Monday (31/05/2010)
a) Vocabulary recap
* We looked at a poster that I drew. It was a huge Brown Bear. Words: ears, eyes, hair, fur, tail, arm, foot, legs, claws, fish and mountain.
b) Puzzles
* I prepared 2 huge puzzles which I drew and cut earlier. One was Polar Bear and another, the Brown Bear. Each has got 10 pieces. We have 2o kids but Chun Kit and Jun Hong were absent. Thus, I divided them into 2 groups with each choosing their desired piece of puzzle. 2 kids got the extra. They callenged each other and at first round, the Polar Bear group won! Then, they exchanged the puzzle and again, the Polar Bear group won! The kids complained that the Brown Bear was difficult as I drew it standing up and was out of their expectation......heeee!
c) More about Brown Bear.
* As it was windy and looked like a thunderstorm was about to happen at anytime, I thought it wasn't safe to continue watching our cartoon film, "Brother Bear".
Yun Wen: It's better to watch tomorrow. If lightning strikes the PC, even the CD will spoil entirely and we can't watch it forever again!
Teacher: Well said.
* We learnt more info about Brown Bear. It's habitat ranges from mountain, forest, river and to Arctic. They are mammals because they have fur, gave birth and love thir cubs. They are omnivores as they eat plants and meat.
* We made a circle and pretended to hibernate. The kids said sentences after me. "Before winter, I must eat a lot to be fat. During these 3 months of winter, I don't pass motion nor urinate. However, bears do sometimes wake up a little while at hibernation. If their body is strong enough, they would give birth to 2 to 5 cubs at this hibernation. While mother bears sleep, the cubs feed on the bear's milk. Thus, a mother bear is very thin by Spring. From Spring onwards, mother bears will teach their cubs to hunt and to protect themselves. A cub at birth is as big as a mouse and weighs about 0.45kg. However, an adult Brown Bear is as heavy as 680kg. None of the kids guessed correctly. It's height is 2.1m, taller than me! We measured using a long ruler. 2.1m is slightly higher than a door. Wow, if a bear ever visits us, it has to hunched a little to get in! :)
d) Weighing machine.
* We wanted to find out how many kids are equal to an adult bear. Thus, the kids queued up to take thwir weight. The lightest in the class is Natalie of 15kg. A few kids weigh 22 kg. Altogether: 18 kids = 345kg. Averagely, it takes 36 kids to make up an adult bear......:)! Wow!
e) Koala isn't a bear.
* Jun Hong did ask why Koala isn't a bear. Well, because it is "Marsupial" equivalent to a Kangaroo. It has a pouch to keep its baby Koala. they live on an Eucalyptus tree whereby the leaves are poisonous to humans and other animals. However, Koala will only sleep after eating them. Foo Soon showed the class a picture of Koala. Some kids got confused between Koala and Giant Panda.
Our Pomegranate friends！
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Brother Bear
Thursday (27/05/2010)
a) Song: The Bear Went Over The Mountain
* We started with a simple song and after I did the explanantion, the kids contributed that the bear saw some big fish, saw some honey and Natalie said, it saw some crabs...:) That gave us some ideas to compose the second and third verse of the song.
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
To see what he could see.
And what do you think he saw?
And what do you think he saw?
He saw lots of big fish,
He saw lots of big fish,
He saw lots of big fish,
What's all that he could see!
CHORUS
He saw lots of honey,
He saw lots of honey,
He saw lots of honey,
What's all that he could see!
b) The Anatomy.
* I sketched a huge brown bear on the board. They just observed attentively while I labelled the parts. This included: hair, fur, tail, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, leg, foot and claws. We read the words together for 3 times. Then, as we go parts by parts, I asked them lots of questions.
c) About Bears.
Teacher: Whose eyes are better? Humans or bears?
Whose nose is better? Dogs or bears?
Do they have arms? Do they have legs? Can they keep their claws?
Can they stand? Do they make any sounds?
Qian Joe: Humans' eyes are better.
- Actually, both humans and bears eyes are equivalent. However, bears' noses are 7 times betterthan a dog's.
Jing Kai: Look at this picture. It is standing.
- Thus, bears have 2 arms when they stand but when they don't, they have 4 legs. They have powerful arms and legs and could just kill their preys using their powerful arms.
- Their claws are about 6 cm long and I showed them the length. They cannot be kept under their skin or rather retractable.
Yun Wen: rabbits can keep their claws like my pet cat.
Foo Soon: Can they make sounds?
- Bears growl when they are fearful but roar when they are angry.
* They have fur which hunters kill them for. They also have hair which is longer than the fur. It is also to protect it from the weather.
Teacher: Do they shed their fur and hair?
- Yes, they do.That explains why bears' colour changes as the seasons come along. Especially in winter, their fur is very thick and dense. By summer, it becomes very short to adapt to the hot weather. Miracle!!
- They have 5 toes like humans.
Yan Shan: Teacher, do bears pass motion.
Devin, Qian Joe, Yun Xin: Of course, they do. Every living thing that eats and drinks need
to pass motion.
Yun Xin: Teacher, ho do they pass urine?
Teacher: We have to find out the answer together. I'm unsure too!
d) Cartoon Film: "Brother Bear".
* I introduced briefly to the kids. This story took part in America in a Red Indian huge family group. To them, every part of nature is important and if anyone upsets the nature, there will be consequences.
* Once upon a time, there lived 3 sibling brothers. The oldest, Sika, the second; Kai and the youngest; Kenai. Kenai. kenai was very active and couldn't get along with Kai. They always quarelled and teased each other while their oldest brother would remind them to love one another. However, Kenai was irresponsible at tying the fish basket and lured the a big hungry brown bear to eat them. Kenai took his spear to kill the bear. The two brothers tried stopping him but failed. During the hunting, the bear were running towards Kai and Kenai. To save them, Sika used the spear and speared through the ice mountain which he stood. The bear and himself fell to the river and Sika died. The villagers were mournful of this and Kenai wanted revenge.
* The kids were thrilled watching how the brown bear killed his brother. It had sharp teeth and was very fierce. WE would continue the film on Monday.
a) Song: The Bear Went Over The Mountain
* We started with a simple song and after I did the explanantion, the kids contributed that the bear saw some big fish, saw some honey and Natalie said, it saw some crabs...:) That gave us some ideas to compose the second and third verse of the song.
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
The Bear Went Over The Mountain,
To see what he could see.
And what do you think he saw?
And what do you think he saw?
He saw lots of big fish,
He saw lots of big fish,
He saw lots of big fish,
What's all that he could see!
CHORUS
He saw lots of honey,
He saw lots of honey,
He saw lots of honey,
What's all that he could see!
b) The Anatomy.
* I sketched a huge brown bear on the board. They just observed attentively while I labelled the parts. This included: hair, fur, tail, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, leg, foot and claws. We read the words together for 3 times. Then, as we go parts by parts, I asked them lots of questions.
c) About Bears.
Teacher: Whose eyes are better? Humans or bears?
Whose nose is better? Dogs or bears?
Do they have arms? Do they have legs? Can they keep their claws?
Can they stand? Do they make any sounds?
Qian Joe: Humans' eyes are better.
- Actually, both humans and bears eyes are equivalent. However, bears' noses are 7 times betterthan a dog's.
Jing Kai: Look at this picture. It is standing.
- Thus, bears have 2 arms when they stand but when they don't, they have 4 legs. They have powerful arms and legs and could just kill their preys using their powerful arms.
- Their claws are about 6 cm long and I showed them the length. They cannot be kept under their skin or rather retractable.
Yun Wen: rabbits can keep their claws like my pet cat.
Foo Soon: Can they make sounds?
- Bears growl when they are fearful but roar when they are angry.
* They have fur which hunters kill them for. They also have hair which is longer than the fur. It is also to protect it from the weather.
Teacher: Do they shed their fur and hair?
- Yes, they do.That explains why bears' colour changes as the seasons come along. Especially in winter, their fur is very thick and dense. By summer, it becomes very short to adapt to the hot weather. Miracle!!
- They have 5 toes like humans.
Yan Shan: Teacher, do bears pass motion.
Devin, Qian Joe, Yun Xin: Of course, they do. Every living thing that eats and drinks need
to pass motion.
Yun Xin: Teacher, ho do they pass urine?
Teacher: We have to find out the answer together. I'm unsure too!
d) Cartoon Film: "Brother Bear".
* I introduced briefly to the kids. This story took part in America in a Red Indian huge family group. To them, every part of nature is important and if anyone upsets the nature, there will be consequences.
