Was Stegosaurus a dragon?

16/07/2008 (Wednesday)

a) Questions from playing.
* Some kids already knew the names of toy dinosaurs by this round. ZY, ZYg, JS and JW were among them. Previously, they only knew about T-Rex. Now, they know Stegosaurus, Triceratops and also Camarasaurus.
* ZYg asked me the name of a toy dinosaur. It had spines, so it is called “Spinosaurus”. He couldn’t accept my answer saying that it should stand and not crawl. I smiled and showed him the Encyclopedia. I highlighted that “Spinosaurus” or any same type dinosaur of different area or country would look a little different. He accepted.
* Some kids helped me with the assembled toy dinosaur. Some parts were loose. So, we tighten them together.
* M showed us his drawing. He said it was T-Rex. I pasted on the Notice board. The other kids went to look at it. “Wow...it’s so nice!”

b) Comparison
* The kids wanted me to talk about Eugene’s book. I chose “Stegosaurus”. First of all, I showed them my “odd Stegosaurus” made by myself. They laughed. I asked them to compare the differences between my craft and the picture in the book.
ZY: Yours has no plates/
JS: Yours has no spikes.
YP: Yours has no tail.
Teacher: Yes, I do but it’s shorter.
M: Yours has no eyes.
Teacher: Yes but small eyes.
JW: Yours has no legs.
Teacher: Haaa…..very good.
So, the kids learnt a better way to make a dinosaur craft in the near future.

c) Stegosaurus’s awesome plates.
* Teacher: “How many rows of plates does a Stegosaurus have?”
M, ZY: 2 rows.
Teacher: How does it use the plates?
YZ: To cool itself.
Teacher: Good. But how?.........They were quiet.
* Stegosaurus would lower its plates on a hot day so as to reduce the heat. When it’s cold, it would straighten its plates to keep itself warmer.
* JS: The spikes on its tail is to attack the meat-eaters.
Their spikes had blood veins. When the meat-eaters approached them, the plates would turn red so as to scare away the predators.
YZ: The red plates looked like fire and scared away the meat-eaters.

d) Vocabulary and homework.
* Vocabulary: short and long.
T-Rex is 12 metres long while Diplodocus is 27metres long. Meanwhile a Velociraptor is only about 2 metres long. The kids learnt to differentiate “short” from “long”.
*Vocabulary: small and big.
We talked about the small and big things. There could be small leaves or big leaves. Also small circle or big circle.
* Homework:
The kids had to discuss with their parents what they want to do with their homework. Example: they can paste a short or long leaf. They can also paste a short strip and long strip of newspaper or even thread.
As for small and big, they can have parents and their fingerprint. Or they can just trace their fingers. Or they could draw small and big shapes. YZ asked if he could draw small and big dinosaurs. Of course, they could.

e) Film: Dinosaur – A happy ending.
* We continued watching. The kids were happy to see Camarasaurus together with the old Diplodocus and Triceraptors pushing away the heavy cave rock into a new green home. The kids laughed at the funny Anklyosaurus. All the while, the herd of dinosaurs couldn’t find their way because they were blocked by hug high rocks. Realizing that, Camarasaurus quickly risk his safety to tell the other lost dinosaurs.

* The kids learnt a few moral values:
i) Working together gives good results.
ii) helping one another is a good character.
iii) Never make an enemy. Treat your enemies well and they will be your good friends
too!
iv) Even animals need a loving and healthy home.

NOTE: Any feedback is mostly appreciated.