Updated Videos of 1G's performance

I've finally had the chance to upload the full video of the children performing "Walking Through The Jungle"! Each group presented their parts. They were pretty good. If you want to know the full story, please watch the video clips.

Click on this book for the link.

Our School Library

The highlight for this week was the visit to our school library. The children cheered when they found out that they would be going to the school library. Many of them asked if they could borrow books. Unfortunately, the school library cards were still in the midst of processing. Hence the children were unable to do their borrowing.

We spent about an hour in the library reading. The children were given copies of the Berenstein Bears story books to read. I personally like the Berenstein Bears story books because I feel that they are suitable for the children in the Primary 1 level. In addition, the stories touched on moral values and issues that may be related and familiar to the children. Hence, good morale values are being imparted to the children through the stories.

1G was very quiet when they were in the library. All of them were engaged in reading. They exchanged their story books with their friends once they were done reading their own books. Before going back to class, I verbally asked the children if they had enjoyed reading the titles. Almost all of the children raised their hands. I told the children that for the next library visit, they will carry on with the Berenstein Bears series. For the subsequence visits, they will be introduced to other titles suitable for their level.

Happy Birthday to Ryen

This week, Ryen celebrated his 7th birthday. The class sang the birthday boy a song. Afterwhich, Ryen gave his friends a box of Glico Pocky Stick. The children were very thrilled. We wish Ryen a happy and fruitful 7th birthday and may all his wishes come true this year! :)

Health Examination by MOH

The nurses from MOH (Ministry of Health) will be coming to our school to examine the children. As such, every child in the school have to submit their health booklets to their form teachers. I will be collecting 1G's health booklets from Friday, 13 Feb onwards. Please help your children to pack their health booklets into their bags. Thank you :)

The Apple Ipod Touch

Yesterday, the children had a hands on experience learning how to use the Apple Ipod Touch. Each of them were given a set to explore. It's an interesting gadget that allows the children to watch video, listen to music and view pictures and photographs. The children were trained how to go about navigating the device. They were very excited and attentive throughout the ICT (Infocomm Technology) lesson. We're thinking of engaging the children in a project using the Apple Ipod Touch to enhance their learning in school.

Walking Through the Jungle

"Walking Through the Jungle" by Julie Lacome is a story about a boy's adventure to the jungle. The words are simple and repetitive. Children are able to recognise the words in the book through repetitive reading. The main learning points in the story are the animals found in the jungle, the sound made by these animals and the actions of the animals. Hence, children will encounter words such as leaping, wading, swinging etc.

I read the story once to the children using the big book and my own personal collection of finger puppets and a stuffed toy baby boy. The sight of the finger puppets and baby thrilled the children! They love them. Along the way, I asked the children to predict the next animal that the character/boy will encounter. As children participate in active reading, they will enjoy and understand the story better.

I want to help the children to internalise the learning points. Hence, as a follow up activity, I got the children to recite and dramatise the story. Each group will take on one part of the story. In this way, learning is made fun for the children. They get to express themselves in front of their friends. This helps to boost their confidence and self esteem. In addition, children will learn the pronunciation as they recite. They have also put learning into action as they acted out the action words.

Walking through the jungle,
What do you see?
Can you hear a noise?
What could it be?
Sssss...
Over there!
A snake
Looking for his tea.

Creeping through the jungle,
What do you see?
Can you hear a noise?
What could it be?
Grrr...
Over there!
A tiger
Looking for his tea.

Leaping through the jungle,
What do you see?
Can you hear a noise?
What could it be?
Roar...
Over there!
A lion
Looking for his tea.

Running through the jungle,
What do you see?
Can you hear a noise?
What could it be?
Trump... trump...
Over there!
An elephant
Looking for his tea.

Wadding through the jungle,
What do you see?
Can you hear a noise?
What could it be?
Snap... snap...
Over there!
A crocodile
Looking for his tea.

Hope it isn't me!

The End Of Mrs Wishy Washy

These are two more of the Mrs. Wishy Washy books. The children enjoyed the Mrs. Wishy Washy stories. She's a very funny character but she has imparted the children two important values and they are, to keep themselves clean at all times and to be grateful to their caregivers. You can find Mrs. Wishy Washy books from the National Libraries.

This week, we have also started a new story "Walking Through the Jungle" by Julie Lacome. The children recited the story and acted out the parts. I have taken video of them dramatising. I will post the video clips up as soon as possible.

Label Our Thermometers

On Tuesday, 3 February, the children had a temperature-taking exercise. Each of them were given an ODT for free. They learnt how to use an ODT (Oral Digital Thermometer) to measure their temperature. They were also taught how to wash their ODT after using them. It was the first time for some of the children. All of them were excited and eager to pop the ODT under their tongues. It is important to conduct the temperature-taking exercise so that, in the event of an emergency or crisis such as SARS, the children will be equipped with the tool and the skill to take care of themselves. In the second semester, the children will need to use their ODT again for another round of temperature-taking exercise. Hence, they will need to bring their ODT to school again. I hope that the parents will be able to help the children to label their ODT (including the transparent casing) and keep the ODT in a proper place at home. When we need the ODT in Semester 2, the children will have no problem looking for their ODT at home. Thank you :)