* Once upon a time, there lived 3 sibling brothers. The oldest, Sika, the second; Kai and the youngest; Kenai. Kenai. kenai was very active and couldn't get along with Kai. They always quarelled and teased each other while their oldest brother would remind them to love one another. However, Kenai was irresponsible at tying the fish basket and lured the a big hungry brown bear to eat them. Kenai took his spear to kill the bear. The two brothers tried stopping him but failed. During the hunting, the bear were running towards Kai and Kenai. To save them, Sika used the spear and speared through the ice mountain which he stood. The bear and himself fell to the river and Sika died. The villagers were mournful of this and Kenai wanted revenge.
* The kids were thrilled watching how the brown bear killed his brother. It had sharp teeth and was very fierce. WE would continue the film on Monday.
The Earth Zone
Wednesday (26/05/2010)
a) Prey and Predator
* Devin asked: "Why did the dog eat our Fluffy, the rabbit?"
* About 10 days ago, Zhe Qing's mother saw a wild dog eating some meat near the school while sending Zhe Qing here. At that point, nobody tought it could be the rabbit!
* Only by late evening, when we didn't see the rabbit the whole day, we felt amissed! We searched around but failed to find it!
Teacher: We can't blame the wild do. This is the animal's food. Itis the predator. It eats small animals like rabbit and mice. The rabbit was not careful enough. Furthermore, the rabbit is only about 7 months old; propbably not mature enough to hop fast and protect itself. The rabbit is the prey.
* With that understanding, they stopped asking that question repeatedly.
a) The Earth and its climate.
* I sketched an Earth on the board and divided into its zones. I introduced "Temperate" zone, "tropical" zone, as well as the Arctic and Antarctica zone.
* the Arctic zone being on the North Pole is the home of Artctic animals such as Polar Bears, seals and walruses. Penguins are on the South Pole.
* Temperate zone consist of 4 seasons namely: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Winter is the coldest with snow while in Spring, the sun's heat would melt the snow and booms the growth of plants and flowers. Summer is the hottest season with many activities such as sunbathing could be done. Meanwhile, Autumn is where plants start to wither their leaves as the cold season is nearing. Thus, bears living in this zone will usually sleep in their dens during winter. They will deliver their cubs of 2 - 5 while hibernating. However, mother bears have to be fat and strong enough to deliver and milk them.
* Meanwhile, tropical zone has got wet and hot climate. These countries include Malaysia and Indonesia. Thus, our bears need not hibernate. Among the bears include Asian Black Bear, Sun Bear or Honey Bear.
b) About Bears.
* We covered the basic points such as:
- 8 types of bears in the world. I used Jing Kai's encyclopaedia to give them a better picture. There are Spectacled Bear, Sloth Bear, Brown Bear, Panda, Polar Bear, Asia BlackBear, American Black Bear. Jun Hong asked why Koala is not a bear. It's because they have pouch and they belong to the Kangaroo "Marsupial" group. Bears are "Mammals".
- The smallest is the "Sun Bear" or called honey bear. Kids were amazed why they don't get stung by bees. From this fact, they know that bears can climb trees. The bigest bear is the "Polar Bear".
- Do they eat people? Bears don't attack people unless we disturbed them. They are actually gentle animals but fierce if disturbed.
- They are omnivores. They eat plants and meat. Polar Bear eat only meat. Giant Panda eat only plants.
c) Handling emotions.
* Today a few kids were grumbling and were quite playful. Thus, I had to deal with 2 of them to highligh the rights and wrongs, together with the class.
a) Prey and Predator
* Devin asked: "Why did the dog eat our Fluffy, the rabbit?"
* About 10 days ago, Zhe Qing's mother saw a wild dog eating some meat near the school while sending Zhe Qing here. At that point, nobody tought it could be the rabbit!
* Only by late evening, when we didn't see the rabbit the whole day, we felt amissed! We searched around but failed to find it!
Teacher: We can't blame the wild do. This is the animal's food. Itis the predator. It eats small animals like rabbit and mice. The rabbit was not careful enough. Furthermore, the rabbit is only about 7 months old; propbably not mature enough to hop fast and protect itself. The rabbit is the prey.
* With that understanding, they stopped asking that question repeatedly.
a) The Earth and its climate.
* I sketched an Earth on the board and divided into its zones. I introduced "Temperate" zone, "tropical" zone, as well as the Arctic and Antarctica zone.
* the Arctic zone being on the North Pole is the home of Artctic animals such as Polar Bears, seals and walruses. Penguins are on the South Pole.
* Temperate zone consist of 4 seasons namely: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Winter is the coldest with snow while in Spring, the sun's heat would melt the snow and booms the growth of plants and flowers. Summer is the hottest season with many activities such as sunbathing could be done. Meanwhile, Autumn is where plants start to wither their leaves as the cold season is nearing. Thus, bears living in this zone will usually sleep in their dens during winter. They will deliver their cubs of 2 - 5 while hibernating. However, mother bears have to be fat and strong enough to deliver and milk them.
* Meanwhile, tropical zone has got wet and hot climate. These countries include Malaysia and Indonesia. Thus, our bears need not hibernate. Among the bears include Asian Black Bear, Sun Bear or Honey Bear.
b) About Bears.
* We covered the basic points such as:
- 8 types of bears in the world. I used Jing Kai's encyclopaedia to give them a better picture. There are Spectacled Bear, Sloth Bear, Brown Bear, Panda, Polar Bear, Asia BlackBear, American Black Bear. Jun Hong asked why Koala is not a bear. It's because they have pouch and they belong to the Kangaroo "Marsupial" group. Bears are "Mammals".
- The smallest is the "Sun Bear" or called honey bear. Kids were amazed why they don't get stung by bees. From this fact, they know that bears can climb trees. The bigest bear is the "Polar Bear".
- Do they eat people? Bears don't attack people unless we disturbed them. They are actually gentle animals but fierce if disturbed.
- They are omnivores. They eat plants and meat. Polar Bear eat only meat. Giant Panda eat only plants.
c) Handling emotions.
* Today a few kids were grumbling and were quite playful. Thus, I had to deal with 2 of them to highligh the rights and wrongs, together with the class.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Decorating "Animal Fruit"
Tuesday (25/05/2010)
a) Vocabulary: Fruit
* We learnt a few vocabulary for our "Animal Fruit" activity. Among:
banana, apple, orange, honeymelon, raisin, knife, toothpick, fruit mayonnaise。
* We had more than enough fruit today because Foo Soon brought some oranges, a honeymelon, Devin brought an apple and orange while Wei Jeen brought a green apple.
b) Ideas.
* I showed the kids a few pictures which I drew of different shapes. I also brought in a book to give them more ideas.
* I did a "Snail Animal Fruit". First, I used a honey due as the body. Then I used a slice of orange as the shell. I told the kids that they can replace with other fruit. Then, I used 2 toothpicks to hold the orange slice to the honeymelon. Then, we also used 2 toothpicks to hold the raisins as the tentacles and eyes.
* also showed an example of a "Bear Animal Fruit". I used a slice of apple fruit as the face. Then, I cut some bananas into small round pieces. Then I combined them to the apple as "ears". I used toothpicks and also used mayonnaise to hold raisins as the bear's eyes.
c) Kids' Animal Fruits.
* Some fruit was already cut into slices as we share among one another. Those who brought fruit, could decide to use the whole fruit or used the already sliced fruit in the container.
* They were having fun! Some asked me to cut into triangle shapes. Some asked me to cut into half.
* Jun Yu made a person fruit, Zheng Yuan made a spider fruit, Wee Hong and Chai Yen made a bear, Kwong Yong and Devin made a snail while Chun Kit and Qian Joe created their own animal fruit.
* These decorations usually could be found during celebrations and also in 5-star hotels restaurants.
a) Vocabulary: Fruit
* We learnt a few vocabulary for our "Animal Fruit" activity. Among:
banana, apple, orange, honeymelon, raisin, knife, toothpick, fruit mayonnaise。
* We had more than enough fruit today because Foo Soon brought some oranges, a honeymelon, Devin brought an apple and orange while Wei Jeen brought a green apple.
b) Ideas.
* I showed the kids a few pictures which I drew of different shapes. I also brought in a book to give them more ideas.
* I did a "Snail Animal Fruit". First, I used a honey due as the body. Then I used a slice of orange as the shell. I told the kids that they can replace with other fruit. Then, I used 2 toothpicks to hold the orange slice to the honeymelon. Then, we also used 2 toothpicks to hold the raisins as the tentacles and eyes.
* also showed an example of a "Bear Animal Fruit". I used a slice of apple fruit as the face. Then, I cut some bananas into small round pieces. Then I combined them to the apple as "ears". I used toothpicks and also used mayonnaise to hold raisins as the bear's eyes.
c) Kids' Animal Fruits.
