April 2015 Monthly Overview

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Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

4/6:        All About South America/ Africa

  • Finding South American on a globe.
  • Learning about the people, languages, and cultures of South America.
  • Learning all about the Amazon Rainforest.
  • Finding Africa on a globe.
  • Learning about the people, languages, and cultures of Africa.

 

4/13:     All About Europe/ Asia

  • Finding Europe on a Globe.
  • Learning about the people, languages, and cultures of Europe.
  • Finding Asia on a Globe.
  • Learning about the people, languages, and cultures of Asia.
  • Teapot Craft, Tasting French Food, and making Japanese Fans.

 

4/20:     All About Asisa / Australia / Antartica

  • Finding Australia on a globe.
  • Learning about the people, languages, and cultures of Australia.
  • Finding Antarctica on a globe.
  • Learning about Arctic animals and designing a flag for Antarctica.
  • Vocano experiment, learning about Japanese music.

    

4/27:     All About the Ocean

  • Naming and locating all of the oceans.
  • Learning about Jellyfish.
  • All about Sharks.
  • Learning about Crabs and Octopuses.

 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

4/6: Aa

4/13: Cc

4/20: Rr

4/27: Tt

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

4/6: and

4/13: can

4/20: rag

4/27: the

 

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  • Try making a new Italian recipe together as a family.
  • Take a trip to the Cleveland Aquarium and ask your child how many different types of sea creatures they can name!
  • Learn to count to 10 together, as a family, in Japanese.
  • Practice naming the continents at home using a globe or a map.

Academic Enrichment April 2015 | Tallmadge Campus

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Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm.  This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.

4/6: Introduction to Pronouns

  • Rules of the pronouns
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/13: Introduction to Adjectives

  • Rules of the adjectives
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/20:  Introduction to Adverbs

  • Rules of the adverbs
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/27: Introduction to Prepositions

  • Rules of the prepositions
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

Synonyms of the week

4/6: NICE, friendly, courteous, good, pleasant, charming
4/13: SNEAKY, underhanded, dishonest, tricky, secretive, sly
4/20: BRIGHT, shiny, glowing, dazzling, lighted, vivid
4/27: DULL, dark, dreary, somber, boring, tedious

 

Letter / Sight Words

4/6: Yy / that
4/13: Zz / not
4/20:  AT Word Family / I, see, a, the, look, at
4/27:  IG Word Family / I, see, a, the, look, my, can, you, it, for, big

 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Practice using the different synonyms of the week in a sentence together.
  • Practice identifying different parts of speech when reading together.

Academic Enrichment April 2015 Overview | Cuyahoga Falls

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Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm.  This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.

 

4/06:  Introduction to Pronouns

  • Rules of the pronouns
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/13:  Introduction to Adjectives

  • Rules of the adjectives
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/20: Introduction to Adverbs

  • Rules of the adverbs
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

4/27: Introduction to Conjunctions

  • Rules of the conjunctions
  • Worksheets, grammar symbols, diagramming sentences

 

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
4/27: look many

 

Synonyms of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.
4/27: Talk

 

Mr. John will be sending homework home to reinforce these lessons. Please turn homework into the BLUE box outside of Mr. John’s classroom

 

April 2015 Monthly Overview

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Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

3/30:      Countries from North & South America

  • North America: countries, culture, climate, & landmarks and cuisine
  • South America: countries, culture, climate, & landmarks and cuisine
  • Languages, flags and location on the map

 

4/06: Countries from Europe

  • MONDAY 4/06– NO SCHOOL (Easter Monday)
  • Europe: countries, culture, climate
  • Famous landmarks and cuisine
  • Languages, flags and location on the map

 

4/13: Countries from Europe (Week Two) and Africa

  • Europe: countries, culture, climate, famous landmarks and cuisine
  • Africa: countries, culture, climate, famous landmarks and cuisine
  • Languages, flags and location on the map

 

4/20: Australia, Asia and Antarctica

  • Antarctica, The Arctic region, map, flag, climate and animals
  • Windiest Place on Earth; covered in ice
  • Australia: countries, culture, climate, famous landmark and cuisine
  • Asia: countries, culture, climate, and famous landmarks and cuisine
  • Languages, flags and location on the map

 

