Archive for June, 2011

Jun

What Is He Wearing?

I was at HomePlus one day and I found markers made for writing on glass. What could be more fun? I bought two sets. Phoenix Class was studying clothing and the question “What is he/she wearing?” Usually I have students do this on paper and then we go though it orally. Now don’t get me wrong, the kids love to color. But when I told them they were getting to color on the windows, they almost flipped their little minds.

In a way, it works better on the windows because it’s easier for other students to see and they can use other students’ pictures in their speaking.

So I present, Phoenix class (Martin, Jenny, Julie, Stephanie)…

posted by Kathryn in Activites,Fun things,Language,Maple Square,Pictures,Speaking,Students,Teaching and have No Comments

Jun

Kung Fu Panda

I was going through old videos and uploaded some to YouTube. This is finally after getting myself logged back into my account. Something is buggered (or was buggered) with this stupid linking your Google and YouTube account. But I digress.

This is a video done right before 2009 annual presentations. These kids would be first graders now. I proudly present Newton Class from Little Campus.

posted by Kathryn in Language,Little Campus,Presentations,Speaking,Students,Videos and have No Comments

Jun

ABC Magnets

I’ve been using a set of alphabet magnets with Apple Class (7-year-old kindergarten class) since they started learning the alphabet. The set I have has four complete sets in four different colors. Conveniently, there are four kids in the class. So I separated the magnets into bags. At the beginning, they just had to put the alphabet on the board. But now they are learning short vowels and the basics of reading. I also have very small white boards for various activities. And luckily, they are magnetic. So… each student got a bag of letters and a board. We practiced sounding out words and “writing” them on our boards. I like the activity because it’s very hands on. It gets most of their senses involved. And, well, it’s fun. There’s a picture of me doing the same thing at about 4 on the refrigerator.

posted by Kathryn in Activites,Maple Square,Phonics,Pictures,Reading,Students,Teaching and have No Comments

Jun

Glook

One science class, we made Glook. It’s really simple and safe enough for even small kids. All you need is cornstarch and water (plus food coloring if you want extra fun). Mix in about a 2:1 ratio. You’ll probably be quite surprised.

Glook is a non-Newtonian fluid. It doesn’t behave as a solid or a liquid exclusively. If you put pressure on it, it acts like a solid (and as Jamie and Adam showed us in MythBusters, you can even walk on it). If you try to pick it up, it acts like a liquid.

I did it with Summer and Winter classes and they all loved it. I even had fun with it.

Here’s a fun video showing it on a speaker.

posted by Kathryn in Activites,Maple Square,Science,Teaching,Teaching Resources,Videos and have No Comments

Jun

Know Thy Roots

I got a random email for this. While it’s not directly applicable to ESL learners, it is to teachers. Just take a look. Those words you take for granted everyday came from some where. English is not a “pure” language. We get our words from many different places.

Those of you who are teaching higher level students, it can help to have short discussions about word roots and common prefixes and suffixes. Sometimes a student learning that RE added to the front of the word means do it again, can make the difference in comprehension and confusion.

Way back when (you know, when the GRE was still a paper and pencil test) I took the GRE, I brushed up on things like bi- tri- and so on. I vaguely remember it saving my butt on one or two questions.

The long and short of this is: Don’t neglect the roots of English as a teaching strategy.

posted by Kathryn in Language,Reading,Teaching Resources,Vocabulary and have Comments (3)