* Some fruit was already cut into slices as we share among one another. Those who brought fruit, could decide to use the whole fruit or used the already sliced fruit in the container.
* They were having fun! Some asked me to cut into triangle shapes. Some asked me to cut into half.
* Jun Yu made a person fruit, Zheng Yuan made a spider fruit, Wee Hong and Chai Yen made a bear, Kwong Yong and Devin made a snail while Chun Kit and Qian Joe created their own animal fruit.
* These decorations usually could be found during celebrations and also in 5-star hotels restaurants.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Kids can really discuss!
Monday (25/05/2010)
a) Kids' meeting.
* The class was divided into 3 groups with each group having two 6-year old kids to guide around. The task was for them to have a meeting and to talk about just anything about bears before sharing with the class. of course, points would be rewarded. To guide them, we thought of a few points: habitats, food, types, body parts and winter. I even gathered the 6-year old kids to do demonstration of how a meeting of discussion can go about.
* First, most kids stared at one another. A few started talking such as Wee Hong, Qian Joe, Foo Soon, Jun Hong. Then, Jing Kai requested if he could take a book and check out. Sure! And many kids also took books to hunt for information. Then, the class got noisier with information about "bears! bears! bears!"
b) Presentation.
* Each group presented witrh each kid saying at least a point. This was a great session because I could just identify the focused kids, the initiative kids, the co-operative kids and the creative kids. Among:
Yun Wen: Polar Bears don't leave together with penguins.
Shi Jie: Penguins are at Antarctica. Polar Bears in Arctic.
Qian Joe: What's Arctic? What will happen if we transfer Polar Bears to Arctic?
Chun Kit: I think Arctic is colder than Antarctica.
Devin: No, it's not true!
Yun Xin: Teacher, why do Polar Bears have such thick fur?
Wee Hong: What happens if they caome to hot countries like Malaysia?
Zheng Yuan: What will happen if Malaysia bears go to Antarctica?
Teacher: Have you seen penguins at National Zoo?
Class: Yes!
Teacher: How did they travel here then?
Foo Soon: Cold box!
Yan Shan: They have very big hands.
Wei Jeen: The other time, we saw how Polar Bear ate its own members. That's scary!
Teacher: Do you want to eat humans?
Class: Ahhhhhh! No!
Jing Kai: Beacause the ice is melting. They can't find food!
Jun Yu: Just like dinosaurs ate their friends long ago!
Teacher: That explains why we mus always love and save the Earth. So, how many types of bears?
Class: 100! 10! 1000!
Teacher: 8 types. Take a look at the pictures.
c) Animal fruit demonstration.
* Only Wee Hong and Chun Kit brought fruits for this activity. I encouraged them to bring some more. They just need to bring an apple or orange rather than buying. The rest who don't have, we can share. I showed them how I used a banana to make a mouse. I added some mayonnaise and raisins. Wow! They loved it!
a) Kids' meeting.
* The class was divided into 3 groups with each group having two 6-year old kids to guide around. The task was for them to have a meeting and to talk about just anything about bears before sharing with the class. of course, points would be rewarded. To guide them, we thought of a few points: habitats, food, types, body parts and winter. I even gathered the 6-year old kids to do demonstration of how a meeting of discussion can go about.
* First, most kids stared at one another. A few started talking such as Wee Hong, Qian Joe, Foo Soon, Jun Hong. Then, Jing Kai requested if he could take a book and check out. Sure! And many kids also took books to hunt for information. Then, the class got noisier with information about "bears! bears! bears!"
b) Presentation.
* Each group presented witrh each kid saying at least a point. This was a great session because I could just identify the focused kids, the initiative kids, the co-operative kids and the creative kids. Among:
Yun Wen: Polar Bears don't leave together with penguins.
Shi Jie: Penguins are at Antarctica. Polar Bears in Arctic.
Qian Joe: What's Arctic? What will happen if we transfer Polar Bears to Arctic?
Chun Kit: I think Arctic is colder than Antarctica.
Devin: No, it's not true!
Yun Xin: Teacher, why do Polar Bears have such thick fur?
Wee Hong: What happens if they caome to hot countries like Malaysia?
Zheng Yuan: What will happen if Malaysia bears go to Antarctica?
Teacher: Have you seen penguins at National Zoo?
Class: Yes!
Teacher: How did they travel here then?
Foo Soon: Cold box!
Yan Shan: They have very big hands.
Wei Jeen: The other time, we saw how Polar Bear ate its own members. That's scary!
Teacher: Do you want to eat humans?
Class: Ahhhhhh! No!
Jing Kai: Beacause the ice is melting. They can't find food!
Jun Yu: Just like dinosaurs ate their friends long ago!
Teacher: That explains why we mus always love and save the Earth. So, how many types of bears?
Class: 100! 10! 1000!
Teacher: 8 types. Take a look at the pictures.
c) Animal fruit demonstration.
* Only Wee Hong and Chun Kit brought fruits for this activity. I encouraged them to bring some more. They just need to bring an apple or orange rather than buying. The rest who don't have, we can share. I showed them how I used a banana to make a mouse. I added some mayonnaise and raisins. Wow! They loved it!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Summary of bats
Friday (21/05/2010)
a) Bats' dung.
* "Dung" is the same as their waste discharge. As Qian Joe's mother owns a plant nursery, we asked if his plants needed any vitamins or fertilizer. He wasn't sure and that was his homework.
* Bats dung and almost all animals dungs are used as fertilizer for our plants, fruits and vegetables.
Class:......Yerrr.
Teacher: because they have fiber to help these plants grow healthily.
* Their dung is also used to make gunpowder. Bats also eat insects and mosquitoes. They also help "pollination" growth of fruit and flower plants.
* However, every year some of them die during their hibernation. Scientist don't know the exact answer although it is believe to be fungus growth on wings and ears. Its called "White Fungus". Kids then asked me about fungus. Yun Wen tried explaining to them.
b) Video clips.
* Before watching these, teh kids had to find out information about 4 things.
- "White nose" sickness.
- " Do people eat bats?"
- Bats sound.
- "Who is the predator or prey given bats and spiders".
* Well, we started with the battle between a normal spider and a bat. The bat didn't use its echolocation to detect the spiders' webs as it was too busy catching insects. It got stuck. Jun Hong said its weak bones are not strong enough. The spider quickly crawled to it and bit it a hundred times and spinned its silk around him to be cocoon. The spider ate the bat!
* The jungle native people made their own weapons and hunt animals including "Flying Fox" bats for food. They even had vegetables and fried juicy worms.......ahhhh! Well, I explained that those worms are safe to be eaten. Yun Xin's eyes were very big looking at me. In fact, some people breed worms as food.
* During echolocation, bats' screaming voice is above our normal hearing frequency. Thus, we can't hear at night when they hunt. However, sometimes they communicate with their troops and we can hear because that isn't echolocation.
* Finally, we watched and listened to our favourite and funny song "Echolocation". However, we edited it to the easier session so that kids can enjoy better.
c) What's next?
The kids were just too engrossed with all animals. Among: Jun Yu wanted to learn about spiders, Zheng Yuan "butterflies", Devin "insects", Jun Hong "wolves", Xing Tong "penguins", Jing Kai "elephants", Shi Jie "Polar bears" and Yun Wen "squirrels". Each kid was allowed to vote twice. Well, "Polar Bear" won and they request that we learn both Polar Bear and penguins together. Then, if we have time, we shall learn about squirrels.
* However, we shall be doing animal fruit decoration next week. I asked each kid to bring a fruit. It could be an apple or orange or whichever that is convenient to them.
a) Bats' dung.
* "Dung" is the same as their waste discharge. As Qian Joe's mother owns a plant nursery, we asked if his plants needed any vitamins or fertilizer. He wasn't sure and that was his homework.
* Bats dung and almost all animals dungs are used as fertilizer for our plants, fruits and vegetables.
Class:......Yerrr.
Teacher: because they have fiber to help these plants grow healthily.
* Their dung is also used to make gunpowder. Bats also eat insects and mosquitoes. They also help "pollination" growth of fruit and flower plants.
* However, every year some of them die during their hibernation. Scientist don't know the exact answer although it is believe to be fungus growth on wings and ears. Its called "White Fungus". Kids then asked me about fungus. Yun Wen tried explaining to them.
b) Video clips.
* Before watching these, teh kids had to find out information about 4 things.
- "White nose" sickness.
- " Do people eat bats?"
- Bats sound.
- "Who is the predator or prey given bats and spiders".
