Boxing Day

Rather than study the same celebrations each year Boxing day was chosen this year for the children to study. To celebrate boxing the we taught the children the origin of Boxing Day and the way we typically celebrate it in modern times. 

I taught them that it was a day when the rich give to the poor and that bosses used to give gifts to their employees, servants and/or tradesmen. Nowadays we celebrate by going to a pantomime, going to catch the boxing day sales and watching a sport such as cricket or horse racing. 

The children also decorated boxes and put inside special message wishing their friends good luck, happiness, good christmas presents etc. Here are some photos of their boxes:

These were my two favourites BMO and Jake from Adventure Time. 

Instruments

The second years were learning about the different instruments and since music is a passion of mine I decided to share with them some classic songs so that they could begin to connect the sounds of the instruments to the names. To start the class I asked them which instruments they'd already heard of then I played the songs I told them to put their hand up when they recognised the instrument. Here are the songs I played for them:

Violin:

Flute:

Voice:

Piano:

Guitar:

Landscape description

A few weeks ago with one of the quinto classes we were working on landscape description by first looking at some useful phrases and words and then by describing some landscapes, I choose landscapes mostly from New Zealand so I could show the children some more of my country.

Here are the phrases we leant: 

There is a (noun) in the background / foreground, on the left / in the middle / on the right.

There are some (noun + s) in the background / foreground, on the left / in the middle / on the right.

There is a (noun) (verb + ing) in the background / foreground, on the left / in the middle / on the right.

 And here is some of the vocab:

Types of Landscapes: Plain, mountain, beach, valley, forest, jungle, city, town, village, island, coral reef, the country, a farm

General Description words: picturesque, polluted, crowded, boring, beautiful, new, old, on the horizon, in the distance.

Farm: field, livestock, fence, barn, a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, tractor, Gumboots (also known as wellys)

Mountain: Mountain range, glaciers, rocks, rivers, reflection,

City: tall buildings, skyscrapers, lights, harbour, boats, bridge, clock tower, streetlights, lamps, cobble stones (cobbled streets).

Beach: bay, cove, cape, coast, sand dune, ocean, sea, seaweed, white/black/yellow sand, stones.

 And finally here are some of the images I had for the children to descibe:

 Auckland City

 My family farm at Raglan

 Coromandel

Southern Alps

Flora and Fauna of New Zealand

I've been pretty bad at updating this but here's some pictures I found on the internet to help show the children the flora and fauna of New Zealand, they have pretty mixed reactions about the kiwi.

This is Pohutukawa tree often found in coastal areas.

The Pohutukawa tree is also known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree.

This is the Kowhai tree.

The Kowhai is a favourite of many nectar feeding birds

This is the Manuka tree

The flowers are the source of some of the best honey in the world.

The is the Silver fern, national symbol of New Zealand

This is the silver fern frond also know as the Koru, a very important symbol for the Maori

The Kiwi

The Tui (sitting on a Kowhai tree)

 The Fantail

 The Pukeko

 The Kea

The Wood Pigeon

Little Blue Penguin

Short Tailed Bat (one of the only mammals in NZ)

The Weka

The Tuatara

The New Zealand Fur Seal

 Maui's Dolphin (smallest dolphin in the world and only 55 left)

Hector's Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Killer Whale

Sperm Whale

Southern Wright Whale

Humpback Whale

My Life

This is a slideshow I prepared for the 5th and 6th years to introduce them to my family, friends, pets and houses.

This is my family

This is my mum and dad at my graduation from university

My dad is called Noel, he's a pilot

My mum is called Susan, she used to be a pharmacist

On the left is my brother Douglas, he's 25 and is a website designer

This is Chris, he's 23 and he studies English literature

This is our house in Auckland

This is our farm in Raglan

This is my cat Clyde

This is my other cat Bonnie

This is our dog Zeus

This is our rooster Alfonso

This is my best friend Rhiannon

This is my other best friend Anusha

Introduction

Hola! My name is Rebecca, I am from Auckland in New Zealand and I am 20 years old.

I just graduated with a degree in Spanish and French and now I’m at Maestra Isabel Alverez working as a language assistant for the 2013-2014 school year.

I have been asked to write about what I am doing in class on this blog so I will try to regularly update it with the work I am do with the children :)

Until next time!