Whale Class · Weekly Circle Time
Graduation
Week of Jun 14–18 · 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: “Bye-bye!” (a big slow wave), “Thank you!” (hands together, a little bow), “Big!” (stretch tall on tiptoe).
Bigs (4–6)
Sentence frames: “I am big now.” · “Thank you, teacher.” · “Good-bye, my friends — I will come back!”
The one big idea: look how small we were — and look at us now. This is the last week of the whole year, so this week is the review. The four trays become a memory shelf, and on Friday the class sings its graduation song and then one chorus of every song we sang all year. Parents will cry. That is the point.
Still exactly one song. “We Grew So Big” is the week's song — same chorus daily, one new verse a morning, the whole thing on Friday. The old choruses are not new material: they come back on Thursday as a memory game (two bars, shout the title) and on Friday as the finale medley. Never teach a second song this week.
Before Monday: ask every family for their child's first-day-of-school photograph and print one copy each. Write the date on the back. Everything on Monday depends on them, and they become Tray 1 for the rest of the week.
Day 1 · Look How We Grew
Today's words: grow
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box is light and flat and it does not rattle at all. Hold it up. Whole class chants:
Shake it — a soft paper slither. Lift the lid a crack, peek in for a long time, and let your face go slowly amazed.
Turn it round. One photograph at a time, held high, all the way round the circle. Do not name them — let the class do it. Then stretch up tall together: “Big!”
4 min Teach · Grow
Everybody crouches down as small as they can go. We grow up twice — slow, then quick:
When I came here I was THIS small, (crouch right down, head tucked in)
I couldn't talk, I couldn't run, (shake your head, hands over your mouth)
Now look at me — I'm THIS tall, (rise slowly and stretch up on tiptoe)
And I can do it ALL! (one big jump with both arms up)
Then the photographs, properly. Hold one up beside the real child standing next to you and say the plain true thing, slowly: this was you, in September. You could not say “hello” in English. You are the same person, and you are not the same size, and nobody in this room stopped growing for one single day.
Littles crouch and stretch and say “Big!” Bigs take the frame: “I am big now.” “I was little in September.”
Teacher fails: hold up the smallest photograph, look hard at it, then hold it next to your own face. “Ah. This is me.” Nod seriously. Hold it. Wait for the roar.
Chinese moment: lay the 长大 card in the middle of the mat and say 你们长大了！ once, all together. Leave the card there; the row grows by one card a day and on Friday the whole year is on the mat: 长大 · 毕业 · 朋友 · 谢谢 · 再见.
3 min Song · We Grew So Big — chorus + Monday verse
We were so small, and now we're SO big! (crouch tiny, then stretch tall)
Look how we grew — let's dance a jig! (everybody jumps)
Thank you, teachers, thank you, friends, (hands together, bow one way then the other)
Sing our song — it never ends! (arms wide)
Monday's verse: Little, little, little me, (crouch smaller on each “little”)
Now I'm big as big can be! (shoot up onto tiptoe, arms right up)
The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning, the whole thing on Friday. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it standing in a ring, holding hands, every single day.
3 min Game · Then & now
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The photographs are face down in a basket in the middle of the circle.
One child at a time: pick, look, walk round the circle, and hand the photograph to the child in it with two hands. Littles get shown two photographs and point at the right friend — a full win. Bigs say it as they hand it over: “This is you. You were little!”
Nobody gets their own. That is the whole game: to find your photograph you have to be found, by a friend.
Keep the photographs out afterwards — they go straight onto Tray 1, the growth timeline, with the date on the back as the control. They stay on the shelf all week and go home in Friday's folder.
1 min Close
Standing in a ring, crouched right down and ready. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Leo the Late Bloomer (Robert Kraus) — Leo can't do anything at all, until one day he can. It is the kindest book in the world for the child who is still catching up, and this is the week to read it.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Look How We Grew! We practiced the word “grow” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “We were so small… now we are SO BIG!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 2 · Cap and Certificate
Today's words: graduation (grow comes back every day)
2 min Magic Box hook
There are exactly two things in the box today: one is flat and one is square with something dangling off it. Chant first:
Tip the box gently — a slide, then a swing. Lift the lid and take out the certificate first, holding it flat in both hands like something precious.
