The Kindergarten students were introduced to do addition with carry overs (Dynamic Addition).
The Exchange Game
Handwriting: We practiced cursive… Hopping hippos help. Ill impalas itch. Jazzy Jim jumps. Karma keeps kicking. Lions love licking.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 19 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, Irish, and Kiswahili).
Next Week: Lesson- Multiplication
Sight Words Of The Week- now made
Synonym Of The Week- FAT: big, overweight, bulky, heavy, plump
Line Time: To honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we learned a bit about his life and his accomplishments. The students became actresses and actors as they recreated Rosa Parks making her stand on a bus in Montgomery Alabama. The students enjoyed playing the part of the bus driver, Rosa Parks, “the mean guy”, a police officer, Martin Luther King Jr., and passengers on the bus. We discussed our differences such as skin color, eye color, hair color, and gender. Then we discussed how we are similar. We talked about discrimination and segregation. We talked about if someone with red hair wouldn’t be allowed to do art “just because” they have red hair or if anyone who had blue eyes would have to go to a different classroom with less materials, broken crayons, or no books “just because” they have blue eyes. I had only boys fetch the chairs for the skit and brought that to the attention of the class. We had some very sad girls…. I did let the girls take the chairs back after the skit.
Children celebrating Rosa Park’s victory where anyone can now sit anywhere they want.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 17 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, and Hungarian).
Peek In Our Classroom:
The purpose and aim of Practical Life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence. In the Preliminary Exercises, the child learns the basic movements such as pouring, folding, and carrying. This boy is learning to use a roller and when the playdo is rolled he then uses a cookie cutter.
This student is working with the Africa puzzle map. Not only is she placing the pieces in their place but she is also tracing the countries. Tracing and coloring will strengthen her fine motor skills.
Ms. Kathleen is giving a lesson on Matching which is found in the Language area. Matching at this age is important due to common everyday activities that involve sorting are the beginning concepts of children developing math skills. Children continue sorting and classifying by organizing their understanding of language, people and objects in their environment.
This may look like a Duck and Cover drill but it is actually a student feeling the effects of False Fatigue. False fatigue is a Montessori phenomenon that takes place in EVERY Montessori school. Experienced teachers realize that this phenomenon is “False Fatigue”. This is when students “check out” (roll on the floor, noise level in the room rises, or children will just loose focus). Teachers realize that the children will return to work on their own, and their work will be at an even higher level than before. An episode of False Fatigue happens roughly the same time every day and lasts about 15 minutes. In my class False Fatigue starts around 9:55am/10:00am.
Next Week: Line Time- Skeletal System
Letter Of The Week- Q q
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bub
Next Language will be- Irish
Snack will be brought to you by Mason
Upcoming Events:
*********** No School January 21st, Monday ***********
<<<<<<<< All School Dance February 9, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm >>>>>>>
(((((((((((( Open House February 24, Sunday 2pm to 4pm )))))))))))
—–Valentine Day Party- Friday February 15th (details to follow)
—–Recess attire…. winter coat, hat, gloves or mittens that are waterproof (not cloth or yarn), boots, and snow pants!
If the child does not have one or all of these items they may be asked to stay in.
Fun, Frolic, and Friends:
Each Montessori classroom is unique just as are the students in the classroom. Her sense of style is ________ (you fill in the blank).
Money- The students were introduced to different coins ( (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars) and their values. They were able to explore different coins sensorially and learn how much they are all worth. The students also practiced grouping different coins to count their value when put together.
Cursive Handwriting: The students practiced writing the lowercase cursive words dad, quit, pig, dip, jug and cut.
The students discovered that animals that live in the Arctic (either full time or seasonally) are adapted to extreme conditions. Many animals like the arctic fox have a coat that thickens and changes color to white during the winter as camouflage in the snow (blending into the background).
They even learned that some animals hibernate during the cold season (skunks, chipmunks, and some bears); they go into a very deep, sleep-like state in which their heartbeat slows down. These animals often hibernate in an underground burrow or pit.
They also discovered that many animals like the arctic tern spend the summer months in the Arctic, but leave as the weather turns frigid and food becomes scarce. These animals return again the next summer, repeating this pattern year after year (migrating).
