Kids song: The Banana Boat Song sung by Pamela Sunshine

My kids at school love singing this song. The 'huh' part just spontaneously happened one day and became integral to the way we do it. I hope you enjoy it and introduce it to the children in your world.

11 Surprising Benefits of Play

Here is an amazing article on the benefits of play by Dr. Michele Borba. She has published several books on parenting.
11 Surprising Benefits of Play

Chinese New Year Crafts and Parade

We had lots of fun making dragons and swishy wands for our Chinese New Year Parade around the school hallways. Every year all the primary students love the noisy, boisterous parade, with crashing tambourines and drums.

We made masks.  First we coloured the dragons and then cut them out and stuck them on a paper plate. After that we glued on brightly coloured strips of construction paper.  We needed lots of glue to make them stick. Then we put a cardboard strip across the back as a handle, this was stapled on with adult help.
I got the template for the dragons in this post from Animal Jr and  CraftJr

This is what they turned out like. It was enjoyable choosing which colours to add.

 We put them up on the bulletin board until we needed them for the parade.

 We also made some Dragons with cut out heads and tails stuck on an acordian body and two straws for the children to hold and manipulate the puppet.
Some good ideas for Chinese New Year ideas can also be found at  Activity Village

 Then we had the parade with all the other primary classes. Lots of smiles. We made wands out of construction paper rolled up tightly and stapled strips of crepe paper to the end for a swirly wand to wave and we walked.

Love is Something or 'Magic Penny', A Great Song for Kids

A beautiful song for kids to singalong with. Words and music are by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1955 and 1958 Northern Music Corporation, renewed 1986. a.k.a. "Love Is Something." Despite the later copyright dates, this song was actually written while Malvina's daughter was at a junior high school dance, so around 1949.

My video just has the first verse and chorus but its nice to have all the lyrics here.

Love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

It's just like a magic penny,
Hold it tight and you won't have any.
Lend it, spend it, and you'll have so many
They'll roll all over the floor.

For love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

Money's dandy and we like to use it,1
But love is better if you don't refuse it.
It's a treasure and you'll never lose it
Unless you lock up your door.

For love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

So let's go dancing till the break of day,
And if there's a piper, we can pay.
For love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

For love is something if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away.
Love is something if you give it away,
You end up having more.

Morning Reading Time: Free Choice Noisy Reading Develops Literacy.

Every morning we start our day with Morning Reading. Once the shoes are off and the coats and bags hung up, and the communication book and home reading bag are handed in, the children go to the book corner and choose something to read. They have a choice of classroom books, as well as books I have selected from the library for our collection. Also there are non fiction books in a box reserved for non fiction, and big books.
The children can read alone, or with a friend or in a group. They can read at desks or on the floor.
This is the time that I also call them up one at a time to change the books in their home reading bags which go home every day.
I find that this 'noisy reading time' really stimulates a love of books and of reading. The excitement of discovery and sharing is infectious. Also they read to each other and take pride in one anothers abilities. Conversation flows, listening and speaking skills develop as they decide with peers which book to read, how to share and who to share with. Social skills develop as relationships are negotiated during this time.
I have some pictures here to show how immersed these children are in the reading experience.
This reading time is not about leveled reading books, they are free to choose what books they read or share together in Morning Reading time. We have another reading time, usually after lunch. During this time the children read independently from their personal book bags full of books at their reading level.

Sharing a book together quietly.

Getting up close to take in the details.

Concentrating hard while reading.

Some children choose to read alone.

 

Reading fosters discussion and language development.

Lively illustrations inspire reading activities.

Play: Preschooler and Toddler Building With Blocks

Children playing with blocks.
This is interesting as you observe the dynamics between these siblings as they play.
The language and communication between them is interesting. So much is communicated through tone and expression.
Playing like this strengthens bonds and also builds understanding and cooperation. They negotiate and laugh, build and knock down and explore problem solving to be successful at building their towers.

Primary Classroom Calendar with Our Special Helper

Every day as in most Primary classrooms we have Calendar time. Our special helper gets to lead calendar. We put up the number for the date, and do various counting and reading activities connected with the calendar and weather.
In our class we also tack on "Kind Words" at the end of the Calendar Time and before we do our Show and Tell. This activity builds self esteem, community and friendship as well as mutual respect.
I hope you enjoy our Calendar and would appreciate any feedback. I did not include the beginning of the calendar time or the show and tell in order to make the length more practical for blog viewing.
As you can see we had a very capable helper, it seems she may be a future teacher!