Peek In Our Week () Mr. John’s Class () Week of February 1, 2021

Posted on January 29, 2021 at 5:16 pm.

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Line Time:
The class went green for the week learning about recycling, conserving energy, and pollution. I explained that pollution was anything that made our environment dirty. We learned there is littering. Littering can be people throwing trash on the side of the road or dropping a candy wrapper in the woods. We now know that we need to put trash in an appropriate container. We learned that air pollution is created by factories’ smokestacks and cars exhaust, but cars are just one of the factors that produce air pollution, there are also other reasons. Water Pollution is caused by factories dumping chemicals in the water or people throwing trash in the water instead of putting it in a trash can. The 3 R’s were introduced and now we all know to reduce, reuse and recycle! We thought of ways to conserve energy. We came up with turning off lights in rooms we are not in or turning off the TV if we are not watching it. We thought of turning off the water while we are brushing our teeth or turning down the heat and wearing a sweater instead. During the kindergarten lesson a student realized the room was just as light with the lights off as it was if the lights were on. Now we do our kindergarten lesson without lights.

Did you know? (This sounds better than Online Dating!)
Bobbing for apple’s origins are more rooted in love and romance than tricks and treats. In fact, it began as a British courting ritual, popular among young ladies and their potential beaus. There were several variations of game: In one set of rules, each apple was assigned to a potential mate. The bobber would then attempt to bite into the apple named for the young man she desired. If it only took her one try, they were destined for romance. If she succeeded with her second attempt, he would court her but their love would fade. If it took three tries, their relationship was doomed.

A Message From Mr. John (the three most important things in my life, make that four):

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 19 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean, Irish, Kiswahili, Irish)

Know Your Languages (Welsh):

February Birthdays:
A Primary Montessori Classroom consists of students ages 3 years to 6 years old. Here is our newest 6 year old student. It looks like he has a loose tooth.

Peek In The Classroom:

The direct purpose of the sandpaper letters is to teach the child the sounds of the alphabet by means of muscular and visual memory. The child is encouraged to trace the symbol over and over again until the shape of the letter becomes a part of the child’s muscle memory.

She is working on the stamp game (addition with carry overs, dynamic). The Stamp Game is a Montessori math material used by an individual child to practice the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is a wonderfully simple but effective learning from home option that, once presented to your child correctly, they can work on independently.

She is working on the Blue Rhyming material which focuses on longer phonetic sounds. Rhyming helps children learn about word families such as swing, bring, sling. Rhyming also teaches children the sound of the language. Other important skills include phonological awareness, the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language.

This boy is working on Cards and Counters found in the math area. The Cards and Counters bring the abstract to the concrete, allowing a child to feel the units as they count. Cards and Counters is a material that consists of 10 number cards, 1-10, and 55 round, red counters, each approximately the size of a nickel. Then he neatly places the appropriate amount of counters under the numbers. This work also introduces the concept of odd and even numbers.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Presidents of the USA

Letter Of The Week- T t

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bed

Next Language is Welsh

Academic Enrichment:
Weekly Theme: Geometric Solids

Handwriting:
We practiced writing sentences in cursive.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Fractions

Synonym Of The Week: FAT: overweight, big, bulky, heavy, plump

Sight Words Of The Week: would about

Upcoming Events:
A few days off.

DAYS OFF:
February 12th, Friday (Teacher In Service Day)
February 15th, Monday (President’s Day)

Friends, Frolic, and Fun:

Is this the season for haircuts? Again, I noticed something different about her. Did she leave her glasses at home, no. Did she shaved her mustache, no. My questioning led to an emphatic “I got a haircut!”

I thought you had to be 18 years old to get a tattoo.

Same girl, same day. I thought it was a black eye but false alarm for a “you should have seen the other guy”. It was just marker that reached her eye.

Your Kids say The Darndest Things (yummy things at lunch):

Peek In Our Week Mr. John’s Class Week Of January 18, 2021

Posted on January 22, 2021 at 3:14 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Line Time:
Skeletal System- This week we looked at the skeletal system and if we didn’t have a skeleton we would be one messy blob on the ground (insert a flagellant sound). We learned the skull protects our brain, the rib cage protects our lungs, and the spine keeps us sitting and standing straight. We learned technical terms for our arms, leg and our digits which is a funny name called phalanges. We brought our life sized foam puzzle into our room. His name is Elvis because we learned about the pelvis and it was a cool rhyming name.

