Fun Finding Fossilized Features and Sleepover

 This was one of the funnest weeks of the year as we inquired into how scientists know what extinct creatures like the dinosaurs looked like by comparing traits from their fossils with those of animals that exist today. 

We also had a chance to login and checkout our new set of iPads for lower primary! Once logged in, we worked on a Seesaw assignment digging up fossils and sorted the images according to their traits which let us know if they were land or sea creatures.

Now that Sports Day is over we began a new unit in PE as we move on from athletics to ball sports and games. This week we began with my personal favourite, basketball! We practiced some basic dribbling, passing and shooting skills and will do a little bit more before moving on to another sport, maybe rugby, badminton, or maybe hockey!

No doubt the highlight of the week was last night’s Sleepover! Although I don’t know if I can call it a sleepover, as some of us barely slept! The last few to sleep in Grade 2 finally fell asleep around 2:30 - 3:00 and most were awake shortly after 5:00! The students helped prepare salad by chopping veggies and then enjoyed some games such as flashlight tag and hide and seek in the dark school! After all the excitement we got ready for bed and turned the lights out at 10:00. A couple students fell asleep very quickly, but for others the excitement of being with their classmates kept them awake for quite some time!

In the morning, they played some games, did some reading and a few even did the math work that I asked them to do when they woke up! They packed up their things then helped return the tables and chairs so we could enjoy breakfast together, then played some more in the room and out on the playground. 

Today was also Koichi’s last day and we had a little farewell party for him before saying goodbye. We wish him well in his next adventure and hope that he will come back to visit someday.

Museum of Natural History and Sports Day

 This was an extra special week for grade 2 as we had not one, but two special events with a field trip on Wednesday to the Osaka Museum of Natural History and Sports Day on Friday. 

This week in UNIT, we turned our attention to how scientists find out some information about extinctions of the past. We looked into how they research fossils in the fossil record, and we had the chance to visit Osaka Museum of Natural History to see some fossils up close.

It was a fun day filled with interesting events, such as me fishing a shoe out of the pond and seeing up close how one animal can prey upon another, as a crow found another bird to have for its meal. While we were in the museum, the students enjoyed looking at the special exhibit of art, checking out the different life drawings from plants and animals that people used to study by drawing the different species and marking down details about them. The students also had a chance to copy some of the drawings that they found interesting, and then after that, we went to the main exhibit to visit the fossils of dinosaurs, mammoths, and other extinct creatures. The students also took their notepapers to draw and sketch some of the various fossils, and some put a lot of effort into it and did a great job with their drawings. It was a great day. Thank you very much for Gabrielle, Eric, and Max’s moms for joining us on the trip.

Then on Friday, we had another big event with our annual sports day. It was a great day with nice weather, and everyone tried their best. We were all real risk-takers at the various events. I’m sure everyone will have a great rest over the weekend. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take many photos today, but trust that parents were able to get many of their own children.

Coming up next week, we also have a few more special events. On Monday, Lower Primary will attend the dress rehearsal performance of the Aladdin show on Monday morning, and then later in the week on Thursday, we will have our Lower Primary sleepover with preschool grade 1 and grade 2 students sleeping over at school. We’ll look forward to some fun events such as some hide-and-seek in the school, a nice dinner with pizza and some salad, and some fun activities in the classes before bed. The next morning we’ll start very early indeed, and we’ll begin the morning with some breakfast and a little bit of play before morning sessions begin. The school day on Friday will finish at 10:15 a.m. Please remember to pick up your child if you are unable to; then students will stay a bit longer. Looking forward to another great week next week before the Golden Week holiday coming up the following week. I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

Maybe I’ll see some of you at the Hyogo Storks basketball game tomorrow.