A Hard Day’s Night

It’s been a hard day’s night.  I never really understood that title or what it actually meant but it goes hand in hand with the weather we had in November.  It was seventy degrees one week and twenty degrees the next.  I’ll take anything over fifty degrees in November.  The great thing about this is that the children were able to go outside for many recesses, a rare thing in November.  Now it is the home stretch to Winter break.  Ahhhh, I can feel me catching up on sleep now and recharging my batteries for the second half of the year.  And The Ohio State University Buckeyes 42- ttun 13!

Line Time lesson:

At the end of the third month of school my classroom is running like a well oiled machine.  Children are advancing nicely in math, reading, and their social skills. Sabrina, Kathleen, and I are pushing for more “Thank You”, Please, and You’re Welcome.”   When we call a name we are expecting a “Yes, Ms. Kathleen or How can I help you Ms.Sabrina?” rather than “What? or Ya?”  I want to tell the parents of the older children in the classroom… “Be Proud!”  They are taking a leadership role like I’ve never seen.  They are helping younger children and helping each other with more challenging work.  I wanted to once again thank Sabrina and Kathleen for their hard work and dedication.  They step up and just do what needs to be done without me asking.

         

After learning about the five major classes of animals we looked at some creepy crawlers.  We studied insects and arachnids.  These were the first animals that were not classified as vertebrates instead they are called invertebrates.  We discovered most have an exoskeleton. We now know insects have six legs, a head, thorax, and abdomen and arachnids have eight legs.  Also, we know that all bugs are insects but not all insects are bugs!!!

  

The class went back in time and studied dinosaurs.  We learned the names of 5 dinos     (T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, and Brachiosaurus) and if they were meat eaters (carnivores) or plant eaters (herbivores).  We learned when they lived and I introduced the phrases “extinct” and “fossils” what they meant.  We read “Dad is a Dinosaur”, and Dinosaurs go to School”

We then learned about Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. How the Indians helped the pilgrims with hunting, growing crops, and living off the land.

Cultural Subjects:

We can count to 16 in ten different languages.  We can count in English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic (with the Lebanese dialect), Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, and Hungarian.

Academic Enrichment: Kindergarten Students

The kindergartners have learned how to tell time.  We ended our section of telling time by learning how to tell time to the minute.  We have done many worksheets, use flashcards, and used a toy clock with movable hands to help us learn to tell time.  Then we delved into everyone’s favorite thing…money.  We learned about coins; what they look like and how much they are worth.  The kindergartners learned how to count coins when presented with multiple coins of different denominations.  We went over bills including the ever elusive two dollar bill.  We ended November with learning the parts of plants, flowers, leaves.  And learned about the parts and characteristics of the mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, and fish.

The kindergarten class can count to ten in 17 different languages… English, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Japanese, Greek, Arabic (with the Lebanese dialect), Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew, Korean, Hungarian, and Polish.

Art:

A couple of things the children had fun learning and doing this month were reviewing past concepts, such as primary and secondary colors but this time they used different materials to recognize the colors. The children learned about lines and the variety of forms they came in – straight, curvy, zig zag etc. This lesson tied in very well with our cursive and print writing presentations!  Ms. Michele also began a mosaic project with the children using paper, glue, yarn and later, little pieces of foam like material.

Music:

The children have been very busy practicing their Christmas songs in Music Class this month, with Ms. Lisa. Both children and teachers are not just working hard on the songs, but also on some cute and fun movements, which are incorporated together with their songs.

Science:

The experiments that were introduced to the children this month were: Surface Tension – A property of a liquid keeping an object from going into the liquid, Buoyancy – A force in liquid pushing against an object in the liquid, Absorption – To take something in, and Skittles/Gobstoppers Candy Run – Water Soluble Materials. They certainly did enjoy all of these age appropriate experiments with Mr. John.

Hello silence my old friend…….

It is so quiet in here.  It is so calm. It’s the Sound of Silence..  This is what I have been hearing from past teachers, parents, and current teachers about my room.  Usually it takes a good 3-4 months for my room to become normalized but this year it is on its way to being normalized in about a month.  I credit those around me for the earlier than usual success.

Miss Kathleen and Miss Sabrina are wonderful teachers and work well with the students.  Theyare fun yet firm and know how to handle difficult situations well.  When I mentioned “those around me” I didn’t only mean the teachers but I want to give credit to the older students; the leaders of the room.  They are showing the newer/younger students how to work with materials and are guiding them through the classroom.

  

Line Time Lessons:
Children love animals and I enjoy teaching the children about different types of animals.  This month we started discussing mammals.  I chose to begin with mammals because WE are mammals.   We learned that mammals have hair or fur, are born alive, and drink mother’s milk when first born.  We learned that mammals are warm blooded (their body temperature remains constant) and that they are vertebrates (have spines).  We learned that dolphins and whales are mammals and that the bat is the only mammal that can fly.  The students got to pet the rats and mice and it was a scene!

Then we slithered our way into discussing reptiles.  We came to the conclusion that the snake is the most popular reptile. We learned reptiles are cold blooded (their body temperature is the same as the environment’s temperature), vertebrates, lay hard shelled eggs, and have dry scales.  The children enjoyed seeing our own corn snake.  The gecko were just as appreciated.

We hopped into our discussion of amphibians. We all agreed that the frog was the most popular amphibian and that amphibians are cold blooded and vertebrates.  We also learned that their skin is moist and soft and that they can live on BOTH land and water. Amphibians lay eggs but the eggs have no shell but are like jelly.   The children were encouraged to look for our Pac Man Frog and our Eastern Toads in our nature center.

