Happy Birthday Bernard

Happy Birthday Bernard!

Hope you had a lovely day.  I know you enjoyed the special moment when your friends cheered and sang happy birthday to you.

I have the photo to commemorate this however I cannot upload it as yet.  Hope to be able to do so very soon when we will be given the go ahead.

 

 

Term 3 Week 8 – Writing Letter w

Letter w is the second zig zag monster letter which we looked at.

It is very common that the children mix this up with the letter v at first.  So I emphasize that w has two points at the bottom whilst v as we saw during the previous week has only one.

The following are the words the children came up with starting with w: window, wall, watch, witch, wind, wand, win, work, when, where, why, what, white and whale.

Besides doing its formation in the air, on the interactive whiteboard and in sand they also formed it using craft sticks.  Finally they practiced writing it on their workbooks.  Here is how the pages looked like:

Success Criteria to be able to write letter w –

• You start writing this letter from the top.
• It is like writing 2 v’s stuck together.
• There are no straight lines in this letter.
• This letter is special because it has two points at the bottom..

After finishing the letter w pages the children also worked a mixed page where they had to match the letters v and w to pictures which start with these two sounds.

Here are some photos during the various letter w activities carried out in class.

This is another video clip the children watched in relation to letter w.

 

 

Term 3 Week 8 – People Who Help Us – Part 5 – Wardens

Another group of workers who help us in our everyday life are wardens.

First we took a look at what a warden does for a living – that mainly they are out and about making sure that people obey the rules and educate them where they might be doing wrong.

They see that no vandalism is done on the environment such as smashing cars, writing on walls, people injuring each other. They also give fines (the children called them tickets) if such rules are not obeyed.

We saw the similarities and differences between a warden and a policeman.  Wardens cannot carry any weapons or arrest people, but policeman do.

Like everyone else wardens encounter their difficulties at work such as when people are not nice to them when they correct their bad behavior.

We can recognize wardens and policeman from their smart uniform so when we need help out and about we can ask them.  Last but not least wardens and policeman use motorbikes and cars as their vehicles.

The children watched a story of a warden/policeman who helps children at a school by setting examples.  This is an online version of the story.

Officer Buckle –

The children watched and sang to the rhyme Police officer – Rhymes on Profession –

However the highlight of this topic was when we had a guest over to talk about the important work such people do.  Mr. Muscat Adaya’s dad works as a police warden at the corrective facility.  These are the main points which were discussed in class when he came over.

• Police officers and wardens wear a smart uniform to distinguish them from other people especially when we need help. Just like us at school they have a summer uniform and a winter one.
• Some uniforms are green whilst others have a white shirt and a black trousers depending on which work they are in charge of.
• They also have a special tie which we called the magic tie which comes off very easily so that they won’t hurt if another adult is not obeying the rules.
• Usually they have a number on their shoulder which distinguishes an officer from another.
• They also wear a special cap with a special badge which shows the flag of Malta along with the badge of the timeout place where he works.
• We gave prison the name of the timeout place for adults. We explained that just like children at times need to think about their actions when they misbehave so do adults. Some adults need to go to the timeout place when they misbehave a lot.  We made it very clear that misbehaving for adults does not mean when parents fight and maybe shout at each other.  But when adults steal things which do not belong to them, hurt and injure people on purpose (not when cars crash), when they destroy the environment such as writing on walls and breaking things out and about. We also emphasized that children do not go to this time out place.
• Policeman wardens learn at a special school and they have teachers just like us. They learn how to defend themselves, how to be strong by doing a lot of special exercises, walking, climbing special walls etc.
• Some of the officers also have special dogs which help them in their work. These dogs see and smell a lot.
• They also go out in the community to help people in need.
• Last but not least he showed us the handcuffs. Some of the children actually had them at home because they play policeman.  The children had a laugh when I asked Mr. Muscat to show us how they are used and I actually wore the handcuffs myself.  We explained that such handcuffs are used when robbers, people who destroy the environment and adults who hit each other very badly are taken to the timeout place.

Here are some photos that were taken in class during the presentation.

Accompanying this topic we had our usual craft.  The children printed traffic lights using the traffic lights colours green, yellow, red.  Photos of this activity can be found under the literacy blog along with other related activity photos.

On behalf of the Pre-Junior team and all the Pre-junior classes a great big thank you goes to Mr. Muscat for his interesting presentation.

 

 

Term 3 Week 8 – People Who Help Us – Part 4 – Vets and Photos

The second part of our topic work sessions for this week was dedicated to another group of community workers who help all those who have pets.

I am referring to the vets.  The children were very enthusiastic about this topic as a good number of them do have pets or love some particular animal so they have experienced going to the vet themselves.

