The Teleporting Penguin – A Summer School Project.

28th June 2023

June 21st in Antarctica. The sun did not rise; it was night for 24 hours and the temperature was less than -50°C.

How do penguins keep warm ?

Percival Penguin couldn’t sleep, he had many penguin problems that kept him awake, so he went for a walk.

Penguins like walking some can walk up to _______ miles.

Really, Percival was in love with Heather Penguin and he wanted to find a lovely heart-shaped rock to give to her.

Why do male penguins give rocks to female penguins ?

However, he couldn’t see where he was and suddenly … he fell, and kept falling and falling, down and down.

When he stopped falling, he stood up and saw

“Oh la la ! Where am I ?” he cried. The night was gone, it was sunny and it was really, really hot, at least 12°C. However, there was a huge white monster. Percival was scared but curious.

Just then, Percival saw another amazing sight – a bird that could fly ! That was impossible !

Penguins are birds but can’t fly – why not ?

“Upon my soul, what have we here ?” said the new friend.

“My name is Percival Penguin, please to meet you. Can you tell me where am I ? I need to meet my Heather.”

Just then a new friend appeared and asked, “Does your Heather wear leather in hot weather or only feathers ?” This was Di O’Nisiss, another strange creature.

Poor Percival was perplexed, he didn’t know where he was or who these animals were. The white bird flew down next to him.

“Hello, I am Athena. I’m a snowy owl. Di O’Nisiss is a reindeer and that,” pointing with her wing, “Is Erik Polar bear.”

Penguins never meet polar bears – why not ?

“The white monster ?”

“He isn’t white, he’s brown,” corrected Di O’Nisiss

Why are white polar bears actually brown ?

“I think Percival, you are very far from home. Welcome to the Arctic. How did you get here ?”

“I’m not sure. One minute I was walking, the next I fell and fell and fell …”

“He found a teleport,” said Di O’Nisiss. “Are you hungry ?”

“Oh, yes, I would love to eat some ______ ”

What do penguins eat ?

“Shall we go for a swim ?” Percival asked Athena.

“A swim ?” replied Athena, “Are you loco ? Birds don’t swim they fly”

Percival was very confused.

“What a crazy place ! Birds fly but don’t swim, white bears are brown, night is day, cold is hot. Everything is upside down.”

“Well,” answered Athena, “Everything IS upside down. Let’s get some lunch then we will tell you all about the Arctic … and you can tell us about the Antarctic.”

NOW … your turn

Finish the story. You may write and draw a comic if you wish. How does Percival get back to the Antarctic and does he find a rock for Heather.

First some facts you need to include:

The Arctic is sea surrounded by land.

The Antarctic is land surrounded by sea.

	North Pole	South Pole
Where?	At sea – 700km to nearest land	Inland – 1,300km to nearest sea
Height	Up to 2m above sea-level	2,835m above sea-level
21st June	Midsummer, 24hr. light	Midwinter, 24hr. dark
21st December	Midwinter, 24hr. dark	Midsummer, 24hr. light
Is there a physical marker	No, it would drift off in a few hours	Yes, moves 10m a year
Temperature	+13°C to -43°C	-12.3°C to -62°C

Source: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/antarctica%20environment/antarctic_arctic_comparison.php

The Arctic region contains plains, mountains, rivers and lakes, hills, and tundra. Tundra has no trees but lots of grass and plants, so has food for animals. Antarctica is 98% ice.

The Arctic has many large land animals including reindeer, musk ox, lemmings, arctic hares, snowy owls, squirrels, arctic fox and polar bears. The sea has walrus, seals and some whales.

The largest land animal in the Antarctic is an insect, a wingless midge, less than 1.3cm long. There are no flying insects. Apart from penguins, there are also seals.

About 4 million people live permanently in the Arctic region. Nobody lives permanently in Antarctica.

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Young Learners: tell me about Tet

16th January 2023

Today you will need pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks and paper.

You are going to tell me about Tet Holiday.

I want to know what you do that is special, what you eat and what you wear.

Do you like Tet ? Explain why … or why not !

First, we need a vocabulary bank. Here are a list of adjectives you should try to use.

Write these words in your notebook next to the meaning in Vietnamese

traditional // lucky // fun // funny

delicious // beautiful // colourful

loud // terrible //

What is happening here ?

What is in the red envelope ?

Tell me about the food.

What are the ladies doing ?

What are the men doing ?

Write and draw about Tet Holiday.

At Tet I … (my family) …

I eat …

I see …

If I have lucky money, I will buy …

My family go to …

My Mummy …

My Daddy …

I like (don’t like) Tet Holiday because …

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Young Learners, level 1: let’s write a story

13th October 2022

Today you are going to write a short story about your favourite animal.

First, what animals do you like ?

A is for …. // B is for … // C is for … // D is for … //

E is for … // H is for … // L is for … ? // M is for … //

R is for … // S is for … // T is for … // W is for … ?

Then listen to this short story about a rabbit called Peter. The story is by Beatrix Potter.

You will learn some new words. Try to use them in YOUR story.