4/27: Lie Cycles

  • Life cycle of the plant/bean
  • Life cycle of toads/frogs
  • Life cycle of butterflies

 

**There will be no words or letters of the week for April 06-April 20. We will use this time to practice individual lines with students**

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

4/27: Zz

 

Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

4/27: BAM, cam, dam, ham, jam, lamb, ram

 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • As a family, come up with a food or dessert that authentic from a different country and make it together.
  • Pretend to go on a trip. Place chairs in the middle of the room (as your plane), bring a map! Point to a country and fly there! Talk about the animals you would see, the weather, people and anything else you would see or experience!
  • We will be practicing individual lines and songs in class in preparation for the Festival, lines will be sent home next week; please practice your child’s lines at home too!

 

Ms. Brandy & Ms. Beth’s February 2015 Newsletter

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Weeks 23, 24, 25 & 26

Our first visitors from the 3 – 6 classrooms spent the week with us, getting familiar with the work we do and the opportunities we have to offer. Elementary students loved giving tours and sharing lessons with our new friends. By the end of the week, we were sad to see them return to their original classrooms but we also looked forward to the next week’s visitors!

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The student’s end to preparing their leaf research for professional publication has come to an end. They learned about the editing process and why formatting across the board was important to obtain a cohesive book. The Elementary voted to keep the final bound copy in the classroom. We hope to make the bound book available at the next parent conferences so that you can see all of their hard work realized!

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Reading groups have turned directions from reading current event articles to other connected activities. One group is working on a book about Clara Barton. These students have been really excited about her life and look forward to each meeting to read more. Another group is focusing on Creative Writing Techniques that writers use to grab the reader’s attention and aid the students in adding some pizazz in their writing. Some techniques discussed and tried out were Alliteration, Simile and Oxymoron.

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While disappointment of snow days loomed over some of our plans, the snow did not stop everything! The Elementary worked extremely hard on individual and class Art projects for the upcoming Art Extravaganza and finalizing their proposals for the Science Fair. The Science Fair proposal is the most difficult part of the Science Fair project. In fact, the proposal is a working document for your student to carry out their entire study. Students came up with experiment ideas and, like in real science studies; had to make adjustments, do research and think outside of the box to ensure their experiments were designed in such a way to find results following the Scientific Method in a safe manner. Students listed detailed steps of their experiments to ensure replication by other scientists and wrote clear hypotheses to allow for trusted results to be found. They also had fun creating catchy names and listing their items needed for their unique experiments! Students also prepared different ways to collect their data from their experiments for analyzing and described why they were interested to their pursuit. We have some budding scientists preparing to become successful explorers in the research field!

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Latin

In February the third-and-fourth grade Latin class started the month by reviewing cardinal numbers from one to ten. The next class featured a project involving Latin phrases appropriate for Valentine’s
Day. After using paper hearts to construct flowers, the students then decorated them with colored labels expressing Latin phrases and their equivalent meanings in English. In the following class the students learned the ordinal numbers from first to tenth. Finally, in the last class of the month students pronounced and translated a short story based upon characters from the Roman fort at Vindolanda in Britain. To supplement their understanding, the students watched a slideshow on Vindolanda and Hadrian’s Wall, teachers also like to help their student perform better with the help of health and mind supplements, and you can buy modafinil online for this.

 

The first-and-second grade class began the month by reviewing the major Olympian deities. In the next class the students completed the same Valentine’s Day project mentioned above. The following class featured a discussion of the Trojan War and the construction of models of the Trojan Horse and the city of Troy. In the final class of the month the students learned about Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at Troy.

 

 

Academic Enrichment March 2015 Overview | Cuyahoga Falls

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Our Academic Enrichment time is daily from 12:00-1:00pm.  This time is specifically designed for our Kindergarten students to join together as a group to work and progress through the advanced materials and lessons in the Montessori primary curriculum. Throughout the school day in their classroom they are still working individually with their classroom teacher on these and other materials at their level.

