Explorations of Elementary February 2017 Overview

Research

Our first year students will continue their planet research with Uranus and Neptune. These students will study platyhelminthes and nematodes. First year students will continue studying stems and begin studying bulbs. Research of the human skeleton will begin.
Second year students will continue their rock research with discussions about structures made from rock around the world. This will enable second year students to be the leaders in groups for the International Festival, where we will research and present information about these structures.
Third year students will continue researching the main characteristics of invertebrates, moving on to annelids. They will also study different plants and their characteristics, as well as, the habitat of different types of plants.
Students researching the human body will discuss the brain, the spinal cord, and the nervous system.
All students will learn about the Food Web and the inter-connectivity of living things.
We will be studying the continent of Africa. We will look at objects and photos from Africa, talk about some capital cities in Africa, and discuss native groups and their creation myths.
Math and Language lessons are given to children based on individual needs, instead of age level.

Reading Groups

One of our groups will continue with Where the Wild Things Are. Two groups will be reading My Father’s Dragon. Our last group will finish The Bridge to Terabithia and begin on biographies.
For Writer’s Workshop this month we will practice “reading like writers” to find problems and solutions in realistic fiction to help us develop the characters we write about. We will learn how to stretch a story to build suspense. For editing, we will focus on repetitive words, using dialogue instead of alluding to something, and correctly punctuating dialogue.

Spelling Groups with Ms. Sara

Groups 1 and 2 are going to be working on blended sounds and digraphs. They will be doing a new activity in class for this month. They will be drawing a picture of their spelling words, labeling them, and doing Rainbow Write.
Group 3 will be working on adding endings to words that end in Y to make them plural. They will be doing two new activities in class to practice their words. They will be writing their list in their dominant hand and then in their non-dominant hand. They will also be doing an activity called Hidden Picture. They will draw and color a picture, hide their spelling words in it, and have a friend find them.
Group 4 will be working on Long I words. They will be doing two new activities in class to practice their words. They will be writing their list in their dominant hand and then again in their non-dominant hand. They will also be doing an activity called Hidden Picture. They will draw and color a picture, then hide their spelling words in it, and have a friend find them.
Group 5 will be working on compound words. They will be working on two new activities in class to practice their words. The first one will be to write a letter to a famous athlete and include all of their spelling words. The second will be to define all of their words.

The homework coming home tonight, and for the entire month of February, will be for you to dictate a sentence to your child for each of the spelling words that are sent home, have them write the sentence, and underline their spelling word. Please make sure your child is beginning their sentence with a capital letter and using correct punctuation at the end.

Field Trips and Special Events

February 10: Valentine’s Party
- The party will begin with a lunch cooked together, then continue with games and gym class. We will end with passing out Valentine cards to each other. Please make sure only your child’s name is on the cards to make sure there is enough time for each child to pass their cards out.
- Please help us make this lunch possible, by signing up to bring something if you can: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48a8a92da6f94-valentines1

February 18: Tallmadge Open House
- Please look for an email from Kelly and Brandy about a special Elementary event after the Tallmadge Open House. This is a great opportunity to come learn more about the Montessori Elementary philosophy, the social needs of the Elementary child, and how you can help them through this phase in life. Bring all your Montessori Elementary questions! This is a great learning opportunity for current and incoming families!
February 20: President’s Day – NO SCHOOL
February 24: Elementary Student Conference Day – NO SCHOOL FOR ELEMENTARY
- Your child will lead their own conference this day. They will prepare a script for their conference, and present some lessons they have been working on. We will be there to answer any questions about what they are presenting and to encourage your child to take ownership of their learning.