30 June 2011

What a day today. ~_~ How was it for you?

Emotional rollercoaster would be a way to describe mine.

Anyway, here's the gist of the short day today.

Gist of Today

• We did some admin things in the morning and started on our DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) program. 
• To the kids, please get the books exchanged before I come in, so that you have more reading time. 
• Please also help to remind your friends who are not reading. Let's help each other to learn and be better people. :)
• We went through the annotation and discussed the story and how to write a sub-note beside each paragraph
• To parents, annotation is a strategy that Primary 6 children are applying and I've decided to start it when they're young so that its easier for them to follow through. You'd be glad to know that our class has the highest number of passes for comprehension for the whole level. 
• You can ask your children about the 4 step approach to Comprehension With A Partner
• 1. Do annotations quietly. They must be constantly asking themselves questions like,
• "Who is this character?"
• "Why did she do this?"
• "Why did she do that?"
• "So how does these things connect?"
• These questions actually help the children to really understand what the story is about. 
• 2. Discuss the questions with their friend. If their friends speak the same mother-tongue, I would advise them to tell their friend in their mother-tongue. Strange you say? Well, these children speak in their mother-tongue more than English, probably even more at home. We can safely say they're more proficient at their mother-tongue. So why not tap into that? Furthermore, learning is always about tapping from prior knowledge, things that they already know. So this is how I'm doing it. It's definitely a plus point if they disagree: they would try to understand each other and from that, they become closer to understanding the question. 
• 3. Discuss with a friend the answer. If they disagree, they shouldn't say things like "Oie! You stupid la!" but "I'm sorry, but I disagree. I think..." This helps the kids to fight less and be more focused in their work. Disagreement isn't always bad because it helps them form meaning of the answer/question.
• 4. Share the answer and write the same answer. Some parents may say: "Wah! Why are you teaching my child to copy!??" I'm not. The reason is because when they share an answer, they feel more ownership that they share the same answer and agree on something mutually. Plus, it's interesting to see when they compare answers with other pairs and start to disagree! :)
• I then gave the class a break and showed them a book on Fonts. Just a book on the many design of Fonts for their reading interesting and an award if they finish their work early. You might say "What if the child just rushes through the work??" Don't worry. Because of the 4 step approach, they're more busy arguing about their answer than about the book. Why do I say this? Because no one was busy with the book until much later and if I suspect anyone rushing their work, I'll check their books. 
• I then gave them homework of comprehension to do alone. I'm gonna ask them the difference between doing a comprehension alone and with a friend tomorrow. :)

Ok. Now to serious class stuff:

Due Tomorrow: Homework and Consent Forms

1. Bring consent forms: those who forgot their NKF and Lesson Study CFs and the remedial and focus group CF
2. Maths Revision Homework: I gave yesterday and is due tomorrow
3. 1-WAD books: Children are to get a new exercise book by tomorrow or next tuesday
4. Bring English and Mathematics Files: We need to refile and ensure the worksheets are properly filed
5. Maths Topical Worksheets: I've briefed this in class
6. English Reading Comprehension Booklet 2: Worksheet 1
7. Survey and Online Blogging @ Lead.com

Computer and Online Consent

If I may request parents who disallow their children to use the computer to allow them to. I know you are worried that they might waste time playing computer games, but as I give them more online work to get them more engaged (i realize many of the students in the class are IT savvy), we should trust them to do the work I've given them. As we trust our kids, hopefully they will enjoy learning more and have a stronger bond between parent and child. :)

That's all today~ 

See you all tomorrow!

:)

P.S.

MONDAY IS YOUTH DAY!

But you know all that already. -.-