Planting Plants

Tuesday (17/02/2009)

a) The Acid Rain
The kids recapped the water cycle and how it got dangerous as it mixed with the dangerous gas from factories.
On how to reduce the acid rain, Ze yan suggested that that factories should be closed. Then, Jen Ning said that it won’t be possible as we need things to be produced.
Giving them a riddle, they finally guessed that plants and trees would help to reduce this matter.
Song Chuan reminded the class that green plants would absorb the poisonous gas.

b) Planting Plants
I showed them the “Japanese Flower” plant. I wasn’t sure of the colour as it could be orange, pink, yellow or even red.
Thus, we talked of some vocabulary. Flower pot, soil, water, sunlight.
It also takes responsibility to plant the flowers as if not properly cared for, they would wither. None of the kids were interested of withering. Eugene suggested that we take turns to water the plant. Jin Nan would be the first gardener starting from tomorrow.
We went to the garden. The kids took turn to fill the pot with soil. Then, each took turns to plant them. We decided to plant it in the class. I hope it would instill responsibility and team work within these kids.

c) Recording: Sink and Float.
We recapped things that sink and float.
Each kid was asked to write the names of things on the whiteboard. By doing this, I hope they learn to recognize more words as able to write better. In fact, they recognized the mirror-imaged letters.
Then, they copied into their Record Book and also drew and coloured their pictures. Most kids were independent. Some guidance was needed for Yun Wen, Xjn Ru, Jing Kai, Justin and Jin Shan. However, they all showed dedication to record their observation……..awesome!

Sink or float experiment.

Monday (16/02/2008)

a) Water has weight.
That’s right because when we filled the balloon with water, it was heavy. The more you filled, the heavier it becomes. However, what are the things which are heavier or lighter than water.
Thus, I pasted a chart. We talked about some vocabulary. We included spoon, stone, apple, potato, rock, straw, nail, leaf, ping pong ball and also tennis ball.
I got each kid to write the list onto the chart.
Thus, they would complete the chart as we do the experiment at the garden.

b) Sink or float experiment.
* The kids were excited to see a swimming pool full with water. We pasted the chart next to the pool. I asked each individual to put the things in the pool. Before that, we guessed the possibility.
* As we dropped the things, the kids were excited. Then, we recorded onto the chart. I was surprised at how good the kids’ observation. They could recall even without looking at the pool again.

c) Let’s play and swim.
We had a mobile swimming pool filled with water. There was also a smaller one for the kids to play with their paper boat.
They enjoyed tremendously and could actually play with one another tolerantly.
The girls preferred to play with the paper boat.
Next, I sprayed the hose into the air. The kids looked up. Yun Zhe at once thought that it was raining. However, they were happy to see me spraying the hose into the sky.
We played for just about 5 minutes fearing some kids might catch a cold.

d) Is rain water safe?
In fact, no! We recalled the water cycle. Then, came the factory. Because they release poisonous gas, they evaporated and mixed with the water drops in the clouds.
As they condensate and precipitate, rain started to fall…..that’ acid rain which is dangerous to us.
Thus, playing in the rain will cause us fall sick.

Clouds

Friday (13/02/2009)

a) Experiment results
Finally, the 9 variety drink were evaporated and there were very little liquid. We discussed the reason. Evaporation happened but quite slow as the last 2 days was cloudy.
Thus, we talked about clouds.

b) Poem: Clouds
Clouds are big and small;
Some are even thick.
But when I see a cloud,
I see tigers, and dinos
and other things.
Tell me what you see.
I’ve just got to know!

After reading, we looked out of the window. Song Chuan said the cloud looked like a face. We could see some small black clouds. They moved slowly to another spot. It was the wind. The cloud changed its pattern in a while.

c) Water balloon
Each kid took a balloon individually. We filled them with the tap water. Then we played outdoor pretending to be a water drop.
Firstly, we flowed in the river. Then, it evaporated into the cloud. The kids formed a few types of cloud pattern. Then, we scattered as the wind blew. They were very happy.
Then, we tried throwing the water balloons into the plastic swimming pool. Some burst while some were cut with scissors.
They soaked themselves and flapped…..:)

The Water Cycle

Thursday (12/02/2009)

a) Analysing our experiment.
Strange! Strange! Strange! The water is still there but lesser. Hmm…..cloudy cloudy day! The kids were a little disappointed but we would leave them for another day.

