Whale Class · Weekly Circle Time
The Cycle of Plants
Week of Nov 16–20 · 13 min a day · ages 2.5–6, English learners
Print · laminate · ring-bind — your in-circle guide
Five words they'll own by Friday
Littles (2.5–3)
One word + a gesture is a win: “Seed!” (curl up tiny on the floor), “Grow!” (rise up slowly), “Flower!” (both hands bloom open above your head).
Bigs (4–6)
Sentence frames: “I plant a seed.” · “The roots go down.” · “The leaves go up.” · “The flower is beautiful.”
Set the bean jar up the FRIDAY BEFORE. A broad bean soaked overnight, then wedged between wet cotton wool and the glass, will have a fat white root by Monday morning — and the whole week hangs off it. Start it on the day and they watch nothing happen for four days. Soak three, in case one sulks.
Day 1 · A Seed
Today's words: seed
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box gives a tiny dry shhhh when you tilt it, like sand. Whole class chants:
Shake it — that whispery rattle again. Sniff it. Peek in, and look disappointed.
Then, very quietly: “But this stone is alive. There is a whole plant asleep inside it.”
Curl up tiny on the floor, all of you. “Seed!”
4 min Teach · Seed
The big bean in one palm, the dust-speck seed on one fingertip. Both go round the circle, ten seconds each pair of hands:
This one is BIG. (hold the broad bean up high)
This one is so small I can hardly see it. (peer at your fingertip, cross-eyed)
But they are both seeds… (hold them side by side)
and they are both fast asleep. (hands together against your cheek)
Littles hold one seed and say the one word “Seed!” Bigs take the frame: “I plant a seed.” “The seed is small.”
Then bring out Friday's bean jar and put it in the middle of the circle. The bean has split; a fat white root is pushing down the glass. Nobody touches it. Say what you see and nothing more: “Something came out. It went down.” Then it goes on the shelf, and one child draws it in the growth book — the first of five drawings.
Teacher fails: try to plant the bean by putting it carefully on top of a closed jar lid. Pat it. Wait for the plant. Look at your watch. Wait.
Chinese moment: lay the 种 card beside the jar. Then 李绅's two lines, said slowly with your hands — 春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。 One seed in the spring (one finger), ten thousand seeds in the autumn (both hands thrown wide). That is the whole week in fourteen characters.
3 min Song · A Little Seed — chorus + Monday verse
A little seed down in the ground, (crouch right down, curled up small)
Rain and sun all around! (fingers rain down, then both arms circle up)
Roots go down and leaves go up, (point down at the floor, then stretch up)
A flower opens like a cup! (hands cupped, then bloomed open)
Monday's verse: A tiny seed, so small, so still, (hold up one finger and freeze)
Plant it in the pot — yes I will! (press an imaginary seed into an imaginary pot)
The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Start it crouched on the floor and stand all the way up through the chorus: by Friday the song is a plant growing, and they do it without being told. Chords on the Song tab.
3 min Game · Seed or not a seed?
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The tray goes in the middle: broad beans, sunflower seeds, apple pips mixed up with pebbles, buttons and beads.
One child at a time chooses an object and lays it in a hoop. Littles say the one word as it lands: “Seed!” or a head-shake. Bigs: “It is a seed. It can grow.” “It is not a seed.”
Go round twice. Do not correct anybody out loud — a pebble in the seed hoop is Thursday's problem, and by then they will move it themselves.
The honest answer to “how do you know?” is “we plant it and see.” Keep one wrong guess back, plant it beside a bean in a pot, and let the week answer it for you.
1 min Close
Everybody curled up tiny on the floor, one seed held in a closed fist. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? The Tiny Seed (Eric Carle) — the whole week, in one book, on Monday. Read it again on Friday and they will tell you what happens next on every page.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — A Seed! We practiced the word “seed” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “Seed… root… leaf… flower… FRUIT!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 2 · Roots Go Down
Today's words: root (seed comes back every day)
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box is heavier and something inside it is damp. Chant, then shake — a soft wet thud, once.
Sniff it, properly, with your eyes shut. “It smells like… rain. It smells like the ground.”
Point down at the floor with both hands. “Root!”
