Let's Talk Circle Time

Need some ideas on what to do during circle time? Read on...

1. Start the day with a big happy smile and a rocking good morning song! Here are some of my students (and mine too!) favorite good morning songs:

Nursery Rhymes - Good Morning. A cute little song animation from firozmunshi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZJHtZeMOUI

Good Morning Song. Very catchy! Howdy how do you do? Hello good day! Thanks Children's Music for the upload. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L89IDDq30J8

Good Morning Everyone. I played this on the guitar for my students everyday for two weeks. They can almost sing it completely without my help. We should be performance-ready soon ;) Great song by Miss Caroline's Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuy-ntgSNJM

Hello Hello. Short, simple, and sweet. Thanks to wendysingandplay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oZC8hcUrA

Monkey See Monkey Do - Pilot Episode. Not exactly a good morning song but it's great way to wake up and start the day... my students adore this! You may jump to 00:40 to begin the routine. Warm up time fun uploaded by SmarToonz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct3YaeRkcRE

Hello to All the Children of the World. Learn how to say hello in different languages with this catchy tune! Top morning greets uploaded by Monik Setyawan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpTR1wF4M6k

Good Morning by Greg & Steve. And let's not forget this... Thanks dagr8vixster for uploading. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFFbWH3niaI

2. After waking up our bodies and voices through a lovely morning song, I greet the children individually and encourage them to greet me back.

3. We then do a bit of counting like how many boys and girls are there, how many are wearing red or a specific article of clothing - sure to encourage interaction and awareness of others.

4. We then update our calendar - sing songs about the months, days of the week, and the weather. We have a blank calendar which we fill in with the corresponding number. To spice things up (since we count every day), we use different voices i.e. small voices to count from 1-10, big voices to count 11-20, monster voice, mouse voice, etc.

5. Then on to the focus lesson for the day - letter sounds, numbers, shapes, or any concept - done through stories, games, singing, dancing, but please don't let them sit down too long!

Just make sure to alternate sitting/listening time with dancing/wiggling time. Most of all, enjoy yourself! If you are having fun, your children will follow suit. Happy Circle Time!

Little Miss BZ Makes a Comeback

After a 3 year hiatus, I've decided to come back. A lot has happened - the good, the bad, the ugly - but every single one of them, a learning experience for this busy little bee.
I recently paid for a year's membership at a gym so that I'll be motivated to go (no point wasting all that hard-earned money). I'm applying the same principle here by making a public announcement / promise to write more and if I don't, you are all welcome to give me a gentle reminder / reprimand / shaming.
Now on to business... Of teachers and theatre.
For those who don't know me or are new to my blog, aside from being a kindergarten teacher, I'm also our school's Theatre Coordinator. In a nutshell, I'm in charge of organising school shows and promoting the theatre arts in our school. A few years back, I required teachers to produce and act in shows for our children. They hated it. It was extra work. They felt too shy to act on stage. They just aren't creative enough. They are too old for that sort of thing. What they didn't know at that time was that they already had it in them.
The fact that one teaches preschool age children makes you an actor. Everyday, early years educators perform for their students. It is a known fact that children learn best through fun and meaningful experiences.  Through play, music, art, physical, visual, hands-on experiences, just to name a few, and we, preschool teachers can't do all these by sitting on a chair or standing in front of a chalkboard. We move, we sing, we dance, we act. Every single minute, every single day.
Our classroom is our stage. Not only do we do lots of creative, artsy stuff to get our learning objectives across, our learning environment also has to change regularly to accommodate our themes, display artwork, and make it a print-rich environment. Just like a stage with changing sets, props, and scenery.
Finally, we are the Directors of our classroom routines and activities; Playwrights of stories and songs we have to make up in order to teach the letter, number, or shape of the week; Backstage crew working hard to help our students shine; Set and costume designers of our learning centres and role play areas.
It took some convincing and time, but this year, I'm proud to say that the teachers in my school are not scared of the limelight anymore. They write scripts, produce shows, and act on stage in front of our students, and they love it! They did a stellar job, and so can you! Need to be inspired? Check out The Children's Garden teachers adaptations of "The Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns for Pattern Day and "I am Antar" - an Arabic story by Caroline Hamada, at http://www.tcgjumeira.ae/en/picture-gallery/.
Shine on, teachers, shine on.