b) Questions, questions!
Yun Zhe: Teacher, look! Part of the clouds are grey. The other part are white. It will rain partly only. We laughed! So, only half of our school will get wet. However, the wind blew the dark clouds and there was no rain.
Max: Teacher, if the sun is so powerful; then the sea will get dry. Then, there should be a lot of salt……..! it’s not happening!!
Class : quiet.
Ze Yan : The sea is so big, how can it be dry?
Teacher : Hmm…..we have to find it out together!

c) Video clip: The Water Cycle
We watched the 4 important stages. It was about a raindrop that evaporated into vapour and condensed in the cold cloud. When it got colder, the water drop started precipitating and collection happened when it fell into the river again.
The kids were serious at watching the clip trying to relate.

d) Experiment: It’s raining!
We heated some water in the kettle. I held an iced bottle about the spout. Finally, upon boiling, the steam rose. That’s the vapour. And it flew to the iced bottle which was the cloud. As the cloud was cold, It got condensed and kids could see drops of water falling. Aha…….it’s like raining!
We also breathed out against the window. The kids took turn and could see their vapour on the mirror.

e) Movement and actions
We pretended to be the water drop and went through the water cycle process.

Labelling water

Tuesday (10/02/2009)

a) Collection of variety water
We recalled the names of the 10 types. However, the kids decided to cancel the drain water as it is dirty and the bacteria might be harmful to the kids.
They analysed the colour of the variety water. They saw that rain water was as clear as tap and drinking water. The sea water was very dirty. Immediately, Jen Ning said people throw rubbish into the sea.
They saw that sugarcane and the pond water was almost the same colour. However, sugarcane was darker green.
When we wnet down to scoop the fish pond, there was moss and algae which the kids thought it was motion??! This is related to ecosystem. They learnt “moss”. However, it is so difficult to see the fish.

b) Labelling the water.
In pairs, they labeled a paper cup with paper. We don’t want to mix up! I ensured that the stronger kids to spell out the letters and while the other kid to write the words.
Then, they pasted.
They learnt that a tablespoon is 10ml. So, we wanted 4 tablespoons. Immediately, Eugene, Song Chuan said that will be 20ml. Yes, we must have 20 ml of different type of water in each cup. Altogether, we have 9 cups.

c) To observe the result.
As, it was already 5.15p.m., thus we decided to place the cups tomorrow noon and to analyse them at 4p.m. when our class begins.
Meanwhile, I got the class to think of the thematic they wanted to do for this month.

Recording: Sugar Making Process

Friday (06/02/2009)

a) What’s the answer, teacher?
Sharlene asked me why the sugarcane juice became so little and crystalised into sugar?
I told them I wasn’t sure. (Not to give answer directly). It could be the hot fire that gives the water the energy to disappear?!
The kids thought so too. They wanted to know if other water sources would be the same.
So, together we brainstormed 10 types of water. They are drain water, rain water, sugarcane water, swimming pool water, bubble water, washing machine water, tap water, drinking water, sea water and also fish pond water.
We agreed that the kids would be in-charged of getting swimming pool and sea water; if they are able to. The others could be obtained from school.

b) How shall we heat the water?
Jen Ning said we could have 10 gas stoves in auntie’s kitchen. I disagreed because the kitchen is too small to boil the water separately at the same time.
I gave them a riddle. What is hotter than fire, is big and strong, yellow in colour and is a planet?
Immediately, they answered the “sun”.
Thus, we would place the water under the hot sun next Tuesday, hopefully.

c) Recording and Observations
I explained that we must record our experiments in order to produce reliable information. Thus, one must be observant.
Immediately, around 6 kids put up their hands saying that they wanted to be a Scientist when they grow up. Namely; Eugene, Foo Soon, Ze Yan, Yun Zhe and Eugene.
Thus we discussed about the Sugarcane experiment which we did yesterday.
They came to draw on the board immediately. They drew from the day we went to chop the sugarcane, blended, boiled and finally ate the delicious sugar.
They learnt to label the pictures. Vocabulary: sugarcane, boil, chop, eat the sugar.

