Konnichiwa from Japan

Cherry blossoms, Mt. Fuji and a traditional Japanese style home.

We are having a wonderful vacation in Japan!  We have learned so much!  I'll include our itinerary below, and I hope knowing what we've studied each day will open up some great conversations with your child.  This week we are bringing our journey to a close.  We will be planning a trip to Tokyo Disney tomorrow, and on Wednesday we will "go" to Tokyo Disney and see the attractions.  Thursday we will visit a zen garden and pack up.  Friday we fly home!  We are all sad our learning is coming to an end... we have enjoyed studying this wonderful culture.  Your child will be bringing home his/her Adventure Journal with lots of pictures, so look for that on Friday!

In other news... we started learning about ADJECTIVES today.  Hopefully you will start to hear some clever descriptive words from your child.  We began PERSUASIVE writing.  The kids wrote their first persuasive pieces today, trying to talk me into letting them learn about Tokyo Disney!  We are learning the difference between fact and opinion, and we are learning that a persuasive letter should not be a bunch of begging phrases!  This will lead into writing Book Reviews... which will be about our favorite books and will hopefully persuade our friends to read them!

In Math, we will take Unit 6 test TOMORROW.  After tonight, there will NOT be math homework this week.  Enjoy time to go on Dreambox.  Unit 7 will begin after break.  Tomorrow a parent information letter will come home explaining the concepts in Chapter 7.

After spring break we will begin a new science unit... Collecting and Examining Life.  We will study brine shrimp, crickets, fish, plants, seeds and a bit of mold... yes yuck!  It should be fun!  Here's a picture of Japan's bullet train.  Hope you enjoy the itinerary below:

Day 1:  Flew to Japan and settled into our hotels.

Day 2:  McDonald's... the smallest one in the world & a slightly different menu

Day 3:  The Imperial Palace

Day 4:  Hotel Day

Day 5:  Mr. Fuji

Day 6:  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Day 7:  Schools - Visit with Dr. Bein

Day 8:  Bullet Train

Day 9:  Japanese Temple:  shinto and coins (yen)

Day 10: Cherry Blossoms (sakura)

Day 11: Fish Market

Day 12: Geisha & Tea Ceremony

Day 13: Richshaws

Day 14: Rice Paddy

Day 15: Plan Tokyo Disney

Day 16: Tokyo Disney

Day 17: Zen Garden & pack up

Day 18: Fly home to the USA