Last week we started our Junior Great Book program. We started off by going over what makes a good listener and how to have a good discussion. The kindergarteners listened to the story, Cornelius which was about a Crocodile who can do some amazing things. He tries to share his tricks with his crocodiles friends, but they do not seem to care. In the end, they start trying his tricks to and Cornelius knows things will never be the same again.
After we read the story, the students participated in activities such as, writing what they were wondering, drawing the crocodiles trying to do the tricks, and they even got to act out a scene from the story!
A Peek Into Next Week
-The students will listen to the story, Big Wolf and Little Wolf.
-The students will learn the vocabulary words: approached, curious, and suspicious.
-The students will participate in discussions and comprehension activities.
Weekly Theme: We were introduced to subtraction with manipulatives (golden beads,dynamic/ borrowing).
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive writing sentences (sometimes silly sentences).
Cultural Subjects: We now can count to ten in 18 languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish, Kiswahili, Welsh).
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Division w/ Golden Beads (Static/No Borrowing)
Synonym Of The Week: MEAN: selfish, unkind, malicious, hurtful
“Free choice is one of the highest of all mental choices” -Maria Montessori
Parents, I wanted to write about the importance of free choice in educating your child as a whole and a few other benefits of being in a Montessori environment for an entire three year cycle, but found an article that I liked even more Increase your chances of success with in no time.(plus there are cool pictures and descriptions of materials)! Here you can read about what your child gains in a Montessori classroom and why our philosophy really makes a difference in this short article. There is also a video if you prefer that way of learning!
Lower Elementary
Upper Elementary
Enrichments by Ms. Erica
REMINDERS:
NO SCHOOL – Friday, January 17 – Parent-Teacher Conferences
NO SCHOOL – Monday, January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Thursday, January 23 – Cleveland Museum of Natural History – First and Second Grade
This week was all about Ice and snow! (Lol,go figure). We read some fantastic books and watched some interesting videos about how icicles are formed, how many points a snowflake has, what a blizzard is, the different shapes a snowflake can form, fun crafts and science experiments that were all about snow and ice!!! Let’s hope we get some snow soon so our kiddos can play in it!!!
Over this past week, the students learned about polar animals. We learned that male Emperor Penguin take care of their baby chicks while the female penguins go to the ocean to eat. The students also learned that polar animals have a layer of blubber or fat to help keep them warm in the arctic temperatures. Multiple students wanted to research on their own about polar animals and then shared what they learned with the class!
A Peek Into Next Week: Ocean Animals
Kindergarten:
This week the kindergartners learned about subtraction. They learned that it means to take away a small number from a larger number. Here are some new vocabulary words they learned: minuend– “A quantity or number from which another is to be subtracted”, subtrahand– “A quantity or number to be subtracted from another”, and difference-“The result of subtracting one number from another.”
A Peek Into Next Week: Subtraction
Reminders:
Parent/Teacher Conferences-Friday, January 17th/NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS/ MLK Day- Monday, January 20th/NO SCHOOL
Enrichment Highlight:
For science this week, we discussed how polar animals have blubber that keeps them warm in the cold weather. This was demonstrated by filling a zip lock bag with shortening to create an insulated layer between a second zip lock bag inside, and having just a single zip lock bag. We stuck both bags in ice cold water and felt the difference. You could hardly feel the cold with the insulated bag!
Telling a story with music! Different instruments represent different characters!
Different instruments create unique sounds. We had so much fun listening and learning the names of instruments.
Learning about absorption with water, paper towels, and a diaper (contains Sodium Polyacrylate).
What will happen? The water is going to dump on her head for sure! The water poured into the container with the paper towel dumped all over Mr. John’s head! What will the water poured into the diaper do?
No water dumped on to her head! She’s completely dry!!!
Let’s try this again! Maybe if we pour lots of water into the container with the diaper it will dump onto our head! Watch out!!!!
We dumped two and a half cups of water into the container with the diaper and we still remained dry! Why???? Because of absorption! The Sodium Polyacrylate in the diaper is more absorbent than the paper towel. The diaper absorbed all of the water keeping us dry!
“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”
Welcome back, families! We were sad to give up our days of sleeping past 5, but so happy to see your children back at school. So far this week we have started our research for the “World’s Fair,” the Lower Elementary are studying Europe, the third years are using the microscope, and the Upper Elementary dissected a squid. Check out the two first graders below to see the new things we are researching and using in our room.
Lower Elementary
Upper Elementary
Enrichments
REMINDERS:
Coming home today in Reading Logs is a paper with Ms. Lisa’s recorder policy. Please review this with your child, sign it together, and return it to school by Tuesday. There will be a folder in the piano bin (underneath where the teachers hang coats) to place it in.
NO SCHOOL – Friday, January 17, for Parent-Teacher Conferences. If you have not signed up yet, please do so below so we can be sure to prepare for your meeting. Remember, we will not have child care during the conference, so children may not attend.
Line Time: We started to learn about our body and how it works. We learned about our five senses (touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste). Did you know you can “feel” with any part of your body? Of course parents know that. Who has not stepped on a Lego in bare feet and screamed in pain? But we associate touch with our fingers (hot/cold, hard/soft, rough/smooth). We hear loud noises, quiet noises, high and low noises, “Are we there yet?”. We need light to see and if we close our eyes we can’t see. The lights being turned on at 5 am on a Saturday morning. There are good smells like cinnamon, vanilla and bad smells like a dirty diaper and vinegar. My favorite was the taste test where we tasted sweet (sugar water), salty (salt water), sour (pure lemon juice), and bitter (unsweetened baking chocolate). The children enjoyed “most” of the tastes. Hehe!!!!
Our newest reptile (Milk Snake), Ian:
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 17 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish).
Peek In The Classroom:
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- MLK/ Diversity
Letter Of The Week- P p
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bun
Next Language is Kiswahili
Upcoming Events: Parent/Teacher Conferences: January 17, Friday 7am to 7pm. Details and sign up to follow soon.
***** NO SCHOOL: January 20, 2020/ Monday for MLK Day. ******
Weekly Theme: We were introduced to subtraction with manipulatives (golden beads, static/no borrowing).
Handwriting: We practiced writing in cursive writing sentences (sometimes silly sentences).
Cultural Subjects: We now can count to ten in 18 languages (English, Sign Language, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish, Kiswahili).
Next Week: Weekly Theme: Subtraction w/ Golden Beads (Dynamic/Borrowing)
Synonym Of The Week: SKINNY: thin, lean, emaciated, scrawny, slender
Line Time: We learned a little bit about family since we are going to be spending a lot more time with family during the holiday season (be it good or be it bad).
Saying Goodbye:
What is your favorite Christmas song (1970 to present): My favorites are Fairy tale of NYC by The Pogues, 2,000 Miles by Pretenders, and Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 17 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian).
Saying
Peek In The Classroom:
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- 5 senses
Letter Of The Week- O o
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bug
Next Language is Irish
Upcoming Events: Winter Break: Off from Saturday, December 21, 2019 returning Monday, January 6, 2019
Parent/Teacher Conferences: January 17, Friday 7am to 7pm. Details and sign up to follow soon.