Numbers and Puppet

17/03/08 (Monday)

(i) Corner playing
This morning at 8.40 a.m., I already had 8 students which was a good turn
up compared to the daily attendance. I let the kids choose their toys or games. The usual kids playing with toys were JS, WY, JH, ZY and JW. SYu, SJ, JN, YW, ZJ preferred to draw and colour. So, I gave them their blue book, which I bound for drawing, colouring and writing practice. SY drew about her younger sister, YZ about his father and himself, LX about dinosaur, SYu about her hi-tech house...phew!
(M/I: Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Spatial skills)

(ii) “Gelang, Si Paku Gelang”
I sang this Bahasa song twice and the kids caught hold of it fast. It’s a song about a scarecrow. I asked the kids, “What can a sad farmer do so that the birds and rats stop eating its paddy?” ZYg said, “Chase them away!” JW said, “Lets scream!” Then, I reminded them who is going to scream when the farmer sleeps at night. When I drew a scarecrow, then; they said “Oh…..”. So, that song was to chase away the pests.
We sang with actions and I was glad that YZ and ZY actually sang the song while doing other activities. Well, sing along with your kids and have fun!
"Gelang si paku gelang
Gelang si rama rama
Pulang, marilah pulang, marilah pulang
Bersama-sama
Pulang, marilah pulang, marilah pulang
Bersama-sama"
(M/I: Interpersonal, Logical-Mathematical, Body-Kinesthetic, Musical skills)

(iii) Numbers
I divided the board into two rows. The top row was for the number chart
of "1 until 50". The bottom part I divided into 5 columns as below. Then, I placed the numbers accordingly. 1,2,3,....10 / 11,12,13,....20 / 21, 22, 23,......30 / 31, 32, 33, .....40 / 41,42,43, .....50.
Most of them were able to say from 1 until 20. However, they focused attentively when I run through number 21 until 50. For every section of 10, I got different kids to show their fingers. In fact, what attracted them was the story of Alex who had to collect RM50.00. ZYg said Alex wanted to buy an iguana. So, Alex only had RM30.00. So, JS suggested Alex use an ATM card. As he was illegible to get one, YZ suggested his parents accompanied him to the bank to get his "Ang Pow" money. I suggested he take his coin box money. So, it was agreed that RM10.00 from the bank and the other RM10.00 from his coin box.
Then, I get the kids to read the numbers. ZY, SYu and SY were quite
independent and YZ was really focusing. He is a fast learner. Tomorrow, I would
do more exercises to reinforce the "numbers" lesson.
(M/I: Interpersonal, Logical-Mathematical, Body-Kinesthetic skills)


(iv) Puppet: Crocodile
Today, the kids learnt that the crocodile has generally 66 teeth
while the adults only 32. So, they started imagining, how the crocodile
and its snout chew its food..........haaaa!
I showed them the proper way to cut their colour paper into a puppet. After cutting, they would get a straw to paste behind the craft. M,
ZY,EG, ZYg, JN, SYu, SY, JW, YZ were independent. WY, ZJ, YW, SR, LX required more guidance and encouragement. Most of my kids were not ready for fine cutting especially when it comes to the animals' legs. Some kids
started chasing each other as crocodiles with the puppet!
(M/I: Interpersonal, Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic skills)

(v) Numbers cutting
We intended to create a caterpillar of "numbers". So, kids who
finished the crocodile craft; helped me to cut the circles. YZ, ZY, M, EG,
JN, SYu, SY could cut nicely while the others needed more practice.
(M/I: Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic skills)