Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades, Lesson Plans, Preschool, Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

The Senior’s Seed Experiment

Earlier this month we were discussing plants in our class. In order to supplement the discussion, I decided to have the kids do an experiment. I had them bring several different kinds of seeds and then we went on to do our scientific inquiry.

Here’s what we did:

We started out with an inquiry (a.k.a. creating a hypothesis) in which the children were asked what they think will happen to the seeds if put in a pot with soil and given water and sunshine. To do this I had them chart it on a Manila paper. In this part I had them draw the pots and seeds (although our pots didn’t look like real pots, they were just like dark circles in the middle of the paper with little dots for seeds haha).

Then we did some observations on the seed, the soil and all other materials we used. I asked them to take note of the similarities and differences of the seeds, such as size, color and shape. Some of them even smelled the seeds (which almost gave me a heart attack because they’re so tiny, right???) and one even attempted to taste it. Thank God I saw it on time haha.

After this, we listed the procedures of the experiment (such as put soil in the pot, drop the seeds, etc.) and then actually carried out the procedure.

Of course after carrying out the experiment, we got ready to record our observations and what happens in the experiment

So…after two weeks, the kids found out that:

Teacher shouldn’t plan activities right before we go on a break. Haha. Yes…I had forgotten that the whole week of Feb. 14-18 was not a regular school week because of Paranaque Day, our school field trip, and parent-teacher conferences. Haha.

Seriously though, they did get a chance to see the plants grow

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Lesson Plans, Teaching Resources, The Library, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments

Green Eggs and Ham Day!

The other day after our discussion about birds, I finally did one of my all time favorite story stretchers…

Green Eggs and Spam!!! Yey!!! For today I decided to have them color the eggs green first and place them on a nest just for kicks

It was a joy to see the kids try to figure out how to hold the eggs and navigate through the shape without cracking or squeezing too hard. Some of them were even brave enough to venture designs in their eggshells

Before the actual cooking activity, we went through the book, Green Eggs and Ham then we went on to experimenting on how to make our own version of the dish

Since most of my kids are readers already, I also let them take turns reading through the book. To further up the academic difficulty of the task, we also listed down the ingredients and procedure we did, then we went on to charting how many kids liked or did not like our little experiment.

As a finishing touch, we also answered some word problems about it

Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades, Lesson Plans, Preschool, Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

Stop, Look and Listen!

A few weeks ago, we were discussing transportation in our classes. The kids had a blast pretending to be traffic enforcers and learning all about stop lights. We made them little cardboard signs that we used to signal the drivers and they had so much fun doing that!

Other things we did (or can do for that matter) in discussing this topic includes:

• For the older kids, we made a stop light as an indicator of their “warnings” in class. Beside each color (red, yellow, green) is a little pocket where I put in their names if they are misbehaving in class.
• Cut and pasting art activity where the kids get to make their own stoplights
• In the juniors they did a “read” and color activity
• Car wash day!
• Invite resource speakers like a police officer or a roadside assistance club worker who can show them how to set up an early hazard device and talk about how to be safe on the road

Any other ideas?

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Lesson Plans, Preschool, Teaching Resources | 0 Comments

Where Would You Wanna Go?

I want to ride the airplane! I will go to....

While discussing the theme transportation, I overheard my students talking about where they would like to go if they could ride an airplane. Since they were so caught up in their conversation, I decided to have them make an activity out of it. I asked our other teacher to prepare some paper airplanes (errr….I seem to suck at paper folding haha) then I had the kids design their planes and we did a show and tell activity.

It was fun to hear their opinions and ideas about what it would be like to ride in a plane, and I was able to have some of the kids who have been on planes talk about their experiences. They described how it feels to have their tummies feel all funny during turbulence, how the clouds look when it’s right outside their windows, and one even so perfectly imitated the sound of one of the toilet flushing in those cramped bathrooms in airplanes.

Before they ended their turns, I asked them where they would like to go if they were on an airplane. As expected, the typical answer I got was “Hong Kong Disneyland” but here were some cute responses:

• I will go to the province to visit my lola
• I want to go to Japan because it’s snow (errr…that’s how she said it!)
• We will ride the airplane and live in Canada in May (their family is relocating there soon)
• I wanna ride the airplane and go to Africa because I wanna go on a safari and see the elephants and the zebras and the dinosaurs. Then Basti can come with me.
• I will go to Daddy in Qatar (awwwww nice, right????)

but my biggest laugh came from this:

• I wanna ride the airplane so I can go to SM with Mommy and Daddy. (ay kalayo man ng SM!!!!)

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades, Preschool | 0 Comments

Got Milk?

A few days ago my kids and I got into a discussion about drinking from a bottle. One of my four-year olds said he still drinks from a bottle at night, and I said that maybe he could try drinking in a glass instead. He said it was just for bedtime because he still drinks milk before sleeping. Over the course of our discussion, we began talking about why bottle feeding at their age should not be done anymore, but I was not too forceful with the issue, especially since as a psychologist, I know that this is really a stage of oral development and making too much of an issue of it can cause problems in the future. Anyway, at the end he goes, Okay, Teacher, I’ll drink my milk before I brush my teeth instead. Yay!

Since we were talking about milk already, I decided to spin off the lesson to talk about other sources of milk products, especially since one of the other kids said she doesn’t like milk. We talked about how ice cream, for example, could be a good source of milk for them. We talked about why it was important for them and how it is a rich source of calcium which is important for building strong bones in their bodies. I told them that they should make it a point to have some milk (and other calcium rich food) daily because this will ensure their health in the future. I told them that even I had to take in some of these things so I can continue to be strong and healthy and so I could still carry them around and horse around like we do in class, but that sometimes,  grown-ups take their “milk”  in the form of calcium supplements, which in turn led to a whole new discussion on vitamins and other medications they find in their homes and how they should not take them unless their parents give it to them.

I enjoyed our Circle Time a lot that day and even though it threw off my entire lesson plan for the day, seeing the discussion that ensued made it all so worthwhile

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