4 min Teach · Root
Hold the plant up by the stem so it hangs the right way up, and go bottom to top, one beat each:
Down here — the roots. (run one finger down the hanging roots)
They hold on tight so the wind can't take it. (grip your own two fists together and pull)
And they drink. (a long, loud slurp)
Up, up, up the stem… all the way to the leaves. (finger travelling up)
The plant goes round the circle. Everybody touches the roots — they are wet, and stringy, and slightly horrible, and that is the point.
Littles point at the floor and say “Root!” Bigs: “The roots go down.” “The roots drink the water.”
Then the carrot. Hold it up and wait. “What if I told you this whole thing IS a root?” Snap it in half. Let that sit.
Teacher fails: hold the plant upside down, roots waving in the air, leaves buried in your other hand, and admire it. “What a beautiful plant.” Wait.
Chinese moment: the 根 card goes down beside yesterday's 种. Point at the plant, then the card, then the floor. Then eat the carrot. 萝卜 is a 根 — and so is 红薯, and 土豆 is not, but nobody needs that today.
3 min Song · A Little Seed — chorus + Tuesday verse
Chorus twice, starting crouched right down — then yesterday's verse if they call for it — then today's new one:
Tuesday's verse: Roots go down, down, down below, (push both hands down towards the floor, three times, lower each time)
Drinking, drinking — that's how I grow! (slurp, then stretch up tall)
Sing “down, down, down” lower each time — drop your voice a step on each one until the last is a growl. They will copy the pitch before they copy the word, and that is real listening work.
3 min Game · I am a tree
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody stands, well spread out, plenty of room between them.
Then you are the wind. Blow gently — only the leaves move. Blow harder — the stem sways. Blow a storm — everything moves except the feet. “My roots are holding ON!”
Littles just wave their arms and keep their feet stuck. Bigs get the whole sentence: “My roots hold me down.”
Last round: one child is the wind and you are a tree. Fall over, dramatically, when they blow. Feet off the floor. They will tell you exactly what you did wrong.
Feet stuck to the floor is the whole rule of this game, and it is also the only way twenty children storm about the room without a collision.
1 min Close
Everybody standing, feet planted, pushing down hard. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Jack and the Beanstalk — told, not read, with one real bean in your hand. Plant it in front of them at the end and refuse to promise anything.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Roots Go Down! We practiced the word “root” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “Root… root… ROOT!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 3 · Leaves Go Up
Today's words: leaf (seed · root come back)
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box is light again, and it crackles. Chant, then shake it slowly next to your ear.
Open the lid a crack, look in, and shut it fast. Do it again. Then open it right up and lift out the leaf with two hands, like it is made of glass.
Both arms stretched up and open. “Leaf!”
4 min Teach · Leaf
Hold the leaf up to the window so the light comes through it. Everybody leans in:
Look — little lines, all over it. (trace one vein with a fingertip)
That is the drink coming up from the roots. (finger travelling up from the stalk)
And the leaf holds it up to the sun… (leaf flat on your open palm, lifted to the light)
…and that is how the plant makes its food. (rub your tummy)
Littles reach both arms up and say “Leaf!” Bigs: “The leaves go up.” “The leaf catches the sun.”
Then lay the three things you have collected in a row on the mat: the seed, the plant with its roots, the leaf. Point along the row and say the three words. That row grows by one every day until Friday.
Teacher fails: hold the leaf up to the ceiling light with enormous seriousness and announce that this plant will now grow very fast. Hold it there. Wait for somebody to point at the window.
Chinese moment: the 叶 card joins the row — 种 · 根 · 叶. Then show them 银杏 and let them say it; ginkgo leaves are all over Beijing in November and they will find them on the way home.
3 min Song · A Little Seed — chorus + Wednesday verse
Chorus twice — today make “leaves go up” enormous, right up on tiptoe — then:
Wednesday's verse: Green, green leaves that catch the sun, (both hands open, flat, tilted up to the light)
One, two, three — look, more than one! (count three fingers, then wiggle all ten)
Sing this one outside if the leaf hunt runs long — standing under a real tree, counting real leaves. It is the same three minutes and they remember it for a year.
3 min Game · Leaf hunt
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Coats on, basket out, everybody outside. One rule, said before you open the door:
Back inside, all the leaves go on the floor in one long line: biggest to smallest. The children build the line; you sit on your hands. Littles bring their leaf and name it: “Leaf!” Bigs compare: “Mine is bigger than yours.” “This one is the smallest.”
Then crayon rubbings, one each, at the table — leaf under the paper, crayon flat on its side. The lines come up out of nowhere and it is properly magic.
