Wednesday, November 8, 2017

November Art Updates

Grade 9 art students have finished up their first art project.  In this unit they learned two techniques to use for creating representational portraits - proportions and the grid technique.  They used both of these in short exercises with a selfie they took during class.
They chose the technique that they preferred and created a full, B4-sized portrait in pencil.  They then developed their work using 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils to add value to the features of their subject - shadows, textures, and other details.  They did an excellent job of developing gradual tone in their drawings.

They are currently beginning another portrait; however, students will be working with mixed media in this piece and may choose to work with a different style if they like.  They began by choosing papers which they cut and collaged into their sketchbooks.  They will be using drawing, painting, printing, and even sewing to explore the effects they can get when working with multiple materials.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Monthly Musical Update

Dear Parents,

This month in Music Class, Grade 9 has continued to look at Music History and how advances in early technology made the spread of music possible throughout Europe and the Middle East.  We've also continued to rehearse our parts for Celebration of Learning, which will take place in December.

Musically yours,

Ms. Shay

Friday, October 27, 2017

Japanese October Blog

Dear Parents,

Group 1 
In unit 2, we learned numbers and prices. And practiced asking and answering questions.
これはいくらですか?- How much is this.
5,000えんです。- This is 5,000 yen.
We practiced asking and answering questions using Genki workbook unit2 for writing practice.

After the break we have a unit2 test.

Group 2
In unit 3, we learned verb conjugation (dictionary form, preset affirmative and present negative), particles (を、で、に、へ), time reference (), Suggestion using (~ませんか) and frequency adverbs (まいにち、よく、ときどき).
We practiced asking and answering questions using Genki workbook unit3 for writing practice.

After the break we have a unit2 test.


Group 3 
In unit 8, we learned Short forms (verbs, adjectives, nouns).
 Informal speech(two people who are close friends or family members speak with Short forms)
 ・「~とおもいます」- I think…
 ・「~といっていました」- They said…
 ・「~ないでください」- Please do not …
 ・「~がすきです」 - I like to do…
We practiced asking and answering questions using Genki workbook unit8 for writing practice.

After the break we have a unit8 test.

Group 4 
We use Minna no Nihongo textbook2 for Japanese grammar and Kanji Daisuki textbook for Kanji practice.
We learned
・~んです
・~んですが、~ていただけませんか


Quiz on every Monday
We have a vocabulary test every Monday
Group 1 is vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit3.
Group 2 is vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit 4.
Group 3 is vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit 9.
Group 4 is Kanji test.

This month all students made invitation card for sports day to their family. They wrote massages to their parents in Japanese too.








If you have any questions, please feel free to contact with me.


Ms. Shoko

Sunday, October 15, 2017

JNL Newsletter in October


Dear G9 parents,

I hope you have been well in nice season and ready for red leaves.

There are some topics which JNL students learnt in this month below.
- Hihyo no kotoba wo tameru
They learnt how different "Complain" and "Criticize " are. They gather some information from TV, or newspaper or any media. And they discussed about the information with the complaining perspective and criticizing perspective. After this, I encourage them to suggest/take action. So they learnt how to write proposal sheet.

- Dareka no kawarini
This article is written about "dependence" and "independence". They are studying both word through their experiences.

I gave students homework which is creating a "Book Review".
Usually, I gave secondary students the homework when a long break comes up.
The details of homework are shared today by Email.

Next month, we will study below
- A story of Yesus
- Comparing Newspaper

All students adjusted to new grade.
And everybody tries as hard as they can.
Some students told me to improve their Japanese more.
So I am planning to give some stuffs.
Thank you very much for your cooperation everyday.
If you have any question/suggestion, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Higa
Secondary Japanese Teacher

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Japanese September Blog

Dear parents,

Hello I am Shoko Matsuya and I am Japanese teacher at HJIS.
I am pleased to be a Japanese teacher for G8 in this academic year.
Let’s have a great year together!

Group 1 
We use Genki1 textbook reviewing unit 1 and started from unit 2 for Japanese grammar and speaking practice.

In unit 1, we reviewed the lesson about  
わたしは~です。- I am….
なんさいですか?- How old are you?
せんこうは なんですか? - What is your majör?
いまなんじですか?- what time is it now?
~じです。- it’s ~ o’clock.

In unit 2, we are learning

ここ/そこ/あそこ
これ/それ/あれ
これはなんですか?- What is this?
わたしの/あなたの/~さんの
これはだれのペンですか?-Whose pen is this?
これはいくらですか?- How much is this.

Group 2
We use Genki1 textbook. We started reviewing the lesson from unit 2 and now we are learning unit 3 for Japanese grammar and speaking practice.

