Welcome to Grade 3

 Another summer is almost over, and a new school year is about to begin this Thursday, August 19th! Please let me welcome all of the students and their families, whether new to DSKI or if you and your family have been a part of the school for as long as I've been here, or even longer as in the case of Sarang's family!

For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Lance Brabant and I am originally from a small town in Eastern Ontario between Ottawa and Montreal. However this is my 21st year in Japan, so I'm almost more Japanese than Canadian at this point! I speak English, French and Japanese and somehow after 20+ years, my French is still probably stronger than my Japanese (I guess that shows how important it is to learn a language when you're young!)

Well, that's enough about me!

For the start of the school year, please ensure that your child comes to school with the items listed in the Parents' Handbook that was sent earlier this month on August 2nd. Also, as many students may have the same items, please make sure their name is also on the items so that they can be returned to your child. For your convenience, here is the list:

1 pencil case
1 ruler
1 eraser
Writing pencils (no mechanical pencils)
1 set of coloured pencils
1 pencil sharpener
1 pair of scissors
1 set of coloured markers
1 glue stick
1 box of tissues
1 drink bottle (tea or water only)
Healthy snack

We have been busy preparing the classrooms and schedules for the new school year and I will share the updated class schedule and update the other links here on our class blog once they have been finalized in the coming days. 

Our weekly schedule at the moment is as follows:

Enjoy your last day of summer vacation! I am looking forward to seeing the students bright and early at our new start time, 8:30 this Thursday morning!

Introduction to DSKI by Grade 3 Class of 2020/2021

I hope the soon-to-be Grade 4 students have enjoyed their summer holidays and are looking forward to coming back to school to meet their new teacher, this Thursday, August 19th.  I will be teaching Grade 3 again this year and I look forward to many interactions with the Grade 4 students as we share units of inquiry between the two grades. It was truly an honour teaching these students for the past two years and I wish them all the best in Grade 4 and in life.

Our last unit of the year focussed on the Grade 3 students recording several videos as part of our drama and information writing unit. Over the summer, I have been busy editing several of the projects while looking after my own two children. Unfortunately, a couple of the projects are still "works in progress" as editing more than 100 separate video clips into several videos; along with adding and editing green screen special effects, has taken much more time than anticipated. 

I will continue to work on and edit these projects and will share the links with the students and families as soon as they are ready.

At the moment, I am proud to present a Tour of DSKI by the Grade 3 English language students as they wrote, and recorded their own introductions to the different parts of our school. 

Final Countdown!

 Well, this week has certainly flown by as we have been so busy trying to wrap up our final unit of the year! All 3 groups have been busy recording and re-recording their scenes for the 3 plays we've been working on for our drama unit. We still have some scenes to film next Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully, we won't have to shoot any on Wednesday! Once the filming is done, I'll be busy with the editing as I try to stitch everything together into 3 videos. Once complete, I will share the finished videos here on our blog sometime later this month.

Informative Writing Project Video (Coming Soon)

The final writing project for Grade 3 has been to write an informational text about our school. Most of the groups have finished recording their news report style videos and I will share it once all of the editing is complete. In the meantime, here are a couple shots of the students in action!

Grade 5/6 Exhibition 

We also visited the Grade 5/6 Exhibition this week. Their projects touched on many deep and important social issues such as poverty, homelessness, Women's Rights, Racism and Cyberbullying. The displays were quite impressive and some of the children may have further questions about some of these issues. To find out more about the topics and the exhibition, please check out the link here or on the school blog. It was a great opportunity for the students to see the types of projects that they will be working on in the future when they are in Grade 5 or 6.

Pack Up

As we will start packing up the students' belongings on Monday, please make sure that they have a large, sturdy bag to carry all of their belongings home in. 

Last Day Half Day

Please be aware that the last school day for the year is Wednesday, June 16th. This will be a half-day for students with school ending at 12:00. Students do not need to bring a lunch. Grades 3 & 4 will be having a small farewell party from 11:00 with snacks. Ms. Ramani and I will be providing some snacks for them.

Only 3 more days until the end of Grade 3!!!

SLCs and 3 Plays

 This week, the students worked hard to reflect on all of their learning and prepared to share their learning with their parents at the Student-Led Conferences. Thank you to all the parents for taking the time to listen to your children talk about what they have been doing in school this year, and for your amazing patience when trying to connect to the Zoom meeting. Once we got past all the initial technical problems, it seemed like the rest of the conferences went smoothly.