A Message From Mr. John (My Mission Statement):

Did you know?
Sometimes I think about weird things like how many paper clips are produced in a year. Really, I think of these things. Most paper clips in the United States are made domestically by a few firms that specialize in their manufacture. These manufacturers put out roughly 20 million pounds a year of paper clips. So, about 28 paperclips equal 1 ounce. I was too lazy too find out how many paperclips that are produced. Bragging rights to the people who figure this out!!!!!!

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 16 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew, Korean)

Know Your Languages:

Peek In The Classroom:

Look at his focus while working on the Red Rods. The Red Rods are introduced to children from 2.5 to 6 years of age. The direct purpose of the Red Rods is to develop the child’s visual and muscular perception of length.

This boy is working on the Knobless Cylinders. Notice how he found the relationship between the different colored cylinders. The purpose of these cylinders is to develop child’s fine-motor movements, concentration, hand-eye coordination, and visual perception of dimension.

She is working on the Memory Game. This is where we have a bunch of popsicle sticks across the room and the student is shown a number. In turn, the student must go across the room and count that number and bring it back to the mat. This is a challenge that she has to remember that number while travelling through the classroom and concentrating while the classroom “noise” (that term you learned in your Oral Communication class) is happening.

She is working on the 9 Tray. This material further enhances the correlation between number/symbol and quantity. She is now getting familiar with identifying the symbols in the unit, ten, hundred, thousand columns.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Internal Organs

Letter Of The Week- R r

Rhyming Word Of The Week- but

Next Language is Irish

Academic Enrichment:
Weekly Theme:
Division without borrowing (static)

Handwriting:
We practiced writing in sentences in cursive.

And a picture of the kinder students working on their handwriting.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Division with borrowing (dynamic)

Synonym Of The Week: MEAN: Selfish, unkind, malicious, hurtful

Sight Words Of The Week: first, than

Upcoming Events:
A few days off and other stuff.

DAYS OFF:
February 12th, Friday (Teacher In Service Day)
February 15th, Monday (President’s Day)

OTHER STUFF:
February 1st, (week of) Primary Student Conferences for incoming kindergarten students and incoming 1st graders ONLY! (Details coming soon)
February 11th (Thursday) Valentine Party (details to follow)

Friends, Frolic, and Fun:

This guy entered his rite of passage of him losing his first tooth.

Again, I noticed something different about her. I asked if she wasn’t wearing her glasses, no. If she got a tattoo, no. She was quick to inform me that she got a haircut!

It is all about the bling, a watch and a ring.

I’m not sure what the damage is BUT ya shouldah seen the other guy.

Your Kids Say The Darndest Things (Still thinking of Christmas):

Peek In Our Week ++ Mr. John’s Class ++ Week Of January 11, 2021

Posted on January 14, 2021 at 3:32 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

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.

This is a picture of sad “girls”. Since they were “girls” they were not allowed to participate or even look at the science lesson. They felt it was NOT fair. I did let them participate in science.

A happier picture of the students clapping that everyone can sit anywhere on the bus. This was a skit about Rosa Parks.

A Message From Mr. John:

Did you know?
One of the earliest uses, perhaps the earliest use, of “OMG” appeared in a letter to the then, member of Parliament, as The Atlantic reports. In 1917, British Navy Admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher wrote to Winston Churchill about rumors of new titles that would soon be bestowed. “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis,” he wrote. “O.M.G. (Oh! My God!), Shower it on the Admiralty!” OMG, indeed.

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 14 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew)

Know Your Languages (Hungarian):

Peek In The Classroom:

She is learning the decimal system of units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. She is doing and exchange game of exchanging 10 units for 1 ten, 10 tens for 1 hundred and so on.

This Practical Life work is simply putting a rock in the handle and look at the rock through the magnifying glass. Notice how she added to the activity by sorting the stones?

These kindergarten students are working on their daily work plan. The work plan helps the older student accomplist daily work goals.

