Piggie~

We read a story called "A Treeful of Pigs" today. It's about a farmer who bought some pigs but was unwilling to help his wife to take care of and feed the pigs. It's funny, but also pretty touching in the end~

Old MacDonald had a farm

Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o,
And on that farm there are some pigs, e-i-e-i-o~
With a oink oink here, and a oink oink there,
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink oink!
Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o!

During our sharing time, I asked the students to begin a sentence with "I feel..." and end with "Thank you..." I'm glad that some of them told me why they are happy, and also one student who told me that he's sad because he thought his mommy was picking him up after nap time, but didn't. This would allow them to express their feelings without being afraid, letting them know that it's ok to be sad. I think that they're becoming more aware of how they're feeling everyday, because yesterday Sophie raised her hand in the middle of a discussion and said, "I feel happy today!" That made me feel happy too. =)

We made a piggie nose today, and when I showed them how to mix the red and white to make pink, they thought that it's really amazing! One of them said, "Wow, it's magic~~" haha~

Mary had a Little Lamb

Today's farm animal is sheep! We read a story called "Good to be Small". It's about a lamb who got lost, and a little mouse decided to help find him. The other sheep thought that she's too small to be able to help, but little mouse proved that she's very smart and helpful~ Then we had a discussion on the plot of the story, the animals that are in the story, and the message that the author is trying to tell us.

Mary had a little lamb

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb, his fleece was white as snow!

After singing and reading, we had our sharing time, and today's topic is "I love..." They could talk about things that they love or what they love to do. I think that sharing time like this allows students to learn to speak one by one without interrupting each other, and also to stay on topic. ^^

Horsey~

Today, I read the story "Will You Tuck Me in Tonight" to the kids. It's about a little lamb who was sleepy but couldn't find his mommy, so he had to find someone else to tuck him to sleep. It's a funny, sweet story about parent-child relationship and farm animals~ Before the read-aloud, I asked each of them to tell us who tuck them to sleep at night, and if they sleep with any toys. They were all very happy to share this with their friends. =)

After singing and reading, we made a horsey craft~ I'm impressed by their cutting skills! I think that the mane on the horse's back is a nice touch, although I had to help each of them to tape it on. They felt amazed when they touched it and felt that it's soft and tingly~

Moo~~

Today we learned about cows. After reviewing our little ducks song, we sang this one together~

Old MacDonald had a farm

Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-eye-ee-eye o~
And on the farm there are some cow, ee-eye-ee-eye o~
With a moo here, and a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo!
Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-eye-ee-eye o~

After doing the calendar, we sang Days of the Week, and I gave each of them a days of the week sign. When I pointed to them, they had to raise their sign. I think they're beginning to remember which days come after which one, and I hope that by practicing more, they'll soon know the order by heart!

We talked about how milk come from cows, and what cows like to eat. We talked about the spots on their skin, and then I showed them the paper cow that I made. I told them that cows are usually brown or black and white, but if they want to make theirs colourful, they could go ahead and do that. =P

Before we went to do the craft, I read the students a story called "Mrs.Mooley". It's about a cow, Mrs.Mooley, who wants to jump over the moon! But all the other farm animals laugh at her because they think it's ridiculous and impossible. Mrs.Mooley is determined to do what she wishes to do, so she keeps practicing and practicing, until the moon sinks low and the morning is coming. When the moon is soooo low that it seems like it's sitting on the ground, Mrs.Mooley performs one last jump, and she jumps over the moon! All the other farm animals cheer for her, and she's very proud that her determination and practice makes the miracle happen. =) After the read-aloud, we discussed about what happened in the story, and what is the message that the author wants to convey.

I made the transition to work at the table with our balloon song, "popping" each of them and asking them to wait for me at the table. After the kids finished colouring the cows, I gave positive comments on each of their work. For example, I complimented on how Sophie used a lot of colours, how Daniel's show contrast in colours so it stands out, how Reya coloured inside the lines, etc. I hope that by demonstrating appreciation and giving details to what I appreciate, they would slowly learn and internalize how to show appreciation and respect. =)

My sample:


The kids' beautiful cows~

7 Little Ducks Went Out One Day

This week's theme is farm animals, and we learned about ducks today~ I read them a story called "Little Quack", and it's about mother duck's 5 little ducklings, who need to learn to swim. Little Quack was the last one in the nest, who was too scared to try. When I saw the expressions on the children's faces, I was so touched. They looked so worried and sad, because Little Quack was lonely and scared. But in the end, he jumped into the water and all 5 little ducklings paddled happily with mother duck~

This is the song that we sang today. Before we went to the tables to make our craft, I asked the kids to make a choo choo train behind me, and we sang the song together. And one by one, I sent them to wait for us at the table~

7 Little Ducks Went Out One Day

7 little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said quack quack quack quack,
But only 6 little ducks came back.