Both hands on their own heads: “Graduation!”
4 min Teach · Graduation
Everybody stands. We put the cap on twice — slow and careful, then proud:
Cap on my head, (both hands lower an imaginary cap onto your head)
Tassel on the side, (flick two fingers beside your ear, swinging)
Walk to the front, (four big marching steps on the spot)
and stand up with PRIDE! (stop, feet together, back straight, chin up)
Then explain it once, plainly, because most of them have never heard the word: graduation is the day we say you are finished. You came, you stayed the whole year, you learned all of it — and on Friday everybody watches you walk to the front on your own and take your paper. Nobody has to be brave. We are going to practise it until it is easy.
Littles pat their heads and say “Graduation!” Bigs owe you the sentence: “I am big now.” “On Friday I walk to the front.”
Teacher fails: put the cap on backwards, with the tassel hanging straight down over your nose, and try to read the certificate through it. Blow the tassel out of the way. Try again. Wait.
Chinese moment: the 毕业 card joins 长大 on the mat — 毕业啦！ shouted once at full volume, both arms up. Then 毕业帽 as the cap goes round the circle and every single child wears it for three seconds.
3 min Song · We Grew So Big — chorus + Tuesday verse
Chorus first, with the actions — today on “thank you, teachers” everybody bows to a real teacher — then the new verse:
Tuesday's verse: Cap on my head and a smile so wide, (hands on head, then draw a big smile with one finger)
Walk to the front with a little pride! (four proud marching steps, then stand tall and still)
Sing this verse marching, the whole class walking the circle in a slow line, and stop dead on the last word. The stopping is the bit they need for Friday; the song is just how we practise it without anybody feeling watched.
3 min Game · Graduation parade practice
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Mark “the front” with a chair. Four steps, and the class says them out loud with you each time: walk · stop · bow · cap on.
Every child goes once. Littles walk it holding a friend's hand and that is how they will do it on Friday too — decide it now, not on the day. Bigs go alone and take the pretend certificate with two hands: “Thank you!”
Clap for every single child, exactly the same amount. They are counting, and they will remember for years who got the loudest clap.
1 min Close
Standing in a ring, caps on (real or imaginary). Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Oh, the Places You'll Go! (Dr Seuss) — read two spreads only, not the whole thing, and read them slowly. Save the rest for Friday.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Cap and Certificate! We practiced the word “graduation” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “We were so small… now we are SO BIG!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 3 · Our Memory Box
Today's words: friend (grow · graduation come back every day)
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box is heavy and it rattles like a whole cupboard. Carry it in with both arms. Chant:
Shake it once — an enormous clatter — and look alarmed at the noise you just made. Then lift out one thing at a time and say nothing at all.
Every object goes into the middle of the mat. Hands to the temples, remembering: “I remember!”
4 min Teach · Friend · remember
Everybody sits round the six objects. Say it twice, and the second time they say it with you:
Do you remember? (both hands to your temples, eyes shut)
Yes — I do! (eyes open wide, one finger up)
A star, a dinosaur, a seed that grew… (point up · stomp · hands opening like a flower)
and best of all — YOU! (point at the friend beside you)
Now take each object round the circle and let them tell you: the globe is when we found all seven continents and sat on the map; the dinosaur is when we dug for fossils; the rocket is blast off; the nest is where the bird lives; the red envelope is 春节; the pinwheel is the windy day. Then say the true thing: not one of those days happened on your own. You did every single one of them with your friends.
Littles hold one object and name it — “Rocket!” Bigs give the sentence: “You are my friend.” “I remember the dinosaurs!”
Teacher fails: pick up the bird's nest, look at it blankly and guess: “A hat? Is it a little hat?” Put it on your head. Wait to be corrected, loudly, by everybody at once.
Chinese moment: the 朋友 card joins the row — 好朋友. Then everybody turns to the child beside them, takes both their hands and says it: 你是我的好朋友。 Tomorrow we thank the teachers; today we thank each other.