3/2:       Geometric Shapes and Constructive Boxes

  • Geometric Cabinet
  • Hexagon, rectangle and blue rectangle boxes, plus amazing candy boxes in portland or
  • Creating triangles, rhombus, trapezoid, parallelogram, squares, etc

 

3/9: Parts of Speech/ Grammar

  • Vowels, consonants and their rules

 

3/16: Parts of Speech/ Grammar

  • Introduction to nouns and their rules (name of a person, place, or thing)
  • Introduction to verbs and their rules (action word or something you do)
  • Vowels, consonants and their rules
  • Using worksheets, diagramming sentences and sandpaper letters

 

3/23: Parts of Speech/ Grammar

  • Introduction to the article
  • “the” hooks up with anything
  • “a” or “an”/ “a” hooks up with only consonants, “an” hooks up with only vowels
  • Using worksheets, diagramming sentences and sandpaper letters

 

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

3/02: write, them

3/09: then, out

3/16: they, that

3/23: have, this

 

Synonyms of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

3/02: WET, damp, moist, soggy, drenched, soaked

3/09: HEALTHY, hearty, athletic, sound, strong, fit

3/16: SICK, weak, unhealthy, ailing, infected, frail

3/23: MEAN, selfish, unkind, malicious, hurtful

 

 

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Practice using the different synonyms of the week in a sentence together.

 

Mr. John will be sending homework home to reinforce these lessons. Please turn homework into the orange box outside of Mr. John’s classroom.  Please email him if you have any questions: jkotradi@thesmarterkids.com.

 

Mr. John’s March 2015 Monthly Overview

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Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

3/02:     Ancient Rome

  • Roman culture and traditions
  • Buildings and contributions

 

3/09:       Pollution and Recycling

  • What is pollution? Air, water, noise, littering
  • What is recycling? Ways to recycle
  • Ways to save energy
  • Arbor Day/Earth Day

 

3/16: Oceans

  • Ocean Life, Whales
  • Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
  • Salt water, fresh water
  • Art Extravaganza I Friday, March 14th 6:00-8:00pm : school gym & classrooms

 

3/23: Landmarks of the USA/The state of OH-IO

  • OHIO, surrounding state, state flag, flower, bird, state seal, historical landmarks
  • Landmarks such as Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge, and Grand Canyon

 

Week of  3/30   SPRING/EASTER BREAK-  NO SCHOOL

  • School Resumes Tuesday, April 7th

 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

3/02: Vv

3/09: Ww

3/16: Xx

3/23:Yy

 

Rhyming Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

3/02: BEN, den, hen, men, pen, ten, yen

3/09: BEG, keg, meg, peg, leg

3/16: BEL, gel, mel, nel, sell, well

3/23: BAC, hack, jack, lack, mack, knack

 

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  • Look for our words of the week when reading a story, cut out pictures beginning with the letters of the week.
  • Play “I Spy” with items beginning with the letter of the week, or find things around your home that begin with the letter of the week.
  • What can you recycle at home? How can you conserve excess energy?
  • Take a trip to the Cleveland Aquarium together and explore ocean life!

Ms. Kristen’s March 2015 Monthly Overview

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Themes of the Week  (in addition to Montessori Work time)

3/2:        All About Dr. Seuss

  • Discuss Dr. Seuss and his life.
  • What makes a rhyme?
  • Cat In The Hat Craft
  • Read “Oh The Places You’ll Go”.-Discussing where we would like to travel, if we could travel anywhere in the world.
  • Try Green Eggs and Ham.

 

3/9:        All About Outer Space

  • Learning all about the Moon.
  • What is a Star?
  • Discovering the planets in our solar system.
  • Learning all about Astronauts.
  • All about constellations.

 

3/16:     All About Ohio

  • What makes a state?
  • Famous sites in N.E. Ohio.
  • Learning about our state flag.
  • Learning about our state bird, insect, and flower.
  • Graphing how many of us life in Akron, Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, etc.

    

3/23:     All About North America

  • Learning about the United States and its culture and customs.
  • Learning about Canada and its culture and customs.
  • Learning about Mexico and its culture and customs.
  • Learning about Jamaica and its culture and customs.

 

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child.

3/2: Qq

3/9: Bb

3/16: Ww

3/23: Zz

 

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

3/2: Quick

3/9: Bud

3/16: Was

3/23: Zip

 

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  • Read a Dr. Seuss story with your child. Point out the rhyming words. Writing your own story with rhyming words together!
  • Visit the Planetarium at the Natural History Museum in Cleveland.
  • Practice your address with your child. This is very important for them to start learning early!
  • Try food at a local Mexican restaurant.