6 little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said quack quack quack quack,
But only 5 little ducks came back.

5 little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said quack quack quack quack,
But only 4 little ducks came back.

(and so on...until no little ducks came back)

Mother duck went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said quack quack quack quack,
And all 7 little ducks came back!

This little duck is made of simple shapes, so I think that the children would be able to cut them on their own. I'm very proud of how far they've come! Look at the ducklings' heads...the children cut the circles soooo nicely! Reya and Daniel didn't even want to try using the scissors a month ago, but now they're doing such a great job. I feel so happy for them~~

Down by the Station

Today we read a story called "Off Goes the Engine, Off Goes the Light", it's about the different kind of vehicles that shut of their engines and go to sleep at night. I think it's an interesting book for bedtime stories if the child loves cars~

After reading, we reviewed our songs and sang this new one:
Down by the Station

Down by the station,
Early in the morning.
See the little pufferbellies all in a row!

See the station master,
Turn the little handle,
Puff puff, toot toot, off we go~

I showed them the preparation of the craft that we were making today. I punched holes on 3 TP rolls and put them together with paperclips, so that it looks like the 3 carts of a train. I explained that they have to decorate it with marker, and then I'll give them little black circles to glue on as the wheels of the train. They were all familiar that trains go on railway tracks, because we have train toys at school!

When they were colouring, Cooper and Jonah asked Reya for help because they thought she was doing a great job in making her train colourful. I think it's so sweet because they're showing appreciation for each other's work~

C-A-R Beep Beep!

We had fun playing with cars today. =P We did the calendar, sang our Days of the Week song, reviewed this week's songs, and then learned this new song:

C-A-R Beep Beep!

Look at my bright shiny car,
I'm driving it today - o.
C - A - R (BEEP! BEEP!)
C - A - R (BEEP! BEEP!)
C - A - R (BEEP! BEEP!)
I'm driving it today - o!

After singing, I read them a book called "The Little Auto", a simple story about a little man who drives a little car, and what happened during his drive~ Phillip was very observant when he said that it's going to rain in the story, because he saw the dark clouds behind the sun!

I prepared a colouring page of a car, and I divided the students into 2 groups. I asked one person from each group to draw out a number from the basket that I prepared. If the number is 1, they had to colour 1 star; if it's 2, they had to colour 2 stars, and so on. We would keep drawing numbers and colouring the stars until one group finishes colouring all the stars. But it didn't work out as planned, because the kids were too eager to colour everything, and I think the concept of colouring 3, and then 3 more, is a little bit too complicated. I'll try again next time and make it more simple!



Then came the really fun part of today's lesson~ I took 4 toy cars from the play area, picked 4 paint colours, and put them on the table. I laid all 6 pieces of construction papers (one for each student) out, putting them together as if it's one huge paper. Then I asked the students to line up on one side of the table. One by one, I asked them to pick a car, dip the wheels into the paint, and "drive" it across the pages~ I pointed out that all the cars have different tire track patterns, and when they go home tonight, they could ask their parents to show them the tire of their cars. I really like this activity because the kids enjoyed it sooooo much, and it gives them an opportunity to work on one whole picture as a group, which looks amazing. Since they are really proud of their work and are always eager to bring their work home, I put a name on each of the papers so they could bring it home. =)

Traffic Lights

We learned about traffic lights today! I asked them where do they see traffic lights, and one of them said, "In the sky!" hahaha~ So I said, "Well, not exactly in the sky, but they are very tall." We talked about what the 3 coloured lights mean, and then talked about rules we should follow when we cross the streets.

This is the way we cross the road

This is the way we cross the road
Cross the road, cross the road.
This is the way we cross the road,
We stop , look and listen.

We stand at the curb and look both ways,
Look both ways, look both ways.
We stand at the curb and look both ways,
Before we cross the road.