3 min Song · We Grew So Big — chorus + Wednesday verse
Chorus with the actions — today sung holding hands right round the ring — then the new verse:
Wednesday's verse: Stars and dinosaurs, seeds and snow, (point up · stomp · hands opening · fingers falling like snow)
All the things we got to know! (both hands sweep round the whole circle)
Four gestures, four whole months of the year in one line. Do them very slowly the first time and let somebody shout out what each one was — that shouting is the review, and it costs you nothing.
3 min Game · Memory-box guessing
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The six objects go back in the box under the cloth. One child at a time, eyes closed, hand in.
Naming it before seeing it is the work; naming the month is the extra step for the bigs. Littles feel it and give one word: “Rocket!” Bigs give both: “A rocket — that was May!” Then out it comes and everybody sees.
Put the same object back in twice on purpose. A child who feels the nest a second time and names it instantly, without stopping to think, has just shown you that the word is theirs for good.
1 min Close
Standing in a ring, holding the hands of the friends on either side. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? My Friend Is Sad (Mo Willems) — two friends, almost no words, and every child in the room can read the faces. Let them do the voices.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Our Memory Box! We practiced the word “friend” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “We were so small… now we are SO BIG!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 4 · Thank You + Our Songs
Today's words: thank you (grow · graduation · friend come back every day)
2 min Magic Box hook
Today the box will not shut, because the ukulele is sticking out of it. Carry it in that way, seriously, as if you had not noticed. Chant:
Shake it — and the strings go brrrring all by themselves. Look at the box, astonished. Shake it again.
Then the song-title cards, fanned out like a hand of cards. Hands together, a little bow: “Thank you!”
4 min Teach · Thank you
Everybody stands. Say it twice — once quietly to one person, once out loud to the whole room:
Thank you for the songs, (hands together, bow to the ukulele)
Thank you for the days, (bow to the window)
Thank you, all my friends, (turn on the spot, bowing all the way round)
in a hundred different ways! (both arms thrown wide)
Then the real thing, and take your time over it. Ask them who they want to thank — and take every answer: the cleaning 阿姨, the cook, the driver, the teacher who plaits their hair, a friend who shared a bike. Write the names down as they say them; that list is who Tray 4's thank-you cards get made for. Say it plainly: thank you is two words that you say to somebody's face, and this week we are going to say it to everybody who helped us.
Littles put their hands together and bow: “Thank you!” Bigs owe you the whole line: “Thank you, teacher.” “Thank you for the year with you.”
Teacher fails: hold the ukulele the wrong way round, strum the back of it with great feeling, and look puzzled when nothing happens. Turn it upside down and try again. Wait.
Chinese moment: the 谢谢 card joins the row — 谢谢老师，谢谢朋友, said with the bow. Then tell them about tomorrow: 李白 wrote a poem for a friend who came to sing him good-bye — 《赠汪伦》 — and we will say its last line at the ceremony: 桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情。
3 min Song · We Grew So Big — chorus + Thursday verse
Chorus with the actions — today one child holds the ukulele with you and strums the last chord — then the new verse:
Thursday's verse: Thank you, teacher, thank you true, (hands together, a deep bow)
Thank you for the year with you! (both hands out to the whole room, slowly)
Sing this one quietly. It is the only quiet verse in the song and it is the one the parents will remember on Friday, so do not let it get shouted. Straight back into the big chorus afterwards.
3 min Game · Name that song
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Ten song-title cards face down. You play two bars only — no words — and they shout the title.
Good ones to play: Two Little Eyes · Autumn Is Here! · I Love My Family · A Little Seed · Ring the Bells, It's Christmas! · How's the Weather? · Gong Xi, Happy New Year! · Blast Off! · Dinosaur Stomp · Summer, Summer, Sunny Day. Whoever gets it turns the card over and the class sings one chorus, standing.
This is a memory game, not new material. One chorus each, no verses, no teaching, and no correcting — the words come back on their own or they don't. The week's own song is still “We Grew So Big”, and it is the only one we are still learning.
