Safari In Progress (6): Train craft

03/03/2008 (Monday)

(i) Corner playing and labelling
The kids were active at the playground such as JS and SY. As JN and EG looked still unawake; I encouraged them to be at outdoor rather than indoor. This is good as they were happier and less moody. SYu was able to socialize better with her classmates which helped her cope faster in her lessons too.
In the classroom, I allowed them for “corner playing”. The kids chose their favourable games or toys and eventually, there were four different corners. EG, ZY, JS and WY played with the straw games. WY was making a spider-web, while JS an umbrella. EG and ZY made a dragon dance……rather creative! SY, JN, SYu, ZYg and ZJ played blocks with some toy animals. Meanwhile, LX, JH and YW played with the marbles. I would encouraged English Language at most time.
At the same time, I called the kids individually to complete the unfinished signboards at the Animal Safari. They chose the titles they wanted to write from the list on the whiteboard. I was glad that JS, JW were able to write more independently and confidently. ZYg, ZJ, JHg needed more guidance while SY could write by herself. EG was prompted to be less careless. Then, the signboards were placed at the appropriate parts of the layout.
(MI: Body-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal Interpersonal, Linguistic, Spatial skills)

(ii) Everyday English and Duty Roster
Before tea-break, the kids would response to my everyday question. “What day is today?.....Today is Monday. How are you? I am fine, thank you.” ZJ, ZYg and LX needed more practice on this. Duties were segregated to them based on the duty roster. Today, we had doughnuts and sugar tend to scatter around the table. WY needed guidance to wipe the tables properly. It was SYu and JW’s turn to sweep the floor. SYu were guided the proper way of sweeping while JW did quite well.
(MI: Body-Kinesthetic, Linguistic, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Logical-Mathematical skills)

(iii) Safari Analysing
After tea-break, we looked at the Safari layout. M and EG insisted that there is train infrastructure in a Safari and not only the trucks. Then, we sang the song of a train entitled, “The wheels on the train” with actions. The lyrics were:

"The wheels on the train go round and round,
Go round and round, go round and round,
The wheels on the train go round and round,
So, early in the morning.

The steamer goes Choo Choo Chug,
Choo Choo Chug, Choo Choo Chug,
The steamer goes Choo Choo Chug,
So, early in the morning."


Then, we talked about the railway track. ZY said that some looks like roads (he was thinking of LRT railway). So, there were two; a) the original railway track or b) the Magnetic track. After voting, we decided to do the original track. This would also distinguish clearly the road from the railway track. They decided to use the toothpick for the function.
(MI: Interpersonal, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Body-Kinesthetic skills)

(iv) Animal Safari In Progress: Train Craft
After the discussion, we did a train craft made from coloured paper. The steps included:
a) To fold a piece of rectangle paper into half, and then; into another half.
b) Open it again, to get 4 equal rectangle parts.
c) Cut the folded line using the scissors.
d) Roll the first part so that the beginning meets the ending. Staple.
e) Insert the second piece through the hole and roll it to precede the first role. Staple.
f) Eventually, there would be 4 rolls stapled.

Next, they did coin tracing as to cut for the wheels. Due to insufficient time, the train craft would be continued the next lesson.
(MI: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Spatial, Logical Mathematical skills)