In unit 2, we reviewed  the lesson about
ここ/そこ/あそこ
これ/それ/あれ
これはなんですか?- What is this?
わたしの/あなたの/~さんの
これはだれのペンですか?-Whose pen is this?
これはいくらですか?- How much is this.

In unit 3, we are learning 
Verbs
~をたべます。- I eat…
~をのみます。- I drink…
~へいきます。- I go to …

Particles
を、で、に、へ
Group 3 
We use Genki1 textbook. We started reviewing from unit 7 and now we are learning unit 8 for Japanese grammar and speaking practice.

In unit 7, we reviewed the lesson about
Te-form
~ています。I am doing…
In unit 8, we are learning 
Short forms (verbs, adjectives, nouns)
 Informal speech(two people who are close friends or family members speak with Short forms)
 ・「~とおもいます」- I think…
 ・「~といっていました」- They said…
 ・「~ないでください」- Please do not …
 ・「~がすきです」 - I like to do…

Group 4 
We use Minna no Nihongo textbook2 for Japanese grammar and Kanji Daisuki textbook for Kanji practice.
We are leaning「~んです」

Quiz on every Monday 
We have a vocabulary test every Monday 
Group 1: vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit2.
Group 2: vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit 3.
Group 3: vocabulary test from Genki textbook unit 8.
Group 4: Kanji test.


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact with me.


Shoko

Sunday, September 24, 2017

English September and October Newsletter

Dear Grade 9 parents and students,

This month in English we have focused on the following skills:
- skim and scan reading
- finding unknown vocabulary through the use of context clues
- proper capitalization rules for general English
- proper capitalization rules for titles
- proper writing for numbers in English

Moving into October, we will be focusing on the following skills:
- selecting points for summary
- paraphrasing
- annotating texts
- understanding and tone, mood and purpose in writing

All of these skills will be utilized in our end of unit novel read. We will be reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

If you have any questions about homework, projects, or general news, all of our class information is on our Google Classroom website, which all of the students have access to.

As always, please email me if you have any other questions.

Regards,

Mr. Chris

Thursday, September 21, 2017

G9 JNL Newsletter September

Dear G9 Parents,

I hope you have been good in the nice season after hot summer.
And in the next month, there will be held Sports Day.
I hope we can meet and talk at the event.

In September, there are the topics which students learned in this month below.
-Introduction

Almost students already know routines  and class rules in my class. So JNL class goes very well.
-Tsuki no kigen wo saguru
This is written about the origin of moon. The main theme is to think logically with some data and make hypothesis. After this, they wrote an essay according to what they learned about paragraphs.
-Tsukurareta monogatari wo koete
This is written about images which people make. People got language but language sometimes works to tell wrong information. So we need to re-think common thing whether it is right or not.


In October, they will learn below
-Hihyo no kotoba wo tameru
-Darekano kawarini


Many students are adjusting in a new G9 environment.
Sometimes they might be very busy or (and) confuse because of it.
At the school, we all encourage them to adjust.
Also I really appreciate you for your everyday support.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.




Best regards,
Mr. Higa


Monthly Musical Update

Dear Parents,

Grade 9 has had a great start to the year in Music Class.  We looked at a variety of different music from different genres and talked about how to choose quality music for performing. As a class the students selected a song and divided up the parts among themselves. They’ve been busy learning their own parts and deciding how to best perform them.  We are also starting to take a look at music history, and learn about why and how music functions both within past and present societies.

Musically yours,

Ms. Shay

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

PHYSICS 
Announcement Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Title: Grade 9 UNIT TEST
Name of the Unit: P1. Motion

Date for the test: Monday, September 25, 2017

Monday, September 11, 2017

Calculator

Dear parents,

If have already bought a scientific calculator, please ignore this message. For those whose did not buy yet, I advice Sharp El-509M model. Your children need a calculator to solve questions.

Thanks

This is the Amazon link to buy it.





Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Welcome to French class !

Bonjour !

A new school year has started at HJIS.

My name is Armel Rouault. I am teaching French to Grade 8. I hope students are motivated and I will do my best to develop their interest.

For every unit, I will give them a booklet that I prepared after checking many French textbooks and that students have to bring to every French class. We are going to review how to introduce ourselves, how to count, how to talk about family, likes and dislikes, hobbies, how to ask what something is, how to describe what we eat, ... We are going to learn new topics as well : how to describe someboday, how to describe clothes, how to describe a house, how to ask the way in a city, how to talk about school life, etc..

Many topics that I will illustrate with videos when possible to help the students being familiar with French habits. I also hope to have enough time so that students can make some creative projects using what they learn in French class.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me !

