Philippine Day!
14th March 2019
Today was another international day in Flowers class. Can you guess which country we visited? Liezel is the one from this country. Tuesday and Wednesday were teacher exchange program and she was in Buds class, but she came back to us today. Philippine is our destination. What did we learn about her home country?
Philippine Day
Mabuhay! Liezel started her circle time with this greeting. “Mabuhay” means welcome, good wish and alive. She taught us some greeting words in Tagalog.
“Magandang Umaga” means good morning.
“Salamat Po” means thank you.
They sounded very cute for us. We can greet her in Tagalog now. She told us some information about Philippine. There are 7641 islands, but it depends on high or low tide. The number of the islands will be changed. Three main islands are called, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. They have many beautiful beaches. We have four seasons in Japan, but they have only two seasons; dry and wet season.
Mo: When the sun is hot, it’s dry season.
Liezel: What is wet season?
Te: All things will be wet because of rain.
Liezel told us that they loved gathering very much. Many festivals are held with plenty of food. One of famous food is “Parlitaw” which we cooked this morning. It looked like Japanese omochi (sticky rice cake). “Palitaw” means floating because they float in the boiling water when it’s cooked.
Cooking recipe of Palitaw
1. Mix flour and some water to make a dough
2. Make a small ball then make it flat with two palms
3. Boil it until it floats up to the surface
4. Cover it with coconuts, sugar and sesame
5. Throw it in our mouth!
It was nice and soft dough when we were making balls. After boiling balls, they became very sticky. That stickiness helped to get some sweet layers on. It was super delicious. We loved it and some friends wanted to eat more and more. The texture is similar to Japanese sticky rice cake or Chinese New Year special “Nian Gao”, but the topping and flavor is completely different. Our Pilipino chef, Liezel did a great job!
Shipa
Shipa means “kicking”. Liezel made two interesting things with pink and purple plastic tapes. It has a ring inside and has long tails growing from the ring. It is a game like volleyball. You kick it with your feet, knees or elbows, then you try not to drop it on the ground. It was tricky to hit it with our body parts, but it was fun to play this game.
Balloon game
She made a special thing with many balloons attached to pegs. We wondered what it was for. How do we play with this? She explained us how to play. It is like a pinata. We try to pull the balloon. She said it didn’t have to be balloons, but it could be toys, snacks, or even cash! We jumped high to catch the balloons, but it was moving up and down and side to side. Finally each of us got one balloon. Phew, it was such an exciting game!
Singing songs in Tagalog
We sang “Head and shoulders” song in English and in Tagalog. Tagalog version started from toes, knees, shoulders and head. It was opposite way from English version. “If you are happy and you know it” was also different from English one. We all know these songs, but singing in other language was funny. We love to learn how to sing a song in many different languages. Some of us know how to sing “Happy birthday” song in many different languages. Our ears are very keen to catch the different sounds and our memory is very good to remember the new words.
Thank you very much for sharing Philippine time with us, Liezel. We enjoyed your stories, fun games and yummy sweet!
Dance time
Yes, Thursday is our weekly dance lesson day. Maryna came to move our bodies together. One of our new dance song was “Traveling” dance. We traveled by bicycle, by scooter, by roller skate and by pogo stick! It was fun to do the actions. “Scare crow” dance was also popular. When all the hens were sleeping…….?!?! We also enjoy “Penguin dance” and “Scissors dance”. You can probably practice at home, too. It must be good to everyone to get strong muscle and flexibility.
Show and Tell
Show and tell, show and tell, today is Sa’s show and tell!!! Our show and tell song is popular to sing anytime in a day. Sometimes, we pretended to have our own show and tell in the morning free play time.
Sa: I brought origami paper. I’m going to make a piano with origami paper. (she took one origami paper from her pink origami case and showed us how to make it) I fold in half. Fold it half again then open. Fold the other side in half and this way, too. We make triangle , and this way, too. We fold here and we close it. Then we draw here. (she drew lines and blocks for the piano keys.)
Slowly and carefully, she showed us how to do it step by step. She also explained how, using her words and folded it at the same time. She did a great job.
Sa: And I made two pianos at home. ( she took two origami piano from her paper bag.) Any questions?
A: Why did you make two at home?
Sa: Because I wanted to learn it.
E: Why did you make a piano?
Sa: for my show and tell.
Natan: Why did you bring it?
Sarah: Because I want to show everybody.
Thank you for your beautiful show and tell. She volunteered to be an origami teacher tomorrow morning and we want to make our own origami piano.
Thank you for another eventful day, Flowers friends! We love to learn and play everyday inside and outside. What kind of Friday is coming up for tomorrow?!?!
XOXOXO,
Flowers Class Children
