Links to Kids Songs for Learning Engish

I had a blast working with the teachers at the Christan International School in Phnom Penh last week. 

Many of the teachers at the school are young, energetic, love their students and were eager to learn about the latest researched strategies and utilize them to help kids to achieve their maximum potential.

We discussed in our last Saturday's workshop the fun ways of using songs in learning a new language for kindergarten students. I promised the teachers that I would post the links to some fun and easy action songs for their young students. Here they are: 

Links to Kids Songs

B.I.N.G.O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWgexFRUv5o

5 Little Monkeys jumping on the bed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWO9uP_VJV8

Head and shoulder knee and toes – Exercises song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4eueDYPTIg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNcSKJQfrfM

Five Little ducks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFoUuFq3vHw

Wheels on the bus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP-MbfHFUqs

Twinkle  twinkle little star

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMMJ5IIbHLw

Older Children

Who is the king of the jungle?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJwUvjVq9k4&index=3&list=PL8E00096D93DD30FC

I will follow Jesus – Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6RWOuF1M8

For my entry to a teacher professional workshop, please see the link below.

 http://rtam1206.blogspot.com/2014/11/teacher-training-phnom-penh-cambodia.html

R.T.

Phnom Penh

Cambodia

Learning Style - A Teacher Traning Workshop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Students at the Christian School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

One of the main purposes for my visit to Cambodia is to provide support and training to teachers at a Christian school in Phnom Penh.

We had the first three hour professional development session last Saturday and we talked about the different types of learners in the workshop.

I promised the teachers that I would post my power points on my blog. Here are my notes for the workshop:


  After introducing myself to the teachers of the school, we did an ice breaking activity. I passed a ball around among the teachers, whoever had the ball in his/ her hand, they introduced themselves by telling us:

1.Name   2. the c lass he/she teaches   3. A favorite thing to do      4. A place he/she would like to visit

Next we discuss about the importance of knowing your students.

 •Background - cultural, economic, family 

•Past experiences •Strengths and weaknesses  

•Likes and dislikes   

              What types of learners they are

T            The teachers each did a questionnaire to find out what 

               type of learners they are. In general:  

               There are three types of Learners:

        •Visual Learners

        •Auditory Learners

        •Kinesthetic Learners

          1. Visual Learners

        •29% 

        •prefers to learn by storing images in brain

•use pictures

•words/ texts

•magazines

•info in bullet points

•key words/ post it 

 Practical Strategies for Visual Learners

         •Draw pictures

•Use diagrams

•Graphic organizers

•Summarize and take notes

•Draw timelines 

e.g.Look at your hand

 Write down 1 thing for each finger, something nice about your family. favourite animal/ toy/ game/ Phnom Penh

 For older students:

•Write a piece with a beginning.

•Follow by a paragraph for each finger topic

•Finish with ending paragraph

 2.  Auditory Learners

 •34% 

•prefers to learn by storing sounds in brain 

•learn with friends 

•listen to music while learning 

•repeat work out loud in funny noises 

•use DVD, CD, computer program to have text spoken

 Practical Strategies for Auditory Learners

For young children:

•Whole class discussion 

•Play music as you learn 

•Songs 

 Show and Tell

For older children 

 Small group discussions 

•Class debate 

•Interviews 

•Oral reports to family/ to class Make presentation

 Hands on activities for Auditory Learners:

•Play a simple English song for the students 

•Teach them how to sing it 

•Divide students into groups 

•Have students find and discuss the following in the song:

•Nouns – people, places, things

•Identify the pronouns 

•Identify the adjectives

 •Identify the verbs

3. Kinesthetic Learners 

•37% 

•prefer to learn by movement / touch 

•touch, feel or do things 

•use computers 

•walk around while reading•stand up and stretch 

 Practical Strategies for Kinesthetic Learners

Cambodian teachers sharing hands on activity for students

        •Drawing

         •Role play

        •Finding info in each corner of the room

         Tracing letters

        •Computers 

        •Group work 

          Games 

        •Scavenger Hunt 

         •Puzzles 

Hands – On Activities  Primary / Junior  students

    • Choose and read an age appropriate story to students 

     After reading and explaining the story  
     •Divide students into groups of  3 - 5
     •Have students act out the story 

     Conclusion
     • Teaching children is an important job.
•Children are precious. 

It was a pleasure working with teachers in Cambodia

•Each one of them is unique. 
•We need to understand they
 are unique individuals. 
•Teachers need to meet students’needs.


R.T.
Director - TECA
Toronto Education & Communications Associates
Volunteering in 
Phnom Penh
Cambodia 

Night Markets, Cambodia

Night Market - Angkor, Siem Reap

For those who would like a little night life and night time activities whiling visiting Angkor Wat, the Night Market is an interesting and busy place to be.