Making Sugar

Thursday (05/02/2009)

a) Revision
We revised on the words learnt in this thematic lesson.
There were about 16 words.

b) Watching Our TV Cards
I pretended to read a newspaper and exclaimed that there is an interesting TV programme on TV now. It’s actually our story “The King Of China” and the kids got excited and giggled.
They took turns to present their slides individually.
Some could read while some just say the story from their mind related to their drawn picture. I was proud that Jing Kai stood up happily as he used to be reluctant.
Next TV programme: Sugarcane
We used the remote control to tune into another channel. This time TV1. There’s information on sugarcane.
We saw some charts on how to make sugar from sugarcane.

c) Sugar Making Process
We blended the small pieces of sugarcane.
Then, I squeeze them to get the juice.
Then we poured the juice into a container and measured the level.
Next, we boiled it until it became thick and crystalised. We took about 15 minutes only.
The kids took turn to see the boiling juice turned into steam. They also saw a lot of hot bubbles boiling in the pot.
Once crystalised, we ate the bits. Haaa…..”Teacher, they are really sweet!”….just like sugar.
“We are successful!” said Yun Zhe….the kids learnt the meaning of successful….although our sugar is a liitle bit burnt.

d) Why did the juice become crystalise?
In the class, we discussed. Jin Shan said the fire ate the water. Eugene and Max said that the fire was too hot and boil it.
I asked them to search for the answer.

Clouds and Lightning

Thursday (19/02/2009)

a) A glance of the weather
* The kids kept telling me, "It's raining". It wasn't very heavy and the sky was not dark. We hoped for a rainbow. However, there wasn't any.

b) Kids : Questions and Answers
* Ze Yan: Why are the clouds dark?
* When the clouds are thinner, the sunlight could shine through. However, as water evaporates, the clouds get thicker and the sunlight gets difficult to shine through....that's the reason.
* Ze yan: Not because of the factory smoke?
* Teacher: No.

c) The Lightning.
Justin, Jin Shan: Why is there lightning then?
* I drew picture of cars caught in traffic jam.
* Similar to the clouds, when there are more clouds; they tend to rub against one another especially when the wind starts to blow.
* Then, I got two kids pretending to be clouds. They banged into one another.......(acting)....they giggled and imagined the loud sound of thunder and flashes of lightnings!

d) Safety
* We saw pictures of places we should avoid when it rains. We should avoid tall trees, big spaces like a field and also in the swimming pool.
* We should take shelter in a safe building.
* Song Chuan and Eugene said that, there's a rod that will channel the lightning electrons to the ground.
* For this, I showed them a plug. I unscrewed it and showed them the colours of the three wires.
Then, we learned about the Earth wire (green and yellow) which will channel the electrons to the Earth.

e) Experiment: Static Electricity
* This is similar to the concept that clouds when rubbed against one another, would produce ectricity and causes LIGHTNING.
* We took a plastic ruler, a cloth and some aluminium foil. We rubbed the ruler with the dry cloth. We counted until 50 seconds. The kids then saw how it attracted the aluminium foil.
* Similar to magnet.

f) Our blooming flower.
* Yes! It has bloomed. It's purple and small. The kids could remember to water the plant. However, I reminded them to be cautious as too much water would cause overflow.

The Floating Ship

Wednesday (18/02/2009)

a) Reason of a floating ship.
* Eugene and Sharlene said it was because of the air a ship has within.
* Jin Nan said it was the powerful sea that causes a ship to float.
* Ze Yan said it must be the evaporation.

b) Experiment: a clay ship.
* We decided to try Sharlene's idea. Each kid was given a clay. They had to be creative at forming a clay ship.
* The ball of clay sank. However, it was tough for them to make a clay ship. They tried and tried.
* Finally only Jin Nan was successful. It floated for a moment.
* However, it sank when some kids accidentaly touched the pail of water.
* As the clay ship sank, the kids started shouting" Not successful! Not successful!"
* I was furious not because of the volume but because of the team sirit.

c) Detention
* The good news was some kids cheered for Jin Nan. They were Jen Ning, Le Xin, Jen Ning, Justin, Foo Soon and Shu Wei. They were allowed to continue with the experiment while the others only watched from the corner.
* I explained that Jin Nan was the only successful kid at this experiment. However, as the detented kids accidentally pushed the pail of water, they caused some water to go into the ship. Thus, less air cause the ship to sink easily.
* They were quite ashamed of themselves and apologised to Jin Nan. I am so glad with Jin Nan as she was able to handle the situation calmly! An improvement.

d) Book: Sinking and Floating
* We read about things that sink and float and their importance.
* Some boats float such as rubber boat, cargo ship and also ferry. Submarines sink.
* Jen Ning said that the submarine sinks due to the engine. I added it's also because of its programmed structure and model.
* Floats and life jackets help us to float.
* When a ship needs to stop, it will throw down an anchor.
* Immediately, Yun Zhe said..."anchor" sounds like "ankle"...haaaa! The class laughed!
* A fishing rod and its thread liner is light. Thus, we need a sinker to sink the bait.
* The class thought of fishing the fish in our school pond.
* Sharlene and Jin nan disagree as the fish might die.
* Thus, I asked the kids to think of suitable activities if they wanna fish!

