Arts & Crafts : Origami Yacht

   During practicum, I taught 2 subjects: English and Arts.

   I dreaded the thought of teaching Arts. But I dreaded the thought of teaching Local Studies even more, so when Eza and I had to switch minors from Local Studies to Arts, we were literally bouncing with joy. However, deep in my heart I felt quite nervous.

   When I actually began teaching the subject, I found that it was fun. The fact is, teaching primary school children is fun. It really is. They are always very eager about doing the activities- though I wouldn't say they're quite as good at bringing the materials necessary when you tell them to!

   Thankfully, I teach Art to Year 2 and Year 3, and there are only respectively 7 and 11 pupils in each class, so it's not difficult to bring extra items in case the children forget to do so. When I first started out, it was difficult when they kept forgetting to bring scissors and glue, but later I began purchasing extra tools and items so that nobody would be left out from the fun. You just have to sacrifice some money,  but believe me if you love kids it won't be difficult to do so!

   In this entry, I'd like to share one lesson in which we prepared origami yachts. There are any number of websites that provide suggestions, step-by-step instructions and even pictures to accompany the instructions, which are really helpful. I'm afraid my lesson plan is in Bahasa Melayu though, if I have time I'll make a rough LP later and upload it here.

   So, let's start!

   First, make the yacht. You'll need some coloured paper and scissors.

   You can visit this link to look at the step by step instructions on how to make the origami yacht. The instructions include photos so you'll be okay. Besides, it's super easy!

   *Remember, always remind your pupils to be careful when using scissors.
   My kids tend to point the sharp end of the scissors to their eyes and so on. Playfully, of course, but it should not be permitted whatsoever.

   Secondly, paste the completed yacht onto a piece of drawing paper.

   Thirdly, draw a picture of waves and the sun in the background. Show them some examples, but be sure to tell them that they can be as creative as they like. Like this:

Isn't she neat in doing her work? Those waves are lovely!

   As they do that, go around the class to assist and answer their questions. If they don't have any, just drop some praises here and there, and give words of encouragement. It's important!

My tall and model-like partner Eza. We did a partnered-teaching for this class.

   And there you go! Easy, huh?

   Oh, you haven't met my Year 2 pupils, have you? Well, let's meet 'em! Below are some pictures the children preparing the yacht (oh cripes, I have to keep checking how to spell 'yacht'. Isn't that awful?):

This is Izzat, the class monitor.
Always the last person out of the class.
He helps me sweep the floor and close the windows.
I never had to ask.
He's a real sweetheart.

Syafiq.
A bit 'manja' sometimes, but I suppose it's because he's the youngest in his family.
Has a crush on one of the Year 1 girls, which he shares with his best friend Izzat.
Yikes. Haha.

Izani.
He's a bit of a troublemaker, but he usually behaves well in my classes.
When he attends school, that is.
He's also in remedial class. He's very quiet.

Aina.
One of the brightest in the class.
Probably my favourite (oops...) out of the girls.
She's very well-mannered. She also got As for all her subjects during UPP1.
A sweet girl.

Hajar, the assistant class monitor.
Quite talkative. A good girl, although a bit too playful sometimes.
Her brother is Eza's favourite pupil in Year 4.
She's probably the neatest worker in the class.
Even neater than I am. Oh no.

Adila.
For some time she was the only girl in the class.
Probably the reason why Hakim (another boy whose photo I didn't take during this class)
has a crush on her.
A huge crush.
Kids these days.

   So there you go. Easy as a pie. Though pies aren't really easy (for me anyway... boohoo).

   Anyway, you can visit http://www.origami-fun.com as well as http://www.origami-instructions.com for more ideas on making origami. Have fun!

A Short Update

   Assalamualaikum and hello. I feel rather bad for leaving this blog without any updates. The truth is I feel rather burnt out from reading. I have to read nearly a hundred articles for my part-time job, as well as two CDs and a bunch of handouts on KISSM. I would dearly love to explain what KISSM is, but apart from telling you that it is a course (which includes an exam!) that I have to prepare for, I think I'll postpone the intention until I feel less drained (and drowned!).