After our visit to the Cultural Village during our first day at Angkor, we asked the tour bus driver to drop us off at the Night Market which was not too far away from our hotel. We knew that we could easily hire a tuk tuk to get back.

The Night Market was much busier than we anticipated. It seemed that every tourist visiting Angkor Wat was out in the market shopping and enjoying the cooler night weather.

Night Market - a popular place for locals and tourists alike

There were a lot of stalls selling clothes, food, and various items. It is a great place for tourist to shop for souvenirs.

We found that there was even a better selection of designs or materials for women's clothes. It was not more expensive than the markets in Phnom Penh. 

Local artist selling their craft items

The stalls which captured my interest was the ones selling local arts and craft items in the Night Market.

Outdoor foot massage was available at Angkor's Night Market

There were even outdoor foot massage chairs set up for customers who wanted to enjoy  some massage service right in the open, feel the night breeze and did not mind being seen by passerby.



A few days later, after we finished visiting Angkor, we went back to Phnom Penh and visited a Night Market there as well.

Audience enjoying free musical entertainment at the Night Market by the river, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

 

Free musical entertainment at the Night Market stage, Phnom Penh

The Night Market in Phnom Penh is a popular and busy place! We went on a Sunday evening after dinner at around 7:30p.m. It was jammed packed! At some places, it was shoulder to shoulder.

There was a stage set up and free entertainment was provided to all who came to the Night Market. People just sat on the ground and enjoyed the musical performances.

There were a lot of stalls selling clothes, shoes, toys, decorative items and souvenirs at bargain prices. Cambodians are quite slender in their body types. Unfortunately, since I am of North American size, I could not find something that fit me.

Tourist ferry boats bypassing each other at night, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Night scene in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The sight, smell and sound of visiting a Night Market was quite a different experience.

Since it was a nice evening, we took a walk along the river park and enjoyed the night scene on the waterfront.

There were people everywhere relaxing by the river, eating and talking at the tables and chairs set out by night vendors. It almost had this great festival feel to it. 

Independence Memorial at night, Phnom Penh

 Back home in Toronto, a Sunday night is considered a week night and we would be home getting our minds ready for the next day's work.

In Cambodia, the pace of life is a little different.

We stopped by the Blue Pumpkin Cafe by  the waterfront for an ice cream.

What a treat! I requested a coconut and pineapple yoghourt shake for myself - a special custom order.
 ( Mindful of my sensitive stomach, this was the first time I ordered something cold with ice since I arrived  in Cambodia three weeks ago!)

What a fantastic sensation when that ice cold feeling hit my bone dry throat cooling off my overheated body! 

A home sweet home feeling indeed!



R.T.
A night out around town
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Where to Cash American Express Travellers Cheque in Phnom Penh & Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Cambodia?

Despite of being very careful getting ready for my departure for Cambodia and continuous to be vigilant after landed in Phnom Penh, I still got sick here. Fortunately, it was not too serious. feeling weak and a little feverish, I had to stay in bed and rest for the past two days.

My host from the local church looked after me really well! I am back on my feet and feel much better now! Praise God!

I went to numerous banks in Cambodia. None accepted Travelers Cheques

Today was the first time I felt well enough leaving the church house and trying to do some banking.

It was empowering to venture outside on my own for the first time since I landed in Cambodia.  Running low on cash, my task today was to cash my American Express Travellers cheques purchased in Canada so that I could have some money to spend on food and other necessities.

Little did I know how difficult it was to have my travellers cheques cashed.  I googled where to have my TC exchanged and found that a lot of the articles are quite old. Therefore, I need to take the plunge and just found out for myself.

 I walked for about three hours on Preah Silhanonuk, a major street in the business district of Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, going into every bank I walked past by but was met with the same fate.

Once inside the bank, I took a number, sat and waited for my number on the screen to appear. When it was my turn, I went up to the nicely dressed teller who apologetically gave me the same message:

" Sorry, our bank no longer accepts travellers cheques anymore. Please try another bank."

When asked which bank would handle TC, the teller proceeded to give me some directions to go to another bank which they thought would accept the travelers cheques.

 But none did!!!

I am down to a very small amount of cash and I need to have the TC cashed.
Where should I go? Which bank would take these unwanted American Express travelers cheques?  I would definitely broadcast the bank who accepts them and share the information to help fellow travellers who may be in the same boat as I am.



R.T.

Cambodia Asia Bank - The only bank I know of that accepts American Express Travelers Cheques in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh
Cambodia
November 20, 2014T

P.S.  A couple of days later, a Cambodian friend of mine drove me to CAB - Cambodia Asia Bank near the River side park.

