Antietam students interested in the Japan club can check out about 40 different books in our Antietam library. Mrs Najjum will be making a special display for our club. We will be posting a list of all of the books available in our library. In the mean time, try using the compurter resources in the library or the computer lab to check out some of the great links on our website. We hope that you will continue to discover and learn more about Japan. We look forward to seeing you soon in Japan Club.

Hello Students and Families at Antietam - The 2010-2011 Antietam Club will be starting on Tuesday October 5th.  After our general introductions last year, this year we will focus much closer on the language and culture. We will meet every Tuesday afterschool from 3:15pm to 4:15pm for 8 weeks, continuing through the end of November. We will not meet on Tuesday November 2, due to no school, teacher work day.  The club will be meeting the school library. Parents MUST pick up thier students at 415pm, we can not be late.  We are limiting the size fo the club to 44 students. Please remember that we had over 100 last year. You must sign up on the bulletin board in the lobby of the school if you want to participate. We will hold a waiting list in case any slots open up. Walk in registration will NOT be accepted.

Welcome back Antietam Elementary students and families. We hope that you enjoyed your summer break. Did you visit our website over the summer? There are lots of great links to other fun Japan related sites. Please continue to learn about adn discover the wonderful culture of Japan. We were very happy that so many students were interested in being a part of our club. We had over 100 students involved last year. The Japan Club will be active on many different levels throughout the school and active throughout the year. Our format this year will be different from last year. Please check back for more information.

On Tuesday, March 23, Antietam Elementary School was honored with two Friendship Dolls. The dolls are a symbol of friendship between the sister schools to help promote the international culture and friendship between them. Aniteam was honored to have Mr Yoshio Hayashi from the Toyama University of International Studies High School in Toyama, Japan. He was accompanied by Mrs Miho Takayama, Yuri Nakaoki and Riki Nakagawa. Dr Denny Gulick and Dr Frances Gulick, from the University of Maryland and Denny was the grandson of the person who started the doll exchange in 1927. The celebrate at Antietam began with the opening song "Hitori" sung by the Antietam choir and accompanied by teacher musicians. A welcome speech was given by Diana Lambert Aikens, the Area III Associate Superintendent and by Linda Moniuszko, Antietam Elementary Principal. Another song, "Aoi me no ningyo" the blue eyed doll, was then sung by the entire student body of Antietam. Terry Kita, the head of the Japan Club, gavea brief introduction then the Japanese dolls were presented . Riki Nakagawra presented the make doll to Brandon Bacchus representing the Antietam Stuendt body. Yuri Nakaoki present the female doll "Sakura" to Leah Gaush representing the Antietam Students. Samir Bawezir presented Riki  with the story of the Wizard of Oz. Brianna Araoz presented Yuri with the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.. A peformance of the Wizard of Oz was preent by Jenna Kardazke, Wade Sullivan and Sienna Valladares.  A speech was given by Dr Denny Gulick on the histroy of the doll exchange. Yosho Hayashi gave a speech about the meaning of the dolls from the Japanese side.  Riki has presented a slideshow on the making of the dolls.  Then Mrs Moniuszko mapresented Mr Hayashi with a school proclamation. The entire student body sung "Sakura" then Mrs Moniuszko made closing remarks.  Please check our Japan Club files to learn more about the friendship Dolls and to see pictures of the event.

With our first meeting complete, we hope that students are excited and encourage to learn more. We are encouraging parents to work with us to help foster your child’s quest for knowledge and begin an understanding of other cultures. We know that many of you have access to a vast array of resources that may be valuable to share with our students. Research shows that students learn best when they have the active support of their parents. This program places a special emphasis on parental awareness and involvement. The more you can help us, the more we can help your child.  Please take them to the library to get more books on things that interest them. Let them learn and practice some oragami (paper folding) at home. With parental supervision, visit the website http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/index.html There areplaces to explore Japan, experience Japanese culture, kids cooking, kids life, speaking japanese, hi-tech Japan, quizzes for kids, games, news and much more. We  hope your child will love to discover even more about Japan.
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Did you see the Japan Club Bulletin Board in the School lobby just outside the library? Please stop by to see it. We will be posting up new pictures and items each week. Look for your picture. We will also be displaying some origami that the students make.

With over 80 students currently starting Japan Club, we had a great first meeting. Students greeted the head senseis with a bow. We divided into three groups: K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. The fourth and fifth graders went with Mrs Najjum and Mrs Kita to learn basic origami (paper folding). They made a variety of objects. They will be teaching thier new skills to the younger students. The second and third graders went to Mrs Michelitsch to begin watching Big Bird visits Japan. The Kindergarten and first grade students were with Mrs Moffitt and Mr Tamai doing coloring pages and learning some new Japanese words. They also each got photographed in a kimoko or judo gi, so look for thier picture at school on the Japan Club bulletin board in the lobby.

Word searches, cross word, fun activities

Pages for you to color in your spare time

Paper folding for you to learn

Pictures of our students and club activites

An annotated bibliography of books about Japan available at the Antietam Elementary Library

Japan Club Words set 1

Antietam Japan Club Info Sheet