   KISSM will be conducted throughout Malaysia in all the IPGs (Institut Pendidikan Guru, formerly known as Maktab Perguruan) from 28/06/2011 to 30/06/2011. I have to complete two 750-words essays and submit them on the 28th. I also have so many notes to read!

   Wish me luck!

The Skeleton Dance

   This is one of the videos that I used in class, and it's really good if you want to insert some fun into your lessons. I love it, and the children... well, they were hooked the moment the skeleton came out!

   I was actually looking for an interesting video that could help me teach my Year 3 pupils to remember their left and right hands. This was after a disastrous lesson that we went through (which is a very, very long story so I won;t talk about it here). Now, I wouldn't exactly say that this video helped them to remember their left and right hands (and feet, for that matter!) right away, but it certainly got them interested in the lesson.

   There are two versions of the video. In the first version, the skeleton shakes his own left and right hands in accordance with the lyrics:

VERSION 1:

   The second video is a mirrored version of the first one. This means that the skeleton puts up his LEFT hand while singing about the RIGHT hand, while putting up his RIGHT hand when he sings about the LEFT hand. If I'm not mistaken was made after one of the comments suggested  a mirrored version so that young children could follow the skeleton's hands without being confused about which hand to put up in order to follow the song. 

   This video makes a great set induction, and you can also wrap up the lesson with it. If your children's level of English is pretty good, they'll probably be able to sing along to the lyrics when hearing it for the second time. If it's not, you can just let them stand up and dance along with the skeleton. 

VERSION 2:

   I've also tried it with the Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, and they loved it! So try it out, and let me know what you think! Let's dance!

   [I collected my portfolios and record books from the practicum unit a few days ago. I hope to be able to share some useful things with you soon. Look forward to it!]

Under The Sea Sing-a-long & The Silent Game 2

   When Blogger went down and took two of my posts with it, I gave up on writing and let my blog get a little dusty.

   Well here I am, forcing my brain to think and my fingers to type. I always take a long time in producing even the shortest post, so the fact that the 'lost' posts took some time to be completed is rather depressing. Yet I know that I cannot be hampered by such a small challenge. If I'm ever going to succeed in making my pupils write in the future, I must be able to do it willingly myself.

   So here goes. This time I'd like to share a video that I used with my Year 3 pupils. I liked this video because of its colourfulness, the rather comical voice that sings the song and the fact that it's related to the theme that I was teaching Year 3 at the time- the Sea World.

   Sea World is the third unit in the Year 3 textbook. I was itching to get to Unit 4, which was 'Pets and Animals', but Sea World was very interesting. It pretty much challenged my brain to think of interesting ideas to teach, but I still feel that I did not push myself to the limit. I stuck with old-fashioned ideas- but it was this unit that helped me to get nominated for... well, something.

   I used this video as a Set Induction for the day's lesson. I thought I'd turn it into a game, so I did. I did not want a complicated game, as a Set Induction is only meant to be between 3 to 5 minutes long.

   Remember my Silent Game with Year 1? I changed the rules a little to suit Year 3. If you've read some of my old entries (this, this and maybe this), you may have some idea about Year. They can be such angels, and at times they're little monsters.

   Anyway, back to the game. In a previous lesson, I had taught Year 3 the names of a number of sea creatures. So, just to make sure they would do some thinking and show some reaction to the video, I asked them to put up their hands whenever a sea creature that they liked appeared on the screen. The  only rule was they were absolutely forbidden to make any noise whatsoever.

   Here's the video:

   Now it may sound simple enough- just putting up your hands and making sure your mouth is shut, but for children who LOVE to speak, it's quite a challenge. Alif, for instance, has a lot of trouble keeping his mouth shut. Each time an animal that he liked appeared on the screen, he would jump up and say in his high pitched voice, "Aah!! Aah!" (which I suppose means he liked the creature. Putting up a hand was not enough).

