Saturday Japanese Class News
March 2014
1:
Beginner Class 1 - Ms. Ozeki
2:
Beginner Class 2 - Ms. Takakura
3:
Intermediate Level Class - Ms. Sakamoto
4:
Advanced Level Class - Ms. Oota
5:
AP Preparation Class - Ms. Miyajima
Theme for the month: The doll festival
Beginner Class 1 - Ms. Ozeki
Specific Lesson Goals:
- Learn about the origins of Momo no Sekku ( the Doll Festival )
- Practice the play for the annual Spring class presentation
- Learn how to write hiragana with proper pencil pressure
Class Activities:
- Learn about the basic concepts of origami; make origami Hina dolls
- Practice reading hiragana; use hiragana cards
- Practice the play for the annual Spring class presentation
Grammar & Vocabulary:
- Collect words that include ha, hi, fu, he, ho and learn how to write them in the correct order
Beginner Class 2 - Ms. Takakura
Specific Lesson Goals:
- Learn about the origins of Hinamatsuri ( the Doll Festival )
- Practice for the annual Spring class presentation; read aloud "The making of takuan pickles"
- Create simple sentences using who, where, when, and what
Class Activities:
- Origami craft; make a pair of origami dolls;obina (the Emperor doll) and mebina (the Empress doll)
- Read aloud allotted lines of the script for the presentation
- Create simple sentences
Grammar & Vocabulary:
- Hinamatsuri (the Doll Festival), mebina (the Empress doll), obina or odairisama (the Emperor doll), bonbori (lampstand)
- 森 (forest), 林 (forest) 雨 (rain), 学校 (school)
Intermediate Level Class - Ms. Sakamoto
Specific Lesson Goals:
- Read out loud correctly and by word blocks the text that describes the origin of Momo no Sekku (the Doll Festival) with particular attention to pronunciation.
- Participate willingly in the preparation of the annual Spring class presentation.
Class Activities:
- Read the reading materials out loud.
- Practice writing detailed sentences.
- Compose short sentences.
- Dictation.
Grammar & Vocabulary:
Kanji characters used in class activities:
Review four to six of them weekly as homework and take a dictation quiz in class.
Advanced Level Class - Ms. Oota
Specific Lesson Goals:
- Learn about Girls’ Day and its customs.
- Ensure the correct movement of mouth for accurate Japanese pronunciation with particular attention to vowels.
Class Activities:
- Learn the names of various Hina dolls on the traditional Girls’ Day decorative structure.
- Create a decorative piece with an origami craft of Hina dolls attached on a paper board.
- Read “Riddles” out loud for the annual Spring class presentation.
Grammar & Vocabulary:
- Foster better understanding of the Kanji characters that are phonetically identical but carry different meanings.
- Review basic parts of Kanji characters.
AP Preparation Class - Ms. Miyajima
Hello. My name is Ms. Miyajima. I will be teaching the AP preparation class for the rest of this school year as a replacement for Ms. Yamada. I am looking forward to working with the AP class students!
Since no one in this class is taking the AP test this May, we will focus on preparing for the annual Spring class presentation.
Specific Lesson Goals:
- Choose a place or a topic of interest relating to Japan.
- Research the topic and make a presentation in Japanese.
- Become familiar with the different styles of Japanese used when speaking in public.
- Make a presentation in Japanese fluently.
Class Activities:
- Complete the project for the presentation.