富沢小学校 Tomilishブログ

2nd grade students visited the Umi no Mori Aquarium earlier this month so for their second English class of the year we studied about the different animals that they saw there.

Before doing the greeting game the teachers and some of the students did a demonstration.
"Hello!"

Everyone tried to make eye contact and smile.
Nice eye contact!

Good gestures!

After the greeting game we sang the `Hello Song` first as a class and then in pairs.
"Hello! Hello! Hello, how are you?"

Next the teachers talked together and the students listened to what they said.
"Look at this picture. We went to the aquarium last week."
"Oh nice!"
"Have you ever been to the Umi no Mori Aquarium?"
"No, I haven't. What animals are there at the aquarium?"
"Everyone! Let's tell Ms. Emily about the different animals."

The teachers showed pictures that they took during the aquarium visit.
The students recognised the animals and said their names in Japanese. Then, Ms. Emily taught their English names as well as a gesture for each animal.

The students enjoyed practicing the animal names while doing the gestures.
"Sea lions!"

"Alligators!"

They studied 11 animals in total.
Then we asked the students if they liked or disliked each of the animals.

"Do you like sharks?"
"Yes, I do!" "No, I don`t!"

After that we played the `Nemo Game`. The students swam around in a circle while the music played.
When the music stopped they had to listen to Ms. Emily and do the gesture of the animal she said.

Can you tell what animal she said?
"Penguins!"

"Jellyfish!"

Everyone had to listen very carefully because if she said `sharks` they had to hide like Nemo.
"Sharks!"

"Let's hide!"

The students who were caught by the shark could help to choose the next animal.
"Let's say `Frogs` next!"

Lastly we read the book `Curious George goes to the Aquarium`. The book was very small so we used to projector so everyone could see the book more easily.
"Crabs!"

The students really enjoyed listening to the story!
Good job everyone!

Early this month 2nd grade students had their first English class for the year. In this class they reviewed what they studied as 1st grade students.

We started class with our usual greeting game.
"Hello!"

"How are you?"

"I'm good!"

Next, we reviewed the English for zoo animals that we studied last year. Ms. Emily gave a 3 hint quiz for each animal.
"It's big!"

After the students had guessed the right animal we counted the animals together.
"How many penguins?"
"1...2...3..."

Then we sang the song "Let's Go to the Zoo!" by Super Simple Songs while watching the DVD. Everyone sang and danced together.
"Let's go!"

Can you tell what animal they are being?
Snakes!

Finally we read the book `Brown Bear, Brown Bear` to practice animals and colors.
"What color is it?"
"Yellow!!"
"That's right!"

It was a fun class! Everyone is looking forward to the next one!

Every Monday morning we have reading time. Ms. Emily, Ms. Mayumi and Ms. Keiko often go to class to read English books for everyone.

Recently, Ms. Emily read to class 2-4. She read the book `Little Owl Lost` by Chris Haughton.
It's about an owl who falls out of his nest and has to search for his mother. The other animals listen to his description of his mother and try to find her.

"My mother has big ears."
"Oh! I know your mother! Let's go!"
The squirrel tries hard to find the right animal.

Everyone enjoyed listening to the owl describe his mother and guessing what animal the squirrel would suggest next.
"My mother is big."
"Maybe he will suggest a bear!!!"
It was a very fun book.

Ms. Keiko read to class 2-3. She read the book `What's in the Witch's Kitchen?` by Nick Sharratt.
The students read this book in English class last year, too. The students can pick whether to open the containers in the kitchen up, down, left or right. Depending on the way each container is opened it either contains something nice or something nasty.

"Shall we open it? Up? Down?"
"Up! Up!"

"I wonder if it's something nice..."
"Oh no! It's spiders!!"
It's a very intersting book.

Everyone looks forward to English reading time!

2nd grade students recently had their tenth and last English class of the year. The topic was `The Big Turnip`. In the previous English class they studied about the story. In this class everyone will perform skits of the story.

We started class with our two usual greeting games: silent and normal. In the normal greeting game the students practiced using the phrase "Do you like ~?" and asked each other questions.
"Do you like red?"

"Yes, I do!"

Hi five!

The teachers asked the students to nominate some of their classmates who had done a good job. The nominated students gave a good demonstration in front of everyone.
Nice gestures!

Next, we reviewed what we had studied in the previous class. We checked the English for each of `The Big Turnip` characters' names.
"Who is this?"

Next, we listened to Ms. Emily tell the story one more time so we could practice saying the English phrases together.
"Oh no!"
The turnip won't come out.

The wooden set Ms. Emily used to tell the story was very interesting. Depending on the way it was set up, sometimes even adding the mouse didn't make the turnip come out. In that case, everyone needed to cheer on the characters to help them pull out the turnip.
We studied words for cheering on others in Tomilish Time this year.
"You can do it! Don't give up! Do your best!"

Next, it was time for the main event. The students took turns to become the characters in the story and perform skits.
"Who wants to be the mouse?"
"Me! Me!"

The students all did their best to use the English from the story.
"Come here! Help me!"

" 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2!"

"Oh no!"

The students watching helped to cheer on the characters.
"you can do it!!"

Finally they pulled the turnip out!
"Yeay! Let's eat!"

All students got a chance to be characters in the story. It was a very fun class! We finished class by asking the students to reflect on their English classes this year. The students talked about which classes they had enjoyed the most and what they want to study next year.
"I want to study more about animals."

Good job in English class this year! We'll study English more next year. Let's all do our best!

2nd grade students recently had their ninth English class of the year. The topic was `The Big Turnip`. It was the first time for the students to study about this story.

We started class by doing the silent greeting game. It has been over a month since the students have had English class so it was a very good way to get everyone back into English class. We all had to be careful to smile and make eye contact.
Great eye contact!

After the silent greeting it was time for the greeting game. This year during English class 2nd Grade students have been studying the phase "Do you like ~?" so the students used that in the greeting game.
After the teachers demonstration, one of the students and Ms. Emily demonstrated together.
"Do you like yellow?"
"Yes, I do."

After the demonstrations, it was time for everyone else to try.
"Let's start!"
"Hello!"

After the greeting game the teachers asked the students to nominate their classmates who had done a good job. Everyone watched and thought about what was good.
Great eye contact!

After the greeting activities, the teachers talked to each other.
"Do you know `The Big Turnip`?"
"No, I don't."
"I'll tell you!"

Ms. Emily used the wooden blocks to tell the story. The students recognised it as `大きなかぶ`.
"1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2! Pull! They pulled the turnip!"

The students listened carefully.
It was the students first time to see the story using the wooden blocks.

Once the mouse arrived to help the turnip came out! Everyone cheered.

After listening to the story once, the teachers asked the students what character names they had heard.
"What characters did you hear?"
"Dog!"
"That's right!"

Sometimes the teachers made a mistake to check the students knew what each character was called.
"Dog, please."
"Here you are!"
"No!! That's `cat`!!!"

Next, everyone listened to the story for a second time and tried to pick out English words or phrases that they had heard.
"What English did you hear?"
"They said `1, 2, 1, 2` when they pulled the turnip."

For the third time listening to the story, everyone said the English phrases together. Some students acted as the characters too.
"Oh! A delicious turnip!"

"Hello! My name is Grandpa!"

"1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2"

It was fun to act out the story while Ms. Emily read it to us. In the next class everyone will act out the story in groups.

We finished class by reading a book called `The Big Pumpkin`.
The story is very similar to `The Big Turnip` but it is set at Halloween. The students enjoyed comparing the two stories.

Everyone is looking forward to acting out the story together next time!

Before winter vacation the 2nd grade students had their eighth English class of the year. The topic was "Do you like penguins?". It was the second time for the students to study about aquarium animals.

After our usual greeting game we reviewed the names of different animals that we had learnt in the previous class while doing gestures. Can you tell what animals these are?
"Sharks!"

