Safari In Progress (8)

05/03/2008 (Wednesday)

(i) Corner playing and individual focus
The joys of playing hide and seek has spreaded to most kids including my quiet kid, ZJ. Games are what these kids look forward every day; as they learn best through fun and interest!
By 9 a.m., I had only about 8 kids out of 17 which encouraged me to have either writing activity or corner playing. Today, the kids were allowed to do play-dough to form any moulds. However, JW, ZY and JN preferred toys which I allowed only at 1 table. I reminded them to be responsible for their play activities. SY glanced at our Safari layout and then made railway track. SYu added a tortoise mould while JS made some more roads. ZJ loved making pizzas for the shops. On the other hand, JW took his toy car to chase the horse and cow and ZY joined him.
Meanwhile, I had SR, JH, LX to practise their coin tracing and cutting. The other kids were called individually to highlight the signboards so as to look clearer and better. They learnt to read and pronounce the words too.
(MI: Body-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal Interpersonal, Linguistic skills)

(ii) Song: Ten little monkeys jumping on a bed
Next, we formed a circle and recapped the song on “The Wheels on the Train”. They sang it with actions. Then, I started singing their favourite song…and they just sang it along with me. It was “No more monkeys”. They learnt it by listening to the CD while having tea break. I was surprised that the girls loved it too. My quiet SC and SYu joined the crowd and jumped around!
10 Little monkeys jumping on a bed,One jumped up and bumped his head,Mom called the Doctor and the doctor said........"No more monkeys jumping on a bed."

1 Little monkeys jumping on a bedOne jumped up and bumped his head.Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said....."No more monkeys jumping on a bed."
(MI: Body-Kinesthetic, Linguistic, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Logical-Mathematical, Musical skills)

(iii) “Gwin” the hamster
Their exciting moment came as I promised to show them a surprise. It was a hamster…..EG discovered my pet at a corner and looked at me amazed…..haaa! Despite my signal to keep quiet, he called ZY and well, no secrets can be buried in my class. The adorable kids gathered round my pet. I took 15 minutes to show them. They learnt that this is not a rat but a hamster which is usually kept as pets. The hamster was scared of them so they whispered in the circle and behaved rather well. ZY was surprised to see a water bottle at the cage while JW spotted a roller and asked what it was. My hamster, “Gwin” hid at the corner throughout the class and the kids realized that. So, they were rather quiet while having their tea break. What I stressed most was cleanliness when dealing with animals. They obeyed the rules. They learnt to observe the hamster; which I didn’t reveal much because I hope my coming lessons would let them assess their logical thinking.
(MI: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Linguistic, Naturalist skills)

(iv) Safari layout: Train craft
After tea break, we continued the train craft. The one did earlier was for the class’s Safari layout. Today’s craft is for them.
Before making the craft, I asked if they could recap. ZY and M said the first step which was to fold the rectangle paper into 4 equal parts. Then, JN and SY said we must roll the paper after that. (The difference was today they would use double sided tape rather than I stapled for them. It trains the fingers better.) Next, JS recalled about the wheels to be pasted on the train. The wheels would involve the coin tracing again. Today, they were more independent and in fact, ZY, YZ, M, SC, SY, JH, EG, JS and SYu asked for more paper. ZY required encouragement to have more confidence. LX actually did the whole train by herself and was proud of her achievement. She just hugged and kissed me! I was speechless…..joyful and unforgettable indeed.
Well, the Safari is 80% done……we still have things to discuss about.
(MI: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Spatial, Logical Mathematical skills)