Work Time:
Sandpaper Letters: This child is tracing and identifying the sounds of the letters ‘w’ and ‘m’ and connecting the sounds with the initial sounds of different objects like web and motorcycle.Nine Layout: This child is becoming familiar with the names and relative sizes of the categories: units, tens, hundreds and thousands. He is also discovering that if he has 6 units and adds 1 more unit he will have 7 units.Cards and Counters: This child is demonstrating his knowledge that each number is made up of separate quantities. He is also able to visually see the sequence of numbers and how many separate units go together to form each number.Movable Alphabet: These children are saying the words of different objects and phonetically spelling them:bed, web, kat, ax, pin and kup.Sand Tray Form Drawing: This child is practicing writing the form “humps” in sand. By doing this she is developing multiple skills involving her eyes, arms, hands, memory, posture and body control.Table Sweeping: This child is developing the movements needed to manipulate a broom and dustpan. He is also developing his coordination, independence and concentration.Weaving: This child is developing her dexterity and manipulative skills by repeatedly using her hands to weave the ribbon over and under. She is also developing her fine motor skills and concentration while building her self-confidence.
Reminders:
January 21 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | NO SCHOOL
January 25 | Ms. Courtney | Bring Your Parent to Work Time
February 9 | All School Dance | Fundraiser | 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
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!!!!
The mad dash to discard the bitter bakers chocolate.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 16 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, and Korean).
Guest Readers:
A first grader from Dunbar read Twinkle Little Star.
Pastor Kirk read a story about treating people with respect.
A Montessori classroom consists of multi age students. Here are our newest 4,5 year old students (January Babies):
Peek In Our Classroom:
This is an example of an older student giving a lesson to a younger student. As with all Montessori sensorial materials, the trinomialcube has a purpose. The direct purpose of the trinomial cubes is for the child to practice the steps to properly disassemble and build the cube, while refining dexterity and visual acuity.
These students are working on the Mystery Bag found in the sensorial area. The purpose of the activity is to help children develop their stereognostic sense, our ability to identify objects based on touch alone, and support their material visualization.
Ms. Ashlie is working on rhyming words material found in the Language area and the presentation is drawing a crowd. The ability to recognize and produce rhyming words is an important phonological awareness skill. Research indicates there is a correlation between phonological awareness and reading ability. Working on rhyming skills is usually part of most programs of reading instruction for that reason.
This boy is working on The Memory Game which is found in the Math area. The aim is to train the child’s memory by asking him to retain a numerical symbol in his mind. To help the child transfer the knowledge of the numbers o to 10 from the “specific” material to the objects of daily life. The child is shown a symbol (number) and he goes to another part of the room to retrieve that number of sticks.
Next Week: Line Time- MLK/ Diversity
Letter Of The Week- P p
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bun
Next Language will be- Hungarian
Snack will be brought to you by Rosella
Upcoming Events:
*********** No School Monday 21st ***********
—–Valentine Day Party- Friday February 15th (details to follow)
—–Recess attire…. winter coat, hat, gloves or mittens that are waterproof (not cloth or yarn), boots, and snow pants!
If the child does not have one or all of these items they may be asked to stay in.
“It is easier to build strong children, than to prepare broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
This week, our Upper Elementary students learned about the history of New Year’s Resolutions while the Lower Elementary students discussed the origins of the names of our months with Mr. Matt during Latin! The Upper Elementary students found out that the Babylonians celebrated New Year’s in mid-March and made resolutions as offerings to the gods. The Lower Elementary students discussed with Mr. Matt that January was named after Janus, the Roman god of doors, because January represents all new opportunities and possibilities.
These fourth year students are continuing to learn about cells by labeling the parts of plant and animal cells. While studying the parts of each type of cell, they will create a 3D model of a cell at home to present to the class. Our students are hoping to make edible models that they can eat after sharing!This first year student wanted to present a lesson on completing a maze to the other students. She drew a maze, with many different tricks and turns and helped students work their way through it. Here, she is presenting her lesson to a second year friend!One of our “Tribe” activities this week was to communicate silently in our Tribe to complete a matching activity. Each group was given an envelope with fifteen different animal names on fifteen triangles. They had to communicate silently to sort the animal cards into five groups of three based on similarities between the animals. Not only did they have to be silent, but they weren’t allowed to take triangles from each other, forcing them to take other’s thoughts and ideas into consideration. After we finished, we discussed how we communicated effectively and how we could improve in the future.Our Upper Elementary students did their first dissecting this week! To prepare, they had to learn about the circulation, digestion, respiration, nervous system, support and movement, and reproduction of all vertebrates and invertebrates. They dissected an earthworm, a grasshopper, and a frog. Each time they finished a dissection, they took the time to explain what they learned to our younger students and to Ms. Courtney’s younger students. Next week we travel to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to dissect a sheep heart.
“A Peek at Next Week”
All students will begin Wax Museum research on Monday! Next week first year students will make a family timeline, will build coins up to $1, will create a map of the farm, and will learn the parts of the stem. Second year students will be introduced to decimals, will make a family timeline, and will study leaf blades. Third year students will add and subtract time, will create a timeline, and will find the taxonomy of invertebrates. Upper Elementary students will have their dissection field trip, will add numbers in different bases, and will research ancient civilizations and early humans.