   It was a simple game but they enjoyed it. Their English was not that good to be able to sing along to the song while they watched it for the first time, but they liked it. I discovered that most of the boys loved the stingray, and the girls, being girls, liked the gentle dolphin. I suppose the stingray, with its long deadly looking tail appealed to the boys. I have to admit it is one cool creature.

   As always, if anyone ever tries this, I welcome feedbacks and comments. If you have a blog or story about your pupils, drop a comment- I'm always interested.

   Warning: There are some grammatical errors in the song lyrics in the video. I wasn't focusing on grammar so I was too lazy to do anything about it.

   It's a bit late, but Happy Teacher's Day! I just got an sms from Kak Yana, who's the class teacher for Year 1 at SKP. She said they remembered me and wanted to give me a present! Awww... what sweeties. I'll dedicate a special post (and probably more!) on Year 1 soon, Insya-Allah. 

The Silent Game 1 - useful for keeping your class quiet! (or not)

   I was thinking of what useful things I could write, and I suddenly remembered this game that I invented in order to help me gain some quiet and peace in class. It worked... well enough, I guess.

   The idea popped into my head when I was taking a relief class with Year 1 at SKP. Now, I've had a little experience with Year 1 pupils when I went for SBE at SKP.

   (Wait a mo', I just remembered. Both schools that I went to, for SBE and teaching practice, have the same initials- SKP! Well, the one I went to for SBE is SK Palekbang in home sweet home Kelantan while the SKP I went to for teaching practice is SK Pegoh. What do you know... huh? I wonder if I'll go to another SKP when I start teaching... anyway...)

   From my SBE experience with Year 1, I realised that you have to be really active in class. I mean, really, really active. If you've read about the Year 1 pupils at my school, you'll understand why.

   Anyway, during a particular relief class with Year 1, I wanted to show them how to make animal masks. At first I had planned to give them some worksheets to work on, but as soon as I began to take them out, the children began to complain and turn on sour faces. They were tired of worksheets. They wanted to do something interesting.

   So I gave way and sent the class monitor to get some fresh sheets of drawing paper from the staff room. So we waited. Now, it's a dangerous thing to have nothing to do in class. You must always have some sort of activity so that the children don't start getting noisy and rowdy. In a sudden burst of inspiration, I invented the Silent Game.

   It's quite simple and can probably be implemented for 5 minutes or so before the children start getting noisy again. But trust me, with these particular group of children,  5 minutes of silence is a blessing... a great blessing.

   The game goes like this.

   (1) Explain to the children that they will play a simple game. In this game, no noise must be made. They are absolutely forbidden to talk or even whisper.

   (2) The teacher will asks some simple Yes/No questions.

   (3) If their answer is YES, they must put up their right hand and do a thumbs-up while smiling.
        (Don't ask me why, like I said the idea came out of nowhere)

thumbs up!!!!!!
source

   (4) If their answer is NO, they must use their arms to form an 'X'. (Again, don't ask me why).
 

-couldn't find a suitable picture-

    And that's it. Yeah. Haha. I hope you're not too disappointed.

   It actually worked quite well, because the children were so determined to stay quiet that some of them bit their lips. (You could actually add one rule, in that anyone who makes a single noise would be punised, or something). It also took all their will not to shout out or make a noise. When I played the game with Year 1, I could see that it took a lot of effort for them to hold themselves from jumping up in excitement.

   The trick is to ask interesting questions that relate to the children. When it's interesting, you can see them getting all excited.

   * You can probably invent questions depending on your creativity
   * It helps if you start the question with a short introduction or even story

   Question: I have a pet cat at home. (If you have a story then blablabla...) Do you like cats?

   If you want to make the game short and simple, then just ask a bundle of questions at one go.

   I also used this game with Year 3, but in a different way. But that, is another entry, haha.

   p.s. 1 - If you're able to exude that spirit and excitement when you're with children in class, even the simplest game can become interesting :)

   p.s. 2 - If anyone does try this game, I'd be really interested in knowing the outcome, so drop me a line through your comments!