Storytelling at the Shin Yamashita Hoikuen

Sometimes everything comes together in one learning experience…

Throughout this year we’ve been speaking at YIS about Service Learning, and ways in which our students can make deeper connections with our community. One consideration was finding another school to connect with, to take our students out of our comfort zone and offer a window into a very different setting. When the idea was raised of visiting a local preschool to share Japanese stories, we were very excited.

This idea was not only a perfect fit for our Unit of Inquiry exploring storytelling, it was also a very authentic connection to our community and a really powerful reason for students to improve their Japanese reading.

We braved the rain and marched down the hill to the hoikuen. Students introduced themselves, shared a song, read stories, then played a few circle games. It was great to see the initial intimidation of being in a new environment wear off as students read and played games together.