Our New Theme

Wednesday (05/11/2011)

a) Discussion.
Teacher: What would you like to learn?
Wee Xuan: Rabbit. Zhe Qing: We have learnt about it last year.
Weei Xiang: Dragon. Xiang Wei: Lanterns.
• As the morning thematic lessons started earlier, it definitely would influenced the kids. Doing the same theme is a great idea because it encourages reinforcement. Thus, Chinese New Year is our new theme!

b) I know…….
Teacher: Tell me what people do on Chinese New Year.
• The kids started brainstorming. The associated words included fire crackers, “Ang Pow” red packet, Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, Mandarin oranges, cookies, red costumes, the “chun” word, Nien monster, drums and “Tuan Nien” dinner. Everyone was so excited.
Teacher: Why did the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year?
Wee Hong: Nien Monster.
• When the kids were asked to share about the story, they were startled. Thus, I drew pictures to tell the legend of “Nien Monster”. After that, we went to watch a short video clip of this story. First, they got so frightened seeing the monster. However, this short cartoon was funny and scary at the same time. They laughed together feeling happy to see the villagers chasing away the Nien. They even asked me to repeat the animation. 

c) CNY activities.
• Before ending the lesson, we discussed about activities that we can do during this lesson. This is called the “mind-mapping”. These included: Lion dance, Dragon dance, baking cookies, decoration crafts, 12 zodiac animals, Tuan Nien dinner and ways to assist family preparation at home. Upon voting, the kids wanted to learn about Lion dance first.