Animals: Safari

29/02/2008 (Friday)

(i) Writing and colouring
As usual, most kids were excited after the outdoor play. After drinking water, we arranged the tables and chairs. They did some writing focusing on “o”. I could feel that most of them are showing interest in writing and colouring….which will strengthen their motor skills. In fact, LX, ZJ and JS are more independent.
A parent came in to show her son’s drawing, sharing her memorable moment Good work, WY!.... for you are now able to colour a complete picture and shows interest in writing.
(MI: Intrapersonal, Spatial,Body-Kinesthetic skills)

(ii) Discussion on Mathematical worksheet
Then, we did review on shapes namely; circle, oval, triangle, square, rectangle and crescent. We sang the “Five Little Ducks” again to reinforce the Mathematical skills. Then, I drew a picture of “ostrich” formed from shapes. They counted the different shapes found in the ostrich. They required some time as the triangles and rectangles were of different lengths and angles. They volunteered individually to count the number of shapes. Then they circle the relevant numbers on the whiteboard. Some quiet kids began to volunteer which was a good sign.
(MI: Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Linguistic, Intrapersonal skills)

(iii) Individual activity on Mathematical worksheet
As today’s focus was on writing skill, thus we did a worksheet on the ostrich discussed earlier before tea-break. SY, M and SYu were independent while ZY and EG could be rather careless. Surprisingly, SC performed well….good job! The others required more prompting but managed to answer the questions.
(MI: Logical-Mathematical, Intrapersonal, Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic skills)

(iii) Animal Safari
Next, I shared with them M’s Encyclopedia. They were thrilled with Condor, the bald bird which eats dead animals and bodies due to their strong smelling sense. We talked about the monkeys they had seen in the zoo. I showed them a picture of pinkish faced monkeys which were fierce. EG managed to guess why monkeys have longer hands than legs……because they need to swing fast and easily.
Then, we discussed about the Animal Safari in Melaka. What caught their attention was the Monkey Island in the lake. They decided to have a Tiger Island because they are dangerous! They also noticed the signboards and the trucks. Then, we analysed our incomplete Safari layout. We only managed to make a signboard for each area. As for the roads, they said that it was nice and enough. SY said too many roads will make the layout look messy. Again, I’m proud because they learned to take care of the layout although I placed it in the classroom.
(MI: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Linguistic, Naturalist, Body-Kinesthetic skills)