1 min Close
Standing in a ring, hands together ready to bow. Whisper → normal → shout:
Got 3 spare minutes? Thank You, Omu! (Oge Mora) — everybody takes a little of the stew, and then everybody brings something back. Read it just before the thank-you cards go on the shelf.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — Thank You + Our Songs! We practiced the word “thank you” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “We were so small… now we are SO BIG!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Day 5 · The Graduation Ceremony + the Whole Year
Today's words: good-bye — and graduation · friend · thank you · grow, the whole week, and the whole year
2 min Magic Box hook
The box comes out bulging and will not close, and the whole year is laid out on the mat behind it.
Pull each thing out and hold it up in complete silence. They will supply the word before you can.
The photograph → “Little me!” The cap → “Graduation!” The memory box → “I remember!” The ukulele → “Thank you!”
Last of all, one small thing left in the bottom: a certificate with a real name on it. Read the name out. Then wave it, slowly, high. “GOOD-BYE!”
4 min Teach · Good-bye, then the whole year
Everybody stands. We tell the whole week with our bodies, twice — slow, then fast:
I was so little, (crouch right down)
Now I've grown, (rise onto tiptoe)
Graduation day — (both hands lower the cap onto your head)
Thank you, friends, (hands together, bow all the way round)
Good-bye — but not for long! (a big slow wave, then both arms wide)
Then walk the mat, September to June, and let them name it: I'm special · my body · five senses · feelings · autumn · food · family · my house · plants · helpers · Christmas · winter · Beijing · China · 春节 · the continents · the oceans · Africa · spring · habitats · the Earth · the universe · the solar system · space · dinosaurs · summer. Say the true thing at the end of the walk: you did all of that, and in September you could not say “hello”.
Littles do the five gestures and shout the five words. Bigs owe you a whole sentence each: “I am big now.” “Thank you, teacher.” “Good-bye, my friends — I will come back!”
Teacher fails: start handing out the certificates to the parents instead, very solemnly, shaking each of them by the hand. Keep going until the children stop you.
Chinese moment: the 再见 card completes the row — 长大 · 毕业 · 朋友 · 谢谢 · 再见, the whole week on the mat. Say 《赠汪伦》's last line together, slowly: 桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情。 A friend came down to the water to sing good-bye, and the poet never forgot it. That is exactly what today is. Then, all together: 老师再见！朋友再见！
3 min Song · We Grew So Big — Friday verse, the WHOLE song, then the medley
Friday's verse: Good-bye, good-bye — but not for long! (a big slow wave with both hands)
We'll come back and sing our song! (point back at the classroom door, then arms wide)
The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, standing in the ring with the parents behind them. They learned it one verse a morning without ever noticing, and this run-through is the review of the week.
Then the medley — the review of the year. One chorus each, in order, no verses: Where Do You Live? → This Is My Earth → Up the Mountain, Down the River → Love the Earth → The Big Bang Boom → Round and Round → Blast Off! → Dinosaur Stomp → Dig, Dig, Dig → Summer, Summer, Sunny Day — and straight back into the “We Grew So Big” chorus to finish. Hold the song-title cards up as you go so nobody is lost; if a chorus has gone, skip it and keep moving.
3 min Game · The graduation ceremony
“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Caps on. Everybody sits in the ring; the parents sit behind. Exactly what we practised on Tuesday: walk · stop · bow · cap on.
Littles walk it holding a friend's hand, exactly as agreed on Tuesday. Bigs go alone, take it with two hands and say it out loud: “Thank you!” Every child hands their thank-you card to the person they made it for on the way back.
Then the class photograph, everybody in, teachers included — and one silly one straight afterwards.
Same clap for every child, and read every name slowly enough to get it right. Somebody in this room will remember this two minutes for thirty years.
1 min Close + certificates
Standing in the ring, certificates held in two hands, caps on. All five gestures, one last time:
Got 3 spare minutes? The Kissing Hand (Audrey Penn) — the good-bye book, and the one that lets a child cry about it without anybody making a fuss. Then send them out of the door with their folder: photographs, timeline strip, worksheet, certificate.