A child who brings back six leaves has not broken the rule, they have found a gradation exercise. Line all six up smallest to biggest and say so.
1 min Close
Everybody standing, arms stretched right up, leaf in one hand. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Leaf Man (Lois Ehlert) — then make one on the table out of this morning's hunt. It will not survive till home time. That is fine.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Leaves Go Up! We practiced the word “leaf” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “Leaf… leaf… LEAF!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 4 · The Flower Opens
Today's words: flower (seed · root · leaf come back)
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box makes no sound at all. Chant, shake it — nothing. Shake it harder — still nothing.
Then sniff it. Sniff it again. Let your whole face change. Pass the closed box round and let every single child sniff the lid before anybody sees inside.
Both hands blooming open from a closed cup. “Flower!”
4 min Teach · Flower
The flower stands in a glass in the middle. Everybody's hands make one too, and open with the words:
First the seed… (fists tight, tucked in low)
then the root, then the leaf… (point down, then stretch up)
and right at the top, at the very end… (hands closed into a cup and lifted)
the FLOWER. (open both hands wide, slowly, like a time-lapse)
Littles bloom their hands and say “Flower!” Bigs: “The flower is beautiful.” “The flower smells nice.”
Then take the second flower apart on a white cloth, one piece at a time, naming almost nothing: petal … petal … petal … and this dusty yellow bit in the middle. Magnifying glass. Get a fingertip yellow. “Bees carry this from flower to flower — and THAT is how a flower turns into a fruit.” One sentence, then stop.
Teacher fails: hold the flower by its head and try to plant the petals, one by one, in the pot. Pat the soil down. Look pleased. Wait.
Chinese moment: the 花 card joins the row — 种 · 根 · 叶 · 花. Say 一朵花, then count the flowers in the room together: 一朵, 两朵, 三朵. 朵 is the measure word and they pick it up in a week.
3 min Song · A Little Seed — chorus + Thursday verse
Chorus twice — and on “a flower opens like a cup” open your hands as slowly as you possibly can — then:
Thursday's verse: A flower, a flower, pink and red, (one blooming hand, then the other)
It opens up above my head! (both hands bloom right up over your head)
Hold the last “head” for four whole beats with your hands wide open above you and do not move. The class will hold it with you, and twenty children standing dead still with their hands in the air is the best moment of the week.
3 min Game · The flower opens
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody curled up on the floor in a tight little ball, hands over their heads. You are the sun and the rain.
Count them up, one number every two seconds, all the way to ten. On ten everybody must be standing with both hands wide open, and then — freeze. Nobody moves. Walk round and admire the garden out loud.
Littles just have to get up and open their hands. Bigs narrate as they go: “I am growing.” “Now I am a flower!”
Second round, backwards: winter comes, and the slowest flower to close up small again wins that one too.
This is the calmest three minutes of the week — use it before a transition, not after one. Slow is the skill being practised here, not speed.
1 min Close
Hands cupped shut at chest height, ready to bloom. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Planting a Rainbow (Lois Ehlert) — every page is one colour of flower. They will start calling the colours out for you.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — The Flower Opens! We practiced the word “flower” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “Flower… flower… FLOWER!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 5 · Fruit & Seed Again + Big Review
Today's words: seed · root · leaf · flower · fruit — the whole week
2 min Magic Box hook
The box comes out fat and bulging and will not quite shut.
Pull each prop out and hold it up in complete silence. They will supply the word before you can.
The jar of seeds → “Seed!” The pulled-up plant → “Root!” The big leaf → “Leaf!” Yesterday's flower → “Flower!”
Last of all, one apple. Hold it up. Nobody knows what it is doing here. Hands ready… “FRUIT!”
4 min Teach · Fruit, then the whole week
Everybody watches while you cut the apple across the middle, not down — and open it like a book. There is a star inside, and the star is full of pips.
A flower turned into this fruit. (hold the two halves up)
And inside the fruit… (turn one half round very slowly)
…there is a star. (let them see it, and wait)
And in the star — a SEED. (pick one pip out and hold it up between two fingers)
Then everybody stands and the whole week goes through the body, twice, slow then fast: seed (curled up tiny) → root (push down) → leaf (stretch up) → flower (bloom) → fruit (round arms) → and back to seed.
Littles do the five gestures and shout the five words. Bigs owe you a sentence each: “I plant a seed.” “The roots go down.” “The flower is beautiful.” “The fruit has seeds inside.”