We mentioned that vets are special doctors who really love animals and just like we go to our doctor when we are sick or when we need to take an injection so do our animals.

The story chosen to help the children understand better what a vet does is:

Paula the Vet by Julia Donaldson –

I managed to squeeze in the second story called Caillou – Gilbert Goes to the Vet.

After each story we explored the qualities needed to be a vet such as loving and caring animals, being patient and very careful at all times during work.

Vets have to work long hours even possibly during the night too.  They also use special cars or even an ambulance to transport any ill or injured animal.  This service in Malta is called Ambuserv Animal Rescue Service.  This is how their ambulances looks like:

Our classroom changed into a pet clinic/hospital where the children role played being a vet.  They cured all sorts of animals from dogs and cats to pigs, lions, bears, dinosaurs and more.

They used small bandages for broken or injured legs and arms, spoons for medicines, craft sticks for thermometers and injections and even little stethoscopes we made in class out of chenille sticks and foam circles to hear the heartbeat of each animal.

Some children preferred to be human doctors so they cured baby toys instead.  Here is a quick snapshot of their role play    🙂

 

These are 2 songs the children enjoyed during this topic –

 

 

 

Term 3 Week 8 – Number 16

The next number on our number line is 16.

By now the children got used to the routine of marching up to 20 at the beginning of the lesson and they look forward to it:

Count and Move – Super Simple Songs

The children counted various objects up to 16.  I emphasized not to forget our tricky numbers out 11, 12, 13 and 15.  They also watched the following video clip –

Sesame Street Count till 16

As part of their hands on activities the children had to use the rainbow technique to form 16 on their number scrapbook. They also had to count 16 washers and stick them under the lifeguard picture representing one of the many safety equipment the lifeguard would have at hand.

They also had to colour it in with specific instructions given such as colour in the face peach, orange, brown or pink.  (They could not colour the entire picture in one block colour as some might do.)

The children also practiced writing number 16 on their workbook and drew 16 balls and coloured in the equivalent numicon shapes.

Last but not least they practiced their counting skills on a mixed number page.

Here are some pictures of the children at work whilst counting and gluing 16 washers, counting blocks and playing with them after   🙂

 

Term 3 Week 8 – People Who Help Us – Part 3 – Lifeguards and Water Play Photos

The first topic session for this week was dedicated to a group of community workers who help people who are in difficulty mostly at the beach.

Now that summer is here we chose this topic to make the children more aware of what to look out for at the beach and what to do if they are in difficulty of any kind.

We started by preparing a picture mind map of all the things that we need to take at the beach to keep us safe and protect us.  These are the things the children came up with:

However they learnt that at times although we take our safety gear to the beach there are other difficulties that we may encounter which are beyond our control and we should be aware of them.

There are also special people who help us in this regard – The Search and Rescue Lifesavers.

These people would be positioned at popular beaches usually sitting on a very high chair so they can get a clear view of the entire beach and the sea as well.  So if we see someone needs help we go to them or start shouting and they come to us.

Besides these special workers we have to look out for other signs at the beach which mean specific things.

There is special flag system which shows us if a beach is safe to use or not.  These are some of the flags used.

Other important points –

• When we are swimming we have to be accompanied by an adult for now.
• If a toy happens to move away into the water we don’t just rush to get it and end up in difficulty.
• Whilst in the water we should not play rough by pushing or splashing water into people’s eyes.
• Obviously since we are at the beach with a lot of people around we never walk away with strangers even if they offer us something delicious such as an ice-cream or a cute little toy.
• Never go close to the yachts and other large sea vehicles.
• Always obey our parents.

The children got to know that the lifeguards watch out for the large vehicles out at sea as well so they do not cross over a specific area.

Lifeguards themselves might go out at sea on their yachts or other sea vehicles to save lives.   This led us to the first letter of the week y – yachts.  You can find more information in the literacy blog.

The children created their own yacht using a plate washing sponge, a kebab stick and a sail made out of foam with their name written on it.  They played with their yacht during the water play session.

Here are the photos.

 

 

Term 3 Week 7 – Dentist Outing Photos

The children were very excited to go for the dentist outing.  In preparation for this I spoke to them about the friendly and caring environment one finds at the Demajo Group.

I explained what it would be like to go to the dentist for a check-up.  They watched a couple of stories of children like them who were scared of the dentist but realized that dentists are there to help us.

Caillou At The Dentist –

The Carters Go To the Dentist –

In the photos below you will see you children sitting on the magic chair having their mouths checked with what they called the special mirror.  Some managed to see their teeth on the big screen.

