chinchilla/ guess what

chinchilla: A small animal that lives in the mountains. It can jump very high and it can't get too hot or else it will die. Besides it being a fun word to say, it wasn't very interesting. I didn't bring any pictures or stories. Nothing for them to wrap their heads around.

guess what: This was a bitter/sweet idea. They have a tendency to preface every single one of their stories with "Teacher John, I tell you." It has taken me this long to try to fix the problem, because there isn't really an English equivalent to that unless you use "guess what." So now at every second of the day I have a bunch of kids screaming, "Teacher John, guess what!"

puma/ stay put

puma: a very big cat, almost like a lion or a tiger. They live in North and South America and are very strong and fast. Naturally the kids are very scared. This animal was inspired by my co-teacher, who I'm convinced only buys Puma apparel. Of course the kids recognize the word "puma" right away and now my co-teacher is a puma.

stay put: Don't move. Not gonna lie, I like how many of my phrases are useful in terms of controlling the class (so much so that I've gone back and added labels to them). I say "stay put" and they freeze in whatever position they are in. This is really fun for them when they first learn it and you tell them to go crazy for 3 seconds before they have to stay put.

praying mantis/ bad apple

praying mantis: a bug that looks like the spawn of a leaf and a grasshopper. It looks like it is always praying. TPR goes great with praying mantis (and meerkat) since the kids love to pretend to be animals.

bad apple: The worst one of a bunch. Nobody wants to eat a bad apple, so when they kids are being bad I ask "Who is being the bad apple?" and they all usually point to the same kid. It's a great way to isolate bad behavior because the kids hate to be singled out and embarrassed. I'm thinking it's a good idea to make a "bad apple" spot on my white board and whichever kid's name is written up there gets some kind of punishment.

meerkat/ make up your mind

meerkat: A cat/dog-like animal that lives in Africa. It crawls, but when it wants to look around it stands up like a person. Pictures are a must.

make up your mind: Mind= brain. When someone can't decide something you tell them to "make up your mind." This is good for when I call on kids (that actually raise their hands) and I get the "deer in headlights" look. You raised your hand to answer the question... stop staring at me and make up your mind!

gecko/ in a hurry

gecko: a kind of lizard that has very sticky feet. They are very small and can walk on walls. They also chirp. Apparently they have them in Taiwan. Pictures got the "oohs" and "ahhs."

in a hurry: When you need to go somewhere very quickly you are in a hurry. They know what "hurry up" means, so this wasn't that hard to explain. Another phrase that will have its moments to use, but probably not everyday. Oh well.

opposite/ no big deal

opposite: Something that is not the same. It's very difficult to define it without using examples. I started with "The opposite of hot is cold. The opposite of big is small. What is the opposite of good?" They get it.

no big deal: When something happens that you don't care about. I used the example of accidentally bumping into someone. They aren't hurt so it's "no big deal." This wasn't a very successful POD. I don't think they understand the concept behind not caring about something. A small bump is reported to Teacher every time.

confused/ ants in your pants

confused: When you don't know something you are confused. A very broad definition, yes, but giving examples helps to narrow it down. If I say a word in English you don't know, you are confused. Facial expressions help, and I think that a confused look is pretty much universal.

ants in your pants: Can't sit still, not paying attention. Put invisible ants in everyone's pants and see what happens. This worked particularly well because today my class was very jittery, and also we have been doing a lot of phonics work with the short /a/ sound (bat, sat, jam...).

patient/ hear a pin drop

patient: A person (not the kind the doctor sees) who can wait is very patient. Pushing and yelling "hurry up" is not patient. It is good to be patient. Another word that was not an immediate success, but I will use maybe once or twice a day, now that I can.

hear a pin drop: VERY quiet. Obviously a demonstration was in order, and now, much to mine and my co-teacher's amusement, I raise a pin in the air and am met with complete silence. In addition to it earning a spot in my discipline tool belt, the children are very entertained by the phrase.


**An idea for next week: introduce a new animal everyday for the WOD, unless I can keep coming up with practical words.

action/ not quite

action: something you can do. Well, not just you; flying is an action. This is a small turn towards the direction of introducing/recognizing verbs and their function. It is slowly clicking that you can't "postcards" but you can "write postcards." I had everyone go around the room and name one action. Next stop: demonstrative pronouns.

not quite: almost there, but not all the way. I drew a glass of water almost full, "Is it full?", "Not quite." This is also the most polite way to tell anyone "No," i.e. when trying to define the word busy: "It's when you are busy." "Ehh, not quite." (not quite is quite often preceded by "ehh.") I can't believe it took me this long to use this POD, I say it a lot.

