KAPOK TREE
Ceiba
Group 4 (9-11 year olds)
THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CYCLE ARE:
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Use appropriate conversational and other communication skills.
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Be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the structural rituals of the class.Interact with the concepts of past, present, and future.
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Be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the structural rituals of the class.
When you see that there is progress in these areas, you can move on to the next cycle. Check the rubric that will help you know if the group is ready to move forward!
WE SUGGEST YOU CHECK THE EVIDENCES WITH WHICH YOU WILL OBSERVE IF YOUR STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED THESE OBJECTIVES
CLASS PLAN
3. HANDS-ON
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This is the main activity that will follow the narrative in our classes. There are surveys, creative projects and activities around the school (if that's a possibility).
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The hands-on! activities are always inspired by the narratives, so make sure you check them in advance in order to choose the best.
2. NARRATIVE
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Everything starts with the narrative. It may be a written text, a short movie, a speech, a scene from a documentary, a comic strip, etc. Our classes begin here, and we will be constantly referring back to it in our activities.
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Always try to generate curiosity in your students by eliciting from them any kind of speculation
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The narrative will always be followed by a simple discussion, in which you will ask specific questions about what they’ve heard or seen.
4. MOVE!
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These are activities that require body movement. They may be learning brain breaks or music videos for kids to sing and dance along.
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These activities may be done in any part of the class, especially if kids are too distracted or have been seated for too long.
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When choosing the “Sing along” activity, try to have students choose the music videos. You may select a student to be responsible for that in each class. This will help build their autonomy and develop their active participation.
My class is 25 to 30 minutes long!
Remember that if your periods are shorter than 50 minutes, you can try out these shorter plans!
To ask your students about the video experiences (jornadas), ask them how they did them, if they are liking them so far, which were their favorites, etc.
Remember
1. STARTING SONG
As usual, we will begin the class with the starting song.
We suggest you let the kids start this activity by themselves, even with a bit more autonomy than in previous cycles. Once you see they’ve started singing and dancing, you can join the fun.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
CONCENTRATED MODE
If the kids are concentrated, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
MIRROR DANCING
Ask the children to get in pairs.
One of them will be the dancer and the other will be the mirror.
The idea is that the dancer moves freely to the rhythm of the starting song and the mirror has to imitate the dancer’s moves.
You can tell the children to switch roles halfway through the song so that they all get to act as dancers and as mirrors.
FOUR WORDS EACH
In a circle, start the song by singing the first four words.
The student sitting by your side should sing the following four words, and the next student the four words after that, and so on.
The idea is that the kids listen and pay attention to the words they have to sing out loud.
They win the game if they manage to sing the whole song in this manner!
EUPHORIC MODE
If the kids are euphoric, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
ADJUSTING VOLUME
Open your hand and raise it as high as you can. While your hand is up and the starting song is playing, sing the lyrics in a loud volume and encourage the kids to do the same.
Then, as your hand goes down, slowly lower the volume making them understand they should lower the volume too. Once they understood the game, play with the volume of the kids singing of the starting song with the use of your hand.
*you can use this resource anytime to adjust the volume of the class by raising or lowering your hand.
CHANGING PLACES
Choose a few of the words that are repeated during the starting song, for example “room” “English” and “Vivadí”.
When the children listen to these words they should switch places with another student or just move to another place in the classroom.
This activity will require an active listening of the song, which will help with the general concentration of the group.
ORCHESTRA
Tell the children to sit in four separate groups. During the starting song, you will be an orchestra director. This means that you decide which group has to sing in different parts of the song.
So, you will point at the group that has to sing and the others will have to remain silent until they are pointed at.
![Max Frost - Good Morning [Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N5xMlDeGFBU/maxresdefault.jpg)
2. NARRATIVE
After the starting song, you will introduce the narrative moment.
In this cycle, we will always begin with the narrative. We will be constantly referring back to it in our activities. When reading them, make sure you use your body language so that the meaning is clear.
The narrative will always be followed by a simple discussion, in which you will ask specific questions about what they've heard or seen.
POEMS
Mirror, Mirror
One of our objectives is to develop confidence in children. The poems listed below were taken from a poetry book named “Mirror, mirror”. They are very inspiring!
Choose one of these poems and then ask your students these questions and make them think about themselves:
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What makes your day better?
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What do you like most about yourself?
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How are you different from your friends?
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What are you grateful for?
STORY
Violet
Sometimes we give too much attention to what other people think about us, and sometimes their opinion hurts and makes us feel very sad. However, if we were a bit more confident maybe external judgments wouldn't cause so much pain.
Ask your students if they have already decided not to do something because of low self-esteem. Ask them to think of concrete examples and let them talk about it freely. After that, ask them to pay attention to the story.
After watching, ask your students:
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How did you like the story?
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Which part surprised you?
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What could happen in the story if the girl trusted herself?
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Can you relate to the story? How?
3. HANDS ON
This section is the main activity that will follow the narrative in your classes. There are different formats to choose from.
*It's important to know that these activities are always inspired by the narratives, so make sure to check them in advance to choose the best fit for your students!