Ms. Kate’s March 2015 Monthly Overview

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What I will learn at school this month in Ms. Kate’s Class…

Themes of the Week (in addition to Montessori Work time)

3/02: All about Dr. Seuss

  1. Making and eating green eggs and ham together with graph
  2. Reading the “Cat in the Hat” and making a craft
  3. Rhyming word activities, mystery word activities using Dr. Suess books
  4. Silly Socks coloring graph

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. A variety of fun crafts and activities with Dr. Seuss.

3/09: Art Appreciation

  1. Claude Monet and his use of pastels
  2. Pablo Picaso and his collages
  3. Jackson Pollack and abstract expressionism
  4. History of Mosiac Art and sculptures

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Learning all about art with Ms. Ashley

3/16: Rainforest

  1. Location of Rainforest and Rainforest themed experiments, activities and crafts
  2. Layers of the Rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory and Forest Floor)
  3. Animals found in the Rainforest
  4. Products that come from the Rainforest

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Learning all about the rainforest, animals and crafts with Ms. Ashley.

3/23: My Five Senses

  1. Hearing with a sound match game
  2. Sight observation and memory game
  3. Touch mystery bag game
  4. Taste test
  5. My sense of smell game

Afternoon Group Lesson: Reiterating the letter and calendar of the week. Having fun with my five senses with Ms. Ashley.

3/30-4/7 SPRING/EASTER BREAK

Letters of the Week: Try to find objects that begin with each letter wherever you go with your child. 3/02: Vv

3/09: Ww

3/16: Xx

3/23: Yy

Sight Words of the Week: Try to find each word in books as you read to your child.

3/02: this


3/09: they


3/16: said

3/23: from

Things to do at Home this Month to reinforce our themes:

  1. While reading a book have your child point to all of the letter of the week she/he can find. Have them do this with the sight words as well. Play I‐Spy using things that only start with the letter of the week/ sight words.
  2. Make “Cat and the Hat” Cookies together! Follow this link: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/drseusscraftprojects/a/ CatHatCookie.htm
  3. Create a family portrait together using the material discussed in class (oil pastels, mosaic, etc)
  4. Take a walk outside or in your home. Talk about the different colors you see all around you. Then create a picture of the colors 
and patterns you saw.
  5. Is there a Jungle in your Kitchen? Follow this link http://www.animaled.com/actrain.htm to find how many items in your kitchen come from the Rainforest!

 

Ms. Courtney’s March 2015 Monthly Overview

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Themes of the week for the month of March

3/2: Dr. Seuss/ Eric Carle

  • The children become familiar with the similarities in an author’s body of work.
  • The children will gain an appreciation for the word play and rhyme featured in the work of Dr. Seuss.
  • The children will identify, produce and extend patterns.

3/9: Insects

  • The children will identify animals that belong in the insect category and those that do not.
  • The children will learn there are over five million different kinds of insects in the world.
  • The children will identify the main parts of an insect.
  • The children will learn ways insects can be helpful and ways insects can be harmful.

3/16:  Plants and Flowers

  • The children will discuss the four elements needed to grow a plant. Soil, seeds, sun and water.
  • The children will observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and flowers.
  • The children will identify major structures of plants (seeds, roots, stems, leaves).
  • The children will understand the life cycle of plants and flowers and what they need to grow.
  • The children will discover that plants provide resources for clothing, food, and oxygen.

3/23: Butterflies and Caterpillars

  • The children will discover that butterflies go through stages of growth & changes called life cycles.
  • The children will design a butterfly of their own using shapes and creativity.
  • The children will create a mobile to represent each stage of the Life Cycle of the Butterfly.

Letters of the week

3/2: Uu

3/9: Vv

3/16: Ww

3/23: Xx

Things to do at home this month to reinforce our themes:

  • Talk to your child about their favorite Eric Carle or Dr. Seuss book and why they find that book interesting.
  • Visit your local library for a Dr. Seuss or Eric Carle reading.
  • Take a walk and see how many insects you can spot.
  • Plant a flower or garden.
  • Visit the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
  • Take a walk and see how many butterflies and caterpillars you can spot
  • Make dinner with foods that start with the letter of the week.