Monday, August 21, 2017

Dear Grade 9 students
please download the pdf file and read it before you come to next class
thanks a lot

please download the pdf file from here

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Welcome and Chemistry class introduction

Dear parents and students.
I hope you had a great summer break.
This is Mr. Koc Secondary science (Chemistry) teacher. I will be teaching G9-12 IGCSE and IB Chemistry.

Starting from the beginning of this new academic year I will be teaching experimental techniques
as the first unit of the year to the 9th graders.

The concepts and practical skills introduced in this unit will be revisited in future topics.
 This unit contains a considerable amount of practical work and introduces a variety of practical techniques that future units will build on. The unit starts by focusing on the variety of purification techniques available to chemists.
These are the core topics that students will learn:
-        Properties of solid liquid gas
-        Changing phases
-        Physical changes and chemical changes
-        Methods of separation
Simple distillation
Fractional distillation
Filtering
Crystallization
Paper chromatography

At the end of this unit, students will have Basic knowledge on particle theory.


I wish you and our students to have a wonderful, fruitful and enjoyable new academic year with full of education. 

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Grade 9 Homeroom Welcome and English Introduction

Dear Grade 9 parents and students,

Welcome to Grade 9! My name is Mr. Chris, the Grade 9 homeroom and English teacher here at HJIS. It is a pleasure to meet you all!

For those of you who have not met me before, this is my second year here at Horizon. Previously, I have taught in Kuwait and Spain. I am incredibly excited to start this new year and look forward to working with you all over the course of this academic year. Please see my email later today for a more detailed introduction, course syllabi for all Grade 9 subjects, and the updated school year calendar.

During our first unit in English, students will be conducting a unit on developing reading skills. During this unit, students will be gain the following skills: reading for gist, summarizing information, annotating, summarizing, note taking, understanding context and purpose, understanding and using literary devices, and analyzing implicit and explicit meanings in texts. At the end of the unit, we will be reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at chepburn@horizon.ac.jp

Thanks for your time and enjoy the last weekend of summer!

Mr. Chris

September Math Newsletter

Dear Grade 9 students and parents,

I hope you had a very nice Summer break and students are ready for a long difficult year.

My name is Mr Bill and I will be Grade 9 Math teacher this year . I have been teaching Math for 17 years and last 6 years I have been in HJIS community. I am very happy to be here and I am planning to work here as much as I can. I am married with 3 children and live around the school. In the first week of every month, I will try to write in the blogs and give you information about what we are doing in the class.

This year Grade 9 students will start IGCSE program in math class.  We follow Oxford Publication IGCSE Math text book. We plan to finish 75 % of the entire topics to have more time for practice next year.

First week as a warm up, we will start basic number skills,  ratio and percentages. I will send whole year plan later via email.

Now, I want to explain some important issues and procedures in my classroom.

1. IGCSE Test:

IGCSE is a-two-years-program. Next year May, they will take the IGCSE test. This test has two options; Core and Extended. Depending on students'math level we recommend to chose the proper one. I will discuss this situation with the students.


2. Jupiter:

Our school use the Jupiter grading system as you know. I will post my Homework, grading and behavior situation on Jupiter. I may write emails via Jupiter as well.

 3. Grading scale and Homework: 

In my Math class, my grading scale is given below:

Unit Test             :  35%
Term Test            :  30%
Homework           :  20%
Quiz-Project        :  15%

After I finish one of the major subjects, I will give a unit test about the topic. It will not only measure them how much they could learn the topic but also it will be a good review about the topic.

At the end of each term, we have only one term test. It is going to be taken in one of the last weeks of each term. In this test, I will ask questions about all topics that they cover within that term. Only the last term has a different situation. In that test, I will ask questions from all over the year's topics. So they should remember all of the subjects.

Homework is one the most important issues that help student understand and solve questions easily. They have HW almost after every math class. In addition, I will give them some big projects that will be done with a group or individually .

  
4. Notebook: 

Notebook is very important for Secondary Math Classes. It is important that they keep the notes very neatly to have review later. To organize and write whole year's topics, they need a big A4 size square grid notebook. I definitely don't want them to use a small notebook and then they change their notebooks very frequently. 

They can buy a notebook themselves from a stationary or internet. Otherwise our school buy ASKUL notebooks as you see in the picture. It is 400 yen and students can buy it any time from me.





       5. Calculator:


      Scientific Calculator is a must in IGCSE program. Many questions depend on the calculator. They can buy and use any scientific one. But in class, we use Sharp EL-509 model

     
           www.amazon.co.jp



If you have any questions, feel free to contact me any time.