📲 Share with parents
🐳 Whale Class today — The Graduation Ceremony + the Whole Year! We practiced the words “good-bye”, “graduation”, “friend”, “thank you” and “grow” together in circle time, with songs, games and lots of repetition to help it stick. By the end we were all chanting together: “We were so small… now we are SO BIG!” 🎉 Ask your little one to show you at home! 💜
Tap Copy, then paste into your class WhatsApp / parent group.
Theme Song · “We Grew So Big”
The one song of the week — sung at every circle. Same chorus daily, one new verse each morning, full song on Friday, then the year's medley.
The four chords
Tempo: bright and marching, and a big rest before “SO big!” so the whole room can jump into it together. Four shapes: C, F, G7 and Am — Am is one finger and it carries the two lines that make the parents cry, so it is worth the five minutes. Every verse is only C and G7.
Chorus — sing it every single day
CWe were so small, and Fnow we're SO Cbig! (crouch tiny, then stretch tall)
AmLook how we Cgrew — let's G7dance a Cjig! (everybody jumps)
CThank you, teachers, Fthank you, Cfriends, (hands together, bow both ways)
AmSing our Csong — it G7never Cends! (arms wide)
Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who crouches tiny, shoots up tall and bows to a friend has understood the week, whether or not a single word comes out.
One verse a day — every verse is just C and G7
Monday · Grow
CLittle, little, little me, (crouch smaller on each “little”)
G7Now I'm big Cas big can be! (shoot up onto tiptoe, arms right up)
Tuesday · Graduation
CCap on my head and a smile so wide, (hands on head, then draw a big smile)
G7Walk to the front Cwith a little pride! (four proud steps, then stand still)
Wednesday · Remember
CStars and dinosaurs, seeds and snow, (point up · stomp · hands opening · falling fingers)
G7All the things Cwe got to know! (sweep both hands round the circle)
Thursday · Thank you
CThank you, teacher, thank you true, (hands together, a deep bow)
G7Thank you for Cthe year with you! (both hands out to the whole room)
Friday · Good-bye
CGood-bye, good-bye — but not for long! (a big slow wave)
G7We'll come back Cand sing our song! (point at the door, then arms wide)
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 in a ring with the parents behind them, doubles as the review of the whole week.
Friday's medley — the one exception of the year. After the whole song, one chorus each, in order: Where Do You Live? · This Is My Earth · Up the Mountain, Down the River · Love the Earth · The Big Bang Boom · Round and Round · Blast Off! · Dinosaur Stomp · Dig, Dig, Dig · Summer, Summer, Sunny Day — then back into the “We Grew So Big” chorus to finish. These are remembered, not taught: no verses, no rehearsing, no correcting.
If you're brand new to ukulele
Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → Am → G7 → C. That is the entire chorus, and every verse is just C and G7. C is one finger, Am is one finger, F is two, G7 is three; learn them in that order and leave G7 till last. If your fingers get stuck on Friday of all days, put the uke down, hold the class photograph up instead and do the finger-play: the actions carry the meaning either way, and after a whole year they will sing it without you.
Print Pack · Wall + Shelf
One click prints the whole week: theme wall posters, the song sheet, the memory-shelf material and the graduation certificates.
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. Page 17 is the certificates — print one sheet per two children, on the thickest paper you have, and write the names in by hand before Friday.
Page 1 · Theme poster
Pages 2–6 · Word posters for the wall
Page 7 · Sentence frames poster
“I am ___ now.”
“Thank you, ___.”
“You are my ___.”
“I can ___!”
“Good-bye, ___!”
Page 8 · Song chorus poster
Look how we grew — let's dance a jig!
Thank you, teachers, thank you, friends,
Sing our song — it never ends!
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
CWe were so small, and Fnow we're SO Cbig!
AmLook how we Cgrew — let's G7dance a Cjig!
CThank you, teachers, Fthank you, Cfriends,
AmSing our Csong — it G7never Cends!
Monday · Grow
CLittle, little, little me, G7now I'm big Cas big can be!
