富沢小学校 Tomilishブログ

Today, we learned about animals!

We started the lesson with a greeting game. The goal was to have wonderful smiles and good eye contact. Did we do a good job?







Then we warmed up by reviewing numbers



Daven sensei arrived in Sendai in August, so he doesn’t know much about the city yet.

The first grade students at Tomizawa Elementary School are going to Yagiyama Zoo this month, so they decided to teach him about what animals will be at the Zoo!

We played a silhouette and animal cry quiz.



Then, we played a Yes/No game where students moved a lot!

Last, we watched a fun video, "Let's Go To The Zoo," and reviewed animals. Then, Daven read a book about animals for us!





See you again!

At the start of July 1st grade students had their second English class of the year. In the previous class they had studied the numbers 1-10 and in this class they focused on colors.

We started class with two greeting games. First we did the `Silent Greeting Game` and then we did a normal greeting game. For both games the teachers gave a good and bad demonstration and asked the students to pick which was better.
"You had nice eye contact! It was the best!"

Then it was the students turn to greet each other.
Great smiles!

Next, we sang the `Hello Song`. We sang it two different times. First, we sang it together as a group.
"Hello! Hello! Hello, how are you?"

Then, the student got into pairs and sang it as a conversation.
"I`m good. I'm good. I'm good, thank you, and you?"

After that we sang the `10 steps song` that we had learned in the previous class.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!"

The teachers then talked to each other about the upcoming Tanabata Festival.
We also sang the star song `Twinkle, Twinkle` in English and the students picked out the words they knew such as `sky` and `diamond`.

Then everyone showed Ms. Emily about tanzaku which are used to write Tanabata wishes and come in many colors.
"I like yellow!"
"Here you are."
"Thank you!"

Ms. Emily introduced the colors by giving hints such as "Lemons. Bananas."
"黄色?"
"Yellow! Yes! Good job!"
Each color was introduced with hints in this way.

Next, after demonstrating, the teachers asked the students if they like each color.
"Do you like pink?"

The students answered "Yes!" or "No!" while doing gestures.
In later classes the students will learn to say "Yes, I do." and "No, I don't."

Next, we played the 色さがし game. Everyone had to listen to Ms. Emily and touch something of the color that she said.
"Touch something white."

"Touch something pink."

"Touch something blue."

Finally we read the book `Color Surprise` together.
It was a very fun class. Everyone enjoyed it very much!

Recently 1st grade students had their first English class of the year. In this class we focused on how to have good communication (eye contact etc.) as well as the numbers 1-10 and the question "How many?". 1st grade students had really been looking forward to English class so everyone had a lot of fun!

First, after greetings, we did a silent greeting game. We talked about how making eye contact and smiling is important to communication. The students had to greet each other without saying anything.
Good eye contact!

After the silent greeting game it was time to try anything, and this time the students could say "Hello!" and "See you!" to each other. As well as the main key words `eye conact` and `smile` we also added another important key word: `listen`. The students had to take care to listen to what the other person said to them.
Nice smile!

Good eye conact!

The teachers picked some students to give a good demonstration.
Everyone had to watch and think about the demonstrations good points.

After the greeting game, we sang the `Hello Song` as a class and in pairs.
"I'm good! I'm good! I'm good, thank you and you?"

Then, the teachers talked to each other and the students tried to catch some English words that they knew.
"Wow! You have many pencils! How many pencils?"
"How many? Let's count! 1, 2, 3..."

We practiced the pronunciation for the numbers 1-10 in English.
After practicing we sang the `10 Steps Song`.

Everyone enjoyed singing together.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!
8, 9, 10!
8, 9, 10!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!"

Next, we played the nakamatsukuri game. The teachers hit a tambourine. The students had to count together and make groups of that number.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Let's make groups of 5!!"

After everyone had made their groups we checked each group together by counting.
"1, 2, 3, 4!

"1, 2.."

Lastly, Ms. Emily read the book `Spot Can Count`.
"Look! It's a horse! How many horses?"
"1!"
"That's right!"

We counted all the animals together.
"How many cows?"
"10!"
"Let's count! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! 10 cows!"

The students enjoyed listening to the story and counting together.

Lastly the students reflected on the class. They talked about what they learned in the class as well as what they want to study during English class in the future.
"I want to study the seasons in English!"

Good job 1st grade students!

First grade students just had their tenth and last English class of this school year. In this class we reviewed all the English that we have studied so far with games and activities.

We started class with our usual greeting game. Today we practiced using the phrase "Do you like~?", too.
"Ms. Emily, how are you?"
"I'm happy!"

After watching the teachers' demonstration the students tried to greet many friends.
"Hello!"

"How are you?"

"Do you like snakes?"

"No, I don't!"

"See you!"

After the greeting game, everyone listened to the teachers' conversation and tried to pick out words that they understood.
"Do you know him?"
"Yes, I do! He is the Olympic Champion. He got a gold medal."

We used this as a chance to introduce three new colors : gold, silver and bronze.
Many students knew the words `gold` and `silver` but the word `bronze` was new to almost everyone. Even the words `gold` and `silver` were pronounced differently than in Japanese so the students were surprised.

After learning these new colors we asked the students what other colors they remembered learning in English this year.
While practicing the colors we also practiced numbers, too. "How many colors?"
"1, 2, 3, 4! 4 colors!"

After we had displayed all the colors we practiced counting them together.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..."

Then, we sang the `10 Steps Song`. After singing it once we replaced some of the numbers with actions. "Let's clap instead of singing number 3!"
"1, 2, ..., 4, 5, 6, 7!"

Next, we used the colors and numbers to play the irosagashi game. The teachers demonstrated at first.
"Touch two yellow things!"
"Okay! 1.....2!"

The students had to listen carefully to both the color and the number.
"Touch seven pink things!"
"Seven?! Let's look!"

After that we did the `3 Hint Animal Quiz`.
"1. Brown
2. Jump
3. Australia"
"Kangaroo?"
"Yes!"

Then we did another animal activity. We sang and danced to `Let's Go To The Zoo!` DVD by Super Simple Songs.
"Let's go to the zoo and slither like snakes do!"

Next, we played the `Please Game`. Everyone had to listen carefully to Ms. Emily and only do what she said when she used the word `please`.
"Touch your shoulders, please!"

"Touch your mouth, please!"
"Touch your nose!"
"She didn`t say please! Don't move!"

Our last activity in the class was to read the picture book `Spot Goes to the Farm`.
It's a book with a lot of animal sounds in it which was fun for the students.

"Neigh! Neigh! What animal is this?"
"Sheep?"
"Cow?"
"Horse?"
"Let's look. It's a horse!"

The students enjoyed guessing which animals were making the sounds.

Finally we ended class with the students reflecting on what they studied this year and what they want to study in 2nd grade next year.
"I learned a lot of words for colors this year."

Good job first grade students! Let's enjoy English next year, too!

Recently, 1st grade students had their ninth English class of the school year. The topic was Fukuwarai. The students had already studied the English for body parts and giving directions (up, down, left, right) in their last two English classes.

We started class with our usual greetings.
"How is the weather today?"
"It's sunny!"
"Sunny?"
"No!!!"

After greetings we did the greeting game.
Nice eye contact!

Good gestures!

Next, we sang the `Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes` song.
It got very very fast! It was so fun!

Then we did the`Please Game`. Everyone listened to what Ms. Emily said and followed her directions if she used the word `please`.
"Touch your mouth, please!"
"Touch your ears!"

"No one moved!! Good job!"
"Yeay!"

After that we did the `Up, Down` game. Everyone had to follow Ms. Emily's directions. Sometimes she did the opposite action to confuse everyone.
"Down! Down!"

Then, the teachers did Teacher Talk. The students had to listen and try to pick out the English words that they knew.
"She said `fukuwarai`."
"She said `family`."
"She said `Christmas`."
Ms. Emily did fukuwarai with her family during Christmas in winter vacation.

Next, the teachers used some students to do a demonstration about hot to do fukuwarai in groups.
"Let's watch!"

Then, it was time for everyone to try.
"Nose! Nose!"

"Up! Up!"

Doing fukuwarai was so fun!

Everyone used their own handkerchiefs behind the eye masks.

Around half the students could do fukuwarai in this class. The rest of the students will do it in the next English class.

"Let's all tidy up."
Nice eye contact!

For our reading time at the end of the class, we read the digital version of this book.
The 3rd grade students are also studying this book now. We turned off the sound on the digital version and Ms. Emily read it in a simple way for the students.

The story is about a dog who plays hide and seek with many animals.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5...."

Everyone counted together

We could see the body parts of many animals. The students guessed what kind of animals they were.
"Whose toes are these?"
"Bird!"

Everyone celebrated when they guessed correctly.
"Yes! I was right!!"

Lastly, the students talked about what they had learned and what they want to study in English class in the future.
"I want to study more about animals."

Good job 1st grade students!

On December 6th, we had our open school event (公開研究会). Close to 500 people from all over Japan came to watch our classes. Thank you for coming! Thank you to everyone who helped with the preparations and smooth running of the event, too.

The 1st grade students had their eighth English class of the year. The topic was "Do you like Fukuwarai?". The students had already studied the English for body parts in the previous class. You can see that lesson here:
Hour 7

The class started with the usual greetings between the teachers and the students.
"Hello everyone!"

After that we did the greeting game. Everyone walked around and greeted many different people.
"How are you?"

"Good gestures!"

After greeting, everyone was excited to start the class.
"This line is very good! You are sitting nicely!"

First we sang the song `Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes`.
"Let's sing together!"

The song slowly got faster and faster.
It was very fun to sing!

Next, we played the `Please Game`. The students had to listen very carefully and only touch the body parts if Ms. Emily used the word `please`.
"Touch your mouth, please."

"Touch your ears, please."
"Touch your mouth!"
Ms. Emily didn't say please!! Did anyone move?

After the game, the teachers did `Teacher Talk`. Mr. Ryuta asked Ms. Emily if she liked many different kinds of Japanese New Year games.
"Do you like kites?" "Yes, I do!"

"Do you like karuta?"
"No, I don't. The kanji is difficult!"

"Do you like fukuwarai?"
"I don`t know. What's fukuwarai?"
"Ms. Emily doesn't know! Let's teach her!"

The students showed Ms. Emily how to do it.
The other students shouted instructions in Japanese.

"Wow! That looks fun!"
"I want to try! I want to try!"

Ms. Emily couldn't understand the Japanese instructions.
"We have to say them in English!"

After practicing the English words everyone tried very hard to give Ms. Emily instructions in English.
"Up! Up!"

"What's this?"
"Ear!"
"Thank you!"
"Right! Right! Stop!"

"You can do it, Ms. Emily!"
The students were very helpful! Thanks to them, Ms. Emily could do fukuwarai!

We used the new English we had learned to play the `Up, Down Game`.
The students had to listen to Ms. Emily's instructions and do what she said. "Down!"

Then, we read a book together.
The students really enjoy reading English picture books.

We read the book `What's in the Witch`s Kitchen?` by Nick Sharratt.
It's a lift-the-flaps picture book.

You could chose to open the flaps up or down, and left or right. You would either get something nice or something nasty.
If you open this flap down, it was a skeleton.

If you open it up, it was canned food.
The students thought hard about what direction to chose.

"What should we chose? Left? Right?"
"Right! Right!"

Lastly, the students gave their reactions to what they learned in the class and what they want to study in the future.
"I learned how to say `right` and `left`!"

Good job 1st grade! What a fun class!

1st grade students have started to study about body parts. As always, the students were very happy and excited to learn English.

We started class by confirming our `key words`. We asked the students to tell us what was important when speaking English.
"Eye contact!" "Smile!" "Listen!"

After that we had our usual greeting games. First we do `Silent Greeting`.
The students try hard to make eye contact and smile in order to greet each other without speaking. It's important to remember that you can communicate with no words!

Next, we have our normal greeting. The students walk around and ask each other, "How are you?".
"Hello! Hello!"
The students try hard to approach other people.

"How are you?"
"I'm happy!!"

After the greeting game the students watched while the teachers spoke to each other. The students had to listen and look at the teachers' gestures and pictures to guess what they were talking about.
Ms. Takaku was surprised because she saw a snake swimming at the zoo. Snakes don't have arms or legs but they can swim! It was shocking!

Next, we had an animal quiz.
"Whose nose is this?"
"Elephant! Elephant!"

After listening to the teachers talk and doing the quiz the students realised that we would be studying about body parts!
Everyone practiced saying the body parts in English with Ms. Emily. Everyone touched those parts as they said them.
"Head!"

Next, we sang the song `Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes`. The first time everyone just listened while doing gestures. The second time everyone sang, too. On the third time we did a special version that got faster every time! It was very fun!
"Head, shoulders, knees and toes!"

Next, we played the `Please Game`. It's like `Simon Says`. If Ms. Emily used the word `please` everyone did the gesture, if she didn't say `please` they did nothing.
"Touch your shoulders!"
"No! She didn't say please! Don't move!!"

Lastly, we read the book `Go Away, Big Green Monster!` by Ed Emberley.
It was a great way to practice the different parts of the face.

"What's this?"
"Eyes!"
"Yes! Two yellow eyes!"

Good job 1st grade students! What a fun class!

1st grade students have been continuing to study about animals in English. In their last English class they studied about animal names before visiting the zoo on their school trip. In this class we focused on animal sounds.

First after our usual greeting game, we sang the song "Let's go to the zoo!". In the previous class we had watched a video but this time we only listened to the music and shouted out what animal names we heard. The teachers put those animals pictures on the blackboard.

Next, it was time for Teacher Talk. In the last class we read the book `Dear Zoo`. "Do you remember what animal was at the end of the book?"
"Dog!"
"That's right! It was a pet dog. Actually I have a pet dog! His name is Ran. Ms. Emily, do you have a dog?"

"Yes, I do!"
"Her name is Kirsty."
"So cute!"
"Maybe our dogs can be friends!"

Ran tried to talk to Kirsty.
"わんわん！"
"Oh no! She doesn't understand. She doesn't speak Japanese."
"Oh, what do dogs say in English?"
"They say `Bow wow!`."