Isaac also saw his tongue and all had a laugh.  Even the Koala back pack had special treatment.  First it had a ride on the nurse’s back followed by a checkup.  Some were fascinated by the equipment in the lab.  A few were taken aback when it was told that older people might end up in dentures.

A set was show to them by Dr. Jean Paul.  Last but not least they were given a small token given by Kin labs which the children brought home.

 

This is one of the songs we used in class to prepare for the dentist outing.

The children were then taken to the new Pembroke playground where they ate their lunch and played to their hearts content as is seen in some of these cute photos.

 

 

Term 3 Week 7 – People Help Us – Part 2 – Underground Workers

The topic we started with this week talks about different jobs people do underground.

First the children brainstormed what can possibly live under the sea and also what other things we can find under the ground before we explored the jobs that a person can do underground.

The easiest part for them was mentioning creatures living under the sea such as octopuses, whales, turtles, fish and starfish. They then associated these with scuba divers who dive under water to admire the lovely world that exists down under.  This is a song they really enjoyed singing to:

Under The Sea song –

The children pretended to be various creatures under the sea during one of our PE sessions on turf.  Here are a couple of photos where they are pretending to be starfish.

They also came up with a list of creatures which we can find underground.  Animals like rabbits, moles, foxes, mice, snakes, ants, worms and other tiny creatures.  Roots of plants and trees grow in soil.

There were a few children who mentioned precious minerals such as gold, diamonds and coal.  Bones were also mentioned which can be excavated and dug out.  Thus archeologists, diggers and miners come into play.

The children became aware that since the beginning of time mankind realised that underground could be used to their advantage.  Thus they explored and used underground caves to live in such as the caves in Ghar Dalam.

By time they also built their own homes underground such as Tarxien temples and the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni.  Thus we have people who study history as well as archeologists already mentioned above who look at items found under ground.

The Maltese built tunnels to hide under ground during war and used them as a hiding place where they could plan their attacks.  (The children watched the 1^st five minutes of the following video clip).

The Maltese also dug tunnels for the vapur tal-art to pass through.  The train operated between Mdina and Valletta passing through villages like Hamrun, Birkirkara, Attard and Rabat in the late 1800’s and beginning of the 1900’s.

The Malta Railway –

Some children mentioned that they rode on trains when they were abroad and passed through long tunnels so we saw a short video of how trains look nowadays and the difference in the tunnels which are found underground today to those of years back in time.

Underground trains –

The children were really interested when we mentioned the caves, as well as the train history in Malta so maybe you can find the time to take them to one of the caves or temples found on the Maltese Islands or else to the train museum in Attard.

Nowadays tunnels underground are used as sewers and where electricity cables pass through.  The children were made aware that workers do actually go underground to fix any damages that might occur.

The craft we decided to do for u-under was the letter u shape which the children glittered in blue to represent the sea.  They also coloured in a small fish with rainbow colours which they stuck under the letter u.  This craft is stuck on one of our mini bulletin boards in front of the class.

 

Term 3 Week 7 – Writing Number 14

The first number we worked with during week 7 was number 14.

As usual we first saw where this number stands on a number line 12, 13, 14, 15 and carefully listened to the words we use whilst saying this number, e.g.  teen means that such a number is always written with a 1 first then the 4 follows.

I really emphasize this so the children won’t write the 4 first and then the 1 thus 41.  Later on in the coming years they will start understanding that this changes the value of the number totally.

As usual the children counted various objects up to 14, such as buttons, toys, numicon shapes, craft sticks and interlocking blocks.

 

 

We then did hands on activities where the children had to glue 14 fish under the Maltese luzzu and colour them in.  They also used the rainbow technique to form number 14.  (Work was done on number scrapbook 2).

Besides practicing the formation of number 14 more emphasis was put on counting skills where the children had to draw the balls representing the numicon shapes for 10 and 4.

They also practiced the concept of what comes next.  They could use the number line provided on the same page if they could not recall the number from memory.  Here are the pages.

Song used with number 14 –

 

 

Term 3 Week 6 – Open Day Photos

Dear all.

I am posting the photos that we managed to take during Open Day.

Thank you to all those who could attend.  It was lovely seeing you work hand in hand with your little loved ones.

They were proud to have you in their class.  For all those who could not make it thank you for giving the opportunity to your children to join in and not miss out.  They really had a lovely day too.  The photos are evidence of this.

I am posting them all as there might in be your child in one and not the other.  It was impossible to select one photo for each child.

 

We will be putting your lovely creations together and hang them up for your children to enjoy.

You will see them in the photos I will eventually post.  Unfortunately we do not have photos of the garden patch visit under the Flutterby area as we were pressed for time.