Adventures in Miss Chua's Classroom

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P6 Welfare and Care

Saturday, February 7, 2015 • 11:44 PM • 0 comments

Photography Session for Sec 1 Ez-link Card

Candlelight Recess!

We had our first candlelight recess this week where we played a simple card game, chat about our lives and enjoy some snacks! It is always fun to spend time with my beloved girls and just to get to know them in an informal setting. SIGN UP FOR THE SESSION SOON! I cannot wait to meet you!

Labels: Photo Updates, Welfare

Two Weeks in Miss Chua's Class (HIGHLIGHTS)

• 11:37 PM • 1 comments

We had a splendid time this week learning and enjoying the use of language.

P5: Plot Diagram

We started our lesson with a silly skit which displayed the different elements of a story plot.

A rich story plot is one that takes into account the different elements of plot. At the moment, I noticed that the girls are generally proficient in the crafting of the exposition and conflict of the story. Nonetheless, they are not able to fully develop a proper climax and resolution for the story.

Following the introduction of plot diagrams, the children watched a few videos and were asked to identify the different elements of plot in their video.

P5 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Introduction

We had a wonderful lesson with that teaches the girls to describe TASTE in its varying dimensions.

Using a whole series of adjectives, the children are to invent a special candy and to describe the hardness, the elasticity, the texture, the spiciness of the candy they invent.

To spice up the lesson, we also had a GREAT feast consisting of WONKA candies and snacks! Through the tasting session, the girls are required to draw inspiration from the candies they taste, to NOTICE the different dimensions of taste and use it to create their own candies.

P5 Reading Strategy: Visualisation

Reading is a complex task involving many cognitive processes. Often, our girls face difficulties in reading because they lack essential reading strategies that would help them in the comprehension process. Hence, this year, they will be introduced to a full series of comprehension skills to combat the comprehension monsters.

This week, the girls were introduced to the first comprehension strategy: Visualisation. Visualisation involved the conscious creation of mental images in the brain as one reads. The girls were told to take on the role as movie directors and to imagine the sights, sounds, smells and feelings of the characters in the story.

Through a series of drawing, speaking and listening activities, the girls practised the skill of visualisation before attempting the comprehension passage in the Marshall Cavendish booklet.

To monitor their visualisation process, the girls were asked to either illustrate or pen down their mental images as they read. This process is crucial as it enabled me to monitor how effectively they have mastered the skill of visualisation.

Sample 1

In this sample, the pupil used simple pictures to illustrate the mental images she had created in her brain as she was reading. She illustrated the picture of the bug with a hundred legs and would probably keep that image in her mind as she continued reading the story about Esther's encounter with bugs.

Pupils are also encouraged to visualise what they could see, hear, smell, touch and feel (emotions) as they stepped into the shoes of the characters. This pupil took on the perspective of Esther and imagined herself holding the cold glass of home-made barley. I know that she has applied her skills of visualisation and schema-activation because she has included additional details (cold glass) to reinforce her understanding of the text.

The girls were then provided with some question-answering guidelines and were given the opportunity to attempt the questions independently.

Scaffolding is provided through the analysis of questions

I would use their performance in this comprehension exercise to determine the skills they require/lack in the answering of questions. These skills would then be introduced or reinforced in subsequent comprehension lessons.

P6 Philosopher's Circle: Animal Testing

We had our very first Philosopher's Circle session this week. Using the Philosophy for Children techniques developed by Dr.Matthew Lipman, the children sat together to consider important life, social and cultural issues.

Philosophy for Children is a movement that that aims to teach reasoning, argumentative and evaluative skills to children. Such a form of instruction is ideal as pre-teens as they enter the formal operational stage of their cognitive development.

Philosopher's circle is also an excellent instructional tool used to facilitate the building of a democratic society. A democratic society is one that takes into the account of various perspectives and uses the process of negotiation and collaboration to achieve the best possible results for the community.

In this week's Philosopher's Circle, we discussed the issues, dilemmas, ethics and alternatives to the ANIMAL TESTING. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of thought produced by the children, given their first exposure to philosophy.

I was also proud to see the girls participating actively and respectfully as they critiqued their friend's arguments and provided alternatives.

It is my hope that such skills will help the children not only in their discussion of various topics in the Stimulus-Based Conversation component and also in intellectual journey as critical thinkers.

Labels: P4C, Reading Strategies, This Week in Miss Chua's Class

Philosopher's Circles: Animal Testing

Thursday, February 5, 2015 • 1:34 PM • 0 comments

The P6s embark on their first Philosopher's Circles journey today where we would put on our mental togas and discuss really "deep" issues on life, rights, happiness, freedom, death, governance, reality and human relationships.

The great philosophers of Ancient Greece,Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, dressed in their togas.

In our first session, we deliberated over the necessity and acceptability of animal testing for various purposes.

We learn through the philosophical discussion that in the exploration of moral issues, there are often different degrees of acceptability. We learn also to RESPECT the views of others. It's OKAY to have differing views on a single issue. That makes life flamboyant and interesting!

In our next Philosopher's Circle, we will be discussing the Death Penalty.

Do continue the discussion in the LINOIT board below. Challenge your friends' view respectfully! Be a real thinker, questioner and philosopher! :D Let's go!

Labels: This Week in Miss Chua's Class

Class Dojo Points

Monday, February 2, 2015 • 9:31 AM • 0 comments

Dear girls,

Some of you have given me feedback that you were not able to see your total class dojo points. Here's the screenshot of your current class dojo points! Go to the sidebar and click on the Lucky Monkey Links to look at your Lucky Monkey Entries! :D

5Grace Class Dojo Scores (Click to Enlarge)

6Grace Class Dojo Scores (Click to Enlarge)

Labels: Class Dojo