A geologist

09 – 07 – 2008 (Wednesday)

a) Teacher joined us!
* It was amazing that I had 10 kids by 8.45 a.m. They were very excited because they could play
with more friends. Everyone played with Dinosaurs except SYu, SJ and XR who preferred
cooking toys again.
* I played together with them. We spread the green cloth as grass, brown cloth to cover the baskets as mountains and blue cloth as sea. They divided the herbivores from the carnivores and placed them separately.

b) The characteristics.
* We talked about the dinosaur’s characteristics. They lay eggs. However, the eggs inner layer protect the baby from the heat and cold.
* They had rough skin or scales. SC said like snakes. YZ said like crocodiles. ZJ said lizards. ZJ said last time he was scared by a lizard. These animals including dinosaurs belong to the “Reptile” family.
Dinosaur means “Terrible Lizards”.
* Some ate plants. Some ate meat. Thus; meat-eaters had sharp teeth and powerful claws. ZYg said, “T-Rex”. We focused on “Triceratops and Stegosaurus”.

c) A geologist
* The kids said nobody ever saw a dinosaur. Thus, geologists worked very hard to dig for the bones / skeletons / bones and assembled into a dinosaur. I showed them different pictures of dinosaurs’ skeleton.
* YZ asked, “What is assemble?” Assemble means to combine the different parts of bones into a complete dinosaur. They thought that the Triceratops’ skeletons were amazing.

d) English Reciting Poem: Alphabet.
* The kids practiced their ears by listening to the CD. Meanwhile, they read the words on the board. It included A till Z. Other words included: A “apple”, C “candy”, G “garden”, N “newspaper” and V “vegetable”.

e) Film “Dinosaur”.
* The kids excitedly went down to watch the continuation of the film. They learnt that the egg-stealer was called “Oviraptor”. The baby dinosaur who grew up and befriended the monkeys was “Camarasaurus”. They agreed that it was a group of Velociraptor that wanted to eat Camarasaurus.
* The group of dinosaurs running along the desert were plant-eaters. They were looking for a new home with water and plants. Some died because of no water.
* The kids enjoyed seeing the different types of dinosaurs working together. They argued about their names. They agreed that the tallest dinosaur in the movie was Diplodocus. They also saw Triceratops and Stegosaurus.
* YZ asked, “What is the meaning of “Keep Moving!”?” It means to continue the journey.
f) My parents and I
* The kids were given a homework. They had to work together with their parents to think of 2 other animals that lay eggs. Examples: tortoise, snakes and hens. They may label if possible. They will have to pass up on Friday. We hope that this activity will enhance the kids’ interest in this topic.