If the road is clear we cross the road,
Cross the road, cross the road.
If the road is clear we cross the road,
We always be careful.

After that, I read them a funny story, called "Never Ride Your Elephant to School"~ It's the kind of kiddie non-sense silly stories, and we had fun with that. After reading, I asked them to share with the rest of the class what was their favourite part of the story.

Then I showed the kids how to make the paper traffic light. I told them that yesterday, they said they wanted to paint, so we're doing that today, and they were so happy! I think that it's important to let them know that what they say are important and I do take them seriously.

I had to help one of the kids to wash the brush before he dipped into another colour, but other than that, they did really well in painting these traffic lights. =)

The Wheels on the Bus

Our theme of the week is Transportation, and I'm starting off with the school bus. When we started today's lesson, I asked them if they know what the word "transportation" mean. When they said no, I gave them a couple of examples -- the school bus, trucks, bicycles. I guided them to give me more, asking them questions like "How did you come to school today?" and "When we want to go somewhere far, and we go way up into the sky, what do we ride on?"

I told them that we're going to talk about school bus this afternoon. I asked them when they got on the school bus last time, where did they go. They were all excited about it, some said the circus, some said strawberry picking, but it was actually to the Highland Park haha~ Then we talked about the rules on the school bus. I kept asking them questions like, "Do we...kick things on the bus? Do we...run around on the bus?" and making funny faces that made them go, "Noooo~", sounding like it's the most ridiculous thing in the world~

Song of the day:

The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town!

The children on the bus go up and down,
up and down, up and down.
The children on the bus go up and down,
All through the town!

The babies on the bus go whoa whoa whoa,
whoa whoa whoa, whoa whoa whoa.
The babies on the bus go whoa whoa whoa,
All through the town!

The mommies on the bus go shh shh shh,
shh shh shh, shh shh shh.
The mommies on the bus go shh shh shh,
All through the town!

The horn on the bus go beep beep beep,
beep beep beep, beep beep beep.
The mommies on the bus go beep beep beep,
All through the town!
After that, I read them the story "Bus Stop, Bus Go". They pointed out a child in the picture who was eating, because we just discussed that we shouldn't eat on the bus! It's amazing how fast kids pick up these things~

Then we made a school bus craft, colouring the school bus and gluing the faces of the kids on the windows to practice one-to-one correspondence. =)

Bats~

Today, we sang the bat song and talked about bats~

Bats are Sleeping

Bats are sleeping, bats are sleeping,
Upside down, upside down.
Waiting for the night to come,
Waiting for the night to come,
To fly around, fly around!

We had a discussion about where bats live, what different kind of bats like to eat, when they sleep and wake up, etc. They seemed to be very interested in it! Although one of them started talking about the batman movie hahah~

After singing and discussing, I read them a story called "There's a Monster Under My Bed". I love the story! It's about a little boy who thought that there was a monster under his bed, and started imagining what they look like and how many monsters were there. When he finally got up and took a flashlight to look under his bed, he found that his little brother was there! His little brother thought there was a monster under his bed too! The big brother didn't want the little brother to be afraid, so he said let's sleep together tonight, and the little brother felt all safe and protected~ It's a little bit scary at first, but very captivating! And in the end, it's very sweet. =)

Then, I taught the kids how to make the clothespin bat. I printed out a template of a body and the wings for each of them. I asked them to colour first, and then I helped them to cut out the template, and they glued the pieces onto the clothespin.

Ghosts~~

I thought this ghost craft is supposed to be very easy, because all the students had to do was to draw two eyes and a mouth. I didn't expect that it would be difficult for 3-year-olds to manipulate the marker on a styrofoam cup. So the end products ended up to be very off from what I anticipated, but each of them made two, and they were still very proud of their ghosts haha!


My sample:


This is the one that looks the most like a ghost haha:

Vampire

This is a fun and easy activity to do with the kids in the Halloween season!

First, I asked the students to colour the face of the vampire. Then I helped them to cut it out, and let them glue it on one end of the popsicle stick. I also cut out two black triangles beforehand, which will be used for the vampire's cape. I asked the kids to touch the cape and guess what material it's made out of. One of them guessed it right -- garbage bag! Glue one triangle on the front and one on the back, ta-dah! Our vampire is done! =)