Best Regards      


Welcome to Music!

Welcome back to Horizon! I hope that you had a lovely summer and are ready for the new school year. My name is Ms. Shay and I am very excited to continue as your music teacher this year. I am originally from Arizona in the United States, and I received my education from Western Michigan University. This is my sixth year teaching, and my third year here at Horizon. I look forward to getting to know your children better as we begin the school year together.

This term in Grade 9 we will be continuing to work on our guitar skills and will learn many new chords as well as new melodies via finger-style playing.  We will also look at an overview of music history from ancient times to the 19th century in order to inquire into how and why music developed, and how that affects us today.

One quick note about guitars: This year, we are requiring students to purchase their own guitars, as students need to be able to practice regularly (at home) to improve their playing ability. If you need any advice or help with choosing the right instrument, more information is provided in the supply list.  Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at svanmeter@horizon.ac.jp.

I’m looking forward to a great year!

Musically yours,


Ms. Shay

Welcome to JNL class

Dear G9 Parents


I hope you have a great summer break with your child.
The new academic year is just around the corner.
I am really excited for the new year.


I am Higa, teaching G9 JNL class in this year. I am glad to keep working with this class mates.
It is surely going to be great and challenging year for new G9 students with fun events, fun learning.


In JNL class, we will study with essays in autumn term, with literature in winter term, with poem/classic literature in spring term. All topics are from Japanese textbook that they will get when new academic year starts.  They will also use other some books in this year.
I am planning to weekly organize Kanji quiz and Kanji homework same as last year.
At first class, I will instruct what they do and need to bring for this class.
(Just in case, please kindly remind your child to get a notebook for JNL class.)


I am looking forward to working/cooperating with you through this year.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.


Mr. Higa

Secondary Japanese Teacher

Welcome to Art Class!

Hi there!  My name is Ms. Mutrux and I'll be your art teacher this year.  I'm really excited to be teaching at Horizon and especially to be living in Japan.  In my class, we'll be creating some cool projects, learning new skills, expressing ourselves, and talking about art.  I can't wait to meet all of you!

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Last JNL Newsletter


Dear G9 parents,

I hope you had good time on YEP and PTC

In this month, they learnt below.

Rasho-mon
This is a literature which is written 100 years ago. And it is translated in English as well.
They already studied it in English.
So in my class, they compare Japanese one and English one.
Then, they analyze them and presented with cultural differentiation of language.

Next year, they will study more abstract books.
So it will be harder than this year, but I am sure they can do it because they always make efforts.


In this year, I and students could learn a lot from each other.
It was great year for me.
I appreciate you for your all support.

Have a great summer break.

Best regards,
Higa
Japanese Teacher

Friday, June 2, 2017

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Physics Newsleter

Dear parents and students of Grade 9

We are fast approaching the end of the school year.
I believe everyone is looking forward having a fun summer. Here are some updates from Physics class.
We have completed light and sound units. After assessing the students comprehension I was satisfied with their level. Most of the students met the objectives of these units. The final assessment for the Sound unit will be on Tuesday June 6.
Meanwhile we've started another unit "Electricity". This will be combination of Electrical circuits and Electricity units since they are mainly related to each other.
I am aware of that there is not much time before the term tests so we will continue beginning of next year with the parts which we may not cover.
We've completed almost all the units within this year. In Nov-Oct session of next year students will be taking IGCSE science exams. So I am planning to spend the first couple of months (until the exams) with revision and practicing past papers.

Last but not the least the term tests will be after 2 weeks. You will be informed with the schedule of each subject's exam. However I would like to inform you that this final term test will include all the topics we covered since the beginning of the year.
Here is the list:

TopicSub topic
P1. Motion
P2. Matter and forces
2.1 Mass and weight
2.2 Density
2.3 Effects of forces
P3. Energy, work and power3.1 Energy
3.2 Energy resources
3.3 Work
3.4 Power
P4. Simple kinetic molecular model of matter4.1 States of matter
4.2 Molecular model
4.3 Evaporation
P5. Matter and thermal properties
P6. Transfer of thermal energy6.1 Conduction
6.2 Convection
6.3 Radiation
6.4 Consequences of energy transfer
P7. Waves7.1 General wave properties
P8. Light8.1 Reflection of light
8.2 Refraction of light
8.3 Thin converging lens
P9. Electromagnetic spectrum
P10. Sound
P11-12 - Electricity

I wish everyone good luck!!!
Regards

Sunday, May 28, 2017

JAL News Letter - May

Hello. First of all, thank you so much for the wonderful lunch at the teacher's day! I wanted to try EVERYTHING, but there were so many delicious-looking ethnic food that I couldn't eat as much as I wanted.
I love ethnic food and I often cook it at home. In my class this month, we discussed food where students wrote one home country recipe in Japanese. I can't wait to try all of the recipes in summer :)

G9
We have started simple reading tasks and making short essays. This is a preparation for IGCS Japanese test next year. They are all hard workers, so I am very comfortable in class. Let's keep up a committed student-teacher relationship and achieve a positive result on the test!! Farangiz is working on Katakana and started Kanji practice this week.

