Tools & Transportation

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is the heaviest of the whole year. Carry it in with two hands and let it land on the mat with a thud. Whole class chants:

Let two children come and try to lift it. They can't do it easily — that is the point. Shake it: a deep, serious CLUNK. Sniff it: it smells of metal.

Hands up like a hammer. “Tool!”

4 min Teach · Tool

One tool at a time, out of the box, used for its real job, then straight back in. Nothing else is on the mat.

Littles do the gesture and say the one word: “Tool!” “Bang!” Bigs take the frame: “A hammer is a tool.” “The hammer hits the nail.”

Then it goes round: each child holds one tool for ten seconds, in both hands, sitting down, while everybody watches. You pass it handle first and you take it back yourself. Nobody swings anything.

Teacher fails: try to bang the nail in with the screwdriver. Hard. Twice. Look genuinely baffled at the nail, then at the screwdriver, then at the children. Wait for the shouting.

Chinese moment: lay the 工具 card beside the three tools. 工具 = tool. Say it once, point along the row, and leave it there. No drilling.

3 min Song · Round and Round the Wheels Go — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Do the chorus as a pure finger-play the first time, no ukulele: the hands teach the words. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab.

3 min Game · What does this tool do?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The three tools lie on the mat in front of you, out of reach.

Everybody copies the mime with empty hands and says the sound: “BANG!” “Round and round!” “Squeeze!” Bigs give the sentence: “The hammer hits the nail.”

Then a Big holds a tool up and the class mimes it back — six children get a turn. The tool never leaves their two hands.

Mime is safer than practice and just as good: twenty pairs of hands hammering the air is twenty children rehearsing the word without a single bruised thumb.

1 min Close

Hands out flat, ready to turn. Whisper → normal → shout:

大雪 today. One sentence, no lesson: “Today is 大雪 — the big snow. When it snows, the road is slippery. 下雪了，慢慢走。” Walk two exaggerated slow-motion steps and let them copy you out of the door.

Got 3 spare minutes? 《谁的本领大》 — who is more use, the wind or the sun? Read it and ask them which tool they'd pick.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is far too small and the lid won't go on — something round is sticking out of it. Chant anyway:

Try, seriously, to shut the lid. Fail. Try again. Then lift the whole wheel out and spin it in your hands, close to their ears.

Big circles with both hands. “Wheel!”

4 min Teach · Wheel

The wheel stands on the mat. Turn it with one finger while you say it:

Now the corners. Put a wooden block beside the wheel. Push the block — it scrapes, it stops. Push the wheel — it goes. Do it twice more without saying a word.

Littles turn their hands and say “Wheel!” Bigs: “A wheel is round.” “Round things roll.” “The bus has six wheels.”

Teacher fails: announce that you have found a much better wheel, and hold up the book. Try to roll it. Try harder. Ask them, sincerely, what is wrong with your wheel.

Count the wheels on things: a bicycle has two, a car has four, a bus has six. Count them on fingers. That is Tuesday's maths and they will do it all week without being asked.

The 轮 card goes down beside yesterday's 工具. 轮 = wheel. Point at the wheel, point at the card. Once.

3 min Song · Round and Round the Wheels Go — chorus + Tuesday verse

On “round and round” in the chorus, everybody's hands should be turning at the same speed as yours — go fast, then drop to almost stopped on “slow”. Two-year-olds who only ever do the hands have understood the entire week.

3 min Game · Rolls or doesn't roll?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The ramp is propped on two books. The basket of objects sits beside it.

Then one child sends it down the ramp and the whole class watches. Littles shout the answer: “Roll!” “Stop!” Bigs: “The tin rolls because it is round.”

Eight objects, eight predictions. The two baskets at the bottom of the ramp fill up as you go: rolls and doesn't roll.

The ramp is the control of error — it either rolls or it doesn't and nobody can argue with it, including you. Never say “no” to a prediction; just send the object down. Guessing wrong out loud and then seeing is the whole tray.

1 min Close

Everybody standing, hands turning. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Wheels on the Bus — do it as a finger-play only, no singing, so it doesn't compete with this week's song. The wipers, the doors, the horn, the babies.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box rattles twice and quite differently each time — one little wooden knock, one flat plastic tap. Chant, shake, tip your head, shake again.

“A card? What do you do with a card?” Beep it on your palm. “Bus!”

4 min Teach · Car and bus

The car runs along the floor in front of them while you talk. Count its wheels first: one, two, three, four.

Now the chairs. You are the driver; six children get on, each one beeping the 公交卡 on your hand as they board — 滴! Everybody else is waiting at the bus stop.

Littles steer and say “Car!” or wave the card and say “Bus!” Bigs: “I go to school by car.” “The bus is big.” “The bus has six wheels.”

Teacher fails: try to get on your own bus by beeping the toy car on your hand. Nothing happens. Beep it harder. Look at the driver's seat, which is empty, and ask it what's wrong.

Chinese moment: the 车 card joins the row — 工具 · 轮 · 车. Then name Beijing's own three: 汽车 · 公交车 · 地铁. Sing one line of 《小汽车》 — 小汽车，嘀嘀嘀，开到东，开到西 — one line, then stop.

3 min Song · Round and Round the Wheels Go — chorus + Wednesday verse

Actually stop. Everybody freezes, hands in the air, and you count two silent beats before “green light”. The silence is the funniest part of the whole song and it sets up today's game perfectly.