Teacher fails: hold up the pip and say “well, that's the end of the story then.” Put it in the bin. Wait. Somebody will physically stop you.
Chinese moment: the 果 card completes the row — 种 · 根 · 叶 · 花 · 果, the whole week on the mat, and you can read it left to right like a sentence. Then: Sunday is 小雪, the day the first snow can come. 小雪腌菜 — this is when families put the vegetables away for winter. Everything we planted, we keep.
3 min Song · A Little Seed — Friday verse, then the WHOLE song
Friday's verse: Cut the apple — what do I see? (open two cupped hands like the apple)
A little seed — ready for me! (hold one finger up high, then curl straight back down small)
The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, standing round the bean jar. Start crouched on the floor and grow through the whole thing. On the very last word everybody drops back down into a seed — because it starts again. This run-through is the review of the entire week.
3 min Game · Seed to seed
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Five children stand up and take one stage each: seed · root · leaf · flower · fruit. The rest of the circle is the sun, the rain and the wind.
Each child does their stage in order, holding the pose, until all five are standing in a line and the whole plant is built out of children. Then the fruit child holds out one hand with a pip in it — and the seed child takes it and curls up again. The circle claps once. It goes round.
Littles are the sun and the rain, which is a real job with real actions. Bigs do the five stages and narrate: “Now I am the flower.”
Run it three times with new children each time, and get faster.
The pip changing hands is the whole idea of the week. Do not explain it. Do it three times, and by the third round they will start shouting “again!” before the fruit child has even moved.
1 min Close + awards
Every child gets a “You are a STAR!” award to take home with the 小雪 news — and one real seed in a twist of paper to plant at home. Then, standing round the bean jar, all five gestures:
Got 3 spare minutes? The Tiny Seed (Eric Carle) again — on Monday you read it to them; today they read it to you, holding the bean jar.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Fruit & Seed Again + Big Review! We practiced the words “seed”, “root”, “leaf”, “flower” and “fruit” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “Seed… root… leaf… flower… FRUIT!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Theme Song · “A Little Seed”
The one song of the week — sung at every circle. Same chorus daily, one new verse each morning, full song on Friday.
The four chords
Tempo: slow and growing — this one starts almost still and opens out. The only Am in the whole song is on “Rain and sun”, in the second line of the chorus; all five verses are just C and G7. Chant it without the uke first, crouched on the floor, and stand up through it; add the chords once they know the actions.
Chorus — sing it every single day
CA little seed down Fin the Cground, (crouch right down, curled up small)
AmRain and Csun G7all aCround! (fingers rain down, then arms circle up)
CRoots go down and Fleaves go Cup, (point down, then stretch up)
FA flower Copens G7like a Ccup! (hands cupped, then bloomed wide open)
Sing the chorus twice each time, and grow through it — start crouched on the floor on “a little seed” and be standing with your hands open by “cup”. A two-year-old who curls up and then opens has understood the whole week, whether or not a single word comes out.
One verse a day — all five use only C and G7
Monday · Seed
CA tiny seed, so small, so still, (hold up one finger and freeze)
G7Plant it in the pot — Cyes I will! (press it into an imaginary pot)
Tuesday · Root
CRoots go down, down, down below, (push both hands down, lower each time)
G7Drinking, drinking — Cthat's how I grow! (slurp, then stretch up tall)
Wednesday · Leaf
CGreen, green leaves that catch the sun, (both hands flat, tilted up to the light)
G7One, two, three — Clook, more than one! (count three, then wiggle all ten)
Thursday · Flower
CA flower, a flower, pink and red, (one hand blooms, then the other)
G7It opens up Cabove my head! (both hands wide open overhead)
Friday · Fruit
CCut the apple — what do I see? (open two cupped hands)
G7A little seed — Cready for me! (one finger up, then curl back down small)
The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — and Friday's finale, sung standing round the bean jar and ending curled up on the floor, doubles as your review of the whole week.
If you're brand new to ukulele
Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That is most of the chorus. Add Am last — it is one finger on the same string as F, so slide Am → F → Am until it stops feeling like a change; you only need it for two words, “Rain and sun”. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the actions carry the meaning either way.
Print Pack · Wall + Shelf
One click prints the whole week: theme wall posters, the song sheet, and all the shelf material.