Water and Us

Wednesday (11/02/009)

a) Storybook: The Shark That Had No Teeth
The story was about the sea creatures in an ocean.
Cruncher was a greedy shark until one day, he tried crunching a turtle when all his teeth suddenly fell off!
His life changed and nobody was scared of it. Even its friends laughed at him.
When he started feeling sad, its friends had to do something. They made him false teeth out of seashells.
I extended the story whereby the kids searched for salt in the sea. They rescued a crab that couldn’t find any water. While rowing the boat, they saw a sick shark who told them that its friends including the octopuses and lobsters are sick due to humans’ thrown rubbish.
An old man was fishing near there and went home to cook the fish. Is this healthy?
The kids said that they could use a big net to pull out the rubbish. That’s a good idea although precautions are important.

b) Voting for our new theme.
We talked about the possible themes. A) Water and body, b) Sea animals or c) Water and us. Only 1 person chose (a), 14 chose (b) while 18 chose (c).
Thus, we would be doing the theme, “water and us”.

c) Analyzing our experiment
Sharlene reminded me of our experiment. She is a very responsible girl.
The kids was amazed that there was still some water. Just slightly lesser than earlier. We looked into the sky. It was a cloudy day, not hot. Could that be the reason?
We agreed to take them out tomorrow morning until afternoon to see a different result. Hopefully it will be hot tomorrow.

d) Video Clip: Making Sugar Cane
The kids saw how they crushed the sugarcanes using the machines like by the roadside. Then, they boiled the sugarcane juice until it becomes thick,
Then, they filter the liquid. There, you can have the sugarcane syrup now.

Harvesting the Sugarcane.

Wednesday (04/02/2009)

a) The Massage Slippers.
· I apologised to the kids for wearing slippers into the classroom today as my feet hurt.
· They were so concerned and asked me to show them my feet. Some even came nearer like my
mum.
· As I lifted my feet, they exclaimed, “Wow! Massage slippers”. They saw the dotted marks
at the bottom of my feet. Actually, those were just normal slippers that have protuded surface
like massage slippers.
· They were so concerned over me…..how then can I not love them?! Haaaa….

b) The Sugarcane.
· The kids didn’t bring any sugarcane. Le Xin said that her aunt would scold. Shu Wei said hers are too young to be chopped off. Ze Yan forgot. Song Chuan said they didn’t have any sugarcanes for “Jade Emperor’s prayer”.
· Fortunately, we have very few sugarcane plants in the school’s garden. I couln’t promise them that they are sweet as no fertilizer was used.
· They learnt that sugarcane is used to produce sugar. Song Chuan said, “Teacher! The name is Sugarcane. Of course, we can use it to make sugar!”
· They saw a chart on how the Sugarcane is made into sugar. Hot boiling is required and they wanted to try it out.
· Vocabulary: root, leaves, sugar, water, sun.

c) Harvesting the Sugarcane.
· The kids and I went to the garden to analyse the Sugarcane. They even touched the leaves. Some found them unfriendly as it can cut our hands. The kids even said that we can protect ourselves with the leaves….haaa!
· I used the chopper to chop a sugarcane. The kids carried together excitedly.
· After washing it, I skinned off the purple skin. Yun Zhe and Song Chuan related how some people break the cane easily with their knees.
· After cutting into small pieces, they chewed and said the juice was delicious. They had at least 2 small pieces.

d) Flash cards
· The kids read the key words for this theme.
· This is to help them with revision.
· People, palace, King, garden, happy, beautiful, Dragon dance, soldier, plug, Chinese New Year.

The Jade Kingdom’s birthday (Ti Gong)

Tuesday (03/02/2009)

a) The Jade Kingdom’s birthday.
* The kids saw many people prayed the night before.
* About 10 kids on my class also prayed. The others said they heard a lot of fire crackers. Song Chuan’s family lit the fire crackers.
* We talked about the different Chinese ethnics in Malaysia. Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Teo Chew and many more.
* They learnt that there are many Hokkiens in Penang followed by Klang and Melaka. Cantonese are popular in K.L. Hakka are usually famous in Sabah.
* We talked about the food that people offered to the Jade Kingdom.

b) Sugarcane and Pomelo.
Pomelo is to bring goof luck to the family. Good health, wealth and prosperity.
Sugarcane because of the past history. The Hokkiens were chased by some Japanese people during the war. Suddenly, they saw a huge Sugarcane plantation. They quickly hide in it. Not only they were saved but the war ended. It happened many years ago on the eve on Chinese new year ninth day. Thus, Hokkiens will offer the sweet sugarcane as “kam siah” or thank you to the Jade Kingdom.

