Do Insects Help Us?

Happy Wednesday! Even though we have a smaller than usual class size today, we are enjoying a beautiful day!

MORNING ACTIVITIES

We continued with our finger painting, and although we were a bit hesitant at first yesterday, we really enjoyed painting this way today! Ar suggested that we do it more often! We’re even thinking about using our feet to paint an upcoming project! We’re excited about that!

We painted part of one of the games we will play on Sports Day called kaki no ki. Re and Ke were the driving force behind the art direction and style of our tree, which features all different sizes of persimmons. We are proud of our involvement with the creation of the games we will play next week!

PARK TIME

On our walk to the park, we saw a big bee before we crossed the street near the police officer. Finally, we could see a real bee after spending so much time learning about them in class. Once the weather cools down a bit, we’ll take a trip to Arisugawa Park to find more insects!

As we entered Step Park, we saw a familiar face, Be! She didn’t come to school today, but it was nice to play with her in the green area! We enjoyed running around and chasing each other before we became too hot to continue and made our way back to Ohana.

BOOK TIME

Today’s library leaders Ei and Se chose today’s book called Animals Up Close. We asked some of our friends for suggestions for which animals we should learn about…

Ei: Crab!

We saw a crab that eats sand and makes them into little balls.

Ar: Squirrel!

We couldn’t find a squirrel, but there was a chipmunk which Ta thought was a mouse!

Th: Scorpion!

Ty pointed out, “his eyes are black and small.” Ke pointed to the tail and said, “It has doku and scissors!” Ar translated for us, “doku is poison!”

Au: The frog on the book!

We turned to what Au said was a frog, but we weren’t convinced that it was a frog…

Ty: This is not frog!
Gr: This is a frog.
Th: It’s a gecko.

Th was right! We learned that this gecko’s green skin helps it blend in with the leaves in the jungle.

CIRCLE TIME

Ri raised his hand first to read the question of the day!

Ri: Banana!

Thanks for trying! Nice enthusiasm! Let’s ask someone else.

Th: Do bugs talk to us?
Ty: Are bugs strong?
Hi: Do insects help us?

Hi was right!

Earlier in the day, Re came into the classroom first and read the question all by herself perfectly without any help from the teachers! Great reading! Let’s see what we think…

Ke: No, because it’s not friends or mommy. People help people, yes, but not insect.

Gr: Yes, they can pick somebody up.

Au: No. Because they speak another language. We don’t know what they say.

Th: They cannot help us people because they’re too little to help us.

Ty: Yes. They can pull other insects.

Hi: Ladybug can help us because they eat other bugs.

Next, we checked our book to find out more. We could see a few different insects that help humans. First, there was a bee who helps to pollinate the plants.

Hi: Some bees can give us food too!
Th: They help us with honey!

Next, we looked at something called a silkworm…

Au: I think they eat leaves.
Ei: What is a silkworm?

Our book told us that people use the cocoons that silkworms make and turn it into a type of fabric called silk that can be used to make many things like clothes and blankets.

We couldn’t help but notice the picture of a boy eating an insect on the top of the page. We said, “Why is he eating insect!?” It’s true that some cultures and people across the world eat ants, beetles, and other insects. They are often ate as snacks.

Our teachers asked us, “what if our snack tomorrow is insects?”

Ke: Eww!
Se: Not yummy!
Cl: Yay!
Au: I need to ask my mommy first to see if I can eat it. Maybe I can try at home first to see if it’s yummy!
Th: Me too!

Will anyone bring insects for our snack tomorrow? We’ll see!

Have a wonderful evening! See you tomorrow!

Love,
Flowers XOXO