In the print dialog: A4, portrait, “Background graphics” ON (for the emoji art), color. Want only some pages? Pick a page range — the order below is the print order. Card sheets print best on thick paper or laminated.
Page 1 · Theme poster
Pages 2–6 · Word posters for the wall
Page 7 · Sentence frames poster
“I plant a ___.”
“The roots go ___.”
“I can see the ___.”
“The flower is ___.”
“Inside the fruit there are ___!”
Page 8 · Song chorus poster
Rain and sun all around!
Roots go down and leaves go up,
A flower opens like a cup!
Page 9 · Ukulele song sheet
Whale Class theme song · ukulele · C (0003) · F (2010) · G7 (0212) · Am (2000) · strum: Down, Down, Down-Up
Chorus — every day
CA little seed down Fin the Cground,
AmRain and Csun G7all aCround!
CRoots go down and Fleaves go Cup,
FA flower Copens G7like a Ccup!
Monday · Seed
CA tiny seed, so small, so still, G7plant it in the pot — Cyes I will!
Tuesday · Root
CRoots go down, down, down below, G7drinking, drinking — Cthat's how I grow!
Wednesday · Leaf
CGreen, green leaves that catch the sun, G7one, two, three — Clook, more than one!
Thursday · Flower
CA flower, a flower, pink and red, G7it opens up Cabove my head!
Friday · Fruit
CCut the apple — what do I see? G7A little seed — Cready for me!
Each day: chorus → today's verse → chorus. Friday: the whole song, top to bottom, standing round the bean jar — start crouched as a seed, and drop back down to a seed on the last word.
Page 10 · Plant-part 3-part cards — control cards (keep whole)
Page 11 · Plant-part 3-part cards — cut apart (pictures + labels)
Pages 12–13 · Seed / Not a seed sorting signs (2 full pages)
Page 14 · Sorting cards — cut apart
The first six are seeds 种子, the last six are not seeds 不是种子 — but never tell them that. The child looks at the card, decides, and lays it under “Seed 种子” or “Not a seed 不是种子”. Control of error: once the class has sorted them together, draw a small green dot on the backs of the six seeds and a grey dot on the backs of the six others, so they can turn them over and check themselves afterwards. Then they tell you: “The acorn is a seed — it grows a whole tree!”
Page 15 · I Can action cards — cut apart
Page 16 · MY PLANT — worksheet (print one per child)
The seed is already there. Draw its roots going down under the line, and its stem, its leaves and one flower going up. Colour in the sun and the two leaves. Then tell me the story of your plant and I'll write it down!
My name is
My plant has leaves
Page 17 · “You are a star” awards — cut in half, one per child on Friday
This award goes to
This award goes to
Page 18 · Theme shelf guide (for you — tape inside the cupboard)
Four trays, left → right, easiest → hardest. Every tray is a circle-time prop that stayed out — what comes out of the Magic Box in the morning goes on the shelf the same day, already loaded with language.
| Tray 1 · Bean in a jar from MONDAY's Magic Box | A glass jar, wet cotton wool and one broad bean wedged against the glass (started the Friday before). A small book beside it, and one child adds one drawing every single day. Control: the growth picture cards laid in order next to the jar — a drawing that does not match today's stage is visible without a word from you. Language: “root · shoot · leaf · taller.” |
| Tray 2 · Plant-part 3-part cards pages 10–11 · from TUESDAY's washed roots | seed 种子 · root 根 · leaf 叶子 · flower 花 · fruit 果实, Chinese and English. Littles match picture→picture on the whole control card; Bigs lay the labels underneath. Control: the uncut control cards. Beside it, the action cards (page 15) face down: draw one, do it, say it — “I can water!” |
| Tray 3 · Leaf matching & rubbing from WEDNESDAY's leaf hunt | Six real leaves from the hunt, pressed flat, and six leaf-shape cards traced from those same six. Match leaf to card; then a crayon and paper for rubbings. Control: lay the finished rubbing back down on top of its own leaf — it fits, or it does not. Language: “bigger · smaller · the same.” |
| Tray 4 · Seed sorting & spooning pages 12–14 · practical life | Three kinds of seed, three small bowls, a spoon and a pair of tweezers — transfer them one at a time. Control: one sample seed glued into the bottom of each bowl. Beside it the 12 sorting cards (page 14) under the two signs (pages 12–13): 种子 or 不是种子? Beside that, crayons and the “My Plant” sheets (page 16). Sheets go home Friday with the award (page 17) and one real seed in a twist of paper. |
Laminate pages 10–15 if you can — the cards and the wet cotton wool live together all week. Keep the bean jar out of full sun or it will cook; a windowsill in the shade is perfect. The row of 汉字 cards the class built up (种 · 根 · 叶 · 花 · 果) stays on the shelf edge all week — that is the display, no extra work needed.