This girl is working on the Albanesi Assessment. This assessment bridges Montessori to traditional learning/assessing. This assessment is given to kindergarten students and Pre kindergarten students.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Skeletal System

Letter Of The Week- Q q

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bub

Next Language is Hungarian

Academic Enrichment aka kindergarten:
We learned subtraction with manipulatives with borrowing (dynamic).

Handwriting:
We practiced writing sentences in cursive.

Kindergarten students tracking and documenting (drawing) the growing roots of the plant.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Division with manipulatives/ no borrowing (static)

Synonym Of The Week: MEAN: selfish, unkind, malicious, hurtful

Sight Words Of The Week: now made

Upcoming Events:
*** MLK DAY January 18, 2021 *** NO SCHOOL ***

***Don’t be that family that shows up and there is always one family that shows up,lol! ***

But just for the fun of it let me know if you did show up. I will not tease, honest!

Frolic, Friends, and Fun:

The dreaded and rare case of “Black Olive Fingers”

A crowd gathers to see the two new aquariums.

Your Kids Say The Darndest Things (Flamingos):

Peek In Our Week | Mr. John’s Room | Week Of January 4, 2021

Posted on January 9, 2021 at 12:43 am.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

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 iand 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!!!!

Below are some pictures of children eating unsweetened baking chocolate.

Using our senses of sight and smell they are thinking a yummy chocolate kiss.

Then BOOOOM!

Did you know?
Spider webs were used as bandages in ancient times. Spider webs supposedly have natural antiseptic and anti-fungal properties, which can help keep wounds clean and prevent infection. It’s also said that spider webs are rich in vitamin K, which helps promote clotting.

Know Your Languages (Korean):

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 14 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Hebrew)

Peek In The Classroom:

One boy lent the other a helping hand putting together the United States Puzzle Map. One of the qualities I admire in the Montessori classroom is compassion.

Later that day after he helped the other student this guy became motivated to work on a puzzle map.

These three made a treasure map and trying to figure out where the treasure is located.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- MLK/diversity

Letter Of The Week- P p

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bun

Next Language is Korean

Upcoming Events:
*** MLK DAY January 18, 2021 *** NO SCHOOL ***
***Don’t be that family that shows up and there is always one family that shows up,lol! ***

Academic Enrichment:
Weekly Theme:
We learned how to subtract with manipulatives. We learned what the Minuend and Subtrahend and Difference are.

5(minuend) – 3(subtrahend) = 2(difference)

Handwriting:
We practiced writing sentences in cursive.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Subtraction with no borrowing (Dynamic)

Synonym Of The Week: SKINNY: thin, lean, emaciated, scrawny, slender

Sight Words Of The Week: could who

Friends, Frolic, and Fun:

Something was different about her. I ask her if she was wearing contacts/not glasses, no. If she shaved her mustache, no. Then she emphatically told me she got a haircut!

Who is scared of a little cricket? Not this boy!

A leftover picture from Christmas of once a unicorn reindeer but now an… elephant?

Your Kids Say the Darndest Things:

Happy New Year

Posted on December 31, 2020 at 11:49 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Happy New Year !!!!!!

A Message From Mr. John (“Got a feeling 21 is gonna be a good year”):

Happy Holidays!!!

Posted on December 21, 2020 at 6:38 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Merry Christmas

Do you want to know how many times I said “look at me.” “smile” “Guys… look at me. over here. ok good. now smile. wait look at me……….”

A Message From Mr. John (Happy Holidays):

I will resume my weekly blog when we get back from Christmas Holiday!

Peek In Our Week | Mr. John’s Classroom | Week of November 30, 2020

Posted on December 7, 2020 at 12:31 am.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Line Time:
We Are Family! This week we talked about family since this is the season where we usually spend time with family. We talked about moms and dads and that moms and dads had moms and dads that your children call them grandparents. We discussed how moms and dads have brothers and sisters which they call aunts and uncles. We talked about siblings which are bothers and sisters. Then we talked about my favorite relative.. the COUSIN ( I loved hanging out with my cousins!) and how cousins are the children of aunts and uncles. We even discussed if pets are part of the family which received a resounding YES! I am looking forward to seeing the family trees. I am showing my age by the album cover. Circa 1978ish.

