Chinese Zodiac Animals

Wednesday (19/01/2011)

a) Chinese Zodiac Animals
• I prepared the twelve different animals on flashcards. I placed them randomly and asked the kids to arrange them accordingly. The kids were smart as they gave me the anser by glancing at the class poster…

b) The Zodiac Song.
• I used the tune to “Red Indian Boys”. The lyrics go like this.
1 rat, 2 ox, 3 tiger, 4 rabbit,
5 dragon,6 snake,7 horse, 8 goat,
9 monkey, 10 rooster, 11 dog, 12 pig,
Twelve cute Zodiac Animals.

c) The game.
• The kids sat in a big circle. Then, 11 cards were placed on the floor upside down. Another card was placed on a kid’s hand. As I sang the Zodiac song, the kids passed around. When I stopped, the kid who was holding the card went the centre of the circle to flip open a card. She or he had to sit the animal word. The game went on.
d) Wushu Lesson.
• Today’s Wushu lesson was brought forward earlier and thus, it was quite challenging to continue lessons on Zodiac Animals.
• We requested Wushu Teacher to guide the kids to prepare for the Lion Dance Performance. They paid ut,most attention and later, 2 pairs were selected to perform in front of the class. First pair were Zhe Qing and Yun Xin. Second pair were Wee Xuan and Qian Joe. Teacher praised Wee Xuan for remembering most of the steps correctly.

e) Playing
• After Wushu, everyone requested to play with their puppet Lion Dance. Before playing, I explained to them that next Friday, we are going to have “Cai Ching” which means Lion Dance Performance. The Lion Dance will dance around, then only 1 lion will eat the lettuce. However, all lions are welcomed to eat the Mandarin Oranges. Actually, they will be peeling the skin. Then, these oranges will be shared with other classe as we visit them 
• The kids discussed and voted for their roles. 8 kids were the Lion performers, 4 as helpers, 2 tamborine players, 2 drum players, 2 cymbal players and 2 as Little Monk or “Buddha”.