Gold medal

We did our jumping, crawling and running races again! Jonah is soooo fast! And none of them cheated today~ =P I also added another race, which is jumping with one foot. They were laughing their heads off haha~

Then I read a story called < Tacky the Penguin >. It's about a weird penguin who's different from all of his friends, so nobody likes to play with him. But when the hunters came to hunt them, it was Tacky who saved them in a funny way. It's a sweet little story. ^^

We made gold medals today! I pre-cut foam circles for the kids, all they had to do was to colour the star, cut it out and glue it on the circle, and then decorate it. Then I punched a hole and helped them tie a ribbon so they could wear it on their neck~

Let's Ski!

I started today's lesson with a froggie jumping race, bear crawling race, and running race! The kids had so much fun, and they were so tired afterwards!

I read a book called "Sophie Skates", a beautiful story about a girl who spends a lot of time practicing skating, with pictures of different dance moves. I prepared a picture of a pair of skates that I wanted the kids to design, but I couldn't print it because the school's Internet is down. So I improvised another craft. =P I drew a jacket and a pair of mittens, used wooden sticks as skiing boards, and pipe cleaners with a bead at the end as poles. That'd create a picture of skiing gears. =)

I noticed that Daniel sat still and paid attention during read-aloud today. I'm not sure if it's because of the races that grabbed his attention in the beginning, or if he knew that I tried to accommodate him by doing our lessons at the table last week. I know that everyday is going to be different, maybe he'll be moving around and disturbing other kids tomorrow, but my job is to try my best to keep finding out ways that would work. ^^

I created a chart with each child's name on it, with a box for every day from Monday to Friday. Everyday, I'd draw a happy face or sad face to show how each of them have made me feel. If a kid made me feel sad in the beginning of the lesson, but got back to work in the end, I'd give him a small sad face, and then a bigger happy face. Today, everyone got a happy face! =)

Snowboarder

Since we're learning about the Olympics this week, we started today's lesson with a race! I asked all the students to stand along a line, and then told them to make a froggie pose. Their goal is to be the first person jumping to the finish line, where I was standing. At the first time, some of them ended running or using their hands to help them move forward haha~ We had a couple of rounds, and Daniel followed the rules and was the fastest for all the rounds! I was impressed~ I hope that by incorporating simple activities like this, he'd be more interested in our circle time lessons.

After our jumping race, I read a story called "Pearl's New Skates". It's about a bunny who got a pair of skates for her birthday, but she got discouraged after falling down many times when she tried to skate. She didn't want to try again, and thought that she's not interested in skating anymore. But her uncle encouraged her and helped her, and in the end, she found her confidence again and enjoyed skating~ We talked about how we're not always good at something in the beginning, but if we keep trying, we'll succeed.

Then I showed them the sample of my snowboarder craft. I showed them the template that I'd give them -- a red piece of construction paper, with a stick person drawn on it, posed as a snowboarding person. Their task is to glue the pre-cut straws onto the stick person's body, glue the "snowboard" under the person's legs, and then put "snow" on the ground. I think they've become more confident in their ability to do art, because I haven't heard too many "I can't do this" or "I don't know how..." lately. =)

Olympic torch

Today we made the Olympic torch! I explained to the students that the Olympics originated from Greece, so the torch would be lit in Greece in a traditional ceremony, travel throughout the country, and then passed on to the Vancouver Organizing Committee (for this year's Olympics), and then transported to Vancouver by flight. Athletes would have a torch relay, which in the end would arrive at Vancouver's BC Place.

I pre-made the "torches" for the students, so all they had to do is add in the "flames", which is made of tissue papers, and to add the Vancouver 2010 logo onto the torch. They had a fun time doing it, and some of them held the torch and posed for me when I took pictures~

Olympics flag

Routines: Stand up and turn around // calendar

This week's theme is Winter Olympics! I started off by telling my students that Olympics happen once in every 4 years, and it happens in different countries. Athletes from around the world gather for an array of events, and although they're here to compete, the most important values of the Olympics is promoting friendship and peace. I told them that this year's Winter Olympics is in Vancouver, Canada, and we're going to learn about the Winter sports~

I read them a colourful picture book called "Snowy Sports -- Ready, set, play!". I LOVE the book! On each page, it shows a different kind of Winter sports -- skiing, skating, bobsleigh, luge, hockey, etc. There's a small box on each corner of the page that shows some of the clothing/gears that we need -- mittens, scarf, sled, hockey stick, etc. The book is informational, beautiful and easy to read. Highly recommended! =)

After sharing the books with the students and hearing lots of comments about skating and skiing, I asked them to go to the table to colour the Olympic flag. There's the word of the colour printed on each circle, but since they don't know how to read yet, I'll have to guide them step by step to use the correct colours. Unfortunately, one of the students had an accident and peed in her pants, and I had to take care of that first. So I changed my plan, and gave them a colouring page of Quatchi, one of the mascots of Vancouver 2010 Olympics. So while they worked on that on their own, I helped the little girl clean and change. When I was done, I collected the colouring papers and handed them the Olympic rings page. Step by step, we coloured the rings, and then I gave each of them a straw to tape at the back of the flags.