A Message From Mr. John:

Let’s be careful out there!

December Birthdays:
The Montessori classroom is comprised of 3 year old to 6 year old students. Here are our newest 6 and 4 year old students.

What’s The Diff?
What is the difference between bologna and baloney?

Bologna is the name of a city in Italy, pronounced “boh-LOAN-ya.” But although the sausage named after the city in English is spelled the same, it is pronounced “buh-LOAN-ee” and is often spelled baloney. Either spelling is acceptable for the sliced meat product. P.S. I love fried bologna/baloney!!! And yes, I remember this commercial when it first aired! Heavy Sigh…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPRHJd3uHI

Know Your Languages (Korean):

Peek In The Classroom:

She is working on the construction box/geometry found in the sensorial area. The constructive triangles are used to demonstrate that all plane geometric figures can be constructed from triangles.

Practical Life/Everyday Living was developed by Maria Montessori to assist in developing OCCI (order, coordination, concentration, independence). Practical Life/Everyday Living is simply activities suitable for a child that allows the ability to work with a purpose or in a purposeful way to accomplish developing skills.

Introduction to Numerals of the Decimal System is a Montessori Math Early Childhood lesson. Pretty straightforward, the goal of this lesson is to introduce the numerals of the decimal system (units, tens, hundreds, thousands). Notice the symbol and quantity?

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Christmas around the world

Letter Of The Week- Giving them a break

Rhyming Word Of The Week- Giving them a break

Next Language is Korean

Upcoming Events:
Winter Break: Off from Saturday, December 19, 2020 returning Monday, January 4, 2021 (good riddance to 2020)!

Pajama and Show and Share Day: Friday, December 18th. Details to follow.

Academic Enrichment:
Weekly Theme:
We learned how to multiple to the thousand static/column without carryovers with manipulatives. I told the students that multiplication is merely adding multiple times. We learned what the multiplicand and multiplier are.

Handwriting:
We practiced writing sentences in cursive.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Measuring with a ruler (in and cm).

Synonym Of The Week: Giving them a break

Sight Words Of The Week: Giving them a break

Friends, Frolic, and Fun:

The Trinomial Cube has him plum tuckered out.

Your Children Say The Darndedst Things (How I got my scar):

Abbreviated Peek In Our Week

Posted on November 24, 2020 at 7:47 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Have a safe and fun Thanksgiving!

Mr. John telling you to be safe and enjoy the Thanksgiving Break!

Peek In Our Week # Mr. John’s Class # Week Of November 16, 2020

Posted on November 18, 2020 at 12:12 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Line Time:
Native Americans/Thanksgiving- We talked about Native Americans and how Indians were named Indians. On student informed us that Christopher Columbus landed in North America but thought he was in India. Hence, the name. We talked about how Native Americans were indigenous. Then the Pilgrims came over from Europe on a ship called the Mayflower. The pilgrims had a rough go of it at the beginning because they didn’t have enough blankets or food. They could not just go to Target or Giant Eagle to get supplies because at that time there were just woods and wild life.

A Message From Mr. John (The info/stories that come home):

What’s The Diff?:
What is the difference between seeing a concert and seeing a show? I am thinking when you use the term “show” it is a small, intimate venue with about 200 of your closest friends (Musica, Peobody’s Down Under). A concert most likely will be held in a venue about 2,000+ people (Blossom, The Q). As you can tell I like “shows”. These are some pics where I was leaning onto the stage of the last two “shows” I attended. Lol. What was the last thing are you saw, a show or a concert?

Some old, really cool, small hall in Columbus Ohio

Know Your Languages (Hebrew):

Peek In The Classroom:

The ever so popular Montessori material called the Color Bead Bars. This is a Math material enforces the relationship between number/symbols and the appropriate quantity.

She is working on the Stamp Game which is a Math material. She is working on multiplication equations that “carry over more than once” for example (7×5).

This student is working on the Trinomial Cube. As with all Montessori sensorial materials, the Trinomial Cube has both a direct and an indirect purpose. The direct purpose of the Trinomial Cube is for the child to practice the steps to properly disassemble and build the cube, while refining dexterity and visual acuity.