"Seals!"

Next, we played the pointing game. It was a fun way to practice.
"Hands on your head! Turtles!"

"Turtles!"

After that we tired asking each other "Do you like~?" questions. First the teachers gave a demonstration.
"Do you like dolphins?"

After that Ms. Emily and the students asked each other questions.
"Do you like fish?"

"Do you like seals?"
"Yes, I do!"

"Do you like sharks?"
"No, I don't!"

After asking each other questions we finished the class with reading a book.
This is a Japanese book but Ms. Emily read it to us in English. It was fun to see all the different sea animals.

The students really enjoy reading a book at the end of class.
Good job everyone! Well done!

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 2nd grade students had their seventh English class of the year. The topic was "Do you like penguins?". It was the first time for the students to study about aquarium animals.

We started the class with our usual greetings.
"Hello everyone! How are you?"
"I'm happy!"

Next, we played the greeting game. The students tried their best to greet many people.
Good gestures!

Nice smile!

The teachers asked the students to nominate some people who had done well during the greeting game. Ms. Ayaka asked those students to give a demonstration for everyone.
Good eye contact! Well done!

After the greeting game, we sang the `Hello Song` in pairs.
The students took turns to sing and answer "How are you?" to each other.

Next, we had `Teacher Talk`. Ms. Ayaka showed everyone a picture.
"Look at this! What is this picture?"
"It's Uminomori Aquarium!"

"We visited Uminomori Aquarium. Have you ever been there?"
"No, I haven't. What animals are there?"
"Ms. Emily doesn't know what animals are at the aquarium. What should we do?"
"Let's teach her!"
"Nice idea!"

Ms. Ayaka brought out some pictures that the students had made in art class.
"What's this?"
"Iruka."
"That's right! Ms. Emily, how do you say iruka in English?"
"Dolphins!"

As well as learning the names for the animals in English, Ms. Emily also taught us a gesture for each animal. It helped everyone to remember.
Can you guess what animal this is?
"Crabs!"

How about this animal? They are clapping their hands
"Seals!"

After learning the words we used them to ask "Do you like~?" questions. Ms. Emily and Ms. Ayaka asked each other questions. Then, Ms. Emily asked all the students. After that, the students asked Ms. Emily.
"What should we ask Ms. Emily?"
Ms. Emily closed her eyes while the students were choosing so it was a surprise what the students asked.

Next, we played the `Nemo Game`.
The students swam around in a circle while the music played.

When the music stopped they had to listen to Ms. Emily and do the gesture of the animal she said.
"Crabs!"
Everyone tried hard to repeat what she said, too.

Everyone had to listen very carefully because if she said `sharks` they had to hide like Nemo.
If Ms. Emily caught a student then they became a shark, too. It was so fun!

Our last activity was reading a book together. We read the book `Curious George at the Aquarium` by Margret & H.A. Rey's.
"How many penguins?"

The book was a little small so Ms. Ayaka brought a big George toy to use, too. He visited the students' pictures in the same order as the story in the book.
"George saw pengiuns!"
"Look! Penguins! Hello!"

George saved a baby penguin who couldn't swim.
"Thank you, George!"
"See you!"

Finally, we ended the class with the students giving their reflections on the class and talking about what they want to study in the future.
"I want to study other ocean animals, too."

Great job 2nd grade! Well done!

Recently 2nd grade students have been learning about shop and restaurant names in English. We started class with our usual greeting game.

Next, we sang the `Hello Song`. It had been a while since the students had sung this song. The teachers helped the students who needed some confidence. The students sung in pairs asking and answering "How are you?".
Nice gestures! Good job!

Next, we reviewed the English names for shops and restaurants that we had learned in the previous class.
"What's this?"
"Post Office!"
"That's right!"

Ms. Emily asked us if we liked the different shops.
"Do you like coffee shops?"
"Yes, I do!"