End of Week Wrap-Up
Friday recap — read it at the last circle, then print it for the parent wall or WeChat photo.
Nov 16–20 · Theme: The Cycle of Plants · Sound of the week: ck
What we did
The whole week was one idea: seed to seed. On Monday a bean the size of a thumbnail came out of the Magic Box beside a seed like a speck of dust, and we found out that a whole plant is asleep inside each one. On Tuesday a plant came out of the earth with its roots washed clean, and everybody touched them — then we became trees, with our feet stuck to the floor, and a storm blew through the classroom. On Wednesday we went outside in the cold and each brought back one leaf, lined them all up biggest to smallest and took crayon rubbings of them. On Thursday one real flower came out of the box, we opened our hands as slowly as we possibly could, and we found the yellow dust in the middle that bees carry from flower to flower. And on Friday we cut an apple sideways — and there was a star inside it, and in the star were the seeds. It starts again. In the jar on the shelf, a bean we started before the week even began grew a root, then a shoot, then a leaf, and one child drew it every single morning.
Words we learned
Sentences to listen for at home
“I plant a seed.” · “The roots go down.” · “The leaves go up.” · “The flower is beautiful.” · “The fruit has seeds inside.”
Our littlest friends say one word with a gesture — “Seed!” curled up tiny on the floor, or “Flower!” with both hands blooming open above their head, is a big win at 2 and 3.
Our song · “A Little Seed”
“A little seed down in the ground, rain and sun all around! Roots go down and leaves go up, a flower opens like a cup!”
We sang it on the ukulele every day and added a new verse each morning — seed, root, leaf, flower, fruit. Ask your child to sing it and watch what their body does: it starts crouched down on the floor and grows all the way up, and on the very last word it drops back down into a seed again.
Dark Phonics · the ck sound
In our Dark Phonics work we met ck — two letters that make one single sound, a short hard kick right at the back of the mouth. It never starts a word; it turns up at the end, straight after a short vowel: pick, stick, rock, sock, sick, duck, back. Our silly line for it is “kick the stinky sock!” It fitted the week beautifully: we pick the fruit, the stem is a stick, and a rock is the one thing on the tray that is definitely not a seed.
Try this at home (2 minutes)
1 · Your child came home with one real seed in a twist of paper. Plant it in a pot of soil on the windowsill and water it together — that is the whole week's homework and it lasts a month.
2 · Cut an apple across the middle instead of down, and let them find the star: “The fruit has seeds inside!”
3 · On the way home, name the parts of any plant you pass: root · stem · leaf · flower.
4 · Count the leaves on one house plant together, in English and in Chinese.
5 · Hunt for the ck sound at the END of words: pick, stick, rock, sock, duck, back — say them short and snap the ending shut.
Sunday is 小雪, the day the first snow can come — and 小雪腌菜, when families put the autumn vegetables away for the winter. Everything we planted, we keep. A good weekend for a walk to look at what the trees have left.
Thank you for a lovely week — the Whale Class 🐳
Weekly rituals (same every week, only the theme changes)
- Attention grabber: “One, two, three — eyes on me!” → kids: “One, two — eyes on you!”
- The Magic Box: any box with a lid. The chant, the shake, the sniff, the dramatic peek. Whatever the week's theme is, its key prop lives in the box. By week 3 the chant alone will get you silence.
- The two-tier rule: littles succeed with one word + gesture; bigs get a sentence frame. Never make a little produce a sentence — they'll get there by watching.
- Whisper → shout closes: end every day chanting the theme line quiet-to-loud. Calms them, then releases them.
- Teacher fails on purpose: once a day, get something wrong so they can correct you. ESL kids who correct the teacher are producing language without noticing.
