Let's recycle newspaper

18/04/2008 (Friday)

(i) Dot-to-dot Elephant colouring
We strated the class by recapping number 1 until 50. Then, I joined the dots to form an elephant. Each kid was given a copy. ZJ, J, LX, WY, SJ, XR required more guidance. JS, JN and ZYg were more independent than before although rather careless. After that, the kids did corner playing for a while. Today, most of them took the cloth and asked me to tie as Superman’s cloak. Haa……In fact, I asked YP to assist me while I guided the kids in their colouring worksheet.
(M/I: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Spatial skills)

(ii) Song: Do Something About It
First, we read through the lyrics as they were rather long. Then, I explained the key words and got the kids to try to translate into Chinese. This would enable them to understand the song better. We only did the lyrics of first part and chorus; so it would be easier for them to catch up! They were quite anxious about it especially when we sang in an angry tone. Please take a look at the lyrics.

Birds in the sky and clouds are hanging over them
Pollution in the air and in the sea
Fish down below are looking up and seeing oil spills
Is this the way we want our world to be (NO, NO, NO)
CHORUS:
It’s not just somebody else, it’s you
It’s not just some other people it’s me
If we don’t do something about it ourselves
Imagine what kind of world it will be What kind of world will it be?
(M/I: Linguistic, Musical, Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Logical-Mathematical skills)

(iii) Tea break and apples
WY brought some apples two days ago. Thus, today; we shared them together as we had more time to spare. They just loved apples especially JN, EG, WY, JW, LX and JS. The kids loved arranging their chairs in a line pretending to be a train while reading storybboks at the corner. Ah…pretty imaginative. There would be a driver driving while a conductor collecting money for the tickets. I thought this was good and fun as they are loving the books even more! In fact YZ and YP asked me the title of an English storybook.
(M/I: Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Logical-Mathematical skills)

(iv) The Earth, People and Plants
I asked the kids to look around the classroom and find things which are made from wood or tees. JN said tables, JS said chairs, ZY said newspapers while J and ZJ said our A4 paper. I told them that some of their toys are also made from wood. Next, I asked if they knew how much paper a tree can produce? YZ said it takes 17 trees to make paper. Ahh….I was impressed, I guessed it must be from the parents’ effort and sharing of knowledge. To be precise, I showed the kids a ream of paper which consists about 500 pieces of paper. Generally, a tree produces 20 reams of A4 paper. The kids said, “Wow……..a lot!” I disagreed with them saying that it was very little. So, how much paper have we been using since January?? So, how can we use less trees? YZ, EG, ZY, YP, SYu and JN said “Recycle”. I asked them what Recycle was. They kept saying that Recycle means rubbish changed into gold….haaaa…I agreed. I added that Recycle means changing current things into new things. Example: old newspaper into new A4 paper, wrapping paper or even colour pencils. ZY said we should use less things. Right…."Reduce" the usage so that factories will produce less smoke. People will be healthier and the earth will not be that hot!(c) I asked them if trees are related to people. They said yes but couldn’t explain. I did an experiment whereby the kids breathe out their CO2 into a plastic bag. I explained that trees breathe in CO2 and give us O2 so we can breathe in. Less trees will cause too much CO2 that make the earth hotter. Again, I was impressed that YZ said that trees give us clean air to breathe in. The kids were rather attentive to this topic.(M/I: Linguistic, Interpersonal, Naturalist, Logical-Mathematical skills)

(v)Recycling Newspaper
So, I took out their newspaper. Rather disappointing because only YZ, YW, EG and JS brought newspaper. Some kids came to explain to me that they had no newspaper at home. Well, I respected their explanation. Each kid took some newspaper and tore them into smaller pieces. Then, we poured them into a pail. Next, we soak in the water and the kids felt that they were wet. They loved it! ZY asked why his hands were black after tearing the newspaper. I explained about carbon which is a type of chemical. Thus, they had to wash their hands very clean before attending the next class. We had to leave the newspaper mixture overnight. The kids are required to bring a flower or a leaf on Monday so as to add to their recycled paper. I was glad to see that they were rather co-operative in this task.
(M/I: Linguistic, Interpersonal, Body-Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Logical-Mathematical skills)