Aside from the SLCs, the students were busy working putting together 3 short plays. They organized themselves into 3 groups, sorted out their roles and responsibilities, and started to prepare a list of props, costumes, and backdrops. They may need to bring in some things such as clothes or props on Monday. We hope to shoot a scene each day next week.

Cross Country Run, SLC Prep and Basketball STOMP!

 After being rained out last week, we were finally able to hold the cross country running event this week. It was a great day for it on Wednesday as the weather was just slightly overcast and not too sunny or hot. 

We began with a nice picnic lunch followed by a bit of playtime at the park while preparations were being made by Mr. Waite.

Shortly after, it was time to start the races! The race start times were staggered a bit to avoid congestion and accidents. The grade 3 and 4 boys were the first out the gate, followed by the girls.

After giving them a few minutes head start, the Grade 5/6 girls went ahead and then the boys.

They were all wonderful risk-takers and so principled as everyone ran their best and completed the 1.5km run. A few kids were so principled, that they took the time to go above and beyond what was expected of them. One great example was Hirohito in grade 4, who demonstrated just how caring he is by stopping to help several of the students climb up a small wall, thus sacrificing what could have been a better finishing position. 

Another stand-out was Kanna, who after finishing in first place amongst the girls, ran back to help pick up the cones and other materials after the race.

Check out the highlights from the event in this video!

Well done everyone!

Student-Led Conferences

Aside from all of the drama and cross country running, the students have been busy preparing for the SLCs next week. Please remember to be online at your scheduled times and be ready to listen attentively to all that your child has to say about this past year in third grade. If you have yet to sign up, then please do so as soon as possible. You can verify your conference time in the chart below.

Basketball Stomp

The basketball group had the chance to re-shoot their STOMP! inspired video, this time with all of the members of the group. Please enjoy! 

Grade 3 Assembly Performance

As they've been busy working on expressing themselves during our current unit, more videos will be coming in the next few weeks. This month it was our turn to present to the school what we have been doing in grade 3 so our STOMP performance videos have been featured on the DSKI school blog. Great job grades 3 and 4!

More Drama and the Cross Country Event Rescheduled

Cross Country Running

As the weather did not cooperate this past week, we ended up having to reschedule the Cross Country Running event and picnic lunch to next week, once again on Wednesday, May 26th. So far, the forecast is calling for sunny skies so hopefully, it works out this time around! Please remind your child to pack all of the necessary things for the event.

Student-Led Conferences

Next week, the Grade 3 students will be preparing for their Student-Led Conferences which will be held the following week with their parents online via Zoom. Please see the link that was sent to you via email.

Sports Day Video

Grades 3 and 4 held their Sports Day competition during their PE lessons a couple weeks ago, to see all the highlights and excitement please watch this video from Mr. Waite.

Vocal Theatre

In our inquiry into drama, we inquired into three types of performances that require some acting with your voice: Readers' Theatre, Kamishibai, and Japanese stand-up comedy - Manzai! The students broke into their own groups and chose their own stories to tell! Some translated scripts, while others were focused on creating their own artwork, or modified stories to feature some of their favourite characters. I will try to share some videos of these next week. While you wait for the videos, please check out some photos of the students busy at work.

Measuring Area

In math, the students have been using their new knowledge of multiplication to help them calculate the surface area of different objects or places such as our classroom.

Videos of Stomp Performances from Last Week

As promised, here are the videos from the STOMP-inspired routines that the grades 3 and 4 students created last week. The basketball group has been waiting to reshoot their video so that it includes all 6 members, but student absences and rainy weather prevented that from happening this week. Hopefully, they will have the chance to record it again next week. In the meantime, please enjoy this version. I will update it when it is ready.

Cross Country Next Week

  Cross Country Event - Wednesday, May 20

Next Wednesday, the Grades 3 - 6 classes will have the Cross Country Running Event. We will depart school at 12:00 and have a picnic lunch on the Green Belt that runs around Rokko Island, then the students will compete by grade in cross country running races. For the event, please ensure that your child brings or wears appropriate clothes, sunscreen, a hat, lunch, water bottle, and a picnic sheet so that we can make sure that they are socially distanced while eating. 

STOMP the Class!

This week our focus for our drama unit was on creating musical theatre performances based on the musical performance group STOMP. The students have been working hard and I will share the videos of their performances here on the blog early next week. In the meantime, here are some shots of them as they worked on it.