富沢小学校 Tomilishブログ

This week we had an International Day for 3rd grade students. In July, 7 ALTs from schools around Sendai came to Tomizawa Elementary School to talk about their countries. You can see that event: here. This week, 8 ALTs came to listen to the students give presentations about Japanese culture.
We are very grateful that they could take time out of their teaching schedules to come and talk with us. Three of the ALTs who visited us in July came to the school for a second time. For the other ALTs, it was their first time to visit Tomizawa Elementary School.
They were very friendly and everyone was excited about talking with them.

The students split into 8 groups (one for each ALT) and took turns in their groups to give presentations to the ALTs.
The presentations were in Japanese but the ALTs tried their best to understand what the students were saying.

The students did their best to make eye contact and use clear voices when they were speaking.

Some of the students used pictures to help everyone understand.

The students prepared presentations about many things including Sendai, Date Masamune, Aoba Festival and our school.

After the presentations it was `Performance Time`.
First the students showed the ALTs what to do.

After that, the ALTs also tried, too.

As well as Taiko Drumming, the students showed:
Sendai Sparrow Dance

Spinning tops

Statues / Daruma-san ga koronda

String game / Ayatori

Origami

Everyone had a lot of fun teaching the ALTs. The ALTs also enjoyed it, too!
"Taiko was so interesting! Thank you!"

Thank you ALTs for coming and good job 3rd grade on your hard work!

On Thursday December 15th parents came to the school to watch classes(授業参観). Some of the teachers decided to show English classes.

Minori students had their 5th English class of the year. It was their Christmas party!
They used the Christmas tree that they decorated during our open school event.

Students in classes 2-2 and 2-3 also had English classes.
"Do you like dolphins?"
"Yes, I do!" "No, I don't!"
"Let's ask 3 people!"

Class 5-2 have been studying Hi, friends!1 Lesson 8 `I study Japanese.` They can talk about subjects and days of the week.
"On Thursday, I study science."

Class 6-1 had a review class.
They used all of the English they have studied so far to interview their friends and then do a `Who am I?` Quiz.

"What do you want for Christmas?"
"Where do you want to go in winter vacation?"
"What sports do you like?"
Everyone tried to ask their friends many different questions.

"I like soccer. I want a Nintendo Switch. I want to go to Tokyo Disneyland. Who am I?"

Thank you to all the parents who came to watch our classes. Well done to all the teachers and students who did English classes! Good job!

Happy Halloween! On October 31st, everyone at Tomizawa Elementary School had fun celebrating Halloween.
Many teachers and staff members dressed up.

Members of the Display Committee (掲示委員会) decorated the entrance to the school.
Their ghosts, pumpkins and vampires created a great Halloween atmosphere.

Volunteers from Link decorated pumpkins to put in the students entrance.
Each pumpkin had a different face.

They even made one pumpkin look like Anejiro, our school mascot.
Wow! They look so good! Thank you!!

Many classes also held Halloween parties. They played games and dressed up.
Some classes even played games outside. Can you see Pikachu? Pikachu is playing dodgeball!

Some students also wore their costumes to English class.
Nice hats!

The homeroom teachers also tried to dress up for English classes.
Even wearing a Halloween headband changes the class atmosphere! All the students were very excited.

Some teachers put a lot of effort into their costumes!
This class wasn't taught by Ms. Emily and Ms. Ayaka. It was taught by Ms. Minnie and Ms. Jessie!

Everyone enjoyed Halloween! We are all thinking of costume ideas for next year!

This week we had an International Day for 3rd grade students. 7 ALTs from schools around Sendai came to Tomizawa Elementary School to talk about their countries. We are very grateful that they could take time out of their teaching schedules to come and talk to us.
They talked about Canada, Jamaica, Belgium, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, China and Singapore. Did you know Sendai has ALTs from so many different countries? Sendai City students can meet ALTs from all over the world!

The ALTs gave presentations to small groups of students.
They talked about many different things. This is the flag for Singapore. We learned about the meaning of the colors and shapes in the flag.

The students listened carefully and took notes.

Some ALTs brought clothes from their country. This is a Canadian ice hockey jersey. It was fun to try on the clothes!

After the students listened they could ask questions, too.

The ALTs answered the students questions in Japanese. Students asked many questions, for example: "What animals are there in your country?".

All the ALTs had interactive presentations. They used pictures and videos so they were easy to understand. They involved the students in the presentation by doing quizzes and asking questions.

As you can see the students loved meeting new people!

After the presentations we all gathered together for a closing ceremony. The students were sad to say goodbye.

They could `High five` all the ALTs.

"Thank you! See you!"

The ALTs tried school lunch. The menu was curry seasoned fish.
Their plates are empty! Everyone enjoyed it very much.

We asked them to write some Tanabata wishes to add to our display.
The ALTs wrote their wishes in English. I wonder what they wished for!

They tied their wishes up high. If you visit Tomizawa Elementary School, why don't you look for their wishes?

Thank you so much for visiting us!
3rd grade students really enjoyed learning about your countries!

Last week parents came to the school to watch classes(授業参観). Usually one or two teachers teach English classes but this time five teachers wanted to show English classes. This is a record!

Class 4-3 continued studying about games.
The students learned some new words, such as `volleyball`, and they did an interview activity.

Class 5-3 had their second class on Hi, friends!1 Lesson 4. They used the phrase `Do you like ~?` to discuss making sandwiches for their friends during Outdoor Activities (野外活動).
The teachers picked some students to give a good demonstration to the class.