Tuesday · Graduation
CCap on my head and a smile so wide, G7walk to the front Cwith a little pride!
Wednesday · Remember
CStars and dinosaurs, seeds and snow, G7all the things Cwe got to know!
Thursday · Thank you
CThank you, teacher, thank you true, G7thank you for Cthe year with you!
Friday · Good-bye
CGood-bye, good-bye — but not for long! G7We'll come back Cand sing our song!
Each day: chorus → today's verse → chorus. Friday: the whole song top to bottom, then one chorus each of the year's songs — Where Do You Live? · This Is My Earth · Up the Mountain, Down the River · Love the Earth · The Big Bang Boom · Round and Round · Blast Off! · Dinosaur Stomp · Dig, Dig, Dig · Summer, Summer, Sunny Day — and back into this chorus to finish.
Page 10 · Graduation 3-part cards — control cards (keep whole)
Page 11 · Graduation 3-part cards — cut apart (pictures + labels)
Pages 12–13 · When I was little / Now I am big sorting signs (2 full pages)
Page 14 · Then / now sorting cards — cut apart
The first six belong to when I was little 小时候, the last six to now I am big 长大了 — but never tell them that. The child looks at the card, decides, and lays it under one of the two signs. Control of error: once the class has sorted them together, draw a small blue dot on the backs of the six baby things and a gold dot on the backs of the six big-kid things, so they can turn them over and check themselves afterwards. Then they tell you: “The bottle was when I was little. The cup is now — I can drink it myself!”
Page 15 · I Can action cards — cut apart
Page 16 · ME, THEN AND NOW — worksheet (print one per child)
Draw little you in the first box — the you who came here in September. Draw big you in the second box, with your graduation cap on. Then colour the cap at the top and tell me one thing big you can do that little you could not!
My name is
When I grow up I want to be
Page 17 · Graduation certificates — cut in half, one per child, names written in before Friday
This certificate belongs to
who came to us in September, stayed the whole year, and grew SO big.
This certificate belongs to
who came to us in September, stayed the whole year, and grew SO big.
Page 18 · Memory shelf guide (for you — tape inside the cupboard)
For one week only the theme shelf becomes a memory shelf. 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. On Friday afternoon the whole shelf goes home in the children's folders.
| Tray 1 · Growth timeline from MONDAY's Magic Box | Each child's photographs, first day → today, laid out in order along a paper strip. Control: the date written on the back of each photograph — turn them over and check. Language: “first · then · now · little · big.” Bigs: “I was little in September. I am big now.” |
| Tray 2 · The year memory box from WEDNESDAY's Magic Box | The six real objects — globe, dinosaur, rocket, bird's nest, 红包, pinwheel — and ten month cards to match them to. Control: a small photograph of the object on the back of the right month card. This is the whole year's vocabulary sitting in one tray; leave it out and let them empty it twenty times. |
| Tray 3 · Song request cards from THURSDAY's Magic Box | One picture card per song of the year. A child draws one, brings it to you, and the class sings one chorus of it — a memory game, never a lesson. Control: the picture and the title agree on the card. Beside it the 12 sorting cards (page 14) under the two signs (pages 12–13): 小时候 or 长大了? And the action cards (page 15) face down: draw one, do it, say it — “I can write my name!” |
| Tray 4 · Make a thank-you card practical life, fine motor, from THURSDAY | One folded card, a glue stick, a dish of paper flowers, a pencil for the name — and a finished model sitting beside it. Fold, write your name, glue on a flower. Control: the tray holds the materials for exactly one card, so when the tray is empty the card is finished; the model shows what “finished” looks like. The cards are given away by hand at Friday's ceremony. Beside it, crayons and the “Me, then and now” sheets (page 16). |
Laminate pages 10–15 if you can — but this is the last week, so honestly: use them, then send them home with the children who liked them best. The certificates (page 17) need names written in before Friday and the thickest paper in the cupboard. The row of 汉字 cards the class builds up (长大 · 毕业 · 朋友 · 谢谢 · 再见) stays on the mat all week; it is the last display of the year and it comes down last of all.