The Thrills and (Minor) Tribulations of Staging School Shows

To all those starting the new school year this month, a big bright welcome back to you! After two blissfully relaxing months, I'm raring to go! So despite the endless back to school "to do" lists and all the madness that comes with the first week of school, I was inspired to write.

I often wonder if people know how much work actually goes into staging a show. For instance, preparations for staging a small fifteen minute school play would usually clock up many hours, not only for rehearsals, but also to build the set, sort out costumes and props, coordinate the schedules of everyone involved, and brainstorm scripts (for actors, crew, technicians). Being involved in theater is a lot of fun but also a lot of work.

Before I continue, I would like to point out that my overall theater experience is not as extensive as some people who work in the theater industry or who have been involved in stage productions all their lives. But what I do have is quite a bit of experience organizing school plays and shows, utilizing my own theater training and my understanding as a teacher, of the developmental and learning needs of children.

So, why attempt to put children on stage? What are some of the benefits of putting up shows in schools, no matter how small?

Benefit #1: It helps children develop confidence. Educators have always known that confidence is one of the most important traits a child can develop early in life. In school, children are constantly encouraged to do things for themselves, speak in front of the class, greet people politely, sing and dance... all of which aim to help children to become confident. When a school organizes a show, children are provided with numerous opportunities to build self-confidence. They get a chance to stand on a stage and perform in front of an audience - that takes a lot of confidence! Practices also help develop confidence since children will have to do their song or dance routine a number of times, and the more they practice, the more confident they get. Not only that, through shows and stage performances children can also develop other important skills like language skills, coordination, retention, and self-discipline.

Benefit #2: Parents love watching their children perform. When they get to see their little darlings on stage, they are almost overcome with joy. Happy parents are satisfied parents who won't complain and will even spread the word to all their friends.

Benefit #3: Holding regular school programs showcasing children’s talents is a great way to market the school – not only do parents come to watch, they bring their friends, colleagues, neighbors, relatives, clients, gym buddies, dog sitter… all of whom may have school age children who can be potential students for the school.

  

Benefit #4: Teachers can also have their time to shine (yey!). They can exercise their creativity in coming up with ideas for song/dance routines or scripts for their class and in the process, learn skills like organization, coordination, time management, singing, dancing, acting, directing, or all of the above.

 

Benefit #5: With proper planning and organization, a school play can also be a source of income, even more so if a show is budgeted wisely or a reasonable entry fee is charged.

As I mentioned earlier, theater equals fun but it also entails hardwork. So what are some of the challenges one might encounter on the road to (school-wide) fame?

Challenge #1: Space. To stage a show, a school must have the space for it. The school where I currently teach, has a lovely building, a nice garden, and well-equipped music and movement facilities. But there's no stage and hardly any space for one. So I wrote to the school director and suggested that even without a purpose-built theater space, we should consider getting a suitable stage that can be set up in the garden or maybe even hire a venue for big shows.

 Challenge #2: Rehearsals. Us teachers have a lot on our plate. In order to stage shows, teachers' planning and class schedules have to be coordinated well so that the rehearsals and any pre-production prep work won’t interfere with regular teaching time. Consider the following:

1. Plan all the shows for the year and make sure there's lots of time for prep work.
2. Incorporate rehearsals during Circle Time or other big group activity times. 
3. Schedule short rehearsals after school with permission from the parents.
4. Schedule general rehearsals to replace a common shared time like Outside Play.

Challenge #3: Equipment. Consider investing in special equipment like a movable, easy-to-store stage, sound system with microphones, or even a closet of commonly-used costumes like clowns, princess/queen, witch, or animals. If you take the time to look around, perhaps you will find retail stores that sell inexpensive costumes or even tailors willing to whip up a few starter costumes and prop items for a small fee.

These are just some of the basics. I, like many teachers, learn through experience. I am passionate about theater and I know how much children enjoy the hands-on approach of a theater experience, that's why I do the things I do in school. So get those creative juices flowing, be ready to get your hands dirty, and get on with the show!

School's Out for the Summer... My Turn to Shine!

Summer break is officially here! My students and I shared lovely goodbyes last week and promised to keep in touch - Miss Z: Oh I am going to miss you when you go to your big schools next year! BOY: You can hide inside my bag and when it's snack time, I'll come and say hello to you (why thank you, you are too kind) - bless my little pumpkins :)

Anyway, now that school is over, I'm moving on to one more project before I jet off to my beach holiday... Musical Theater! That's right peeps, it is MY turn to shine! After months of directing, choreographing, and conducting workshops for my little rays of sunshine, it's time for me to test out my skills as a performer. In case you are curious, I am going to be in "West Side Story" as one of the Jets. I can't wait!

