2024.01.05
Toyonaka| Monthly highlights Junior Kindy| November 2023
Aiwin International School
Junior kindy Class Highlights
November 2023
Upcoming Events
Cinema Day- December 14th
Winter Concert- December 15th
Winter School- December 18th-25th
This month we learned about…
Mother Nature
Children exercise their sense of curiosity and wonder by learning about nature and its cycles.
Main Concepts:
Inquiry into the natural world and the human impact on the environment .
Get a basic understanding of the Earth, nature and its cycles. Learn about the crisis Earth faces, and what we can do to save the Earth.
Key Questions:
What things in nature grow and
How do living things change in nature?
What are the different resources in our nature?
Why do we need these resources in our daily lives?
Phonological Awareness
We have been working with S blends at the beginning and ending of words, such as, stop, skin, smile, fast, first.. Moreover, we practiced R-blends, which consist of words starting with a consonant followed by the letter R, for example, train, drink, prince…
We read the book of this unit called “Fran goes to the prom”.
Art and Crafts
We made an autumn tree craft. Students traced the outline of their hands on construction paper and later used paints to color white paper in the shapes of dots to create the leaves of the tree. Then, we glued it together and decorated the classroom with it.
We made a craft of what plants need to live, like sun, water or soil, using construction paper, glue and scissors.
Moreover, we made a sun using popsicles, paints and construction paper. The students really enjoyed making it!
Numeracy
This month we have worked with the concepts of "more" and "less". We used objects in our classroom to measure quantities so students can practice.
We reviewed the ordinal numbers from 1 to 10.
Also, we practiced ordering numbers from 1 to 10. For example, some numbers were missing but still students knew how to follow the sequence.
Writing journal
This month we wrote about what living things need to survive, like eat or drink, or what they can do, like move or feel. We also made a poster about the natural resources we have on our planet and how we can sort them out into renewable or nonrenewable resources.
Cooking
This month's food is persimmons. We talked about how they grow and then tried them to discuss their taste, smell and texture. All of them loved it and wanted to eat more!
Moreover, we made a persimmon daikon salad, using lettuce, daikon, persimmon and dressing made of oil, honey, lemon and salt. Students mixed the ingredients in their plates and then ate it.
Theme exploration/reflection
This month we are going to work with the topic "Mother Nature". First, we talked about living and non living things and how we can know the difference. We asked questions like 'Does it breathe? Does it grow?... ' and the students rapidly understood the difference.
We did a survey in groups where students asked different questions to check if something was living or nonliving.
We learnt more about renewable and non renewable resources, like the sun, wind or water, and nuclear power or minerals. We discussed them and then did a worksheet to divide them into these two groups.
We also talked about solar energy and how we can use it in our daily lives. We made a model of solar panels using tubes.
PE
This month in PE class, Junior Kindy students have been improving a lot. They can do a lot of races with different types of obstacles, as well as games to help them improve their strenght, balance and flexibility.
Music
≪Nursery, Preschool, Junior kindy & Kindy classes≫ 【Acoustic education】
● Listen to three chords and show comprehension of the differences between the harmonies through the use of three coloured cards, where Chord C is Red, Chord F is Yellow and Chord G is Blue. Nursery: Red(Do-Mi-So) and Yellow(Do-Fa-La) Preschool: Red, Yellow and Blue(Si-Re-So) Junior Kindy: Red, Yellow, Blue and Orange(Mi-So-Do) Kindy: Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange and Purple(Fa-La-Do)
● Sing simple melodies through imitation of the teacher. The range is from C3 to C4. 【Cultivate an understanding of Rhythm】
● Stomp along to music while looking at cards which are illustrated with four kinds of animals: ○ Mouse: Eighth note Dog: Quarter note Cow: Half note Elephant: Whole note ● Clap simple patterns in rhythm with the teacher
● Enjoy playing percussion (Castanets, Maracas, Tambourine, Triangle and so on) ● Enjoy an ensemble of percussion and keyboard instruments.
● Move and dance to music.
【Musical knowledge】
● Learn the C major musical scale through the keyboard card and the musical scale card. ● Listen to famous composers’ masterpieces while looking at the composer cards. ● Learn various music instruments’ name and shape while looking at the illustrated cards.
≪Junior kindy & Kindy classes≫
【Play the keyboard harmonica】
● Experience playing musical instruments
Finally, we’ll start the keyboard harmonica lesson!
First, we learn how to treat and how to clean up the keyboard harmonica. Make sure the prohibited matters to play the keyboard harmonica safely.
Special events
CAMBRIDGE TEST
Thanksgiving
Students made a craft to celebrate thanksgiving. They colored a turkey and cut it, as well as the shape of their hands to make the wings of the turkey. They had a lovely time making it.
Book we read:
Fran goes to the prom.
Songs we sang:
Hello Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVlcKp3bWH8
Phonics song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tlydXoNC2Q
Days of the Week - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKqAblcwFOA
Clean up song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFE0mMWbA-Y