Lessons, Lessons and More Lessons!

This whole last week has been quite eventful and full at school.

On Tuesday morning my class joined 4 other classes in the Hall for an assembly on Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network had come in and set up about 20 touch screen computers so the students could learn how to make their own cartoons. They also had set up 4 large games for the students to play.

Here are some of the pictures I took:





They all had a great time creating their characters and making them talk, jump, run and fly. They loved it!

A huge Connect Four game!

They just played a tossing game against each other.

The big Twister game with Cartoon characters!

On Wednesday I started the morning with a spelling lesson. I wrote the word 'Mnemonics' on the board and asked the students if any of them knew how to say it. The guesses I got were both hilarious and very cute. I covered the 'M' to tell them it was silent and they were still struggling. I didn't expect them to get it, but I wanted to hear what they came up with. I told them what it was and they proceeded to tell me I spelled it wrong! I have been getting this a lot lately - they think I don't know how to spell. So cute.
Anyway, I told them it meant we were going to write silly sentences with their spelling words so they could remember how to spell them. We did a few together on the board and they came up with some cute sentences. I sent them back to their tables where they came up with their own. We joined back together on the carpet and I had several of them read theirs out loud. They had a great time with my lesson. Yay!

Before lunch time we had to sit the class down to talk to them about one of their classmates who would be gone for quite sometime. This students father had passed away over the weekend and Carlie was told by the principal that we needed to let the class know what happened and to answer any questions they had. The whole class seemed to understand and we came up with some ideas of how they could help their friend feel better when he did finally decide to come back to school. I guess there never is a good way to tell a whole group of children about death, it was definitely a learning experience. The class is eager to have their friend back and they all said they would give him a hug. Cute!

I was also in charge of the Art lesson on Wednesday. They had learned about the Diwali celebration that happens in India the previous day. For this celebration people create Rangoli Patterns. I taught my students how to make them using shapes we had in the classroom. Their pictures turned out great! I will post pictures of them next time I write here.

Thursday was a CRAZY day! Literally. It was book week this week and Thursday was the day everyone dressed up as their favorite book character. Instead of our normal assembly we paraded around the community showing off our costumes and then around the school in a big circle. The kids had a lot of fun.

Four of our staff members dressed up as the Ninja Turtles! The kids LOVED it.

Walking down the street. Parents lined the streets at the coffee shops to watch and take pictures.

One of my students!

I know I'm not supposed to have a favorite student - But... - Mr. Cat in the Hat himself!
His hat was almost as tall as him. Precious!

Thursday I was also in charge of Maths. They had just learnt (They say learnt here, not learned) how to do division and so I was doing a review with them. Because they were so excited about it being book parade day I had a hard time keeping their attention. I had been told before by Carlie that it was okay to raise my voice to catch their attention, but I didn't like doing that. Well, today she was proud of me because I firmly told them that it was disrespectful and rude to be talking and drawing during my instruction. It quickly got their attention and they didn't talk again. :-) I win! I sent them to their tables to finish some problems I had put on the board. It was definitely a lesson I learned from on how to do things differently. But, we can't all have perfect lessons. Carlie gave me some very helpful suggestions for next time.

After lunch Thursday I was also in charge of their health lesson! I was very excited about this as Math and Health are my focus areas. I was teaching them about the food pyramid and what each section meant. I started by asking them what each had for lunch and I wrote them on the board. I then explained the food pyramid to them and how everything we eat can be put in the pyramid. During this lesson I also learned that I say tomato, banana, pear and a few other words 'incorrectly'. And when I tried to same them with an Australian accent they just giggled at me. They are cute. Together as a class we classified the foods they had for lunch. I then had them take their own pyramids and cut out foods from a magazine and put them in the correct places. They seemed to really enjoy this lesson and it was probably one of the best ones I have given.

Yesterday after school I headed down to Darling Harbor to meet up with one of my friends who is still here. His name is Franco and he is from Peru! We watched some street performers perform and people watched. It is always nice to hang out with friends!
Here is a picture of Franco and I.


Next week, my friend Melissa and her mom are visiting. We are leaving for 5 days to go to Cairns! I do my best to update this and my pictures once we get back.