After reviewing the different words we played the pointing game again.
Since it was the second time that the students had played the game they were very good at it!

Next, we played the gesture game. Ms. Emily and some students closed their eyes while Ms. Ayaka pointed to a flashcard. Everyone had to be really quiet so as not to give away the surprise!
"This one. Okay?"

Then the students tried to act out what happens in that place. Can you guess where the students are?
It's a hairdresser.

It's a coffee shop!

Ms. Emily and the students who were guessing would talk together and try to make a guess.
"Indian restaurant?"

The other students would tell them if they were right or not.
"Yes!! That's right!!"

We finished the class by reading this book. It was about a man selling sausages.

He said "Here you are!" and "You're welcome!" a lot. We have been trying to practice this with the students.
We could also review counting. "How many sausages?"

Lastly we talked together about what we had learned and what we wanted to study in the future.
"I want to know the names for fish in English!"

Good job everyone!

2nd grade students have recently walked around the neighborhood and visited many different shops and restaurants in the area. In this class, the students introduced the shops to Ms. Emily and learned the names for these places in English.

First, we had greetings.
"Hello everyone!"

Everyone enjoys doing the greeting game. It helps to set a good atmosphere for the English class.
"Hello! How are you?"

Ms. Ayaka asked the students, "Who had good eye contact/a nice smile?". Then she asked the students who nominated their friends, "How did you feel when they spoke to you with good eye contact/a smile?"
"I felt happy!" "I felt they were listening to me"
It's important to ask these questions so students know why they should make eye contact and smile.

Next, the teachers asked the students to introduce in Japanese the different places they visited around the neighborhood. Ms. Emily taught them the English.
"This is Samzana. It's a restaurant. You can eat curry and nan."
"Oh! Indian restaurant!"

After that we played a pointing game. First the teachers did a demonstration and we practiced as a class using the flashcards on the board.
After Ms. Emily said the English everyone had to point to the right picture and repeat the English.

After the demonstration, the students got into groups of 3 or 4 and we handed out the pointing cards. We do this after the demonstration so the students will concentrate during the demonstration.
It's also a good time to practice English!
"Here you are!"
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome!"

The pointing game was very fun!
Everyone enjoyed slowly getting faster and faster.


We finished the class by reading a book.

In this book the character goes to many different shops to buy some presents for friends.

We have used this book with 5th grade students, too.
It's a great book!

Good job 2nd grade students!

2nd Grade students had their 3rd English class for the year recently. Students had made toys in their life studies（生活科) class and they wanted to show them to Ms. Emily.

After our greeting game, the teachers had a conversation.
"Ms. Emily, do you like penguins?"
"Oh, yes I do!"

"Do you like frogs?"
"No, I don't! I don't like frogs!"

"How about you, everyone? Do you like frogs?"
"Yes, I do!" "No, I don't!"

"Ms. Emily doesn't like frogs but maybe she likes toy frogs. Do you like toy frogs?"
"I don't know."
"Let's show her the toy frogs we made!"
The students introduced the toy frogs.
"The frogs jump!"

Let's all jump together.
"Jump!"
"I like toy frogs!"

The students also introduced some of the other toys. There was a fishing game. "Do you like fish?"
"Yes, I do. Octopus, please!"
When the two magnets join together it looks like they are making pairs.

"Let's make pairs!"


Another toy they introduced was a yacht car.
The wind from the fan pushes it and it goes straight.

"Let's go straight!"
The students are marching forward!

There was also another toy that rolled down a slope the students practiced rolling too when the teachers said "Roll!". After introducing all the toys and how they move we checked if Ms. Emily liked the toys.
"Do you like these toys?"
"Yes, I do!"

Ms. Emily read us a story which had many types of vehicles and animals that moved in different ways.
"Here is a frog. Frogs..." "jump!"
"Do you like frogs?"
"Yes, I do/No, I don't!!"

"Look! It's a car. What do the tyres do?"
"Roll!"
"That's right!"

Good job 2nd grade students and teachers!