Meet The Author

Today we have a special surprise. We have an author called ‘Laura Wall’ coming to school to read us a story. It is all about a goose and its friends who go on adventure into the woods to see what they might find, hear and see along the way. The book is called ‘Wild Goose’ 

What did the children and the goose use in the story to collect the leaves, twigs and feathers? That’s right, a basket. Using a goose, demonstrate ‘on, ‘in’ and ‘under’ the basket and show the hand actions to match. Now we are going to watch a video about prepositions called 'Where is it?' and  I want everyone to join in and do the hand actions. 

Let’s play a game! I am going to put the goose somewhere and you need to tell me if it is ‘on’, ‘in’ or ‘under’ the basket. Well done everyone!

Let’s look at the story again. What did the children and the goose cross over to get from one side of the water to the other? That’s right, a bridge. A wooden bridge. Demonstrate ‘on’, ‘under’,  ‘in front of’, ‘behind’ and ‘next to’ using a bridge. Let’s watch another preposition video to teach us some more prepositions. This one is called 'Where's the Monkey?'

Now let’s play a game! Can we use the prepositions we have just learnt to guess where the sheep is?

Activity 1

Children to visit ‘Laura Wall’ in the Zebra Class who will read a book called ‘Wild Goose’  and the students will also do some colouring activities related to the story.

Activity 2 

Set up a table with lots of geese, bridges and baskets. Children to take turns at putting the goose either ‘on’, ‘in’, ‘under’, ‘next to’, ‘behind’ and ‘in front of’ the bridge or the basket. Where is the goose? The other children guess where the goose is using the preposition words  ‘on’, ‘in’, ‘under’, ‘next to’, 'in front of' and ‘behind’. The children can take turns playing this game.

Does anyone know why we are all dressed up today? 

It is Lunar New Year! 

We are celebrating today with a special performance in the oval. I wonder what we will see. 

Let’s listen to a song all about Lunar New Year. 

Happy New Year! (新年好!) | Holidays | Chinese song | By Little Fox

What animals did you see?

Every year is named after a different animal. There are 12 animals - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

Let’s learn about why these animals were chosen.

The Story of Chinese New Year | The Great Race | Chinese Zodiac Animals | English Stories for Kids

This year, it is the year of the snake! 

If you are 4 years old, you were born in the year of the rat. If you are 3 years old, you were born in the year of the ox.

We are going to explore a range of instruments and listen to Lunar New Year songs.

Can you beat and play along to the music?

Look at our beautiful dragon mask. Let’s have a look at a dragon dance. 

Simple: Sesame Street: Chinese New Year Dragon Dance with Elmo and Abby!

Traditional:

Chinese Dragon Dance

Now in small groups, we are going to have a go at dancing like dragons too.

Chinese New Year Music 2025 - Year of the Snake (instrumental)

Can you guess who takes care of us at school when we feel unwell or get hurt on the playground?

 That’s right, it’s Nurse Koy!

Now, let’s use our "looking eyes" to observe the scenes in this presentation:

What does a doctor do?

Where do doctors and nurses work?

Next, let’s use our "listening ears" for storytime. Today's story is Doctor Maisy!

Did you know that germs are everywhere? The best way to keep them away is by washing our hands with soap. Let’s try a fun science experiment to see how soap works!

Dip your finger into the soap, then place it in the water tray. Watch closely—what happens? Wow! All the "germs" move away from your finger! It’s like the soap is magic!

Makaton Signs of the Week- 

Lunar New year

Do you remember doing the hook movement in our squiggle dance last week? Do you remember any letters that have a hook? Demonstrate on the board. Now we are going to use our whiteboard pens and dance this shape on the tables! Don’t forget to clean the tables afterwards!

Squiggle slides 

This week we will be sharing some photos of our morning with Laura Wall, our visiting Author and some of the activities we got up to with her.