Shizuka Miller





Thursday, May 25, 2017

Monthly Musical Update

Dear Parents,


This month in Music Class, we have been preparing our music for Year End Performance, which will take place on Friday, June 23rd, in Kohoku Hall.  More details about the performance will be sent out in the upcoming weeks, so please keep an eye on your school email inbox.

Grade 9 students are working on Don’t Stop Me Now, by Queen, for YEP.  They have really grown musically this year and are working on stage presence and playing or singing solos. We are excited to share our music with you in the upcoming performance.

Musically yours,

Ms. Shay

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

JNL Newsletter in May


Dear G9 JNL parents,

I hope you are enjoying great season.
There are the topic they studied last month.

-A girl in El Salvador
This is a journal of girl in El Salvador which was one of conflicts.
A Japanese journalist went there and interview a girl many time.
Students created a book introduction like we can see at book store.
Then, they presented their introduction.

-Instead of someone
This theme is "relationship and independence".
Students were thinking about the theme and wrote an essay.
Also they analyzed literary style.

In this month, they are studying "Rasho-mon".
They already studied this in English.
So, they compare Japanese version and translated version.
Then they will present their analyzation.

Thank you very much for your cooperation everyday.
All students are trying very hard and they bring their homework every week.
If you have any question or suggestion, please feel free to contact me.


Mr. Higa

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Chemistry May Newsletter

This month, 9 graders  will start learning about Organic chemistry   

This unit starts by introducing different types and uses of fossil fuels. The process of fractional distillation of crude oil is discussed with its importance as the main source of organic molecules. There is an opportunity for learners to research and explore the vast variety of everyday products that originate from crude oil. The unit then considers simple hydrocarbons limited to alkanes and alkenes. This unit is cross-referenced to assessment objectives A1–5, B1–5, C1–3 and Units 2 and 7.

These are the main topics we will cover for IGCSE combined science

  •   Fuels Recall coal, natural gas and petroleum as fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide on combustion
  •   Describe petroleum as a mixture of hydrocarbons and its separation into useful fractions by fractional distillation
  •  Understand the essential principle of fractional distillation in terms of differing boiling points
  •   Describe the properties of alkanes
  •   Name, identify and draw the structures of methane, ethane and ethene
  •  Recognize alkanes and alkenes from their chemical names or from molecular structure
  •   Describe the manufacture of alkenes by cracking
  •  Distinguish between alkanes and alkenes by the addition reaction of alkenes with bromine

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

May newsletter - GP

This month students will work on fitting in one more paper before next year! It will be a quick paper to practice the skills needed for next year! We also presented our projects that we were working on last month. The students presented their work that they did and explained to the class how they came up with the paper as well as how they thought it went. They also discussed what they did well and not well as a group.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Russian May Newsletter

Dear Parents,
Hope you are enjoying the Marvellous May and the nice weather.
We started the previous month with a lot of researches about the President of Russia, Russian culture, Moscow the capital of Russia, Russian singers and actors, Russian food and many more. The students were curious and worked hard on presentations and posters about Russia. They presented their researches in the class one by one and we all learned a lot about this amazing country.
This month, we are going to review the objects in the classroom, colors, the days of the week and the seasons of the year. We will be learning more fruits and vegetables and all about animals.
Thank you and have a great day!

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Chemistry Newsletter April

This month students will learn about Metals reactivity series and metals extraction   
This unit begins by looking at the general properties of metals and the benefits of forming alloys. The reactivity series is introduced and there is a considerable range of practical work that can be used to illustrate the reactivity of different elements. This is related to the method of extraction of different metals. This unit is cross-referenced to assessment objectives A1–5, B1–6, C1–4 and Units 2, 3 and 4.

These are the main topics we will cover for IGCSE combined science

  •          Properties of metals
  •          the structure of an alloy
  •          Reactivity series of metals  
  •          Deduce an order of reactivity from a given set of experimental results
  •          Extraction of metals
  •          Describe the essential reactions in the extraction of iron in the blast furnace
  •          Relate the method of extraction of a metal from its ore to its position in the reactivity series limited to group I and II metals, aluminum, iron and copper