The Natural Elements

14/04/2008 (Monday)

(i) Corner Playing and Individual Focus
ZY invited me to run with him. The other kids joined immediately and they just loved it. Today in the classroom, everyone hid except our new friend, Justin. After drinking water, they played with their desired games. The boys went for animals. They spread the different colour cloth before placing the toys. Meanwhile, LX is back and she did writing on her own “Alphabet” book. ZYun coloured her colouring book while SJ also asked for drawing. Meanwhile, I called the kids individually for “Alphabets” reading. I discovered that some kids are quite independent as they could recognize the letter randomly. These included YP, SYun, JN, ZY, EG and J. WY, LX, ZJ and ZYg required more encouragement to try.
(M/I: Body Kinesthetic, Linguistic, Interpersonal skills)

(ii) The Natural Elements
We started with “ABC” singing. Then, we did some flashcards on the following words: earth, water, sun, trees, air, animals and people. We defined them as a class. I asked them questions; “What is an earth?”, “Who are people?”.
Earth - ZY said it is where we can find our country. They learnt that Malaysia is our country and is only a small portion of the earth. We are currently living in Klang and not “Pa Sen”. They also learnt the day and night and the rotation of earth,
Water - JN said water is important for people. LX said it enables us to wash the floor. Without water, people and plants will die.
Sun - They learnt that it is hot and gives sunlight. It enables us to see things around.
Trees - Trees decorate our earth beautifully. Trees can be made into paper and also furniture. We can also get fruits from trees.
Air - We need air to breathe or we will die. Even, astronauts need air in the space to breathe, thus; they carry Oxygen tank.
Animals - Animals include mammals, reptiles and also birds and insects.PeopleThese include everyone of us.
(M/I: Musical, Logical-Mathematical, Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal skills)

(iii) Why are they important?
I did the flashcards again to recap the 7 words learnt earlier. This time, I listed them on the whiteboard and asked them the same question for each word. Example: “Why is earth important?”, “Why is air important?” and so on. These were some of their answers.
Earth:(YZ)-We live on earth. (ZYg)-Where’s my house, then? (Teacher)- All our houses are in this dot, Klang. (J)- Earth is important because it has trees and flowers.
Water:(YP)- When we don’t drink water, we fall sick. (Teacher) – We may also die. (J)- Yes, because our body is dried. (ZY)-Trees also drink water. (Teacher)- However, what will happen when there is too much water? (Children) – Flood. (M) – Then, water is not important.
Sun(JW)- Sun gives us sunlight to see. (XR)- It dries our clothes. (JS)- We wash our father’s cars. (Teacher)- However, too much sunlight can cause skin problems. So, which is more important than Sun?
Trees(EG) We need trees to make into paper. (YZ) Also to make furniture. (ZY) Trees drink water. (Teacher) So, less trees means more flood. (JN) I prefer to stand under the big tree for shade. (XR and SJ) My house has trees.
Air(WY) We need air to breathe. If not we will die. (Teacher) What about the haze? What about the open burning?
Animals(EG) Animals are not important. (Teacher) What about milk and yoghurt? We get it from cows. (JH) We also get it from goats. (ZY) Earthworms are also important. They make your plants healthy.
People(Children) People are important. (Teacher) How are they important. (Children)……..quiet. (Teacher) Who is cleverer; animals or people? People because they invented fans, telephones and many more things.
(M/I: Logical-Mathematical, Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal skills)

(iv) Pair Work: Which is the most important?
Then I asked the kids, "Which is the most important Natural Element?" They had to choose a partner to decide their answers. These were their interesting choices and reasons....haaaa
Earth: YW and YP said that Earth is important because our houses are there.
Sun: M and WY chose the sun as they give sunlight. Without sunlight, we cannot dry clothes. JW and ZJ said that plants cannot grow too.
Trees: YZ and J said trees are important because we can make paper and furniture.
Animal: EG and ZYG opted for animals because cows can produce yoghurt and milk.
People: ZY, JN and SJ said people are the most important because they can make things. They are also cleverer than animals.
Air: JH and JS said air is important because we need to breathe it to live.
Water: JN and SYu said water will make us healthy. We can also bathe with water. Animals like dolphins live in the water. Eventually, I told the kids my opinion. I said that all are equally important as they depend on one another. Example: Beautiful earth is due to plants planted by people. Trees would absorp water and chopping down of trees will cause ugly earth and flood. Animals that eat our crops are also unhealthy for the earth. The kids would have to decide on my statement through the activities we are going through. From this understanding, I hope that they can see why 3Rs (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse) is needed for the unhealthy earth.
(M/I: Logical-Mathematical, Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal skills)