New verbs and adverbs: (use present tense or Verb 1)

underneath / squeeze / chase / catch / hide /

New adjectives:

naughty / lost / safe / friendly / happy / scared /

Now … your turn

Make four squares on your paper like this.

Think of a story. Start like this:

[Square 1] I will tell you the story of …

[Square 2] First … was naughty.

(what does your animal do ?)

[Square 3] Then … chase or squeeze …

[Square 4] Finally Mummy tells …

Draw and colour your story

EXAMPLE

I will tell you the story of Max the dog.

First Max was naughty. He sees a friendly cat.

Then he chase the cat in the garden. The cat is scared.

Finally Mummy tells Max to be nice. Max hides and the cat looks and catches Max.

Kindergarten. Surfing Safari, Level 1: Monkeying around

5th December for 7th December 2019 Super Safari 1 U 6, L 3 & 4 (pp. 50 – 51)

Today’s objective is to impose stronger classroom management and to introduce some new activities. The class has some new students, and it’s their first time in a classroom. Last week one of the new students was hard to control, running around the room, then drawing over the walls. Naturally, bad behaviour becomes contagious so it needs to be stopped … immediately.

From experience, I have seen that rewards work better than punishments; I shall make a chart and each week assign colour stars to each student based on their behaviour. Each week, the students will be able to see how they have performed.

Furthermore, I’d like to introduce a story section. At this age (mostly around 4), a very short story using basic vocabulary is sufficient. After I tell the story, I will repeat and the students can help me retell it.

Another change will be the games. I’ve tried ‘musical statues’ or ‘freeze’ but that hasn’t worked out so well. While some students stay still, others, mostly the boys, start doing an Irish jig or windmill impressions or forming fists and moving closer and closer to me. Hitting the teacher will be an instant BLACK MARK.

It can be frustrating getting a lesson started as students (or rather their parents) arrive up to fifteen minutes late and each new arrival diverts the attention of the class. Therefore, it’s good to start with a song, and YouTube has a vast selection of suitable material. Naturally, a song featuring ‘Hello’ is appropriate.

For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVlcKp3bWH8

This can be played twice and the students can act out the emotions (I’m good, great, wonderful).

Next – a physical activity. Here we can use Teacher Says or Mike (the monkey) says:

Stand up // sit down // jump // hop // put your hands on your head // wave hello

Next – a review of last lesson’s new vocabulary (bird, rabbit, fish, cat). I’ll put the flashcards around the room. After, I’ll ask for two students to find a certain card (while making sure no other students jumps up and joins in). The student that finds it will hold it up and ask the class, “What is it ?”. I drill for “It’s a …” form of answer.

The students that haven’t participated yet can take part in the next activity. I will show them a card and they have to act or mime that animal, while the other students must shout out the name.

Next – story time. Our class puppet is Mike the monkey. Student can sit of front of the whiteboard.

They must ask, “Hello, Mike, how are you ?”

(the TAs’ help is invaluable here, as it is for the entire lesson. In fact, the TAs make the lesson work much more than I could ever do).

Mike says, “Today I am sad.”

Students ask, “Why are you sad, Mike ?”

Mike, “I don’t want to be a monkey.”

Students, “Why not, Mike ?”

Mike, “I want to fly like Polly.”

Yes, Polly can fly (mime flying).

Mike, “I want to be big and strong like Leo.”

Yes, Leo is big and strong.

Mike, “I am small. I want to be big like Gina.”

Yes, Gina is big. VERY big.

But Mike … you are very funny. Class … where is the ball ?

Mike is funny

Repeat story but give out masks to four of the students, so they can act Polly, Leo, Gina & Mike. Possibly most students will want to take part, so it can be re-enacted as required. Make sure students copy the actions and repeat key words.

Mike is now teacher …

Thay Mike. “Is the ball big or small ? What colour is it ? It’s a small red ball.“

“Excellent ! Now, what letter is this ?”

Excellent ! Letter ‘d’ … ‘d’ is for dog.

Hand out as many markers as possible and see how many students can write ‘dog’. Some students still write ‘d’ as a ‘b’. By the end of the block, I would like the students to be able to write some basic words.

Next – Thay Student: Choose a student and they will tell the class what to do, for example ‘sit down’, ‘stand up’, ‘jump’, ‘be Polly’, ‘be Leo.’

Next – letter writing practice. I have some great handouts from this website: https://www.kindergartenworksheets.net/kindergarten-writing-worksheets.html

Each week, a different letter proceeded by a video. Today, letter ‘K’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGVbUgqp7LQ

Image result for bounce patrol alphabet k

This should easily take us into, if not over break time (always good to have more planned) after which is book work and activity books.

Today’s new verbs are: fly, swim, jump and walk. Once the students have learnt the pronunciation, they can practice. Which of these animals can fly … swim .. ?

Finally, at the end of the two-hour lesson (which is challenging for both students and staff), we can unwind with some colouring, but even here, the teaching continues. The TAs and I go around the class and ask them informal questions about their drawing and the colours they use. Meanwhile, we play a song that features some key vocabulary and show an image that could inspire our budding artists and allows them to develop their innocent imagination.