From my experience for the past few days,  most Cambodian banks refuse to handle TC. The only one I know for sure will take them is the Cambodia Asia Bank where I finally was able to cash my American Express Travelers Checks.  Charged for a hefty 5% fees, I lost US$ 5.00 for every hundred dollar TC  cashed. 
 I remember when I was in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, someone also told me about the CAB, but at the time we could not find this bank.
It would have been cheaper and much more convenient for me to simply use my bank or debit card in Cambodia! I have learned my lesson! I hope I have provided the most up to date info on exchanging TC to fellow travelers.





 

Cultural Heritage Village, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Another place we visited on our first day in Angkor was a Cultural Heritage Village.














After visiting the Floating Village, our tour guide made arrangement for us to visit the Culture Heritage Village.












 After being in Phnom Penh for a little while, it was to get away from the big city and be at a quieter town with a slower pace.

The quiet and green setting of the Cultural Village was what we needed!







We got to the Cultural Village in the afternoon and it was not too busy at all.  Our first stop was the wax and history museum which did not take too long, about 20 - 30 minutes depending how much you want to read all the writings about the exhibits. We learned about the various ethnic groups in Cambodia - including, Khmer, Indian and Chinese.

Afterwards, we followed the performance schedule and watched a series of shows consisted of dancing, a traditional Khmer wedding, acrobatic and other performances.

At each dance performance, little language was spoken. For example at the first dancing show we watched, we knew that a couple's courting was not approved by the girl's parents and they were going through some struggles.

Excellent dancing at the Cultural Heritage Village!

The dancing was excellent and the music had a mix of classical and modern  music in it. I loved every minute of it!

A traditional Khmer wedding ceremony being perofrmed

We also watched a Khmer traditional wedding ceremony. Though Khmer was spoken, we understood some of the context by observing the body language of all the actors on stage.

 The schedule was pretty tight and we were able to watch the performance one after the other

At the Chinese Village, we watched one of our favorite shows, which was an acrobatic performance by two girls.

The two girls performed synchronized acrobatic movement demonstrating their extreme flexibility and athletic skills.













The girls seemed to be able to bend their bodies in whatever shape and direction they chose to.

They appeared to have complete control of everyone of their bones and muscles. It was amazing to watch what they could do!

The last show we watched was just a comedy. Again, no language was spoken and we only watched the body movements of each actor. actress.












We understood the story and had a good laugh.











I liked the fact that the producer was trying to be inclusive of Cambodia's main ethnic groups by including the main ethnic characters in the play.

Off course, you have to include audience participation! A young man was called up to play one of the characters and he was a good sport. He cooperated and followed along and did a great job!

After watching the performances at the Heritage Village, we enjoyed a buffet dinner in the dining room.

We noticed that there were a lot of tour buses with busloads of Korean tourists. I did not realize that Cambodia is such a favorite tourist destination for Koreans.

There were free entertainment during dinner time with dancers in colourful costumes.

It was a great day with lots to see and do here at Angkor!

R.T.
Angkor, Siem Reap
Cambodia

Watching a Cambodia Sunset at Angkor Wat

We were not able to get up early enough to watch the sunrise in Angkor Wat. Therefore, we would not miss the opportunity when our tour guide informed us that we could catch the sunset scene by walking up to a mountain nearby.

That was exactly what we did after walking around in the heat under a scorching sun for the entire day. We got to the bottom of the hill shortly after 4p.m.

Tourists waiting to catch the sunset in the Angkor Wat area

Our guide cautioned us that there was no light, lamp of any sort on the hill which we were climbing up. The sun would start going down starting at 5:15p.m. and that it would get dark very quickly within a few minutes.

We must leave very quickly after 5:15pm and should get back down to the bottom of the hill by 5:30p.m. otherwise, we would be descending the hill in total darkness.

After climbing Mt. Fuji last August and experiencing how fast the sun went down in matters of minutes, I took this to heart. My friends and I went as fast as we could up to the top of the hill!  After a flight of stairs, we reached the platform. There were full of people milling around taking pictures, sitting down on the ground and waiting to catch the sunset! It was a busy place indeed!

The West Baray viewing platform

We waited for a few minutes, the sun seemed to be just staying there, not moving at all. Looking at our watch, it was shortly after 5p.m.

We were afraid that there could be a stampede of people rushing down after the sun went down, so we started descending ahead of the others.

A little down from the top of the hill, we came across a platform above the West Barray and there were only a handful people there.

Watching sunset over the West Baray, Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We had a pretty good spot and were able to take a few good pictures of the Cambodian sun setting over the western horizon.

 It was beautiful! We were able to get back down to the bottom of the hill right at 5:30p.m. avoiding the crowd and before darkness engulf the hill!

An educational, fun and an enjoyable trip to Angkor Wat indeed! I am glad I got to visit the 7th Wonder of the World this time in Cambodia!

R.T.
Cambodia