* Well, we started with the battle between a normal spider and a bat. The bat didn't use its echolocation to detect the spiders' webs as it was too busy catching insects. It got stuck. Jun Hong said its weak bones are not strong enough. The spider quickly crawled to it and bit it a hundred times and spinned its silk around him to be cocoon. The spider ate the bat!
* The jungle native people made their own weapons and hunt animals including "Flying Fox" bats for food. They even had vegetables and fried juicy worms.......ahhhh! Well, I explained that those worms are safe to be eaten. Yun Xin's eyes were very big looking at me. In fact, some people breed worms as food.
* During echolocation, bats' screaming voice is above our normal hearing frequency. Thus, we can't hear at night when they hunt. However, sometimes they communicate with their troops and we can hear because that isn't echolocation.
* Finally, we watched and listened to our favourite and funny song "Echolocation". However, we edited it to the easier session so that kids can enjoy better.
c) What's next?
The kids were just too engrossed with all animals. Among: Jun Yu wanted to learn about spiders, Zheng Yuan "butterflies", Devin "insects", Jun Hong "wolves", Xing Tong "penguins", Jing Kai "elephants", Shi Jie "Polar bears" and Yun Wen "squirrels". Each kid was allowed to vote twice. Well, "Polar Bear" won and they request that we learn both Polar Bear and penguins together. Then, if we have time, we shall learn about squirrels.
* However, we shall be doing animal fruit decoration next week. I asked each kid to bring a fruit. It could be an apple or orange or whichever that is convenient to them.
Quiz
Thursday (20/05/2010)
a) Flashcards
* We did reading of vocabulary. Among: Megabat, Microbat, fruit, meat, echolocation, habitat, winter, sleep, upside down, insects, trees, caves, day, mammal and night.
* As we read second round, I quickly asked the kids the meaning of each word.
b) Quiz!
* The class was divided into 3 groups. Each has got 1 or 2 6-year-old to be equal.
* I introduced 1 - 15. We looked at the numbers on the board and read together.
* There were 12 questions and we played 3 rounds. Thus, a group got to answer 3 questions.
* First, they picked a number randomly and I showed them the key words on the cardboard. It was fun and happy to know that they know what they were learning about. Among:
- Bats' habitats.
- Types of bats and their food.
- Benefits of bats.
- When do they sleep.
- Whay can't they stand?
- Mother bats and pups.
- Mammals.
- Echolocation.
- Body parts.
* Each group was awarded with some Milo cornflakes crunches with the highest scored-group
got more, less and then least. Everyone was a winner.
c) Craft: Bat decoration.
* We continued with our Bat craft which the kids didn't manage to complete before going for National Science Centre Trip.
* Wow......the kids really were creative. My bat craft was just a simple one but theirs: wore glasses, have got crosses, have got headbands, have got long tails, spiky claws and etc.
* Objective of this craft was to reinforced their knowledge on bats' body parts and colours besides strengthening their motor skill.
a) Flashcards
* We did reading of vocabulary. Among: Megabat, Microbat, fruit, meat, echolocation, habitat, winter, sleep, upside down, insects, trees, caves, day, mammal and night.
* As we read second round, I quickly asked the kids the meaning of each word.
b) Quiz!
* The class was divided into 3 groups. Each has got 1 or 2 6-year-old to be equal.
* I introduced 1 - 15. We looked at the numbers on the board and read together.
* There were 12 questions and we played 3 rounds. Thus, a group got to answer 3 questions.
* First, they picked a number randomly and I showed them the key words on the cardboard. It was fun and happy to know that they know what they were learning about. Among:
- Bats' habitats.
- Types of bats and their food.
- Benefits of bats.
- When do they sleep.
- Whay can't they stand?
- Mother bats and pups.
- Mammals.
- Echolocation.
- Body parts.
* Each group was awarded with some Milo cornflakes crunches with the highest scored-group
got more, less and then least. Everyone was a winner.
c) Craft: Bat decoration.
* We continued with our Bat craft which the kids didn't manage to complete before going for National Science Centre Trip.
* Wow......the kids really were creative. My bat craft was just a simple one but theirs: wore glasses, have got crosses, have got headbands, have got long tails, spiky claws and etc.
* Objective of this craft was to reinforced their knowledge on bats' body parts and colours besides strengthening their motor skill.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
National Science Centre Trip.
Monday (17/05/2010)
a) Reaching there
l In the bus, every kid was just so excited to even rest and take a nap. Chatting and singing all through the journey. Finally, we reached there at 10.30 a.m.
l At the entrance, the kids screamed looking at the dinosaur models such as Triceratop, Dimetrodon and Diplodocus. We took some photos.
b) Experiments.
l The hosts were Puan Anita and Cik Aina. First, we stacked 6 cups to form a tower. 3 at the bottom, 2 on the second row and 1 on the top row. Then, we did reversely. The wider area of the cup faced upwards with the narrower base on the surface. Learnt: Bigger base has better balance.
l Next, she asked a question. “What is around us and we can feel it but can’t see it?” Chun Kit said it was air-cond but Shi Jie got the nearest answer when she answered “wind”. The correct answer is “air”. She was awarded a small souvenir of the “Future Scientist”.
l We did the paper helicopter experiment. The kids spread around and held the paper high up and threw the paper. It turned around like a heli chopper.
l The last experiment was “Mother and Father picture” to trick our eye illusions. At one point, mother picture was longer but at another point, it was shorter.
c) Exploring
l We explored the various stations available. Examples: Mirror image, musical equipments, water machines, voice tools and etc.
l Next, the kids explored the wonderful indoor playground. Wow! So beautiful and luxurious with various facilities.
l There was also a colouring station for the kids to decorate or colour their own badge.
l There was also a “Detective” station which I guided the 6-year-old through the clues. It was a difficult mystery as there were too many clues and the vocabulary were very challenging for them. Thus, I explained to their level. Finally, we found the murderer; Jason Jones which not many visitors solved. Bravo!
d) Magical Experiment.
l The kids were invited to participate and they had fun!
l Among: The snake bubbles (due to mixture of chemical salt and water and detergent).
The elasticity of balloons. Why some balloons burst while some don’t.
Answer: Because we used different way to poke them.
e) Journey back home.
* The kids were too tired to even talk in the bus. They had a soundly nap and enjoyed themselves a lot!
a) Reaching there
l In the bus, every kid was just so excited to even rest and take a nap. Chatting and singing all through the journey. Finally, we reached there at 10.30 a.m.
l At the entrance, the kids screamed looking at the dinosaur models such as Triceratop, Dimetrodon and Diplodocus. We took some photos.
b) Experiments.
l The hosts were Puan Anita and Cik Aina. First, we stacked 6 cups to form a tower. 3 at the bottom, 2 on the second row and 1 on the top row. Then, we did reversely. The wider area of the cup faced upwards with the narrower base on the surface. Learnt: Bigger base has better balance.
l Next, she asked a question. “What is around us and we can feel it but can’t see it?” Chun Kit said it was air-cond but Shi Jie got the nearest answer when she answered “wind”. The correct answer is “air”. She was awarded a small souvenir of the “Future Scientist”.
l We did the paper helicopter experiment. The kids spread around and held the paper high up and threw the paper. It turned around like a heli chopper.
l The last experiment was “Mother and Father picture” to trick our eye illusions. At one point, mother picture was longer but at another point, it was shorter.
c) Exploring
l We explored the various stations available. Examples: Mirror image, musical equipments, water machines, voice tools and etc.
l Next, the kids explored the wonderful indoor playground. Wow! So beautiful and luxurious with various facilities.
l There was also a colouring station for the kids to decorate or colour their own badge.
l There was also a “Detective” station which I guided the 6-year-old through the clues. It was a difficult mystery as there were too many clues and the vocabulary were very challenging for them. Thus, I explained to their level. Finally, we found the murderer; Jason Jones which not many visitors solved. Bravo!
d) Magical Experiment.
l The kids were invited to participate and they had fun!
l Among: The snake bubbles (due to mixture of chemical salt and water and detergent).
The elasticity of balloons. Why some balloons burst while some don’t.
Answer: Because we used different way to poke them.
e) Journey back home.
* The kids were too tired to even talk in the bus. They had a soundly nap and enjoyed themselves a lot!
