Net’s
Newsletter
Issue 3 - 2004
|
Comment – Dickson – Games – Lesson Plans – Topics –
Aristotle – Kangaroos – New Vols |
COMMENT: IT’S NOT WHAT YOU DO,
IT’S THE WAY THAT YOU DO IT
I was so slow in getting the first issue to
you that there was no time to incorporate any feedback as to what you would
like to see in the Newsletter. So in this issue I have carried on with the same
format.
The whole idea of sending out this material
is to hopefully help you. I see though that there is the danger that you will
feel overawed/under pressure to do the different things. Please, please, please, don’t feel that. You may have been
inspired by Ed’s experiences. Remember how he wondered if the children were
learning anything. It’s not what you do; it’s the way that you do it. If, as
with him, the kids are so please to see you and play around with you, then you
will be far more effective than some ivory-towered academic with a PhD to whom
the kids can’t relate. These materials are just in case you are stuck for something
to do, or would like to know what other volunteers are doing or would like to
feel a little bit more secure about what you are doing.
So
please let me know the kind of things you want. |
Dickson Pock, while on a visit to Hong Kong from his
native South Africa, met his future wife. He returned in 1991 to marry her and
has stayed ever since. They now have a son.
Dickson works in IT, ‘managing databases’,
and has been serving as a volunteer for over nine months in the Ma Tau Chung
Children and Family Services Centre on Saturday afternoons. So his situation
there is somewhat different to the general day-care centers: he has a different
set of students, of mixed age and ability, ever 8 weeks.
The students come from the neighbourhood,
but because of the high demand, are chosen by lottery each term. In this
somewhat difficult situation, Dickson feels his main aim is to build the
confidence of his reticent students so that they are more willing to try and
speak English.
He is in need of lots of games so, if you
have any or know of any, could you please let him have them. His email address
is dpock@so-net.com.hk
|
GAMES SITES l www.avonmaitland.on.ca/~ambdsbnet.kindergarten.htm l www.crpusd.sonoma.edu/goldridge/kgames.htm l www.masd.k12.pa.us/whatsnew/hotlists_files/Hotlists%20of%20Kindergarten%20Games.doc l www.summerbrains.com/kindergarten/games.html l http://teachers.net/lessons.htm Another good source is a book found in most centers entitled ‘Great
Ideas for Teaching English Rhymes & Songs’ |
Cherie’s Lesson Plans
If
you want to know what Cherie is teaching so that you can fit in with what she
has been doing, revise or complement it, then a copy of her detailed lesson
plans are kept at every center. Just ask the center supervisor or the homeroom
teachers.
If
you are, perchance, interested in other lesson plans, then some can be found on
the following website:
www.lib.csufresno.edu/subjectresources/curriculumjuvenile/kindergarten/#search_engines
|
Wondering what to teach? Here is a list of
the most common topics covered in pre-schools: |
POSSIBLE
TOPICS
(in alphabetical order
only)
|
ANIMALS
– Baby Animals, Animal Sounds, Day/Nighttime Animals, Zoo Animals, Wild
Animals, Sea Animals |
MYSELF
– Favourite Things, All About Me, My Home, My Family, My School, Daily Life,
Clothes |
|
BODY
& HEALTH – Body Parts, Body Movements, Senses, Health |
NEIGHBOURHOOD
– Jobs, Town Words |
|
COLOURS |
NUMBERS |
|
DAYS
OF THE WEEK & DATES |
OPPOSITES |
|
FAMILY
& FRIENDS |
SEASONS |
|
FARMYARD
FRIENDS |
SHAPES
& PATTERNS |
|
FOLK
& FAIRYTALES |
TIME |
|
FOOD
& TEETH |
VEGETATION |
|
GROWING
THINGS |
VEHICLES
& MACHINES |
|
HOLIDAYS |
WEATHER |
|
LETTERS
& WORDS |
|
This is a game I saw Cherie do recently and
it went so well.
KEY
TO THE KANGAROO
The aim was to revise and practice the ‘K’
words and sounds
Setting Up:- An area of the classroom was
cleared.
On one side, a Starting Line was
drawn
and two large black plastic rubbish
bags
places there. On the other side was a
String,
hanging from which were a number
of
small locks. Underneath these on a chair
were
a number of keys
Revision:- The teacher revises the sound of ‘K’ and
goes through the words and picturesassociated with the letter, two of which are
kangaroo and key
Choosing
Contestants:- The
teacher asks a question about these words, pictures, sound. The two children
who get the question correct, then go to the starting line and are helped into
the plastic bags.
What
happens? – The
spectating children say “Ready, Steady, Go”. The two contestants then hop like
a kangaroo to the keys. The winner is allowed to choose a key and try it in one
of the locks. If it works then he gets a prize.
Wondering what other English is taught in the
centres? Here are the dictation words the N4 children in one of the centres
have to learn each month:
|
March a cherry, a snail, a bee, a frog April a tram, a bicycle, a car, a motorbike, a
train, a wheel, a driver, a teacher, a nurse May a hill, a house, a fireman, a postman, a
circle June It is a rectangle. It is a triangle,. A
shark, a snake, a sea-horse, a crab July J have some jelly. J have some watermelon.
A fish, a dolphin, ice-cream, milk-shake |