Check out these links to learn more about this much-acclaimed musical:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim

http://everythingmusicals.com/everything_i_know_i_learn/the-100-best-musicals-of-all-time.html

http://www.westsidestory.com/news.php

http://www.westsidestorydubai.com/

Have a happy summer!

What to Do When the Star of Your Show Doesn't Show Up

And so the day of my drama students' show arrives! Ten minutes before the show, "The Frog Prince," everyone is in costume, waiting in the wings, cameras focused... but wait.... where's the frog? The frog in "The Frog Prince" is nowhere to be found! Turns out froggy's dear mum thought the show was set to go on another time... oh dear... but no worries... breathe in... breathe out. After quickly explaining the situation to the audience, I had a few volunteers who stepped up to do the role of my missing frog prince. One little girl in the audience had a frog costume on and she stood on stage for a good 2 minutes while I said all the lines. When my little stand in got stage fright, the next frog was my stage manager; she also just stood there but acted out appropriately while I whispered the lines to her. My wonderful actors (don't forget, they are only 3 years old) gamely went along with all the changes and said all their lines and did all their cues beautifully! Needless to say, the (frog-less) show was still a huge success! Now that's what you call a lesson in improvisation.

Drama & Antics: Integrating Theater Elements with Teaching

Good morning! I'm just doing some last minute preparations for my students' show tomorrow. You see, I run drama afterschool activities for 3-6 year old children. It's something that I came up with while I was working for an edutainment company... I needed a creative outlet to break the monotony of office life and so, Drama & Antics was born! It's 45 minute class held once a week. My aspiring actors and I begin the class with warm ups and a story, from which the next theater games are linked. For instance, when I read "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina, I was holding the book and acting it out with the children. Voila! A fun and easy lesson on mime! How they loved being the cheeky monkeys ;)

More or less every session goes that way and I use a different story every time. Last term, we had 11 sessions and more time to practice, but this term, we only had time for 7 sessions. Luckily, my drama students from last term joined again and this time they are really more confident and comfortable on stage. And YES I always strive to produce a final showcase at the end of each term so that the children can apply what they have learned and they can get used to performing in front of an audience.

This term's showcase will feature two original stories by myself, my fellow teacher Julie, and the children. "The Frog Prince" is an adaptation of the well-loved Grimm's fairytale about a prince who was turned into a frog by a witch. He was later on turned back into his human form with the help of my 5 little princesses. My actors are 3-4 year old nursery students, one of them doesn't speak English very well but managed to memorize and deliver his lines in perfect English! I used the songs "Galumph Went the Little Frog", "Shine" from Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses, and "Who Let the Frogs Out" by Crazy Frog to liven up the show. It is amazing how my 3 year olds can remember their lines and cues (although they still get a little bit lost when their names come off the stage).

"The Adventures of Princess Graziella" is all original - conceptualized by my 5 year old KG drama students and written by another teacher. This group did Drama & Antics in the first term so when their parents expressed their desire for another term, I came up with Drama & Antics 2 which focuses more on improvisation. Every session, we do a Story Circle: one child starts the story by naming a character and setting. The next child adds a plot or another character and this goes on until everyone in the circle gets to contribute. We came up with a story about a crocodile, dinosaurs, but the best and most cohesive one was this one. Julie, my co-teacher, then put the story together using the children's own words and characters to make the script. And since the aim was to encourage and practice improvisation, I literally just did the blocking (told them where they can stand on stage) and they acted out their characters and lines themselves. To help with the entrances and exits, I used different classical and instrumental music and sound effects to signal their grand entrances. It really is so cool to watch them bring the story to life.

And so the big day is tomorrow and I have to print out the certificates, show programs, and posters. Thanks for reading this entry... 'til next time!

Welcome Miss Z!

Welcome to me! It's midnight but I'm feeling inspired so I've decided to create this blog dedicated to one of my most favorite things to do: teaching! This blog will (hopefully) inspire fellow preschool teachers, aspiring teachers, and anyone really, with:

* arts and crafts ideas (sometimes showcasing my students' actual masterpieces)
* circle time activities using songs and stories
* tips on using theater games, drama, and role play to jazz things up in the class
* links and other resources from where I usually get my ideas from (inspire and be inspired!)

All these and more yet to come! But for now, goodnight world!