Bats Craft
Monday (17/05/2010)
a) Storybook: Echo The Bat.
l This story actually reinforced the summary of a bat.
l In the winter, the mother hibernated. In spring, she gave birth to a pup. The conceving period for a bat is 2 months. For the first month, a pup is too wek to fly. So, it uses its claws and teeth to hold on to its mother. The mother also builds a nest for the pups. Don’t be surprised to see different pups from different families in a same nest. Mother named the pup “Echo” because it has a loud scream. Sometimes, Echo follows its mother, sometimes not. Echo saw how its mother flew and used Echolocation hunting for insects. One day, mother said; Echo was too heavy to be flew around. So, Echo together with other pups waited for their mothers in the dark while their mothers went hunting for insects and small animals. After a while, Echo’s mother came back but its mother didn’t go straight to Echo. She flew to other pups first and finally only flew to Eho. Echo, “Why didn’t you come to me first, mum?” Mum: “Because, our eyes can’t see that well in the total dark. Thus, we used our smelling sense to smell the pups to identify our own kids”.
l 2 months later, Echo started to fly and used Echolocation to hunt for food. It learnt that it had to be fast to eat the fast flying insects. Low scream pitch would detect bigger animals while high scream pitch detects smaller insects. Low to high detects the different parts of the body.
b) Experiment: Pleasant and Unpleasant Words.
We were very surprised at our experiment. The plant in the “Pleasant words” container grew so tall. There were 4 plants altogether. However the “unpleasant words” only witnessed one growth and it was very short. Moral: People around us could feel our emotions. Our thoughts determine our attitude, our actions, our speech and our reactions.
c) Craft: Our bats.
* First, I drew a huge bat on the whiteboard and they counted the fingers together with me. I introduced the different colours. Among: green, pink, yellow, orange, white.
* Each kid took a template of bat and started cutting with scissors. They could all cut very well especially at the wavy wings except Zhi Feng, Natalie and Yan Shan who needed more prompting. Then, they used different colour stickers to outline the bats’ finger bones. Some could peel the stickers well, some needed guidance. Some were faster as they already pasted the eyes. However, we would continue again on Thursday. Tuesday, we are going for “National Science Centre” trip while, Wednesday; I’m assisting the 4-year old trip to KLCC “Aquaria”.
a) Storybook: Echo The Bat.
l This story actually reinforced the summary of a bat.
l In the winter, the mother hibernated. In spring, she gave birth to a pup. The conceving period for a bat is 2 months. For the first month, a pup is too wek to fly. So, it uses its claws and teeth to hold on to its mother. The mother also builds a nest for the pups. Don’t be surprised to see different pups from different families in a same nest. Mother named the pup “Echo” because it has a loud scream. Sometimes, Echo follows its mother, sometimes not. Echo saw how its mother flew and used Echolocation hunting for insects. One day, mother said; Echo was too heavy to be flew around. So, Echo together with other pups waited for their mothers in the dark while their mothers went hunting for insects and small animals. After a while, Echo’s mother came back but its mother didn’t go straight to Echo. She flew to other pups first and finally only flew to Eho. Echo, “Why didn’t you come to me first, mum?” Mum: “Because, our eyes can’t see that well in the total dark. Thus, we used our smelling sense to smell the pups to identify our own kids”.
l 2 months later, Echo started to fly and used Echolocation to hunt for food. It learnt that it had to be fast to eat the fast flying insects. Low scream pitch would detect bigger animals while high scream pitch detects smaller insects. Low to high detects the different parts of the body.
b) Experiment: Pleasant and Unpleasant Words.
We were very surprised at our experiment. The plant in the “Pleasant words” container grew so tall. There were 4 plants altogether. However the “unpleasant words” only witnessed one growth and it was very short. Moral: People around us could feel our emotions. Our thoughts determine our attitude, our actions, our speech and our reactions.
c) Craft: Our bats.
* First, I drew a huge bat on the whiteboard and they counted the fingers together with me. I introduced the different colours. Among: green, pink, yellow, orange, white.
* Each kid took a template of bat and started cutting with scissors. They could all cut very well especially at the wavy wings except Zhi Feng, Natalie and Yan Shan who needed more prompting. Then, they used different colour stickers to outline the bats’ finger bones. Some could peel the stickers well, some needed guidance. Some were faster as they already pasted the eyes. However, we would continue again on Thursday. Tuesday, we are going for “National Science Centre” trip while, Wednesday; I’m assisting the 4-year old trip to KLCC “Aquaria”.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Craft: Ear Trumpet.
Friday (14/05/2010)
a) The Song : Echolocation
* First, we read the lyrics together. The lyrics are as follows:
Echo, echo, echolocation,
I see my prey,
I find my way,
Echolocation.
I'm a little brown bat,
Sleeping all day,
Hanging Upside down,
Whoop......whoop.....
(Chorus) : Echolocation
* It was a fast song and the kids loved the chorus a lot but the other part was very challenging.
Yun Xin: It doesn't really have the music.
* I agreed because it is sort of a rap song. Hmmm.....I guess we have to do some amendments.......easier version......haaa!
b) The winter bats.
* What happens during winter?
- They either fly to a warmer place or hibernate for 3 months. Before sleeping for 3 months, they have to eat a lot and thus be fat bats. The kids were amazed!
* Shi Jie: I guess Polar Bears do not do that as they have very thick fur.
* Yun Wen: Some rabbits also don't sleep in winter.
* Who is stronger? Bats or spiders?
- They thought for a while and most of them said bats except Qian Joe.
* Well, it depends on the situation. If the bats fly in the dark and didn't use echolocation to detect the spider web, they would get stuck there. Spiders would spin more silk to go against them......ahhh!
c) Craft: Ear Trumpet.
* Each kid was given a cardboard paer. First, they drew a bat. Soem wanted to draw 2 and more. The challenge was to draw the wings as they had to fit in all the 5 fingers on each wing. Somehow, they just drew well and cute bats are everywhere. My advice was, "Just try because there are 1000 types of bats. They all look different and special.
* After that, I guided them to roll the cardboard into a cone. They pasted with cellophanetape. I cut the end of the cone so that they can hear well; by pitting near the ears. Lastly, they pasted the label "Echolocation: Ear Trumpet".
d) Pleasant and Unpleasant words.
* Today, we observed an experiment done by another class. 3 containers of cooked rice.
First, was left in the tight container for about 3 weeks. Second was left also left for 3 weeks but labelled with "pleasant words on it. The third, was pasted with "unpleasant words". It's amazing. Similar to the result of the fozen ice that I showed the kids a few days ago.
First, was still white. Second was nicer than the first. The third had fungus and yucks......it was brown and became muddy.
* Similarly, 2 days ago, we did an experiment. 4 green beans in Container "A" labelled with good pleasant words. Container "B" labelled with unpleasant words. Today, Container A started growing. Kids could see the roots and sprouts. However, only one bean from Container "B" grew roots. Strange......
* Shi Jie: Pleasant words make us beautiful.
* Qian Joe: Bad words make us look ugly and terrible.
Thus, we recited a short rhyme:
"Say pleasant words, I will be beautiful, I will be clever, I have many friends.
Say unpleasant words, I will be ugly, I will be foolish, I have no friends."
a) The Song : Echolocation
* First, we read the lyrics together. The lyrics are as follows:
Echo, echo, echolocation,
I see my prey,
I find my way,
Echolocation.
I'm a little brown bat,
Sleeping all day,
Hanging Upside down,
Whoop......whoop.....
(Chorus) : Echolocation
* It was a fast song and the kids loved the chorus a lot but the other part was very challenging.
Yun Xin: It doesn't really have the music.
* I agreed because it is sort of a rap song. Hmmm.....I guess we have to do some amendments.......easier version......haaa!
b) The winter bats.
* What happens during winter?
- They either fly to a warmer place or hibernate for 3 months. Before sleeping for 3 months, they have to eat a lot and thus be fat bats. The kids were amazed!
* Shi Jie: I guess Polar Bears do not do that as they have very thick fur.
* Yun Wen: Some rabbits also don't sleep in winter.
* Who is stronger? Bats or spiders?
- They thought for a while and most of them said bats except Qian Joe.
* Well, it depends on the situation. If the bats fly in the dark and didn't use echolocation to detect the spider web, they would get stuck there. Spiders would spin more silk to go against them......ahhh!
c) Craft: Ear Trumpet.
* Each kid was given a cardboard paer. First, they drew a bat. Soem wanted to draw 2 and more. The challenge was to draw the wings as they had to fit in all the 5 fingers on each wing. Somehow, they just drew well and cute bats are everywhere. My advice was, "Just try because there are 1000 types of bats. They all look different and special.
* After that, I guided them to roll the cardboard into a cone. They pasted with cellophanetape. I cut the end of the cone so that they can hear well; by pitting near the ears. Lastly, they pasted the label "Echolocation: Ear Trumpet".
d) Pleasant and Unpleasant words.
* Today, we observed an experiment done by another class. 3 containers of cooked rice.