3 min Game · Red light, green light

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody lines up at one wall. You stand at the other with the three card circles. You are the traffic light. They are the cars.

Anyone still moving on red goes back three steps, cheerfully. Littles just run and stop — that is the whole skill. Bigs call the colours for the second round while you drive with the class.

Three rounds. On the last one, hold amber for a very long time.

This is a listening game wearing a car costume: stopping fast when the word comes is the same self-control they need for “one, two, three — eyes on me”. Bank it.

1 min Close

Everybody sitting, hands on an imaginary steering wheel. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Park the chairs as a bus again and let two Bigs run it — one driver, one conductor with the 公交卡. They will play it all afternoon.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box makes one hard wooden CLACK and then nothing. Chant, shake once, then open it in front of one child's face.

Click. “Oh! They join.” Stand the train on them and push. Elbows pumping. “Train!”

4 min Teach · Train

The two track pieces stay joined on the mat, with the train on top.

Then the 高铁 photo. Hold it up. “This train goes faster than a car. Faster than a bus. Faster than anything you have ever sat in.” Let them tell you if they have been on one; several will have.

Littles pump their elbows and say “Train!” “Choo-choo!” Bigs: “The train goes on the track.” “The train is long.”

Teacher fails: put the wooden train on the carpet, well away from the track, and push it. Push it again. Announce that the train is broken and look very sad until somebody drags the track over.

The 火车 card joins the row: 工具 · 轮 · 车 · 火车. Point out that 火车 has 车 inside it — they will spot it before you finish saying it. Then 地铁 and 高铁, once each, pointing at the photo.

3 min Song · Round and Round the Wheels Go — chorus + Thursday verse

Start this verse very slowly and speed up as it goes — a train leaving a station. “All aboard!” is shouted, not sung, with a hand cupped round your mouth. By Friday they shout it before you do.

3 min Game · The classroom train

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody lines up behind you, each child's hands on the shoulders in front. You are the engine. The three station chairs are already out.

At each station: everybody stops, the whole train says the station's name, one child gets off and one gets on at the front. Three stations, then back to the mat, which is the depot.

Littles just hold on and chuff. Bigs announce the next station themselves: “Next stop, the book corner!”

Let the last child be the engine on the second run. The train is a beautiful accidental lesson in staying joined — the moment somebody lets go, the train breaks, and they fix it themselves without you saying a word.

1 min Close

Still in the train, hands on shoulders. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Freight Train (Donald Crews) — one colour per carriage. Read it once slowly, then again fast, and let the train go through a tunnel with the lights off.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out fat and bulging and won't quite shut.

Pull each prop out and hold it up in complete silence. They will supply the word before you can.

The hammer → “Tool!”  The bicycle wheel → “Wheel!”  The little car → “Car!”  The 公交卡 → “Bus!”  The track → “Train!”

Last of all, right at the bottom: a bell. Ring it once. Then the helmet — put it on your own head and do the strap up under your chin, slowly, in front of all of them.

4 min Teach · Ride safely, then the whole week

Everybody stands. We tell the whole week with our bodies, twice — slow, then fast:

Then the helmet goes round the circle: every child puts it on, does one ring of the bell, and hands it on. While it travels, the sentence: “Helmet on. Slowly, slowly. 下雪了，慢慢走，慢慢骑。”

Littles do the five gestures and shout the five words. Bigs owe you a sentence each: “A hammer is a tool.” “The bus has six wheels.” “The train goes on the track.”

Teacher fails: put the helmet on backwards, or better, on your knee, and do up the strap with enormous satisfaction. Announce that you are ready to ride. Wait.

Chinese moment: the 路 card completes the row — 工具 · 轮 · 车 · 火车 · 路, the whole week on the mat. Point along it and let them say what they can.

3 min Song · Round and Round the Wheels Go — Friday verse, then the WHOLE song

The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, with the bell rung once on the very last word. They learned it one verse a morning without ever noticing, and this run-through is the review of the entire week.

3 min Game · How do you get to school?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Four columns are taped on the floor: walk · car · bus · bicycle, with a picture at the top of each.

Everybody moves. Then, column by column, count the children out loud, touching each head: one, two, three… Littles just stand and be counted, and shout their word: “Car!” Bigs: “I go to school by bus.”

Which column is the longest? Which is the shortest? Say the numbers again in Chinese while you're standing there.

This is a real graph made of children. Take a photo from the doorway looking down the columns — that photo is Friday's parent report, done, and the class will read it off the wall all next week.

1 min Close + awards

Every child gets a “You are a STAR!” award to take home. Then, standing in their columns, with all five gestures:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Wheels on the Bus again — but this time the children choose what goes on the bus. It will end up with a hammer, a helmet and a train on it, and that is exactly right.

The four chords

Tempo: rolling and steady, like a bicycle on a flat road — not a march. The Am turns up twice in the whole song: on “a helping hand” at the end of the chorus's third line, and at the top of Thursday's train verse. Everything else is C, F and G7. Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who turns both hands fast on “fast” and almost stops on “slow” has understood the week, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — four of the five use only C and G7

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 in the four columns of the how-do-you-get-to-school graph with the bell rung on the last word, 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 nearly the whole 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 “a helping hand” and the first line of Thursday. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the turning hands carry the meaning either way.