HJIS Sendai Aoba Class Blogs 2026-27: Week 16

Hello, Desert Class families!

We had a great first week back we have had in Desert Class! It has been wonderful welcoming everyone back after the summer break. While a few friends felt a little nervous on the first day, they quickly settled in after seeing their classmates, familiar toys, and our classroom routines.

Morning & Afternoon Meeting

During our morning meetings, we sang our Hello Song, Weather Song, and Months of the Year Song. As everyone settles into our new classroom, Ms. Lis took on the classroom helper roles this week while the students became familiar with our new routines and environment. We also sang many familiar songs, discussed our classroom rules and expectations, and learned how to safely use and care for our learning centers.

Language & Literacy

This week in Language & Literacy, we focused on name recognition. The students practiced recognizing and spelling both their own names and the names of their classmates through a variety of fun, hands-on activities. They searched for the letters in their names using magnetic letters, painted the first letter of their name on a wooden block by peeling away tape to reveal the letter before decorating it with sequins, and used playdough to build their names using laminated name cards as a guide. The students also created a textured name collage by decorating the letters of their names with paper scraps, yarn, and different materials before finishing the week by tracing their names with paint. A favorite activity this week was creating their textured name collages, as the students loved exploring different materials while proudly decorating their own names.

Maths

This week in Math, we began our new unit on patterns, with a focus on creating and identifying color and shape patterns. The students explored patterns using colorful balls to build repeating color sequences before using pattern blocks to create their own unique designs. They also completed pattern cards by identifying the missing piece to finish each pattern, helping to strengthen their observation and problem-solving skills. Later in the week, the students made colorful paper chain links using construction paper, carefully repeating a yellow and green color pattern. A favorite activity this week was making the paper chain patterns, as the students enjoyed watching their repeating patterns grow longer with each new link.

Topic Exploration

This week, our Topic Exploration theme was Welcome Back / Summer. We began the week by creating a special Welcome Back sunflower craft, using a paper cup, toilet paper roll, and construction paper before adding each student's first-day photo to the center of the flower as a keepsake. The students also enjoyed dancing with colorful scarves to "Can't Stop the Feeling," encouraging movement, coordination, and self-expression. Continuing our summer theme, we created bright sun crafts by weaving yarn through the center to make colorful patterns. During our Science lesson, the students explored how ice melts by pouring warm water over blocks of ice to rescue the toys trapped inside, making predictions and observing the changes as the ice melted. To finish the week, the students created cheerful beach crafts using construction paper, popsicle sticks, and origami paper. A favorite activity this week was the ice melting experiment, as the students were excited to free the frozen toys while discovering how heat changes ice into water.

Free Play

Here are some more pictures of friends playing together in the classroom, in the Big Room, at the park, and enjoying other topics, events and activities at school.