First, was left in the tight container for about 3 weeks. Second was left also left for 3 weeks but labelled with "pleasant words on it. The third, was pasted with "unpleasant words". It's amazing. Similar to the result of the fozen ice that I showed the kids a few days ago.
First, was still white. Second was nicer than the first. The third had fungus and yucks......it was brown and became muddy.
* Similarly, 2 days ago, we did an experiment. 4 green beans in Container "A" labelled with good pleasant words. Container "B" labelled with unpleasant words. Today, Container A started growing. Kids could see the roots and sprouts. However, only one bean from Container "B" grew roots. Strange......
* Shi Jie: Pleasant words make us beautiful.
* Qian Joe: Bad words make us look ugly and terrible.
Thus, we recited a short rhyme:
"Say pleasant words, I will be beautiful, I will be clever, I have many friends.
Say unpleasant words, I will be ugly, I will be foolish, I have no friends."
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Echolocation
Wednesday (12/05/2010)
a) The various bats.
* There are about 1000 bats. Some kids asked a few questions.
** Yun Xin asked why bats are balck and would it be hard for bats to see around and even to see itself?
* Their eyes are as good as humans but because their ears are better; they prefer using ears to hunt food. ( I introduced briefly the 5 senses).
Shi Jie said that snakes won't eat bats easily because they are all black. Foo Soon said that's "protection" except that they can see the glowing eyes.
**Xing Tong asked why they look scary with different faces.
* I introduced a few bats and they were so amazed with their looks. Among: Spotted-bats, Ghost-faced bats, leaf-nosed bats, Horshoe bat, No-tail bat and Flying fox bat. So, basically; if kids drew different faces of bats; it should be okay.
** Yun Wen asked if crows and bats are good friends because they are black.....haaa!
Class: No....Crows will eat bats....haaa:)
* Bats are caring of their friends and relatives. They like to stay in a group and unlike snail; alone. They care for their babies just like rabbits care for their babies. Bats have wings with no feathers. Their wings are thin and is flexible like elastic rubber. Only their body has fur. Bats don't eat crows as far as I'm concern because my research says they eat bugs, insects, fish and small animals like mice. If parents have better answer; please do let me know. Thanks!
b) The smallest and biggest bat!
* I introduced numbers 1 -20 and showed them a ruler. We sang the song "1,2 Buckle My Shoes". The smallest bat is "Bumblebee bat" that is 15cm long and the weight of 10cent coin. The biggest bat is Flying Fox Bat of 180cm long and weighs 2 kg.
c) Echolocation
* Btas make 2 types of sound. One we can hear, another we can't hear because of its high frequency. This is the same as dolphins and whales.
* They scream a loud voice towards the prey like insects and thenthe echo would be bounced back. The reflected echo would determine the location and size of prey. Bats would catch with their wings or mouth. No wonder bats can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour.
* I drew an insect and the kids threw a small ball towards it. The ball is the echo.
d) Sound can travel.
* Thanks to Xing Tong's book; we did this experiment. I wrapped a bowl with plastic wrapper and pour some rice grains on it. Then I put a pot nearby and hit it with a plastic ladle or spoon. The kids observed and observed. Yup.....the grains were jumping. That explains why echoloation works.
a) The various bats.
* There are about 1000 bats. Some kids asked a few questions.
** Yun Xin asked why bats are balck and would it be hard for bats to see around and even to see itself?
* Their eyes are as good as humans but because their ears are better; they prefer using ears to hunt food. ( I introduced briefly the 5 senses).
Shi Jie said that snakes won't eat bats easily because they are all black. Foo Soon said that's "protection" except that they can see the glowing eyes.
**Xing Tong asked why they look scary with different faces.
* I introduced a few bats and they were so amazed with their looks. Among: Spotted-bats, Ghost-faced bats, leaf-nosed bats, Horshoe bat, No-tail bat and Flying fox bat. So, basically; if kids drew different faces of bats; it should be okay.
** Yun Wen asked if crows and bats are good friends because they are black.....haaa!
Class: No....Crows will eat bats....haaa:)
* Bats are caring of their friends and relatives. They like to stay in a group and unlike snail; alone. They care for their babies just like rabbits care for their babies. Bats have wings with no feathers. Their wings are thin and is flexible like elastic rubber. Only their body has fur. Bats don't eat crows as far as I'm concern because my research says they eat bugs, insects, fish and small animals like mice. If parents have better answer; please do let me know. Thanks!
b) The smallest and biggest bat!
* I introduced numbers 1 -20 and showed them a ruler. We sang the song "1,2 Buckle My Shoes". The smallest bat is "Bumblebee bat" that is 15cm long and the weight of 10cent coin. The biggest bat is Flying Fox Bat of 180cm long and weighs 2 kg.
c) Echolocation
* Btas make 2 types of sound. One we can hear, another we can't hear because of its high frequency. This is the same as dolphins and whales.
* They scream a loud voice towards the prey like insects and thenthe echo would be bounced back. The reflected echo would determine the location and size of prey. Bats would catch with their wings or mouth. No wonder bats can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour.
* I drew an insect and the kids threw a small ball towards it. The ball is the echo.
d) Sound can travel.
* Thanks to Xing Tong's book; we did this experiment. I wrapped a bowl with plastic wrapper and pour some rice grains on it. Then I put a pot nearby and hit it with a plastic ladle or spoon. The kids observed and observed. Yup.....the grains were jumping. That explains why echoloation works.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Let's fly, Batkids!
Tuesday (11/05/2010)
a)More about bats.
Teacher: I asked why bats have big long wings?
* They have this feature to help them to fly well especially when they are navigating between the cave pits and holes. This is something that birds can't do well.
* their wings have no feathers and actually it is a ctually a very thin rubber-like skin. It has two arms with a hand each. Each hand has 5 long fingers just like humans' hands. We looked at Jing Kai's book and also some other encyclopaedia. However, the body has got hair.
* Yan Shan have seen snakes eating bats. Yun Wen asked if it is possible.
* Yes, they do especially when the bats dropped from their branches or caves and can't stand immediately because of their weak legs.
b) Body Movement.
* We thought of ways of being bats. As they hang upside down, how can we imitate them? Yes, we could lift our legs straight and as we were about to fly, we would use our strong claws on our thumbs to hook on a support to lift us up.
* First, we did warm-up. Then, they were divided into 2 groups. Bats live in a colony. They dislike being alone. Each took theit bedsheets out to place behind the back just like Batman cloaks. However, we discussed that kids shouldn't tie tightly as they could get choke. They can just put the bedsheet edges into their t-shirts or use pegs for this purpose. They can only do this with the presence of adults.
* The kids chose to be Vampire Bats. First group were the bats. Second group was the huge elephants sleeping. With the start of music, the leader woke up and started flying one round. Then, it tapped the other friends' feet as a signal to wake up and fly. They hunted for elephants' blood. They used their incisor teeth to make holes in the elephants' body and licked with their long tongue. Haa.......some could really perform well. Then, we exchanged the roles of the groups. The 2nd group now gets to perform.
c) I was the "cowboy".
* The kids enjoyed the movement and insisted for more. All wanted to be bats. Shi Jie suggested that I be the "cowboy" who found the Bat Cave in Texas, USA. So, they flew in a circle together to attract my attention. I thought it was a thick dark smoke. Then, they went into the bat and hung themselves upside down. Each kid got up to show off their swooping or flying skill. They kept asking me if they could learn about Power Rangers who came to save the planet. I said "Remember your project. Some of you wanted to form a circus, some wanted a role-play. We shall vote after a few more lessons."
* They were excited......:)
Tuesday (11/05/2010)
a)More about bats.
Teacher: I asked why bats have big long wings?
* They have this feature to help them to fly well especially when they are navigating between the cave pits and holes. This is something that birds can't do well.
* their wings have no feathers and actually it is a ctually a very thin rubber-like skin. It has two arms with a hand each. Each hand has 5 long fingers just like humans' hands. We looked at Jing Kai's book and also some other encyclopaedia. However, the body has got hair.
* Yan Shan have seen snakes eating bats. Yun Wen asked if it is possible.
* Yes, they do especially when the bats dropped from their branches or caves and can't stand immediately because of their weak legs.
b) Body Movement.
* We thought of ways of being bats. As they hang upside down, how can we imitate them? Yes, we could lift our legs straight and as we were about to fly, we would use our strong claws on our thumbs to hook on a support to lift us up.
* First, we did warm-up. Then, they were divided into 2 groups. Bats live in a colony. They dislike being alone. Each took theit bedsheets out to place behind the back just like Batman cloaks. However, we discussed that kids shouldn't tie tightly as they could get choke. They can just put the bedsheet edges into their t-shirts or use pegs for this purpose. They can only do this with the presence of adults.
