Monday: Animals
On Monday, we learned the names for a bunch of different animals (everything from cat and dog, to elephant and tiger, to shark and seahorse) and the sounds that they make. Some sounds were easy to make (woof! roar!) and others were much harder (like the elephant). We read some books about animals, like a story about how the zebra got his stripes, and a story about Lyle the Crocodile, who lives in New York City. We also searched for animals in a special spot-the-animals book, and practiced counting in English. At the end of the day, we all picked our favorite animal and made little habitats for them.
Tuesday: Books
We love to read at Kids Create, so we read some classic English picture books together. First, we read Cat in the Hat and watched a video version of it. Then we read Swimmy, a story about a clever fish, by Leo Lionni. We loved his illustrations, so we took a break from reading to create pictures of fish just like his:
For our last book, we read Harold and the Purple Crayon, a classic about a boy who uses a crayon to go on all kinds of adventures. Luckily we had a supply of purple crayons, so we tried going on crayon adventures too! Finally, we were so inspired by all these famous books, that we finished class by writing our own books. Topics ranged from mermaids to Star Wars!
Wednesday: Art
On Wednesday, we put on our smocks and studied some art. We kicked off class with Andy Warhol and each colored a soup can to create a colorful pop-art installation. We also learned a little bit about his life and artistic influence.
As artists, we also made self-portraits. Can you spot who's who in these drawings?
We also reviewed some famous art collections, from the Tate Modern in London to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. We learned the colors in English and some other art-related words (paint, draw, sculpture, etc.) so we could talk about all the art we were seeing. Then we played a fun art memory game.
Finally, it was time to pick up our paintbrushes and make our own masterpieces. Watch out, Picasso!
Thursday: Sports
After a day in the artist's studio, we wanted to get out and stretch our legs, so we learned about popular American sports: baseball, basketball, football, and ice hockey. We learned some vocab words for each sport (ball, bat, base, hoop, shoot, touchdown, puck, goal, etc.), and watched some videos of each sport. We especially liked a clip from the movie Air Bud, where a beautiful golden retriever dog helps a boy play basketball. Armed with our new sports terminology, we read two books: Go, Dog, Go and Hop on Pop. There were lots of athletic action verbs in those books! Finally, we each made our own jerseys out of felt with our name and number on them. Go team!
Friday: Food
For many of us, Friday was the best day because it was all about FOOD. At the very beginning of class, we measured out some ingredients for mac and cheese. We learned the English words for cheese, flour, salt, pasta, macaroni, and so on, and carefully helped each other measure the right amounts. Then we headed to the kitchen to mix them all together on the stove (very carefully!) and put our mac and cheese in the oven. While that was baking, we went back to the classroom to go over some food words on flashcards, tell each other about our favorite foods (lots of cheese and cake discussion!), and read some books about food, like In the Night Kitchen and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
At last, it was time to eat the mac and cheese! We mixed up a quick salad to go with it, and sat down for lunch together.
All-in-all, a fun week of English vacation!