Class 5-1 had their first class on Hi, friends!1 Lesson 4. The students studied `Do you like ~?` last year as 4th grade students so the class focused on the difference in pronuncation between Japanese and English of words such as `hotdog` and `salad`.
The students did a warm-up activity using `Do you like ~?` and colors.

Class 6-2 had their second class on Hi, friends!2 Lesson 3.
Ms. Emiko gave a `Who am I?` Quiz to the students using the phrases `I can~.` and `I can't~`.

Class 6-3 also had their second class on Hi, friends!2 Lesson 3.
The students used the chants to practice the new phrases before doing an interview activity.

Well done all teachers and students who did English classes with parents watching. It takes a lot of courage to choose to show English classes. We are very proud that 5 teachers chose to do so. Good job!

This week we had a staff seminar taught by Mr. Itagaki from Miyagi University of Education. He talked about using picture books to completment English lessons.
The teachers were all really interested to hear about different ways to use picture books.

First, Mr. Itagaki showed us how to read the books using different voices for the different characters.
He also showed us how to use songs and chants that come with the books in order to make skits.

The teachers practiced making skits with one of the books.
"I can hop! Hop, hop hop! Can you hop?"

Some teachers were very enthusiastic.
"I can fly!! FLY!!! FLY!!!!"

The teachers gave performances of their skits.
The student teachers took part too. They had great English pronunciation. Well done!
We're looking forward to using these ideas in our English classes.

Recently we have shown lessons where 5th grade students have been using English to design class flags for sports day. Read again by clicking here and here.

After the English classes the students knew the top 3 shapes and colors for their class. Then they all chose an English word to represent their class. The students then used the shapes and colors, as well as the English word, to design their class flag.

5th grade students used the flags at Sports Day during their `Cavalry Battle` (騎馬戦).
The students all gathered with their flags!

It's a little hard to see in the sports day pictures so we took some close-ups. First we'll introduce class 5-1's flag. Their class color is red so the main color is red. Here are the results of their English class survey:
Top 3 colors:
1. Blue 2. Yellow 3. Green
Top 3 shapes:
1. Stars 2. Circles 3. Diamonds
The most popular color and shape are used in the center of the flag. The chose the word `fire`. It goes well with the color red! Nice design!

Here is an action shot!
Before the `battles` each class gave a cheer. The students waved their flag strongly.

Next is class 5-3's flag. Their class color is yellow so the main color is yellow. Here are the results of their English class survey:
Top 3 colors:
1. Purple 2. Blue 3. Green
Top 3 shapes:
1. Diamonds 2. Stars 3. Circles
They chose the word `passion`. They wanted to compete with passion. It's a nice flag!
During each battle some 6th grade students held the flag so the 5th grade students could `battle`!
The `horses` and `riders` are ready to fight!

Last is class 5-2's flag. Their class color is blue so the main color is blue. Here are the results of their English class survey:
Top 3 colors:
1. Green 2. Purple 3. Red
Top 3 shapes:
1. Diamonds 2. Stars 3. Circles
The students chose the word `victory`. It showed their strong desire to win!
Class 2 students won the battle! They did a victory lap.
Their Queen held the flag during their victory lap. Well done!

The students will take the flags with them on their school trip. They will climb a mountain and take a picture with the flag at the top. Making the flags was a great way to use English! Great job everyone!

Today many elementary school teachers came to Tomizawa Elementary School for an important meeting about English. After the meeting there was a seminar taught by Ms. Emily, our ALT.

Ms. Emily demonstrated some warm-ups and many different activities using flashcards.
Ms. Emily acted as a class teacher and the teachers all acted as students.

By becoming students, the teachers could all understand how their students feel during activities. It was interesting to see the other side of some activities.

There were a lot of different activities.
We got to try many different versions which should help students to enjoy English class more.

The last activity was the Pacman game. It's an adaptation of the game 'Criss-Cross'.
If you answer the question you can pick a card.

"Number 5, please!"
Oh no! It's the reverse card! All people who are sitting have to stand up!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the seminar and learned some new activities to use in their English classes.

This year the students have been trying hard to speak English outside of English class. One of the ways they have been doing this is to eat lunch with our ALT, Ms. Emily.

Ms. Emily eats lunch with a different class every day. The students try to use their English to have simple conversations.

What's this?

It's rice!
Ms. Emily asks easy questions!

The students enjoy using their English.
How are you Ms. Emily?

I'm so happy!
Ms. Emily always has fun too!

Ms. Emily, do you like natto?

Oh no! No, I don't!

Students can use English in a relaxed way. It's great for building confidence! We're looking forward to eating lunch together again next year, too.

We've previously talked about our Monday Morning Reading Time: click here to read again.

Today we'd like to show you the books we read in class 1-1 this morning.

First we read the book `Blue Hat, Green Hat' by Sandra Boynton.


The students enjoyed saying the colors and animal names in English. We also listened to the names for clothes.

Ms.Emily asked us some questions.
What color is this? What animal is this?

Also she used post-it notes to cover one of the characters.

The students guessed what color hat he would have. Purple? Yellow?

Let's check!

It's yellow. Oh no! His hat!! He's silly!


Everyone listened carefully and laughed a lot.

The second book we read was called `Spot Bakes a Cake` by Eric Hill.

There are many different books about the character `Spot`.


The students enjoy them very much! Ms.Emily read these books when she was an elementary school student.


The books have flaps that you can lift.

What's inside the cupboard?
The students enjoy guessing what will be behind the flap.


It's a mouse! Cheese, please!


Listening to the story was very fun!

Everyone looks forward to English Reading Time!