* The kids chose to be Vampire Bats. First group were the bats. Second group was the huge elephants sleeping. With the start of music, the leader woke up and started flying one round. Then, it tapped the other friends' feet as a signal to wake up and fly. They hunted for elephants' blood. They used their incisor teeth to make holes in the elephants' body and licked with their long tongue. Haa.......some could really perform well. Then, we exchanged the roles of the groups. The 2nd group now gets to perform.
c) I was the "cowboy".
* The kids enjoyed the movement and insisted for more. All wanted to be bats. Shi Jie suggested that I be the "cowboy" who found the Bat Cave in Texas, USA. So, they flew in a circle together to attract my attention. I thought it was a thick dark smoke. Then, they went into the bat and hung themselves upside down. Each kid got up to show off their swooping or flying skill. They kept asking me if they could learn about Power Rangers who came to save the planet. I said "Remember your project. Some of you wanted to form a circus, some wanted a role-play. We shall vote after a few more lessons."
* They were excited......:)
Monday, May 10, 2010
About Bats
Monday (10/05/2010)
a) The "Upside Down" bats.
* Bats are always hanging upside down in a cave, on branches, under the bridge or even in a man-made "bat house".
* Bats are popular under bridges nowadays due to the reforestation for development. Do they stand or walk?
Shi Jie: Yes, they can.
Teacher: Let's take a look at their body structure.
* The arm looks exactly like humans with 5 fingers and the thumb has a strong claw to hook at the brancehs or on caves.
* Their legs are weak bones; thus they can't walk well at all. Some have tails, some don't.
* They tried pushing me with my strong legs but I don't fall down easily.
Devin, Qian Joe: Teacher, how then do they give birth?
b) When do they stand like humans?
* Good question! They hang normally like humans when they give birth.
* Which other situation? Think!!! Got to do with stomachache.
Foo Soon: When they need to pass motion.
Teacher: Good! They will hook their strong thumb claws to the branch and use their abdomen to pass motion........haaaaa! The kids laughed!
c) Their food.
*First type is called the Megabat and they eat fruits, suck nectar and also eat seeds.
* Second type is called Microbats and they eat meat such as small insects and also small animals like frogs, mice and fish.
Zheng Yuan: What about the third type?
Teacher: It's call the Vampire Bat. They suck blood. However, they only suck huge and sleepy animals like rhinocerous and elephants.
d) Zhe Qing's CD
* We watched Zhe Qing's CD on animals.
* There are 1000 types of bats. They look different.
Yun Wen: Their noses look scary.
Teacher: Think!! Whydo they look different? Think about it!
a) The "Upside Down" bats.
* Bats are always hanging upside down in a cave, on branches, under the bridge or even in a man-made "bat house".
* Bats are popular under bridges nowadays due to the reforestation for development. Do they stand or walk?
Shi Jie: Yes, they can.
Teacher: Let's take a look at their body structure.
* The arm looks exactly like humans with 5 fingers and the thumb has a strong claw to hook at the brancehs or on caves.
* Their legs are weak bones; thus they can't walk well at all. Some have tails, some don't.
* They tried pushing me with my strong legs but I don't fall down easily.
Devin, Qian Joe: Teacher, how then do they give birth?
b) When do they stand like humans?
* Good question! They hang normally like humans when they give birth.
* Which other situation? Think!!! Got to do with stomachache.
Foo Soon: When they need to pass motion.
Teacher: Good! They will hook their strong thumb claws to the branch and use their abdomen to pass motion........haaaaa! The kids laughed!
c) Their food.
*First type is called the Megabat and they eat fruits, suck nectar and also eat seeds.
* Second type is called Microbats and they eat meat such as small insects and also small animals like frogs, mice and fish.
Zheng Yuan: What about the third type?
Teacher: It's call the Vampire Bat. They suck blood. However, they only suck huge and sleepy animals like rhinocerous and elephants.
d) Zhe Qing's CD
* We watched Zhe Qing's CD on animals.
* There are 1000 types of bats. They look different.
Yun Wen: Their noses look scary.
Teacher: Think!! Whydo they look different? Think about it!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Bats, bats, bats.
Friday (07/05/2010)
a) Our mothers' gifts.
* Before beginning the class, the kids excitedly kept their book card and their tissue flower.
* We sang the "Mothers' Day" song. Chun Kit said, "I like the song". Most of them do as it is easy.
** "Happy Mothers' Day" to all mothers. You are everything to us! God Bless You!
b) Recap
* We recapped about animals we have learnt. First: snail and its body part. Second: rabbit and its body part.
c) About bats.
Teacher: Tell me what you know about bats.
Shi Jie: My father said they live on trees.
Foo Soon: They also live in caves.
Jing Kai: They live upside down.
Devin: There's Batman.
Jun Hong: They suck blood.
Class:......ahhhh! Scary!
* Thanks a lot to Zhe Qing and Jing kai for sharing their books and CDs. I invited the kids to draw as they said they have seen bats before. Ended up, Foo Soon....drew a bat's mask....:) That's cute.
Teacher: Do you know where's the biggest group of bat hiding at? It was actually a dark cave in Texas, America. Many years ago, a cowboy was riding on his horse and he saw a huge cloud of smoke. He chased it and it turned out to be 40 millions of bats living there....wow!
d) Getting information.
Teacher: You must search for 3 answers. a) Where do they live? (b) What do they eat? (c) Are they dangerous?
* I downloaded a few good video clips on bats. The kids saw the huge black cloud which I mentioned earlier. Wow! That much!
* We saw the differnt types of bats. Jing Kai earlier mentioned that there are 5 types of bats. Actually there are about 1000 species.
* Bats look different and can look very funny. However, they can fly with their long wings. Some people purposely build homes for them at their backyard. Why? We would discuss further next Monday.
e) Prey and predator
* We also watched how monitor lizards eat their prey; the rabbit. They swallow and of course, it was scary but the kids still watched and I told them that we can't blame the monitor lizard, because that's their food.
* We also watched how the snakes attcked their preys. The kids said that they preferred to eat vegetables....... :)
a) Our mothers' gifts.
* Before beginning the class, the kids excitedly kept their book card and their tissue flower.
* We sang the "Mothers' Day" song. Chun Kit said, "I like the song". Most of them do as it is easy.
** "Happy Mothers' Day" to all mothers. You are everything to us! God Bless You!
b) Recap
* We recapped about animals we have learnt. First: snail and its body part. Second: rabbit and its body part.
c) About bats.
Teacher: Tell me what you know about bats.
Shi Jie: My father said they live on trees.
Foo Soon: They also live in caves.
Jing Kai: They live upside down.
Devin: There's Batman.
Jun Hong: They suck blood.
Class:......ahhhh! Scary!
* Thanks a lot to Zhe Qing and Jing kai for sharing their books and CDs. I invited the kids to draw as they said they have seen bats before. Ended up, Foo Soon....drew a bat's mask....:) That's cute.
Teacher: Do you know where's the biggest group of bat hiding at? It was actually a dark cave in Texas, America. Many years ago, a cowboy was riding on his horse and he saw a huge cloud of smoke. He chased it and it turned out to be 40 millions of bats living there....wow!
d) Getting information.
Teacher: You must search for 3 answers. a) Where do they live? (b) What do they eat? (c) Are they dangerous?
* I downloaded a few good video clips on bats. The kids saw the huge black cloud which I mentioned earlier. Wow! That much!
* We saw the differnt types of bats. Jing Kai earlier mentioned that there are 5 types of bats. Actually there are about 1000 species.
* Bats look different and can look very funny. However, they can fly with their long wings. Some people purposely build homes for them at their backyard. Why? We would discuss further next Monday.
e) Prey and predator
* We also watched how monitor lizards eat their prey; the rabbit. They swallow and of course, it was scary but the kids still watched and I told them that we can't blame the monitor lizard, because that's their food.
* We also watched how the snakes attcked their preys. The kids said that they preferred to eat vegetables....... :)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Our Book Card
Wednesday (05/05/2010)
a) Our Book Card
* Before continuing this craft, the kids took a glance of their friends' work. Now, they have more idea.
* Today, I showed them the different ways of decorating their book card. Among, they could cut thin strips of colour paper to make border frames. Otherwise, they could draw some shapes and cyut them before decorating their card. Some preferred to make a card while a few preferred making a book card. Neither way; the kids can add on pages into this card in future to bind as a book.
b) Storybook: The Rabbit.