imagination/ do me a favor

imagination: When you use your brain to think of cool things. We did a few creative activities today where I was able to tell the students "Use your imagination." It probably won't be a high frequency word, but at least now I can say it and be comfortable with the fact that they have a general understanding of the concept. (speaking of understanding concepts- I threw the question to my kids "How you do know you aren't dreaming right now? Don't dreams feel this real?" They're pretty content believing that this isn't a dream. Me too.)

do me a favor: Another way to ask someone to help you. I saw this being a bigger success than it was, but I never remembered to go out of my way to use it. I ask the kids to help me all the time, I just need to start asking them to "do me a favor."

impressive/ get busy

impressive: The students get stars next to their names for great answers and participating in class. I explained impressive as something that deserves a star, it makes you say, "Wow! Good job!" When students draw ideas and words from previous Units or lessons, that's impressive. A word that is unlimited in terms of how often I can use it.

get busy: Since they already know "busy," that was half the battle. If you aren't doing your work, teacher tells you to "get busy" and start doing your work. Considering we do work in workbooks at least 3 times a day, this phrase is going to be used quite often now that they understand it.

champion/ give up

champion: the winner of everything. We play tons of games, so we are going to have "champions" at least a few times a day. Grammar pattern: "We are the champions!" Yes, I plan on playing the song for them; I forgot to bring it today.

give up: To quit, or stop trying. Never give up... keep trying! Especially if you want to be the champion.

neither/ no kidding!

neither: Today was very pressed for time and both the WOD and POD were basically flops. "Neither" I explained as not wanting to do two things. I taught "both" in contrast (Do you want to eat ice cream or candy? Both!) Trying to squeeze this into about 3 minutes at the end of the day did not provide much time for me to explain it better. Instead of scrapping the whole idea, tomorrow I will ask them things like "Do you want to go to the Police Station or the Hospital?" (places they have learned that they never want to go to).

no kidding!: "Really? That's so cool!" Again, beyond explaining this I had only 30 mins of teaching time left to use this in context while simultaneously teaching a lesson. No immediate success but with all the stories I plan on faking interest in, "No kidding!" is a great way to show enthusiasm.

hilarious/ as sweet as candy

hilarious: VERY funny. It's still easy to take an adjective they know and make it extreme. I use this word a lot sarcastically when they make "jokes." "Teacher John, you are Teacher Wendy and Teacher Wendy is Teacher John!" For them, it doesn't matter how many times they say it, it probably won't ever get old. Hilarious.

as sweet as candy: I was unprepared today with both the WOD and POD; both were thought up on the spot. I explained "as sweet as candy" as somebody who is always very nice and helpful. This was not a very successful POD because I do not use it ever, and consequently, neither will they.

enthusiastic/ calm down

enthusiastic: At all times during the entire year, each kindergarten class is rehearsing for a role-play/show to perform at some point for their parents. I used this word to explain show the difference between reading lines and actually acting excited/sad/surprised. Also, I always have them try to say WODs before I give them the correct pronunciation (for my own amusement and to show them that they can use phonics to figure it out.)

calm down: Stop being crazy. This phrase is now a very important tool in my discipline belt. When I say "calm down," they all stop in their tracks, take a deep breath and pretend they are going to sleep. This worked great with today's WOD: I told them to "be enthusiastic," and they all scream and laugh until I say "calm down," and they stop.

busy/ cut it out

busy: When Teacher is writing on the board, working with a student, or talking to another teacher, he is busy, so don't come up to him and scream in his face. This word is another great success. All I have to do is say "I'm busy" and the student walks away and waits for my attention.

cut it out: very simply "stop whatever you're doing." They already know "obnoxious" and "rude," so if they are being any of those things, "cut it out" will do the trick. I also taught the TPR hand actions (cut= 2 finger scissors, it= index finger point, out= thumb over shoulder)

helpful/ of course

helpful: Very easy one for them. They already know the verb "help," so now they are able to call people that help "helpful." "You are Teacher Helpful."

of course: ObviouslyYES! "Teacher John, may I blow my nose, please?" "Of course!"

impossible/ piece of cake

Phrase of the Day is born!!

impossible: Something you can't do. Grammar pattern: "Can you fly?" "No, that's impossible!"

piece of cake: VERY easy. Grammar pattern: "Can you count to 10?" "Yes, that's a piece of cake." (sidenote- today happened to be the monthly birthday party for the kindergarten and each student got a piece of cake for snack time. How fitting.)

obnoxious

obnoxious: A favorite word of mine. As with many WODs, I'm taking adjectives they already know and taking it to the extreme, i.e. obnoxious = VERY rude. When a student talks without raising their hand, I ask the class "What is he being?" "Obnoxious!!!" Effective singling out.