Teachable Moments...

This morning the children were riding their little cars and motorcycles in the front yard, when they all suddenly stopped. For a while there was quiet. Hmm… what could the children be up to? It turned out to be a 5 cm colorful caterpillar crawling on the cemented lawn. Teacher took this wonderful opportunity to get the kids to discuss about caterpillars.

Teacher: kira-kira mau kemana ya ulatnya? (where do you think the caterpillar is going?)

Zara : mau cari makan (looking for food)

Candra: mau makan daun (its going to eat the leaf – referring to the dried leaves scattered on the lawn

Apta: Ngga, dia ga bisa makan daun kering. Dia cari daun yang lembut. (No, it can’t eat dried leaves. It’s looking for fresh soft leaf)

Teacher: Coba lihat ada warna apa saja? (What colors do you see on its body?)

Children: Red, yellow, black, green

Teacher: Yes, lots of pretty colors. It’s going to be a beautiful butterfly!

Zara: Lihat! ulatnya ke rumput.. (Look, it’s crawling away to the grass)

All the children watched the caterpillar crawl away to the grass. Just then, the children’s attention drifted to Rayn who had just arrived. They called out to him excitedly and asked him to come quick to see the caterpillar. Suddenly, they couldn’t find it anymore! The children looked but it was gone!

Apta: Nanti kita cari lagi ya pasti dia sudah jadi kepompong! (We’ll find it later, it must have become a cocoon)

Teacher: Besok kita baca mengenai ulat, mau? (Well, do you all want to read more about caterpillars in class?). It was a unanimous 'Yes' from the children. 

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(12 Maret 2014-20 Maret 2014)

All about Papua

This February we geared the class unit theme from Australia to Papua.. Back to our home country, Yay!
We talked about the people of Papua and their homes and festivities, we collected pictures of the Papuan people, the animals, and the forests of Papua and we also downloaded their music and dance. The children were delighted to know that many of the animals of Australia are similar to those in Papua. And to top it all, the children visited the Papuan Village in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII).

'Orang Papua hitam. Aku kulitnya hitam jadi aku orang Papua ya?' tanya Zahra (The Papuans have dark skin. I have dark skin, am I Papuan?' Zahra asked)
'Ooo..dia pakai apa di hidungnya?' ('what's he wearing in his nose?' Jaffan wanted to know when he saw a Papuan man statue with a wild pig canine protruding from his nose)
'Koq kerangnya bisa bunyi?' ('How come the shell can make a noise?'  'Yes, the Papuans blow this shell when they want to gather the people of the village', a Papuan official explained)

'Lihat, aku bisa keluar dari sini, lho!' (Look, I can go in and come out on the other end of this honai house.'The children were excited to enter the Papuan Honai house.  'but this house's not nice!' Al commented.)

While at TMII, the teachers took the opportunity to take the children to the fresh water aquarium, the insect museum and the bird park.
'ikannya gede seperti papaku!'


 
('This's fish is as big as my dad', Al said. The children were amused to see the fish play ball - fish food was attached to a ball.

At the insect museum, Apta was excited to find a cocoon. Nayla saw a butterfly sitting on a leaf and said, 'itu kupu-kupu lagi bertelur!' 'Look, that butterfly's laying eggs.'
The children finally found the 'cendrawasih' bird at the bird park.
 'Ooo...look at its loooong tail.' 'Isn't it pretty?'
And the cassowary bird, too! On hearing its gurgling song, Jaffan exclaimed, 'burung kasuarinya mau muntah!' 'It's going to vomit!'
Shirin referred to discussion in class about the cassowary bird feet being so sharp that the Asmat people make knives out of them 'Itu kan burung kasuari, kakinya diambil untuk dijadiin pisau.' 

A very fruitful trip indeed! Next unit theme is Kalimantan island.