Sep 16, 20223 min read

Message from the Principals 9/16/2022

Good morning, Hope Community! This post will cover the following topics:

1: Sports Day

2: Curriculum Focus: Entry Points

3: Classroom Highlight of the week

4: Guest Speaker

5: Clubs

6: Photos!!

1: Sports Day

Today is the first practice for our Sports Day! Students will meet to discuss the games they will play and learn the rules.

This year's Sports Day will take place at Koza Shinkin Dome on December 16th! Please mark your calendars as all families are invited to watch and participate in the games! More details about the event will be shared in the near future.

2: Curriculum Focus: Entry Points

This week our IPC students (Grades 1 - 5) and our IMYC students (Grades 6-8) had their first Entry Points. An Entry Point is an activity at the start of a new unit of learning that serves as a way of giving the students an understanding of the new unit theme or Big Idea. Every Entry Point may look different - some may be small class activities, some may be whole day events, some may be field trips but the purpose of all of them remains the same - to get everyone excited about the new unit. The hook of the Entry Point is something all teachers can refer back to when building connections all throughout that unit.

This week, the learners at Hope had a range of experiences for their Entry Points. This included tent building (Grade 1 - Buildings Unit), yoga challenges (Grade 6 - Balance Unit) and even going through a model airport right in their own classroom (Grade 2 - Travel and Tourism).

Please look at the photos shared this week for examples of the Entry Points in action.

3: Classroom Highlight of the week!

This week Grade 2 Maroon and Grade 2 Blue had their Entry Point for their unit "Travel and Tourism".

Together they went on a pretend plane trip to India, New York, then back to Okinawa. Before boarding, students were each given their seat number and had to go through security with their bags, which had to be left behind to be checked into the hold. When ‘arriving’ at each destination, students were asked what plans they had for that country/city. It was great to hear that some students already knew a little about some of the destinations - one student said they'd like to visit a temple in India! Another student mentioned the Statue of Liberty being in New York!

4: Guest Speaker

On Friday the 9th of September, grades 4 and 5 were visited by Mr. Hugo Musset, a neuroscientist from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, as part of their IPC ‘Brainwave’ units. Mr. Hugo taught the students why it is important to know about how the brain works, how the brain sends and receives information, and gave them tips on how to hack their ability to remember things learned at school. The students particularly enjoyed playing memory games and testing their ability against a chimpanzee.

This is what our students had to say:

“I really enjoyed his visit. He taught us a lot of stuff about the brain that some of us never knew before. For example, how parts of the brain might be more important for certain things and how the brain can’t function without certain parts. I enjoyed the game where we had to remember the numbers”. - Natalie, G5

"I think it was very fun because he told us about all of the brain parts and he told us how difficult it was to control the body. So, I think grade 4 liked the games because it tested our brains and helped us learn something new". - Evy, G4

5: Club Information!

Club registration is NOW OPEN! https://www.hopeoki.org/club-sign-up
Club registration will close on Friday, Sept 23.
Clubs will start October 3rd.
Club fees will be added to November Tuition.
- EXCEPTION: Karate Club fee will be paid directly to the Karate Sensei.