End of Week Wrap-Up
Friday recap — read it at the ceremony, then print it for the parent wall or the WeChat photo. This one is the end of the year.
Jun 14–18 · Theme: Graduation · Sound of the week: sh · the last week of the year
What we did
One whole year. On Monday your child's first-day photograph came out of the Magic Box and went round the circle, and nobody could believe how small everybody was. On Tuesday the cap and the certificate arrived and we practised the walk — walk, stop, bow, cap on — until it was easy. On Wednesday we opened the memory box: a globe, a dinosaur, a rocket, a bird's nest, a 红包 and a pinwheel, one object for each big stretch of the year, and they named every single one with their eyes shut. On Thursday we thanked everybody who helped us and made a card for them, and played name that song — two bars on the ukulele and twenty children shouting the title. And on Friday they put the caps on, walked to the front one at a time, took their certificate with two hands and said “Thank you!” — and then sang their graduation song and one chorus of every song of the year, straight through, without stopping.
Words we learned
Sentences to listen for at home
“I am big now.” · “Thank you, teacher.” · “You are my friend.” · “Good-bye, my friends — I will come back!”
Our littlest friends say one word with a gesture — “Big!” on tiptoe, or “Bye-bye!” with a big slow wave — and at 2 and 3 that is a very big win indeed.
Our song · “We Grew So Big”
“We were so small, and now we're SO big! Look how we grew — let's dance a jig! Thank you, teachers, thank you, friends, Sing our song — it never ends!”
We sang it on the ukulele every day and added a new verse each morning — grow, graduation, remember, thank you, good-bye. Ask your child to sing the chorus and watch their hands: they crouch down tiny, shoot up tall, bow to you, and throw their arms wide at the end. Then ask for “Blast Off!” or “Dinosaur Stomp” — they know ten songs by heart now.
Dark Phonics · the sh sound — and the grand review
Our very last sound is sh — the quiet one, one long finger on the lips: shine, ship, shoe, sheep, and shhhh. Our line for it is “sh! be still — sheep go baba!” It is a lovely one to finish on, because it is the sound the whole room makes when the ceremony is about to begin. And because it is graduation, we sang the grand review as well: the alphabet A–Z straight through, the five short vowels a e i o u, and the double endings ll · ff · ss, each one hooked to a word from the year — big bang, rocket, dinosaur, shell. That is a whole alphabet learned in one year, in a second language.
Try this over the summer (2 minutes)
1 · Put the first-day photograph and Friday's class photograph side by side on the fridge and let them tell you the difference — in English: “little · big.”
2 · Keep the songs going in the car. Ten choruses, no homework, and the words stay.
3 · Hunt the sh sound with a finger on your lips: shoe, ship, shop, sheep, fish, wash.
4 · Let them read you the picture books they know. A child who “reads” from memory is reading.
5 · Say “thank you” out loud to somebody in front of them, every day. That one turned out to be the whole year's real lesson.
That is the end of our year together. They arrived not knowing “hello” and they are leaving able to say “I am big now,” “I found a fossil,” “The bird lives in a nest,” “I love the Earth.” They know ten songs by heart, the whole alphabet, every short vowel and a good handful of digraphs. Today they wore a cap, walked to the front on their own, and sang every song of the year straight through. 夏至 falls on 21 June, the longest day of the summer — a good day to go outside and start the holiday properly.
