interviewing a parent or grandparent about what school was like when they were a child and will share with the class on Monday as our focus for next week will be schools in the past. 

Old School Day Next Tuesday 

On Tuesday, November 15th we will reenact a school day from the past! Students should wear formal clothes - dress shirts and pants for boys (jacket or vests optional) and dresses for the girls. They will also need a change of clothes for PE. 

On this day, we won’t be using any computers and will be doing a lot of learning by repetition and rote, and the teacher will be extra strict! Students better be on their best behavior!

Field Trip to Minpaku on Thursday

On November 17, we will be going to Minpaku - the National Museum of Ethnology in Suita. We will leave at 9am and plan on returning in time for Japanese class at 2:45. Please remember that your child will need a packed lunch as school lunch is cancelled for the day. We have researched an eating area indoors but if the weather is nice we might choose to eat outdoors in Bampaku park so please pack a picnic sheet. Students should also wear their school shirts.