And so began another school year. It definitely was a bit strange as so many teachers left the previous year. Almost 60% of them. I got a new Head of International and also a new International teaching colleague.
I am going to write about the school year 2019/20, until Chinese New Year as after that the virus hit and that is for another post.
It all started as we usually do after the first week of school with a school BBQ. The reason I don't say braai as we do in South Africa is because we do not use skewers. It was definitely a BBQ Chinese style.
Then of course at the beginning of a new school year, classrooms are a blank slate. So it takes a lot of work to get them ready for when the children start school. I started my theme this year with a Candy Store theme as my Narrative I was reading and studying over 6 weeks was the Gingerbread Man. Taobao became my best friend to find resources. I really enjoy trying to engage my students in the classroom with the transformation of the classroom and also with their activities. I will be sharing with you some of these transformations and decorations.
This was the state of my classroom when I first started.
And how it ended up at the end.
And the walls always look better when the children's work is displayed on it.
With this transformation we read the narrative - The Gingerbread Man. We wrote a recount of the story and we also learnt how to write instructions. So we first became bakers and made sandwiches and by engaging the students they were able to write their instructions by remembering their step by step experience making their sandwiches. And of course they enjoyed eating their healthy snack because that is what we were learning in Science, how to be healthy.
The treat at the end of our Candy Store transformation was actually decorating our own gingerbread cookies. Thanks to Paul for making each student a cookie and royal icing for decorating.
The excitement on their faces was priceless.
You could hear a pin drop as the children were so engaged in what they were doing.
The finished artwork.
Doctors
At the end of our English unit, we were finishing the end of our Science unit - Healthy eating and exercise and what it does for some parts of our body. The children walked into the classroom with gaping mouths open, they could not believe they were going to become doctors. I loved the way this activity encouraged conversation and questions as they were operating on their skeletons.
Superheroes - Our next unit. To engage the children, they were able to dress up with a superhero cape and mask every time they walked into the classroom.
Science Experiments - During our science week, the science department allowed the teachers to choose one experiment for each day. When I walked in the classroom at the beginning of the day the resources were already in the classroom. The children love it.
Hungry Hippos- one of the interactive games the children loved. I placed addition and subtraction number sentences inside and they had to grab as many eggs then run back as their group and complete the sums before going back to collect more.
Halloween - This halloween we hosted a fear factor halloween. I bought the package from TpT (Author - Cooties and Cuties) and set up an awesome classroom. I placed different objects into boxes and the children had feel these objects and describe them (English) and then had to pull a card with math problems on for maths.
I made some halloween snacks that the children had for a treat.
We also had a photo booth.
Different games for the children. Groups had to wrap one of their members with toilet paper to resemble a mummy.
And another group activity, blowing a spider with s straw. Who's spider went the furtherest.
Happy Halloween
Pottery making - our only field trip of the year (Covid19 put a stop to the others that were planned).
Christmas - Is a special time of the year for me. This year, because we have been focusing on teaching the children about different festivals and special events, I was allowed to teach them about the real story behind Christmas - the birth of Jesus.
A special note and Christmas cupcake.
The Nativity
Christmas cards the children made for their parents.
As a class we also looked at how countries around the world celebrate Christmas. We used the Christmas theme to learn how to write Calligram and Acrostic poems as well.
Christmas staff party was organised to celebrate Christmas. A very big change to last year which was surprisingly nice to see.
Chinese New Year - Classroom activities to celebrate the end of the Zodiac year. (And the end of semester 1, 2019).
Crafts made by the children.
As Chinese New Year is a family affair, we invited the parents in to come and make the traditional dumplings with us. It was so much fun. And everyone reaped the rewards of their hard work, by eating the fruits of their labour afterwards.
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Happy Chinese New Year.
Keep on reading ...
I will keep on posting ....
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