c) We enjoyed eating Pomelo.
The kids learned to peel the Pomelo. Each took turn. It was most difficult at the beginning. As it goes on, it got easier. The kids even peeled them off.
We enjoyed the fruit. Sharlene and Jian Wei didn’t like it.
Song Chuan people use the skin to make medicine. Yun Zhe said if we leave the skin in the room temperature, there would be mold. Thus, we must leave them under the hot sun. Thus, we agreed to try out his idea.

d) Video clips
We watched the pictures of “Jade Kingdom” and “The Door Gof”.
We also saw how the Hokkiens celebrated Jade Kingdom’s birthday.
The kids learnt about jossstick and could now relate better to what they see.

I love Chinese New Year

Monday (2/2/2009)

a) Happy Chinese New Year Song
• We sang our “Ping Ping Pang Pang” song. Haa…..it sounds quite weird unless you sing it fast. They enjoyed the chorus a lot. In fact, they sang the song while drawing, later on.

b) My Happy Moment
• Are you happy during Chinese New Year? Of course, all were very happy. Why? These are some of their reasons.
• Eugene, Yun Zhe, Jin Nan enjoyed collecting Ang Pows. Justin enjoyed watching TV and playing PSP with his cousins. Foo Soon enjoyed going to the National Zoo. Jing Kai enjoyed playing fire crackers. And the list goes on…..:)
• They learnt to read the sentence on the board: I am happy during Chinese New Year. Ze Yan asked me how to extend the sentences. “I am happy during Chinese New Year because I have a lot of Ang Pows”. Yun Zhe also asked for extension. “ For my mother. From: Yun Zhe”.
• They even said that they drank beer. Hmm…..so we talked briefly about it. It’s in fact an unhealthy drink.

c) Picture drawing.
• These kids are able to express their thoughts well through drawings. I am now encouraging them to write more words. Almost all of them are able to write that independently. Lots of encouragement is needed.
• Wen Yue, Shi Jie and Jian Wei drew Dragon Dance. Jing Kai and Eugene drew themselves playing fire works.
• Justin drew PSP, Shu Wei, Jin nan drew visitings, Le Xin drew her father and mother, Yun Zhe drew for his mother, Ze Yan drew fireworks, Jia Yun, Jen Ning, Guan Yi drew his trip to Johor, Song Chuan drew her family.

d) Sharing cookies
• I brought some pineapple tarts and cookies for the kids. I told them that I enjoyed Chinese new Year because I get to eat my mum’s delicious cookies.
• Wow! Just look at how they eat them…haaaa!
• We also thanked Justin because he gave us some Mandarin oranges and peanuts.

The Dragon Dance Training

Friday (23/01/2009)

a) Chinese New Year Spirit
The kids were excited over the coming CNY holidays.
We sang our Chinese New Year song in English version.
I told them to be early on Monday (02/02/09) as there would be a Lion Dance Performance in school.
I also gave each kid a Mandarin Orange and also some honey stars.

b) We shall miss you, Zi Yang.
The kids already knew that Zi Yang is leaving us for good since the first week of school. They have already started missing him. The terrible jam form Shah Alam to our kindergarten must have been such a terrible experience for his family.
We sang 2 songs for him. A happy and a sad one. For the first time, Zi Yang’s face turned red not knowing what to say. He will miss us too. Hey,…..ghe is welcome to visit us during the holidays.

Should all acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind.
Should all acquaintance be forgot,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindess ,
For auld lang syne.

For he’s a jolly good fellow,
For he’s a jolly good fellow,
For he’s a jolly good fellow,
And that can’t be deny!

c) The Team Selection
The kids already knew the 3 qualities needed to be in the Dragon dance Team. I) discipline, 2) team work, 3) strong.
I could see that Yun Zhe was working hard to be chosen. He remained discipline although some friends were being playful and active.
Mr. Hoo and myself would discussed over this team selection.

d) The Dragon Dance Training
All were excited but some quickly gave up saying that it was difficult and heavy.
Finally, these were the few commited and determined kids that we saw. Jian Wei, Ze Yan, Yun Zhe, Eugene, Jin Nan, Shu Wei, Wen Yue and Foo Soon. It was quite challenging for Song Chuan, Max and Jin Shan.
While the kids took turn to practise, the others drew pictures of Dragon Dance and their friends performing