* It's a funny story. A rabbit went searching for carrots. As it was away, a big goat went to the rabbit's house. When, the rabbit came home, the goat resisted to leave thinking that it is bigger than the rabbit. So, rabbit went to get help. The dog was afraid of the big goat and so did the bird. Finally, a bee agreed. The bee negotiated with the big goat. When it refused to leave, the bee flew to the chimney and shot the goat's abdomen with its sting. Moral: Never be a bully. Think of a solution when we face problems.
c) Question.
Teacher: Do some research kids. Where does a bat live? What does it eat? It is dangerous?
a) Our Book Card
* Before continuing this craft, the kids took a glance of their friends' work. Now, they have more idea.
* Today, I showed them the different ways of decorating their book card. Among, they could cut thin strips of colour paper to make border frames. Otherwise, they could draw some shapes and cyut them before decorating their card. Some preferred to make a card while a few preferred making a book card. Neither way; the kids can add on pages into this card in future to bind as a book.
b) Storybook: The Rabbit.
* It's a funny story. A rabbit went searching for carrots. As it was away, a big goat went to the rabbit's house. When, the rabbit came home, the goat resisted to leave thinking that it is bigger than the rabbit. So, rabbit went to get help. The dog was afraid of the big goat and so did the bird. Finally, a bee agreed. The bee negotiated with the big goat. When it refused to leave, the bee flew to the chimney and shot the goat's abdomen with its sting. Moral: Never be a bully. Think of a solution when we face problems.
c) Question.
Teacher: Do some research kids. Where does a bat live? What does it eat? It is dangerous?
My mum is a flower.
Thursday (06/05/2010)
a) Flowers and their colours.
* People get flowers on many occassions such as birthdays, parties, funerals, Mothers' Day etc.
* Red means love, orange means enthusiasm, white means holy, green means health, blue means cheer up and purple means confidence.
* So, our next craft is making paper flowers.
b) Demonstartion
The kids chose their favourite colours. There were yellow and green, orange and yellow, pink and purple. First, the kids learnt the items needed to make the craft. These included soft wire, tissue paper, starw and cardboard. I demonstrated for them to see. As I did, we said out the instructions repeatedly and loudly.
c) Steps
* First, the separated the colours. They decided which colour to be in between.
* Second, they fold the paper just like folding a fan. At first attempt, most of them rolled the paper like sushi or popiah....haaaa! :) However, they tried again. Surprisingly that a few kids were very independent such as Chun Kit, Qian Joe, Yun Xin, Zheng Yuan, Devin and Kwong Yong. Good job!
* Next, I tied the soft wire around the folded paper. Then, the interesting part was when they unfolded the paper that then, looked like flower petals. Some were screaming happily while watching their flowers.
* Next, they drew their "love" pattern and wrote "I love you, mother" as well as their own name.
* Next, they made their own leaf and coloured it green before cutting.
* While making, we sang our favourite song, "Mothers' Day Song".
a) Flowers and their colours.
* People get flowers on many occassions such as birthdays, parties, funerals, Mothers' Day etc.
* Red means love, orange means enthusiasm, white means holy, green means health, blue means cheer up and purple means confidence.
* So, our next craft is making paper flowers.
b) Demonstartion
The kids chose their favourite colours. There were yellow and green, orange and yellow, pink and purple. First, the kids learnt the items needed to make the craft. These included soft wire, tissue paper, starw and cardboard. I demonstrated for them to see. As I did, we said out the instructions repeatedly and loudly.
c) Steps
* First, the separated the colours. They decided which colour to be in between.
* Second, they fold the paper just like folding a fan. At first attempt, most of them rolled the paper like sushi or popiah....haaaa! :) However, they tried again. Surprisingly that a few kids were very independent such as Chun Kit, Qian Joe, Yun Xin, Zheng Yuan, Devin and Kwong Yong. Good job!
* Next, I tied the soft wire around the folded paper. Then, the interesting part was when they unfolded the paper that then, looked like flower petals. Some were screaming happily while watching their flowers.
* Next, they drew their "love" pattern and wrote "I love you, mother" as well as their own name.
* Next, they made their own leaf and coloured it green before cutting.
* While making, we sang our favourite song, "Mothers' Day Song".
Monday, May 3, 2010
Gameboard: Snake and ladder
Monday (03/05/2010)
a) Questions:
* Did you ask your parents why earthworms are good for the soil?
Joe: The earthworms are healthy for the plants.
Teacher: How?
Yun Xin:
* The kids learnt that earthworms are unlike worms. They dig the earth and mixed the layers of soil that provides fertility. They also allow more water to flow in which benefits the roots.
b) Storytime: The fox and the rabbit.
* There lived a proud rabbit with a long bushy tail. It always boasted of its tail. A fox was angry and decided to teach it a lesson. It was winter. The fox took 4 fish and pretended to tie to its tail. It quickly soaked its tail in the cold water upon seeing the rabbit arrived. The rabbit was curious. The fox bluffed that it was fishing and the rabbit believed that it caught 4 fish. Wow.....and it can sell at the market and use the money to but a tail comb. The rabbit tried and sat fishing the whole cold night. Kids guessed what happened and they said, "rabbit must have frozen". Haaa......actually only the tail because it was soaked in the water. Fox came in the morning and helped pushing the stuck rabbit. She was too cold that she wasn't aware that her tail had become so short. So, from that day onwards; rabbits have short tails. I explained that this is a fairy tail which maybe true or otherwise.
c) Gameboard.
I divided the class into 5 groups. I showed them how to play. I invited a kid to help me. First, I threw the dice and moved my counter. Then, the second playe did the same. However, if theplayer scored "6", they can continue to throw the dice. As they place the counter, they would have to read short instructions on the board. They either get promoted or go to a lower level. Most of them like it except a few who finds it challenging because still learning to read the numbers.....:) They will improve by practice!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Our Rabbit Craft
Friday (30/04/2010)
a) Rabbit's short tail.
* I asked the kids this question but none had any idea. I asked them to think about it and we would discussed on Monday.
* It was raining rathe heavily. "What would rabbits do if it rains heavily? They dislike water."
* In the rainforest or grassland, they would hide in their nests. However, as pets; we have to ensure that they are always safe and secured. Before the rain, our school maid had already transfer it to the storeroom.
b) Vocabulary.
* Before beginning, we recapped some of the rabbit's vocabulary such as fur, tail, nose, teeth, whiskers and also claws. We were very happy that Jun Yu brought a craft of rabbit to school. We invited hime to explain, he came and mentioned "fur". Yes......most kids love rabbits because of its soft "fur". Thus, after so many names listed on the board, we decided to call our school pet; "Fluffy".
c) Rabbit Craft.
* Each kid was a given a cardboard. They drew their won rabbits. I advised them to be bigger so that we would have more space to paste the cotton on one of its side. One side should be coloured. Then, they cut the rabbit out. Then, they drew the other side. They put on some home-made glue, and took some cotton to make the fur.
* They enjoyed this as they could feel the cotton. Most of them did this indepoendently except Natalie and Yan Shan who needed some prompting.
* Those who finished their craft, got to play the board game, "Snake and Ladder".
d) Voting.
"What would you like to learn next?" "Elephants, snakes, polar bears, bats".
* We voted and 8 people wanted to learn about bats. I asked them why.....they said they are interested about "Batman"........haaaa!
a) Rabbit's short tail.
* I asked the kids this question but none had any idea. I asked them to think about it and we would discussed on Monday.
* It was raining rathe heavily. "What would rabbits do if it rains heavily? They dislike water."
* In the rainforest or grassland, they would hide in their nests. However, as pets; we have to ensure that they are always safe and secured. Before the rain, our school maid had already transfer it to the storeroom.
b) Vocabulary.
* Before beginning, we recapped some of the rabbit's vocabulary such as fur, tail, nose, teeth, whiskers and also claws. We were very happy that Jun Yu brought a craft of rabbit to school. We invited hime to explain, he came and mentioned "fur". Yes......most kids love rabbits because of its soft "fur". Thus, after so many names listed on the board, we decided to call our school pet; "Fluffy".
c) Rabbit Craft.
* Each kid was a given a cardboard. They drew their won rabbits. I advised them to be bigger so that we would have more space to paste the cotton on one of its side. One side should be coloured. Then, they cut the rabbit out. Then, they drew the other side. They put on some home-made glue, and took some cotton to make the fur.
* They enjoyed this as they could feel the cotton. Most of them did this indepoendently except Natalie and Yan Shan who needed some prompting.
* Those who finished their craft, got to play the board game, "Snake and Ladder".
d) Voting.
"What would you like to learn next?" "Elephants, snakes, polar bears, bats".
* We voted and 8 people wanted to learn about bats. I asked them why.....they said they are interested about "Batman"........haaaa!
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