Thank you for lending them to us. Come back and sing with us any time — 老师再见！朋友再见！🐳
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)
| Social studies: a rite of passage, and how a year is closed | Day 1 the first-day photographs — the same person, ten months apart · Day 2 what graduation actually is, said plainly · Day 5 the ceremony itself: name called, walk to the front alone, certificate taken with two hands, class photograph |
| Whole-year review (the one review week of the year) | Day 3 the memory box — one object per stretch of the year, named with the eyes shut and placed in its month · Day 4 the song-title cards · Day 5 the prop walk, September to June, along the mat, and the ten-chorus medley. Still one taught song: the old choruses return as a memory game, never as new material |
| Sensorial: stereognostic (feel and name) | Day 3 memory-box guessing — eyes closed, hand in, name the object and the month before it comes out. Control: pull it out and look |
| Language: 3-part cards, two scripts | Tray 3 · graduation 毕业 · friend 朋友 · thank you 谢谢 · grow 长大 · good-bye 再见 — Littles match picture→picture on the control card, Bigs lay the English labels underneath |
| Classification + time: 小时候 / 长大了 | Twelve sorting cards under two signs, baby things and big-kid things. Control: blue and gold dots on the backs, added by the class after we sort them together. It teaches then and now without a worksheet |
| Maths: sequence and ordinality | Tray 1 the growth timeline — photographs laid out first → last, dates on the backs as the control · Tray 2 six objects matched to ten month cards · Day 2 the four-step parade counted out loud: walk, stop, bow, cap on |
| Practical life: making and giving a card | Tray 4 fold, write your name, glue on a flower. Control: the tray holds materials for exactly one card and a finished model sits beside it. Every child's card is given by hand, to a named person, at Friday's ceremony |
| Chinese 中文 · 夏至 | One 汉字 card a day on the mat: 长大 · 毕业 · 朋友 · 谢谢 · 再见 · 好朋友 said hand-in-hand on Day 3 · 谢谢老师 with the bow on Day 4 · 李白《赠汪伦》 introduced Thursday and said together at Friday's ceremony: 桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情 · 老师再见！朋友再见！ · 夏至 falls 21 June, in the holiday |
| SEL: pride, gratitude and saying good-bye | Day 2 practising the walk so that nobody has to be brave on the day, and the same clap for every child · Day 4 naming out loud everybody who helped us, 阿姨 and driver and cook included · Day 5 good-bye said properly, out loud, to faces — and a book that lets a child cry about it without a fuss |
| Inclusion | Day 2 the littles' Friday walk is agreed on Tuesday — hand held, decided in advance, never sprung on them · every child gets a certificate, the same clap and the same words · a child who will not wear the cap does not wear the cap |
| Key phrases, age 3 | “Big!” · “Bye-bye!” · “Thank you!” · “Friend!” · “I remember!” — each one drilled with its gesture (stretch tall · big wave · hands together and bow · hold a friend's hand · hands to the temples) |
| Key phrases, age 4–5 | “I am big now.” · “Thank you, teacher.” · “You are my friend.” · “I was little in September.” · “Good-bye, my friends — I will come back!” — one frame introduced per day |
| Movement game | Day 1 then & now (find the friend in the photograph) · Day 2 graduation parade practice · Day 3 memory-box guessing · Day 4 name that song · Day 5 the ceremony, one child at a time |
| Songs | One taught song, deliberately: “We Grew So Big” at every circle — chorus daily as a finger-play, one new verse per day (grow · graduation · remember · thank you · good-bye), full-song finale on Friday. C · F · G7 · Am on the ukulele. Then the year's medley: one chorus each of ten songs, remembered, not taught |
| Books | Leo the Late Bloomer — Robert Kraus (D1) · Oh, the Places You'll Go! — Dr Seuss, two spreads only (D2) · My Friend Is Sad — Mo Willems (D3) · Thank You, Omu! — Oge Mora (D4) · The Kissing Hand — Audrey Penn (D5) — optional 3-min read-alouds |
| Phonics (Dark Phonics) | sh (lesson 42, “Sh! Be Still”) — one long finger on the lips: shine, ship, shoe, sheep. “Sheep go baba!” Plus the graduation grand review as a ritual, not a new lesson: the alphabet A–Z, the five short vowels a e i o u, and the double endings ll · ff · ss, each hooked to a word from the year |
| Assessment: age 3 goal | Stretch tall and say “Big!”, wave and say “Bye-bye!”, and name three objects out of the memory box by touch — checked in Day 5's quick-fire prop round out of the Magic Box |
| Assessment: age 4–5 goal | Walk to the front alone when their name is called, take the certificate with two hands, look at the person and say “Thank you!” — rehearsed on Day 2 and done for real on Day 5, in front of the parents |
Whale Class 🐳 · This page updates each week with the new theme.