Oni wa soto! Fuku wa Uchi!

A happy Monday to everyone!
We started our day crafting our “Oni". Nimo asked each one to stick yarn, googly eyes, and crafting papers to a cup to form our unique “Oni”. We then journeyed around the world with our wooden toy people, pretending to travel to faraway places.
P: *point to China
M: *pretend to fly an airplane with the wooden toy person
Evita: Where is China?Japan? Australia?
R: * points to China, Japan and Australia. Where is America? Where is Korea?
*points at the South African flag. (where)Shelley is, right? *points to the Philippine
flag, Canada, and Singapore.
My home will not get broken because we have an elevator. P (when asked
Who broke the road)
P: I didn’t do it (break the road)
For our circle time, we danced to our favorite nursery rhyme. J asked for “ The Floor is Lava” while R asked if we could do an “Oni” song. Nimo then explained about Setsubun, a Japanese Festival that welcomes the start of spring. He shared with us the custom of “mamemaki”, during which people throw roasted soybeans in order to usher bad luck out. As a class we gleefully shouted “ Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (Demons out! Good fortune in!) as we threw our make believe beans, ushering in the luck of a new month.
R: Oni wa soto! Tiger! No mask!
J: Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi!
P: Oni wa soto!
We then settled down to our library, where Evita read, “Let’s Explore Japan”, introducing the class to Japan’s animals, food, and traditions. She shifted our focus to the world map and asked; “ What country are we in now? Can you point where Japan is?
R/P: Japan
J: Japan!
R: *points where Japan is on the map. “Jinja” , we do this right? ( pray)
R/ J: Sakura
J: sushi
R: Norimaki! Maguro and salmon!
After locating Japan on the map, she had the class describe the Japanese flag. Evita redirected the class to the display board next to her. She opened it to unveil the map of Japan! The class zoomed in to Tokyo, and the map discussion morphed into conversations about places we might visit in Japan. We discovered Japanese landmarks, like its tallest mountain, Mt. Fuji and the tower that stands in its capital, Tokyo Tower. We also learned what Japan is known for learning that Sushi is a well-liked dish that is composed of rice and fish. Bullet trains carry people at fantastic speeds to different destinations throughout the country. Every spring beautiful cherry blossoms bloom across Japan. The national sport in Japan is the ancient art of Sumo Wrestling and they wear “kimono” as a traditional clothing.
R: Japan! Where is China?
Evita: What does the Japanese flag look like?
R: white and red circle
Evita: Why do Japanese people live near the sea?
R: summer, to see the mountains and go swimming.
Evita: What do you think we get from the sea?
R: Fish!
R: Shinkansen! Hong Kong has an MTR! Cherry blossoms!
J: Sushi!
R: sumo?
Our first school day of February was filled with music, creativity and cultural discoveries. We can’t wait to explore Japan more for the rest of the week.
Love,
Petals