This first session of dance class with Ms. Elisabeth was amazing! Students went from learning the positions in ballet and finding the beat in kids bop to a dazzling performance at our annual Christmas show! Congratulations to all our wonderful dancers, Ms. Elisabeth and Ms. Lexa for a great end of 2018!
If you are interested in having your child join one of our dance classes for the 2nd half of the school year, please stop by the school office. Dance begins Wednesday, January 16th!
Enjoy some snap shots from dance so far this year!
Lesson: Using the 9 tray we learned how to do static addition (no carry overs) with manipulatives. We used equations that every column (units, tens, hundreds, and thousands) were fill and we used equations that some of the columns were empty (zero) in the column. We learned some new terminology such as addends (the numbers being added) and sum (the answer of the equation).
Handwriting: We practiced cursive… Bill buys bags. Cam cuts cots. Dogs dig dirt. Fun fish feel. Grumpy geese go.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 18 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic with the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, and Irish).
Next Week: Lesson- Dynamic addition (carry overs).
December has been filled with joy and excitement in the Elementary classroom! For all of you that attended our annual Christmas show, thank you!
Ms. Lisa and the bell choir wowed us with their talents! The piano soloists also showed how hard the student’s have been working this year. One of the best parts of the practices was seeing how supportive the students were towards each other. Several times I walked into the Enrichment room and would find a few students gathered around the piano listenting intently to another student practicing their piece. It is is joy to see the students encourage one another.
Everyone had tons of fun making the show a wonderful success!
The student’s will resume their music classes and piano lessons with Ms. Lisa the week they come back from Christmas break.
___________
This month we welcomed out new art teacher, Ms. Dayna. She has presented several creative seasonal projects to the students that helped them get into the holiday spirit!
Elementary students observed several christmas bulbs and illustrated their findings on black paper using oil pastels.
They also exlored printmaking with tempera paints. They used foam stickers to create patterns for some ugly sweater stamps.
Lastly, all students made paper ornaments to take home for the holidays.
These students are displaying their oil pastel ornament paintings.
Check out the bulletin board displayed at the entrance. Here you can take a look at the wonderful art work the students have been creating!
__________
The students are loving Latin! Each week Mr. Matt brings a creative lesson for the students to learn a new Latin skill.
Most recently, the students learned how to sing two popular Christmas songs in Latin. See if you can guess the songs!
Mr. Matt also brought in a few books that showed the students pictures of the city of Pompei, the ruins of Mt. Vesuvius, and Caecilius, who lived in at the time of the volcanic eruption.
We are very thankful for the clever and imaginitive minds that we see our students display each day. Our enrichment classes serve as catalysts to the outside world for each child. The echrichment classes are times the students can vere away from their lessons and daily tasks to explore new areas of interest alongside their peers. It is amazing to see their new creations in art each week, their musical talents develop with Ms. Lisa, and their language skills progess with Mr. Matt! Thank you for sharing them with us each day! It has been a remarkable first half of the year and we are looking forward to the second half!
“Children become the things they love.” – Maria Montessori
How is this half of the school year already over? So far this year, we have gone to a pumpkin farm, traveled to the Cleveland Zoo, and have performed at Mulberry Gardens. We have learned about new friends and continued building friendships with our returning students. We have studied the external characteristics of vertebrates and how cells work. We’ve discussed North and South America and have cooked to celebrate our friendship. Our students are creating materials and presenting lessons. We share messages when we have concerns in the classroom. We work every day to learn more and become better. I am so excited for the rest of this school year!
This second year student is writing about the Ancient Greek Civilization. He has drawn different clothing, different structures, types of exercise, and how they defended themselves. Next, they will study the Middle Ages.These first year students are creating a crossword puzzle stemming from the word “happy.” They each take a turn to build a word and use a new word to branch off of when they run out of space. These students also enjoy building a word, then writing it backwards and trying to sound out the silly word they made. These activities help students build their knowledge of phonemes and practice decoding!One of our favorite whole class lessons is “The Food Chain.” We throw popcorn on the floor and release the students that are chosen to be crickets. The crickets must move and sound like crickets throughout the activity and try to collect as much popcorn as possible. Next, frogs are released and try to capture the crickets. Then, hawks are released and try to capture the frogs. At the end, the remaining animals check their food bags for red popcorn. The red popcorn was contaminated food or litter that they accidentally ate. After that, whoever is left are the winners. After our lesson, we discuss what animals could also be in this food chain and what we learned from the experiment.Our Last Day! We finally finished reading “A Little Princess” so we were able to watch the movie about it! After playing board games, we settled in for some hot chocolate and our movie!
