Here is some information from the Elementary School Student Council in preparation for World Book Day on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Third grade finished writing their opinion letters to movers and shakers in the wider world. Students typed up the their formal letters, addressed the envelopes, and affixed postage. We walked our letters to the post office on a beautiful spring afternoon. Now the letters are on their way to Canada, Australia, India, Kenya, and many other countries!

Letters to Leaders

With their expanding skills in persuasive writing, 3G wrote opinion letters about topics important to them. Students drafted, revised, edited, and published their work. Each child typed up her/his letter to send it off to a world leader who could affect change on that subject. The class wrote to prime ministers, governors, members of parliament, cabinet secretaries, UN agencies, company CEOs, and more.

Snowball Game

Well, other than a flurry or two, we didn’t get any snow this year in Yokohama. As winter slipped away, we finally played the Snowball Game. Students work on a small portion of a worksheet, then crumple the paper into a soft snowball. When the music starts, we have a gentle snowball fight. When the music stops, everyone has to find a snowball, open it up, then complete another section of the worksheet. Then, everyone crumples the snowball again and we play another round.

Armed with just a 100 ml beaker and a dropper, 3G mathematicians attempted to measure the liquid volume of water up to a line marked on a bottle. Then, they tried to measure the capacity of the whole bottle.

It was a fun adventure, but harder than it looks!

We have a gorgeous new sculpture in our classroom! Students studied the artist Dale Chihuly before embarking on a collaborative sculpture emulating his work. We couldn’t use glass in school, but we were creative anyhow.

Using PET bottles destined for the recycling bin, students added lots of color before cutting the plastic into flowers, spirals, leaves, and tendrils.

Then, we combined all our pieces onto a mesh base. We cut through the wire to insert the bottlenecks. Students had to consider carefully where to place each item for the maximum effect.

Now, with our giant, collaborative sculpture hanging in the window, our classroom is adorned with rainbows that move across the room as the sun traverses the sky.

The 5th Annual Animal Museum was a smash hit! 3G and 3T combined efforts to present research on snakes, bats, koalas, sharks, spiders, whales, elephants, and frogs.

Teachers, students, and parents from across the elementary school visited our exhibits. Many said it was the best Animal Museum the ever saw!

3G has been working hard to prepare for this big showcase of our learning. Please join us if you are available.

Third graders visited Enoshima Aquarium recently. We had a thrilling time gazing at all the intriguing animals. In addition to creatures living under the sea, we also encountered penguins, sea otters, and capybaras! Students have been honing their research skills lately learning about various animals in preparation for inviting the whole elementary school to our Animal Museum in March.

What a memorable day!

We filled our marble jar today! 3G earns marbles for excellent behavior and decision-making. Today, they filled the jar to the top, which means we will have a class celebration soon! Congratulations, 3G! 🎇

We moved into our new IPC unit, called Different Places, Similar Lives, where we will learn the similarities and differences between our lives in Yokohama and many other cultures in the world. One way to do that is to inform others about our school. 3G set out to record videos to teach others about Saint Maur.