Edgewood Students in Bristol Celebrate Children's Day!!
On May 5, students in Mrs. Springer's class visited the school library to present the Japanese Children's Day projects they started in February. All of the students in the school, their parents, and people related to the project were invited. There were many different types of displays such as a quiz game about typhoons and weather in Japan, a Japanese tea service, Japanese children's toy corner, Hina Matsuri dolls display, and a volcano demonstration.
The project began when Mr. Hunter in Bristol told the school about a new Friendship Doll Program. The school became interested in the original Friendship Doll Program story, and the school decided to take the story to learn about Japan. Mrs. St. Onge, the citywide media coordinator, and Mrs. Springer, the fourth-grade teacher, worked together to help the students learn about Japan.
When I visited the library on May 5th, I was very impressed by the displays and by the students who had learned a lot about Japan. It seems to me they knew Japan more than I. I did not know that the last time Mt. Fuji erupted was in 1707. I saw several small books of "Sadako" on the display tables and decorations of many paper cranes made by the students hanging from the ceiling. Some girls told me that they empathized with her because the age when Sadako died of leukemia was similar to their own age.
Technology played a very important role in
the project. There were four computers showing Japanese quiz games
based on culture and geography. Another computer had a slideshow
that showed the process of the project. The students, the teacher,
a coordinator of the Science Center, and I appeared on the screen.
A TV showed a Friendship Doll Program that had appeared in Japan.
The Comment from Mrs. St. Onge, the Bristol Media Coordinator
How did She Use Technology for the Project?
I chose the projects that I felt presented
themselves the best using the technology. I used Hyperstudio for all
the projects. I captured images from the Internet
and added hyperlinks into the slide show program that
launched when we clicked on them.
The first project was on the different seasons.
The student created on hypercard on each season. Then we
used the program's clip art and selected a
map of Asia to incorporate into the slide. The typhoon information
was an Internet link to a page from Japan
Kidsweb, a site you gave us. The Sumarai Hyperstudio stack
incorporated research about the Sumarai and
the official protocol that was stated before entering battle.
Then I recorded the student using the formal
protocol. He personalized it using his name, his family, and that
he had fought over 400 battles. The last stack
was what children do after school and at night at home.
The focus of this entire project was around the four essential questions we wanted the children to answer.
1. What would it be like to walk in the shoes of a Japanese child?
2. What significant events impacted the history of Japan.
That timeline was created importing digital photos from every time period and using
the table format of Microsoft Word.
3. Compare the customs of Japan to the United States.
4. What would it be
like to live in Japan? The climate, people, products, major cities.
