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Saturday Japanese Class News

June 2009

1: Class I
2: Class II
3: JFL
4: Lower Grade
5: Middle Grade
6: Upper Grade
7: Middle School



On June 6, Saturday, We will hold a study recital by Saturday classes. Teacher Douglas will also give a lecture, "About the KNI Curriculum," after the recital.

Place: Church Hall
Date: June 6th
9:30-11:00 Study Recital & Graduation Ceremony
11:00-12:00 Lecture

Please refer to the program flyers distributed on May 30th for more details. The lecture is open to the public, so you are welcome to bring your friends along.

Class I

Class I students have been practicing reading one word at a time out loud. We have sometimes played a game: First, students read a word written on the blackboard out loud. After one letter is erased, we ask which letter is gone.

Many students enjoy reading words out loud. Even those students who are usually quiet have begun to raise their hands to read them aloud. We think it is important to learn words by speaking them as well as writing them.

We will have a summer recess soon. Please remember to speak Japanese whenever you can.

To parents: thank you for driving your children to school every Saturday. Enjoy summer with your families. I am looking forward to seeing cheerful children again in the next term.
(Ms. Nakatake)

Class II

All of the students will give a reading of an old tale of Japan, "Rice Balls Rolling," at a study recital scheduled on June 6th. The students cover different parts of the story, and they have practiced reading those out loud with emotion. Please continue to practice at home as well. I hope they will enjoy old tales by reading them aloud and encounter new words in the stories. We will review all the material covered in this academic year before summer break. They will also write letters and make crafts to their fathers for Father's day.
(Ms. Ozeki)

JFL

We only have two more classes left this academic year. This year at JFL, we have tried various new projects such as Confectionary House and Takuan (pickled radish) Project. It has been a very productive year, since we had many opportunities to interact with students at other classes.

One student is graduating this year after steadily learning Japanese for 5-6 years. "Shouji kun, you've made a lot of efforts learning Japanese for many years. I hope you continue to learn Japanese at your high school. Cheers for Shouji!"
(Ms. Yamada)

Lower Grade

Learning multiplication in last May will help your child to understand the concept of area calculation in future, but please be flexible in treating this recitation of multiplication table depending on the needs of your child. In June, we will review the materials learned to date and wrap up the course.

It is rather high hurdles for students to take what they have learned from Class I through III to the level where they can write in kana what they hear. However, I am pleased to say that this school year is going to end without any mishaps. I appreciate parents' support.

Lower Grade students' hard work was also commendable. Now, children can write the words in kanji that they used in Candy House project and Pickled Radish project. For the success of kanji learning, children also needed to learn how to apply appropriate pen pressure when writing kanji. Therefore, I would say that students' success of kanji learning is fruit of their constant effort.

During this coming long summer break, I will give students homework assignments that students have to do at least once a week. Please have a look at handouts and give your child homework help. I hope you all will have a enjoyable summer break!
(Ms. Sakamoto)

Middle Grade

My dear middle grade students who are full of energy and characters. I had a mixed feeling of both excitement that I looked forward to a new school year and anxiety as to how the class would be going and I could bring the class together. However, my hats off to middle grade students! They made friends with new students and sometimes they became too playful so that they end up getting some verbal warning from me (of course!). Nonetheless, everyone made lots of progress at his or her own pace. Through doing Hungry Planet project, they have deepened the knowledge of the world map and continents in the world, foods and nutrition, diets in America and Japan, foods and the way people eat them, breads around the world and Eesh (or Aish) bread making, family and household chores and have expanded their Japanese vocabulary for all of the above. Finally, giving such report on the student progress has never been possible without both students' hard work and parents' support including driving their children to and from school and their help with homework. I would like to express my gratitude once again here. Soon we will have summer break that one can hardly wait. I wish you will all have fun while making sure to be safe and also to use Japanese as much as possible. I am looking forward to seeing students' bouncing and happy faces in the coming school year.
(Ms. Shrecker)

Upper Grade

Now, only two more classes are left before this school year ends. I would like to thank parents for their support throughout the year.

In teacher-parent conferences held in May, we had some positive feedback on "Upper Grade Newsletter" (weekly) and "Songs of This Month." "Interview with Parents" was an especially popular section in the newsletter. "Songs of This Month" also had an unexpected benefit as it gave some children the opportunity to start talking more in Japanese.

Also, I have noticed that every student in my class started to express their ideas more in Japanese. I hope you will provide your child opportunities to learn something about Japanese language and culture during the summer break.

Have a happy summer break!
(Ms Miyajima)

Middle School

With this article, all the events during 2008-2009 school year ends. Also, for children, summer break that they can hardly wait will start. Thanks very much for driving your children to and from school on Saturdays during this school year. I hope you will enjoy a relaxing summer with your child. Hungry Planet project that has been carried out throughout this school year will end as well. Students started learning the topic in great depth with the pictures of diet in the world, then, studied world geography; obesity and average life expectancy; nutrition, staple foods; GNP and GNH (Gross National Happiness); the meaning of "richness" in life; refugee issues; and finally children's struggle to survive seen in many countries and activities by UNICEF. Through this project, every child in middle school class grew further at their own pace. Mixed aged children with different personalities worked together amicably and built one community. That, I believe, is the biggest benefit resulted from this project.
(Ms. Douglas)

Thank you: Ms. Jennings, Ms. Fujita

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