Astronomy Class 4
I have not been able to blog on Class 3 as Sarah was taken ill right after the class, and now Aisyah was taken ill after Class 4. She's much better now and I have some time to myself without her hanging onto me.
Yesterday, we reviewed the solar system in motion song which I think really helps to talk about rotation and revolution in a simple and easy- to- understand manner. Plus the kids like turning round and round. This is where I find the need to learn more about eurythmy and other movement and learning topics. However, with a procrastinating mind and little kids, this has been a bit of challenge.
We then went outside where I asked the kids to take 24 steps (to relate to 24 hours in a day), in small or as large a step as they can, and see who will be able to travel the longest distance. I marked where each kid ended and we compared the longest and shortest track taken. The girls however seemed intent on staying close together and we had a close race even with a re-run. This can be later tied in to distances between the planets presentation.
After the mini-PE cum math lesson, we learned about the clock and its parts and how there are 24 hours in a day that the clock hands have to go round the clock twice to cover that. The children also learned how to roll and unroll a mat, an essential Monte skill : ) I do realise it can look like a control freak presentation to an outsider.
As an extension, the kids have to stick numbers I printed to the clock copy they each had. I decided to cut out the clock face as I thought cutting a circle would be a challenge for the 4-year olds and did not want to end up cutting for them.
I also cut up the piece where the numbers are printed into a smaller piece to facilitate the kids cutting each number separately on their own. I'm glad I did it because the children took a longer time than I expected. It was however interesting to watch the different ways they cut and how they sequenced their cutting, pasting and clearing trash. I was also able to observe which child was focusing on their work longer. Something, I find intriguing and reminded me of the three-hour work cycle.
Another thing I realised during the lesson was, as the clock was a circle, I had to mark where the numbers should start. Technically the kids can start anywhere but I wanted the long hand to land on 12. There was also some confusion over 6 and 9 and the orientation of number 8.
After break, I presented on the solar system mat. We talked about how here we travelled on roads but in outer space, planets travelled in their orbits, with no signs and basically hanging there in space (actually the last two points were an afterthought... masyaaAllah!) I let the kids trace the threads sewn on the mat for the orbits. One child started to make movements like she had a car moving on a race track : )
We then ordered the planets and I told the children they can work on the mat in other classes as I will be adding them to our collection of materials. To date we have the nesting boxes, the galaxy patterns 3 part cards and the nesting boxes ordering cards. We should have the earth, sun and moon rotation model but one of them is destroyed and another missing.
And that was a wrap for Class 4.
For homework, the children have to work with their parent on writing their days of the week booklet where they write a routine they do on different days of the week. I basically folded a piece of A4 size coloured paper and wrote on both sides to cover all the pages, including a cover page. This work is meant to give the children a sense of time and the cycle of a week.
Yesterday, we reviewed the solar system in motion song which I think really helps to talk about rotation and revolution in a simple and easy- to- understand manner. Plus the kids like turning round and round. This is where I find the need to learn more about eurythmy and other movement and learning topics. However, with a procrastinating mind and little kids, this has been a bit of challenge.
We then went outside where I asked the kids to take 24 steps (to relate to 24 hours in a day), in small or as large a step as they can, and see who will be able to travel the longest distance. I marked where each kid ended and we compared the longest and shortest track taken. The girls however seemed intent on staying close together and we had a close race even with a re-run. This can be later tied in to distances between the planets presentation.
After the mini-PE cum math lesson, we learned about the clock and its parts and how there are 24 hours in a day that the clock hands have to go round the clock twice to cover that. The children also learned how to roll and unroll a mat, an essential Monte skill : ) I do realise it can look like a control freak presentation to an outsider.
As an extension, the kids have to stick numbers I printed to the clock copy they each had. I decided to cut out the clock face as I thought cutting a circle would be a challenge for the 4-year olds and did not want to end up cutting for them.
I also cut up the piece where the numbers are printed into a smaller piece to facilitate the kids cutting each number separately on their own. I'm glad I did it because the children took a longer time than I expected. It was however interesting to watch the different ways they cut and how they sequenced their cutting, pasting and clearing trash. I was also able to observe which child was focusing on their work longer. Something, I find intriguing and reminded me of the three-hour work cycle.
Another thing I realised during the lesson was, as the clock was a circle, I had to mark where the numbers should start. Technically the kids can start anywhere but I wanted the long hand to land on 12. There was also some confusion over 6 and 9 and the orientation of number 8.
After break, I presented on the solar system mat. We talked about how here we travelled on roads but in outer space, planets travelled in their orbits, with no signs and basically hanging there in space (actually the last two points were an afterthought... masyaaAllah!) I let the kids trace the threads sewn on the mat for the orbits. One child started to make movements like she had a car moving on a race track : )
We then ordered the planets and I told the children they can work on the mat in other classes as I will be adding them to our collection of materials. To date we have the nesting boxes, the galaxy patterns 3 part cards and the nesting boxes ordering cards. We should have the earth, sun and moon rotation model but one of them is destroyed and another missing.
And that was a wrap for Class 4.
For homework, the children have to work with their parent on writing their days of the week booklet where they write a routine they do on different days of the week. I basically folded a piece of A4 size coloured paper and wrote on both sides to cover all the pages, including a cover page. This work is meant to give the children a sense of time and the cycle of a week.
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