18: A New Chapter

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” 

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

A new year often marks a fresh start where one makes resolutions to live a better life or to become a better person. I like the idea of looking at it as a new chapter with a blank page that will be filled up with our stories of new experiences, new learnings, and new growth that will take place within the year. 

The Kinder 2 children came back from the break all geared up for the new chapter that awaits them this year. They had many stories to share about their adventures (and misadventures) as well as the new things they learned and discovered over the break. 

Clara went to Germany in a big airplane. She saw the land, water and houses from the airplane's window. She also saw a lot of clouds. She had Christmas with her grandparents. They gave her pink pyjamas. 

Emma went on a plane to go to Australia. She rode a trainw ith her family. She saw many houses and cars. She had fun in Australia with her family. 

Hana unwrapped all of her presents. She got a toy unicorn, a witch costume and a colouring book. Her witch costume is in her Daddy's suitcase, but her Daddy's suitcase got lost when they went back to Japan. She can't wait to have her witch costume back. 

 

Haruto went to a new school for winter. The teacher taught him how to cook. He had fun. 

Kanato stayed at home. He opened the presents under the Christmas tree. He got a scooter from Santa Claus. It is color green. 

Kennosuke saw Thomas the Train. He was happy because he loves Thomas. He also felt angry because Thomas was tied up. 

Chanin went fishing with his Mommy. They were able to catch one fish. They put it back in the water. They had fun fishing. (They also went to Tokyo.)

Tamaki went to a hotel with her family. Then she went to an aquarium to see the fish. She also visited Santa's house and temples. After her trip, she went to Grandma's house. She got a new turtle toy as a present. She was so happy. 

Emma went skiing with her Daddy in Hokkaido. She learned how to ski and how to stop. They skied on a hill. They also made a big snowman. She had so much fun skiing. 

Koh decorated his Christmas tree. On Christmas, he saw two presents for him. He opened them. He got a new soccer ball and Lego. He was so happy. 

Ryoichiro went to Disneyland Tokyo with his family. He saw Mt. Fuji on the way. He was happy to see Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. He had a lot of fun in Disneyland. 

Zoey went to Universal Studios with her friends. She saw Harry Potter, Mario, and the Minions. Her favorite is the cupcake ride. She also went to a hotel with her Mommy. They swam in the pool and tried the onsen. After, they went to the Bamboo Forest.

For Christmas, Kallea got a magic wand from Santa Claus. It is color pink. There are spells that come with it. Kallea learned how to do wingardium leviosa, a spell that makes things fly.

It seems like all of the children had a wonderful winter break. It was beautiful to hear that they found meaningful stories even in some of the mundane things they did over the holidays. 

Many of the children also shared some of the feelings they went through over the break. This is, of course, in connection with our current unit under How We Express Ourselves. I'm glad to see that the kindergarteners are slowly recognizing different emotions and how to navigate their way around them. 

We dove right back into our inquiry by having an emotion dance party, and to also welcome the New Year. The children danced while looking for different emojis that were strategically placed around the classroom. Every time the music stops, they stepped on the emoji nearest them and copied the expression on the card. 

The kindergarteners have become such eloquent dancers over time and can now express themselves well through movement -- it is always pure fun seeing them dance together.

Apparently, they're very good actors, too!

To connect our emotions with stories, we read The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. 

We talked about the different emotions that the characters went through and how the different parts of the narrative made us feel. The children shared many questions and wonderful reflections, too.

They felt scared when the little bulls were running and jumping and butting their heads.

"Why are they doing that, Ms. Pam?" one of them said.

They think that it's nice that Ferdinand is happy sitting quietly under his favorite tree 

and smelling the flowers.

They think that Ferdinand's mother was worried about him because he's always alone. 

They felt scared when the men came to look for bulls to bring to Madrid.

"Who are they?" one of them asked.

They found it funny when Ferdinand sat on a bumblebee.

They felt sad when Ferdinand was taken to the bull fight in a cart. They all agreed that he would much rather prefer to be on the hill under his favorite tree.

They felt excited for the bull fight in Madrid because there were so many things happening. It felt like a big celebration. 

They felt angry and sad when they found out what the Banderilleros, Picadores, 

and Matadors do to the bulls -- especially when they saw what they use to poke them. 

They felt happy when Ferdinand was finally able to go home. 

After reading The Story of Ferdinand, the children created their own stories that reflect different emotions. The children picked an emotion from a set of emojis, and based their story from that. They used the old paintings they made to make their artwork.

CLARA (Sad)

When we went to Germany, I was sad because I said goodbye to my grandpa. I love my grandpa very much. I had fun with him. I also opened presents with him. When I said goodbye, I cried. I miss him. I want to see him again.

CHANIN (Happy)

Chawin, my brother, makes me happy. He plays games with me. We play Lego together. We make Minecraft together. Chawin is my favorite playmate. 

ZOEY (Cheerful)

When I was two, I was playing with my cat. We were throwing ball. I was wearing a very nice dress, I have a lot of nice dresses. It started to snow. Because it was cold, my family and I went to Bali. We had a vacation because there’s no snow there. I was smiling the whole time. I was cheerful. 

KOH (Silly)

It was snowing. I went to the mountain with my parents. It was cold. I played baseball with my Daddy. The ball went far. My Daddy ran and caught it. I laughed a lot. It was so funny because my Daddy was being silly. He made silly faces. 

SARAH (Love)

I went to the restaurant with my family. There was ice cream and chocolate cake. There was also strawberry milkshake and chocolate milkshake. We ordered all of them. I was with my Mommy. My sister was outside waiting. I love the food. I also love being with Mommy. 

HARUTO (Sad)

I am sad because I miss my Mommy. I don’t know where she went. I love my Mommy’s hugs. I want to hug Mommy right now. I love her. 

EMMA C. (Sleepy)

I was playing with my dog, Potty. We played with a ball. It went over the fence. My cat, Mitzi, went over the fence and she got stuck. I climbed over the fence to help Mitzi. I got tired because it was a long day. I got sleepy. Potty, Mitzi and I went to bed. 

EMMA I. (Happy)

This is me and this is my dog. I have a cake for my dog for his birthday. My dog also has a present. It was a ball. I sang happy birthday for my dog. He was happy. It was a good day. 

KANATO (Full of love)

I am in the train.  It’s an orange train.  It’s a container train that has books. There are people in the train, too. We are going to the mountain. I love trains very much. 

HANA (Excited)

My daddy was sleeping and I saw a cookie on his tummy. I got excited when I saw the cookie, especially since it’s nearly Christmas. I tiptoed to the cookie while my Dadd was sleeping. I wanted to get it without waking him up. I got the cookie and I ate it. It was the best cookie I’ve ever had. It was chocolate. 

KALLEA (Surprised)

To end the week, I challenged the children to be the emojis and show me what they would like if they feel the different emotions they learned. Care to guess what they feel in the pictures? 😀

Every new year is a chance to write a new chapter in our life. For the kindergarteners, this new chapter started with digging deeper within ourselves and understanding who we are through our emotions. What we feel, after all, makes us human. And if our story this year is all about what makes human, then we would have truly lived.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. May this new chapter bring you happiness, contentment, peace, and everything else that your heart desires.

Your Kindergarten teacher, 

Pam