ACTIVITIES INSPIRED BY "Mirror, Mirror"
"Looking in the mirror"
Before the activities, some adjectives that work can be:
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Perfect
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Beautiful
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Intelligent
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Hardworking
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Studious
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Tender
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Loving
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Friendly
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Organized
Option 1: On a large mirror, write the beginning of the following sentence "I am..." Then ask students to look at their reflection in the mirror and complete the sentence with an adjective that most represents themselves. This activity is a great exercise to build self-confidence and self-worth.
Option 2: Another option is to put the kids in pairs or groups, and they have to do the same exercise, but talking about their friends. The sentence “You are” must be written on the wall to help the students.
Option 3: You can also explore different online softwares. By creating a character in The Sims or another online game, you can teach about descriptions, body parts and then the adjectives. By creating a character, some other not so good adjectives can be used (a bad guy, a liar, lazy, disorganized, dumb…).
Option 4: You can create with your students a bag full of descriptions, and create a character using the descriptions they selected. They can also be randomly taken from the bag. With this imaginary character, they might, in groups, create a story and background that makes sense.
ACTIVITY 2
"Body appreciation mirror time"
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Ask your students to list three things they like about themselves and three things they are good at. Ask for volunteers to share examples of what they wrote. Write down these things on a whiteboard or flipchart. Point out that everyone has strengths and that these strengths are part of what make us unique and special. The fact that we are all different is also part of what makes the world interesting.
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Ask if anyone has ever been teased or picked on for something that makes them unique or picked on someone else for being unique. How did that feel? How did you deal with the situation? How might you deal differently with the situation today? How would you like that situation to be handled? Allow this to be a sharing time without a lot of processing or attempted problem-solving. Don’t let it turn into a time to make fun of or further tease participants. Thank young people who are willing to share these reflections. Acknowledge that being made to feel different or weird can hurt a lot. Reinforce positive actions or thoughts that are shared. If young people share things that are currently happening and are of concern, follow-up privately with them afterward to learn if they need additional support or intervention.
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Ask the class to make a list of things they can each do to have a positive self-esteem and body image. Encourage them to be creative; they may come up with surprising and fun suggestions.
The list might include:
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Spend time with people who treat you well and help you feel good about yourself
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Use positive self-talk, such as “I am strong, self-confident, and capable.”
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Keep a journal to help you see what areas in your life need attention.
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Celebrate what you like about yourself and work on changing things that you don’t like as much.
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Remind yourself that you are unique, special, valued and important.
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Get out and participate in activities with your family and friends.
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Eat foods that are good for you and make you feel great, such as lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats such as from nuts, avocados and olive oil.
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Be active at least a few minutes each day.
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Talk with a trusted family member or friend if you are feeling low.
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Treat others with the kindness and respect that all unique individuals deserve.
ACTIVITIES INSPIRED BY "Violet"
"You"
The You Game will help your students to explore the best parts of themselves. Separate your students in pairs or in groups and give them the board to start the game. You have to print the board according to the numbers of pairs or groups:
4. MOVE!
Use Move! activities when you feel students are too distracted or have been seated for too long. The idea is to move and refresh the body, always through learning, and it can be used at any moment of the class. Below you will find some ideas for your age group.
FIND IT FAST
Call out a trait and students must find objects that match the description as fast as they can.
Examples: something round / something made of wood / two identical pens / etc.
Online: This activity works the same way online, except that they have to find the objects in their home
TRADING PLACES
How: Have students stand behind their desks. Call out a trait, and everyone who has that trait must change places with someone else (students who do not have the trait, stay where they are).
Online: Ask all the students to turn off their cameras. Then call out a trait and if the person has that characteristic they have to turn on their computer.
CHARADES
Choose one student to begin and give him/her a topic idea. The students will then do movements or make gestures to act out the idea that fits within the umbrella topic idea. The student who guesses the correct action, gets to act out next! Topic ideas could include Disney movies, fiction books, or sports.
MY LETTER
Choose 3 topics (example: animal, country/state/city and color). The students have to say 3 things that start with the same letter as their name. For example: if a student's name is Pedro they have to say "my name starts with the letter P. Animal: Panda. Country: Peru. Color: Purple."
To make it harder, give the students 20 seconds.
This activity works for online classes also!
SING-ALONG
Have students build autonomy and be responsible for some rituals in your class. Allow everyone of them, one per day, to be responsible for choosing a music video (with lyrics on) for the whole group to watch and sing along. Make sure they refer to you first for approval of the video.
Online:Two Truths and a Lie
Each student will list three facts: two true facts about themselves and one lie. Other students will guess which fact is the lie. Each student will get a turn until everyone has had a chance!
CATEGORIES
Have a leader choose a category. Category ideas could be animals, winter activities, or school lunches. Go around the Zoom meeting and have each student continue to list one more item that fits into that category. Each student gets 5 seconds to name an item. Otherwise, they’re out. The game is over when only one student remains or all remaining students cannot think of another item within the category.
5. HARMONY
Choose one of the following videos to do with your students.
6. ENDING SONG
Finally, as always, you will sing our well-known Ending Song.
Make sure everyone sings it out loud together. Encourage, especially those kids that don't participate much in class, to see if they can repeat the song phonetically.
Do not forget to put the class back in order while you sing.
To remind your students to access the platform and do the jornadas.
Don't forget