Days of the Week and Months of the Year

Hey class!

Watch this video about Days of the Week and sing along :) What is your favorite day of the week?

Here is another song from Mother Hen singing the Months of the Year. Enjoy!

Let's learn about the days of the week and months of the year with some fun games.

Months of the Year games:
1. Game 1
2. Game 2

Days of the Week games:

1. Game 1 
2. Game 2 - Roy the Zebra!
3. Memory Game

Bye for now,

Daniella :) 

February

Air & Water Pollution

In February, we looked at air and water pollution. I asked everyone to take a deep breath in and out. I asked them some questions about air and if we need to breathe to survive. Then we looked at some photos of clean and dirty air and I asked them, 'is this air clean or dirty?'. They were very good at telling the difference. So then I asked them if certain vehicles or human activities make the air dirty and they had to think about the human impact of pollution. We watched a video too, which you can see here. Afterward we did a scientific classification activity where the students had to sort pictures of clean and dirty air into two piles. This was a great activity to see if everyone had learned the content. 

The following week, we looked at water pollution in the exact same way. This time, we watched a video about a Whale called 'A Whale's Tale'. This video shows a whale battling polluted water. Showing children environmental issues through animal issues is a really good way of helping them understand the effects of environmental issues and climate change, as they really care about animals. 

You can see the video here. 

Habitats and Invertebrates and Vertebrates 

This topic was great because it is all about animals! We used some interactive PowerPoints that the children could use to classify animals as invertebrates and vertebrates. There was lots of verbal communication, as I asked the children where different animals lived and got them to think about habitats. We focused on Mammals the week after, looking at the characteristics of Mammals, for example that they need milk from their mothers. Then the students had to classify the correct characteristic to the correct kind of animal. We did this step by step and they managed to do it perfectly in the end! I also showed them my pets from when I was a child and we talked about our favourite animals! We also did some flashcards where I held up pictures of different animals and my students had to tell me if the animal is a vertebrate and invertebrate. Then we watched some fun video to help them remember. 

January - Directions

Teaching directions and cardinal points was super fun with year 1, because it meant we could use our bodies to learn! 

Everyone stood up and I taught them the different cardinal points 'North, East, South and West' by using my arms to point. They copied and shouted the words out. Then I tested them by pointing to a direction and getting them to shout the correct cardinal point. I made the game faster and faster to challenge them. We also watched a song on Youtube to help remember the cardinal points. 

Then it was time for a challenge so I gave a compass picture to the students and we had to direct one student around the class. I would pick different students who would say 'Go North', for example. We made it more difficult by saying the steps as well, 'Go 2 steps North'. Some students even gave two directions! We had a picture of the correct cardinal point on the walls around the classroom so they couldn't get too lost. They found this game really funny as it was almost as if the student walking around the class was a robot being controlled by the rest of the class. 

We did an activity in the workbook to practise their writing skills and solidify what they learned. 

The following week, we played a game where the students had to direct Pepito (small blue fluffy toy) around the town. We had a big picture on the board of a map with different places in each square, for example a bakery, a police station, a school. The students had to get Pepito to a specific place like the bakery and use their English skills to tell him 'go North 2 steps and east 3 steps', for example. If they got it wrong, Pepito fell off the map and we had to start again. They really enjoyed this game.