Principal coverage map (if she asks)
| Botany: the parts of a plant, and what each one does | Day 1 the seed with a whole plant asleep inside it · Day 2 a real plant lifted out of the soil, roots handled by every child · Day 3 the veins held up to the window · Day 4 the flower taken to pieces on a white cloth · Day 5 the apple cut across — flower becomes fruit becomes seed |
| Biology: a life cycle that closes | The row on the mat grows by one object a day (seed · root · leaf · flower · fruit) and on Friday the fruit child hands the pip back to the seed child in “seed to seed” — the cycle is acted, never explained |
| Botany: a long-run observation | The bean jar, started the Friday before, drawn by one child every single morning — Tray 1 all week; the growth cards beside it are the control of error |
| Classification: 种子 / 不是种子 | Twelve sorting cards under two signs, seed or not a seed. Control: coloured dots on the backs, added by the class after we sort them together. The honest test is “we plant it and see” — one wrong guess is planted beside a bean and the week answers it |
| Sensorial: grading by size | Day 1 the enormous broad bean beside a seed like a speck of dust · Day 3 every leaf from the hunt laid out biggest to smallest, built by the children while the teacher sits on her hands |
| Language: 3-part cards, two scripts | Tray 2 seed 种子 · root 根 · leaf 叶子 · flower 花 · fruit 果实 — Littles match picture→picture on the control card, Bigs lay the English labels underneath |
| Practical life: fine motor & care of the environment | Tray 4 seed spooning and tweezing into three bowls, one sample seed glued in each as the control · watering the bean jar · Day 3 leaf rubbings with a crayon on its side · the action cards all week (plant · water · dig · pick · smell · grow · rake · taste) |
| Outdoor / nature study | Day 3 the leaf hunt — coats on, one leaf each, brought back, graded, rubbed. Beijing's ginkgo and plane leaves are on the pavement in November and the children find them all the way home |
| Maths: counting real quantities | Day 3 count the leaves, and count the veins on one leaf · Day 4 一朵, 两朵, 三朵 with the measure word · Day 5 count the pips in the apple star · the worksheet asks “my plant has ___ leaves” |
| Gross motor / body awareness | Day 2 “I am a tree” — feet as roots, body as stem, arms as leaves, and a storm that never moves a foot · Day 4 “the flower opens”, the slowest possible growth, then freeze — the calmest three minutes of the week |
| Chinese 中文 · 小雪 | One 汉字 card a day beside the day's object: 种 · 根 · 叶 · 花 · 果, read left to right on Friday like a sentence · 李绅《悯农》春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子 on Day 1 · 银杏 on Day 3 · 一朵花 and the measure word 朵 on Day 4 · Friday 小雪 and 小雪腌菜 |
| Key phrases, age 3 | “Seed!” · “Root!” · “Leaf!” · “Flower!” · “Fruit!” · “Grow!” — each one drilled with its gesture (curl up tiny · push down · stretch up · bloom open · round arms) |
| Key phrases, age 4–5 | “I plant a seed.” · “The roots go down.” · “The leaves go up.” · “The flower is beautiful.” · “The fruit has seeds inside.” — one frame introduced per day |
| Movement game | Day 1 seed or not a seed? (two hoops) · Day 2 I am a tree (the wind) · Day 3 the leaf hunt and the size line · Day 4 the flower opens (slowest wins, then freeze) · Day 5 seed to seed (five children build one plant and hand the pip back) |
| Songs | One song, deliberately: “A Little Seed” at every circle — chorus daily as a finger-play sung from the floor upwards, one new verse per day (seed · root · leaf · flower · fruit), full-song finale Friday round the bean jar. C · F · G7 · Am on the ukulele; the only Am is on “rain and sun” in the chorus |
| Books | The Tiny Seed — Eric Carle (D1, again D5) · Jack and the Beanstalk, told with a real bean (D2) · Leaf Man — Lois Ehlert (D3) · Planting a Rainbow — Lois Ehlert (D4) — optional 3-min read-alouds |
| Phonics (Dark Phonics) | ck — two letters, one sound; never at the start, always at the end after a short vowel: pick, stick, rock, sock, sick, duck, back. “Kick the stinky sock!” The week's own words carry it: we pick the fruit, the stem is a stick, and a rock is not a seed |
| Assessment: age 3 goal | Name seed, leaf and flower on sight of a picture card and do the matching gesture — checked in Day 5's quick-fire prop round out of the full Magic Box |
| Assessment: age 4 goal | Lay the five plant-part cards out in the right order and say what each one does (“the roots drink”) — checked on Tray 2 during the week and in Friday's “seed to seed” |
Whale Class 🐳 · This page updates each week with the new theme.