This student is working on a sorting work which can be found in the Practical Life or Sensorial area. Maria Montessori’s sensorial work uses “sorting” in specific ways that work to use all of the child’s senses, one at a time, in order to refine them. The goal is to train the brain to create more organized thoughts and ways of retrieving information.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Thanksgiving

Letter Of The Week- M m

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bop

Next Language is Hebrew

**Did you noticed that the letter of the week and rhyming word of the week are Mm Bop!**

Upcoming Events:
Thanksgiving Break: We are off Wednesday November 25th and returning Monday November 30.

Handwriting:
We practiced writing sentences in cursive.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Multiplication with manipulatives

Synonym Of The Week:

Sight Words Of The Week:

Friends, Frolic, and Fun:

I told them they need flat heads to balance the books on their head.

I heard “I have a bear on my butt” and this is what I see.

I asked her to get the book titled “Red Hen” and she comes back with this. She thought it was sooooooo funny!

Your kids Say The Darndest Things (Why I Like Cats):
Follow the link to get to a child talking about cats. Maybe you do not have to follow the link, lol.

Peek In Our Week * Mr. John’s Class * Week Of November 9, 2020

Posted on November 11, 2020 at 3:10 pm.

Written by John Kotradi

Buckeye Room Bulletin

Line Time:
Dinosaurs- We traveled back in time and discovered some fascinating things about certain dinosaurs. We learned that dinosaurs no longer exist and that they are extinct. We know dinosaurs exist because scientist found their bones or fossils. From these fossil we saw that some teeth were long and sharp to tear flesh from it’s prey which belonged to meat eaters or carnivores (T Rex). Some teeth were flat for grinding plants, leaves, and branches and belonged to plant eaters or herbivores (Brachiosauras).

Who remembers Dinosaurs? Not the Momma!

Did You Know:
Catsup and Ketchup are two different spellings of the same condiment. These words have the same meanings and are simply alternate spellings. Therefore, both are correct. Catsup is a condiment and is the less popular spelling. Ketchup is also a condiment and is the more popular spelling, which, today, is a westernized version of a condiment first introduced to European traders in the late 17th century. Ketchup was originally a paste made from fermented fish guts (yes, it’s come a long way).

Message From Mr. John (your children are cute):

Cultural Subjects:
Your children can now count to ten in 13 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish).

Know Your Languages (Tagalog):

Peek In The Classroom:

This student is working on the Leaf Puzzle. The purpose of Montessori Botany puzzle is to increase their power of observation and knowledge in nature, also illustrates the component parts of a plant. It helps the child to learn basic anatomy of a leaf. Its wooden knob on each component of the leaf puzzle makes it easy to hold and can be used with many activities such as tracing or matching with cards. The knobs also strengthen her pinscher grip/fine motor skills.

She is working on the Movable Alphabet. The key purpose of the Moveable Alphabet is to prepare children for writing, reading, and spelling. The child’s use of the material progresses from single words, to phrases, and eventually to stories. In this way, the Moveable Alphabet teaches children how to symbolize their own thoughts, and begin to write creatively.

This student is working on the Nine Tray and composing numbers. She will learn to compose numbers from 1 to 9,999. This, yet again, supports the correlation between the quantity and symbol of numbers.

This girl is working on her phonics work book to support her reading and understanding of pronunciation of words.

Peek Into Next Week:
Line Time- Pilgrims, Thanksgiving

Letter Of The Week- M m

Rhyming Word Of The Week- bop

Next Language is Tagalog

Academic Enrichment:

One uncooperative kindergarten student. Wouldn’t this be a great album cover?

Weekly Theme:
This week the kindergarten students did addition with carry overs (dynamic)/carry overs in multiple columns/with empty columns using the manipulatives of the Golden Beads and Stamp Game.

Handwriting:
We practiced writing full sentences in cursive.

Next Week:
Weekly Theme: Multiplication with Golden Beads

Synonym Of The Week: SMALL, tiny, miniature, minute, little, petite

Sight Words Of The Week: been down

Upcoming Events:
Thanksgiving Break: We are off Wednesday November 25th and returning Monday November 30.

Friends, Frolic, and Fun: