February
5
January
26
Picture yourself in a Japanese Garden
Students in Grade 3/4 have been learning about Japanese Kimonos. We shared the story of Suki’s Kimono and cstudents worked cooperatively to make a kimono using origami paper. I painted the design over with Mod Podge which gives it a matt sheen. Grade 1’s used the creation to picture themselves in a Japanese garden using Superimpose. This was a teacher lead activity and the class is looking forward to tinkering with the app.
January
26
The Wave: Art inspired by Barbara Reid and Hokusai
This was a collaborative project by Grade 2 and 3 students. Focus was on appreciating and respecting the work of their peers as well as exploring how to combine styles from two different artists: Hokusai and Barbara Reid. Following explorations of the artists, the first class created the blue background with plasticine. We used the cardboard sleeves to present our work.
The second class imported a photograph of the background into Doodle Buddy and added the details. It was uploaded to Dropbox for sharing. The final group added white plasticine and the images were displayed in the hallway.
Art inspired by Hokusai and Barbara Reid from Anna Crosland on Vimeo.
January
26
Upcycle DVD cases with Japanese Calligraphy
Students in Grade 4 have been learning about different styles of Japanese writing. We chose some powerful words to put on display using old DVD cases. Students chose words such as Kindness, Beauty, Truth and Peace. We used calligraphy brushes purchased at an inexpensive Japanese Dollar store (Daiso in Richmond).
January
26
Problem Solving with Japanese Gardens
Students in Grade 2 have been learning about the features of traditional Japanese gardens. The challenge was to create a curved bridge where each student created a section. Students had to be mindful of how their creations would fit together and how their work could be put together to make a whole. We used Doodle Buddy app for this activity. Students also had to figure out how to change the background in the app.
Japanese garden bridge from Anna Crosland on Vimeo.
December
15
Labelling in Japanese using Google Translate
We have begun our explorations of Japanese written language. Students explored using Google Translate to read some Japanese books. We enjoyed comparing the english version to compare our translations. Students then used Google Translate to figure out signs in Japanese for common items in the Learning Commons.
December
5
Quick PicVid Stitch to show learning about Japan
In the Learning Commons Gr 2/3 students tinkered with PicVid Stitch App. We thought it might be a good way to show a number of images at the same time. We looked for pictures in books and items in our library that show what we have learned about Japan.
We are looking forward to experimenting with the Video feature of this app. Students had to figure out camera angles as well as how to export their work to the camera roll and then upload to Dropbox.
Using Pic Vid Stitch to show learning about Japan from Anna Crosland on Vimeo.
December
1
Sushi on the menu
Students in Grades 2 and 3 were very interested in learning about how Japanese restaurants sometimes have plastic food on display to show what’s on the menu. We created our own Japanese window menu by creating sushi for display.
We used electrical tape, cotton balls, fabric scraps, popsicle sticks and small sized paper plates. Each table group created 2 or 3 plates together using glue sticks. I pre-cut the tape as it can get pretty sticky.
Due to time constraints, I also pre-cut the fabric, but this wouldn’t be necessary in the classroom. I used a glue gun to ensure the ‘chopsticks’ wouldn’t fall off and to attach the plates to our red background. The font style is Matura Script. 
November
24
Reading on our Tatami Mats
This week many classes learned about traditional Japanese houses. We explored customs around the use of Tatami Mats. Over the summer I purchased a dozen Dollar Store beach mats with black borders and these worked perfectly for reading time. I played some mellow Japanese flute music in the background.
November
3
Sumo Digital Makers
We have been learning about the Japanese national sport of Sumo. Students created mini wrestlers and these were used by other classes to show their learning through digital creation.
Sumo Wrestlers from Anna Crosland on Vimeo.
A second class also focused on sumo and used Superimpose App to digitally show their learning.
Sumo SuperImpose from Anna Crosland on Vimeo.
A third class imported the Superimpose creations to use as a background to show their learning in Tellagami App.
Next class using Tellagami app to show learning about #Sumo using peer digital creation as background #sd36learn #tlchat #sd36tl #bcedchat pic.twitter.com/j5Q37fGV8W
— Anna Crosland (@crosland_a) November 1, 2017