Ran tried again.
"Bow wow!"
"Bow wow!"
The two dogs became friends!
After watching this, we asked the students to explain to us what happened. The students realised Japanese and English dog sounds are different. They began to wonder what other animal sounds are different.

We used a magic pen poster. When you point the pen at the poster you can hear many English animal sounds! We gave the students a quiz.
"What animal makes this sound?"

It was very interesting! We learned about many different animal sounds.
Everyone tried hard to guess!
"Maybe it's a horse?"

Lastly, we read the book "Brown bear, brown bear". There were many different animals in the book whose sounds we had studied. We also used it as a good chance to review colors.
"Look, it's a duck!"
"Is it a red duck?"
"No!"
"What color is it?"
"Yellow!!"
"What sound do ducks make?"
"Quack quack!"

"What sound do dogs make?"
Everyone tried to say the sounds together.
"Bow wow!"

Good job everyone!

Last week the 1st grade students visited the zoo. Before their trip we studied the names of animals in English class. As well as the homeroom teachers both Ms. Emily and Ms. Yune helped to teacher the class. Ms. Yune is very good at English!

We started the class with our greeting game.
"Hello! How are you?"
The greeting game helps us to get excited for English class.

Next, we sang the `Hello Song`. First, we sang together facing the front of the room.
Nice gestures!

After that we sang in pairs. First the students on the window side of the room sang.
"Hello! Hello! Hello, how are you?"
Then the students on the corridor side answered.
"I'm good. I'm good. I'm good, thank you, and you?"

Good smile!

We practiced the number song. Ms. Yune showed us the numbers out of order. It made it more difficult.
"What's this?"
"It's 9!"

"Let's jump on number 3!"
Jump!

After the songs it was time for `Teacher Talk`. Ms. Yune and Ms. Emily talked about the 1st grade students visiting the zoo. Ms. Emily went to the zoo with last year's 1st grade students. She saw many animals.
Look! She is counting the animals at the zoo with students last year.

She mentioned many different animals that she saw. The students told Ms. Yune what animal names they had heard.
Everyone practiced the English animal names together.
"Lions!"

The teachers also asked whether or not the students liked those animals.
"Do you like snakes?"

The students answered with gestures. They tried their best to say "Yes, I do." or "No, I don`t." as well.
Great gestures everyone!

Then we all listened to the song "Let's go to the zoo." from Super Simple Learning. First we watched the song once and tried to remember what animals appeared in the song.
The characters in the video acted like animals, too.

After listening once, we listened to the song again and this time we did the gestures, too. The students also tried to say the animal names and shout "Let's go!" as well.
"Let's go to the zoo and slither like snakes do!"

"Let's go to the zoo and swim like polar bears do!"

Singing and dancing was so much fun! The class finished with a book. Most classes had the book `Dear Zoo` by Rod Campbell. Class 1-3 had already read the book during Monday morning reading time so they read `Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?` by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle.
Ms. Emily asked many questions. "What color is this?" "What animal is this?" "How many monkeys?"

It was a very fun class! Everyone decided to say "Let's go to the zoo!" when they went on their zoo trip.

1st Grade students have all had their 3rd English class of the year. In the first class we studied numbers 1-10 and in the second class we learned colors. Those two classes were before summer vacation so for the 3rd class we reviewed both colors and numbers.

We started the class with the silent greeting game.
"Let's make eye contact and smile!"
Good job!

Next, we did the normal greeting game.
"Hello! See you!"
It's so much fun!

After the greeting games it's time for songs. 1st grade students and teachers love to sing and dance. We sang the `Hello Song`.
Even teachers watching the class joined in, too.

After that we sang the `10 steps song`.
The students like replacing the numbers with gestures.

"Let's jump on number 3!"
JUMP!

After the songs the teachers talked about their summer vacation.
"I went to the swimming pool many times."
"How many times?"
"4!"
"Wow!"
"How about you?"
"0!"
"Oh no!"
Then the teachers asked the students how many times they had been to the pool in summer vacation. It was a good way to review numbers.
"How many times?"
"5!"
"Nice! Sit down!"

After that, the teachers showed some spiral paintings that the students had drawn. "What's this? Who painted this?"
"That's my painting!! I painted that!!"

We used the paintings to review colors.
"What color is this?"
"Orange!"
We also used the paintings to learn some new colors such as navy, lemon yellow and light green.

Then we played the Irosagashi game. This time we had to listen for the color and the number.
"Touch 3 red things!"
"Ms. Yune's nametag lanyard is red!! 1!"

"Touch 2 navy things!"
"Your t-shirt is navy!"

"Touch 4 light green things!"
"The couch is light green!"

Lastly we read the "Where is Spot?" picture book. It was very interesting. Ms. Emily asked many questions. "What color is this chair?"
"Light green!"
"That's right! Good job!"

Well done everyone!