The kids are pretty quiet and calm for a Monday, and I'm happy with that. Everybody worked hard and finished their work, I'm proud of them. ^^

Red Pockets & Dancing Lions

I did both days' lessons at the table instead of around the carpet, because one of the kids has been having trouble focusing and paying attention, and he has been disturbing the other kids during our lesson time. He told me that he doesn't like circle time, but he couldn't explain why. It's not that he doesn't like to do work though, 'cause whenever we go to the tables to work, he'd come immediately, and he always does a really good job too. So this week I'm trying to grab his attention right away by having our lessons at the table. We still did our calendar routines and sang some songs, and then we moved right on to the arts and craft. I hope that he'll understand that I'm trying to accommodate, but I also want him to understand that it goes two-way and should be mutual. We'll have some circle time next week, and I'll talk to him before class to make sure that he knows that I'm trying to work something out so everybody can benefit from it.

I used alphabet cards to practice alphabets with the kids today. I noticed that the students are starting to recognize letters and their sounds, and they're able to come up with words that start with a certain letter. They're developing the skills that they didn't have 2 months ago!

This week's theme is Chinese New Year, so I read them the story of the Chinese Zodiac, and also talked to them about Chinese traditions during this special occasion. Yesterday we made some red pockets/red envelopes. I explained to them that it's a tradition to give out red pockets, because it represents a blessing, to wish somebody goodluck and good health all year long. I pre-cut the Chinese words (it means "luck") and made a template of the red pocket, so they only had to glue the template together, and then glue the word on the front. Then they coloured the word and put some glitter on it~

Today, we made dancing lions! I explained to them that people would dance with the lions puppet, and according to legends, it's supposed to chase bad luck and evils away. I told the kids to make it very colourful, and they did! I'm impressed by how much details and effort they put in making this craft. We also used glitter today~

After we're done, I put on some traditional Chinese kid songs and let them dance around~ It's fun! ^-^

Chinese New Year: Red Banners

I started today's lesson with a little bit of information about Chinese New Year, and how the colour red is often used for decorations and clothing. I told the students about "red banners", which are long, red papers that we post on the walls, with blessings written on them. I showed them one that says "快高長大", which is a blessing for kids to grow up healthily. I asked them if they want to grow up quickly, and they all said, "Yes!!!" =P

Then I gave each of them a template of the red banner, and their task was to colour the Chinese words with black paint to imitate the writings in ink. I didn't realize that the words are a little bit too small for painting, but they really did try hard! I told them to paint slowly, inside the lines, and they really concentrated to do that, I'm pleased!

After painting, I played a CD with Chinese traditional kid songs, and let them dance with the music. =)

TP Roll Banana

Routines: Stand up and turn around, calendar, Strawberry Patch, In and Out the Window

We talked about bananas and banana trees today, learned to write the letter B on the board, and then made a banana craft.

I gave each of the kids a template of 3 "banana peels" to colour in yellow, and then cut them out. I have to say that I'm very impressed by the way they're cutting now. ALL of them cut on their own today, and they did such an awesome job for 3-year-olds! I'm so proud of them because in the beginning, 3 of them didn't even know how to hold the scissors. They've come such a long way!

After the banana peels are ready, I gave each of them a TP roll, and they had to glue a white piece of paper on it to cover up the brown. Then they glued the peels at the bottom of the banana. I helped them complete the bananas by stapling the top together, and then cutting the sides to make them look less edgy. It would be much nicer if we used yellow construction papers instead of colouring the peels in yellow (that's what I did with my sample), but we ran out of construction papers at school.

This picture doesn't do the bananas justice! I'm going to take some more pictures with the bananas right side up tomorrow, and upload them again!

Colourful Fruits

Routine: Stand up and turn around, calendar, Strawberry Patch, In and Out the Window

After our daily routines, I asked the kids to sit in a circle and close their eyes. I placed a toy fruit behind each of them, and then told them to feel it with their hands to guess what they are. I kind of expected this to happen, and it did: they looked at the fruits before guessing! But I still asked them to take turns to tell us what the fruit is, what colour it is, and what it tastes like. We played this game twice, and they seemed to like it. =)

After reviewing the different kind of fruits that we talked about last week, I read-aloud some information on peaches and cherries. We also learned about planting apple and pear trees, and how we couldn't leave them in our house when they grow too big. =P

Then we sang this song with the movements (they love this song!):

In the Strawberry Patch

Where oh where oh where are the children?
Where oh where oh where are the children?
Where oh where oh where are the children?
Way down yonder in the strawberry patch.

Picking up strawberries, put them in the basket,
Picking up strawberries, put them in the basket,
Picking up strawberries, put them in the basket,
Way down yonder in the strawberry patch.

Take the berries home and wash them up
Take the berries home and wash them up
Take the berries home and wash them up
Way down yonder in the strawberry patch!

Slice the berries up and make a pie.
Slice the berries up and make a pie.
Slice the berries up and make a pie.
Way down yonder in the strawberry patch!

After that, I explained to them that we're going to colour some fruits today. Sometimes I let them colour in whatever colours they want, but today I emphasized that I want them to colour in the colour that makes sense. I started asking them questions like, "Do I want...blue strawberries? Do I want...pink pineapples?" And then I asked them, "Do we colour on other people's page? Do we put the pencil crayon in our mouth?" They love it when I get silly and exaggerate the questions, making faces as I ask them. And I find that it really does help them in remembering the rules!