We swam to our friends called fish.  We learned that fish are cold blooded (their body temperature changes to the temperature in their environment) and are vertebrates.  We learned that most fish have scales, gills and fins, and some fish lay eggs and some fish are liver bearers (babies are born alive). We introduced a new word, “habitat”.  This is where something lives and the fish’s habitat is the water. The children were thrilled to learn that the shark is a fish.

We then flew with the animals called birds.  Birds have feathers, are warm blooded, and are vertebrates.  All birds lay hard shelled eggs and have wings.  All birds have wings but some birds are flightless (cannot fly) such as the penguin, ostrich, and emu.

Alumni Readers:
We had two Alumni Readers visit in October.  James who is in the second grade and Lorelei who is in kindergarten read their favorite books.

  

Cultural Subjects:
We count to 10 in twelve different languages, English, Latin, Spanish, Sign Language, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic with the Lebanese dialect, Italian, Russian, and Romanian.

Academic Enrichment:
Our kindergarten students wrapped up the geography unit with the 10 land forms, island, lake, bay, cape, peninsula, gulf (not the sport), straight, Isthmus (not Christmas), archipelago, and chain of lakes.  Then we plunged into telling time (old school, analog, hands and face).  We learned how to tell time to the hour, half past (or :30), quarter past or (:15), and quarter til.  Tick tock tick. Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin into the future………….

 

Enrichment News
Ms. Sabrina

Mr. John, Ms. Michele, and Ms. Lisa are such a hit with the children and with me! Between the experiments, the art lessons and music and movement, the children are learning so much, as well as having so much fun. They love the hands on experiences. ” This is so much fun! ” is frequently heard through out all 3 classes!

Science:
Our first science experiment involved a liter bottle of water with a ketchup packet. When we squeezed the bottle, the ketchup packet sank to the bottom. Then when we let go of the water bottle, the ketchup packet floated back to the top. Why? The ketchup packet had an air bubble that got smaller when the bottle of water was squeezed.

Our second experiment involved special tape with a secret message written on it. (Mr. John wrote Go Buckeyes on the tape.) The children made hypotheses on whether or not the message could still be read on the tape if the tape were scrunched up. Mr. John was able to straighten the tape and the message was still there! This special tape is made with polymers. We learned that polymers hold onto each other and that’s why the message stayed intact.

Our third experiment involved rolled up construction paper secured with a rubber band (a cylinder), one single sheet of paper, and books. The children made hypotheses on what would happen when books were placed on the paper cylinder and the single sheet of paper. Most of the children guessed that the single sheet of paper would fall and the paper cylinder would stay standing. We were right! A cylinder is one of the strongest shapes and distributes weight.

Our last experiment involved dish soap, black pepper, bowls, and water. Mr. John mixed the water and black pepper together in a bowl for each child. Then he went around and let each child dip a q-tip in dish soap and then place the q-tip in the black pepper mixture. When the dish soap hit the water, the black pepper moved away. The dish soap broke the molecules that were holding onto each other which allowed the black pepper to move.

Art:
Ms. Michele spent the first two weeks of the month having the children study the artist Georges Seurat. We watched a video about him and learned about his painting technique. He used the pointillism technique. His paintings look like they are made up of a bunch of dots. So to practice this, the children first drew an animal of their choice in pencil on poster board. Then they used q-tips to dot the animal in with paint.

Our next art lesson was on paper sculptures. First, Ms. Michele went over different types of lines. (dotted, squiggly, short, long, etc.) Then she showed lines in artwork and explained how our eyes “follow” the lines. Next she asked the children what a sculpture was. She explained that a sculpture isn’t flat but 3-dimensional. She then demonstrated to the children how to make paper sculptures using the lines she described at the beginning of the lesson. The children than created 3-dimensional paper playgrounds using strips of paper and gluing them down in different ways.

Music:
One of the new songs and movement the students jived to is Peanut Butter and Jelly and what fun it was! In music, the children sang hello to Bernie the Bernard, Ellie the Parrot, Freida the Frog, and Rainbow Sparkles the Dragon! One of the first concepts Ms. Lisa taught the children was how many beats the whole, quarter, half, and eighth notes get. We practiced these notes in the song “Hot Cross Buns”. The children tapped rhythm sticks together for each note. The next skill we worked on was high and low sounds. Ms. Lisa taught the children the song “I wish I were a juicy orange”. While singing this song the children sang in high and low voices and shook egg shakers. The children also played tambourines and castanets throughout the month. Lastly we played some freeze dances with colorful scarves to sharpen our listening skills.

Do ask your children to share some thoughts on these classes with you. I am sure you will be entertained!

I Want To Be Sedated…

Why is that old Ramone’s song going through my head?  I don’t know.  Is it because after three months of Summer hibernation, staying up late (by late, I mean 10 pm, woo hoo) and sleeping in (to 7:30am, woo hoo again), binge watching TV shows, living life at a snail’s pace, and having minimal work responsibilities, I am thrown into going to bed at 8 pm, waking at 5 am, wondering into the building at 6 am.  I await for the rush of students descending upon the school. The student part I love, it is my sleep schedule that has me a little cheesed off.  But, the truth is, I would not have it any other way!

       o

Line Time Lessons:
We started the school year the same way we always do by learning the ground rules for the classroom.  Walking feet in the classroom, listening ears, hands and bodies to ourselves, and my favorite; treat people with respect.  The older students demonstrated to the class and younger students how to unroll and roll a mat, how to walk around a mat, how to walk the line.  It is a pleasure seeing the older students teaching the younger students. Several mice have also joined our classroom (in a cage not running rampant throughout the building).

  

We then learned how to keep our bodies healthy.  We wash our hands to get rid of the germs.  Everyone has germs on them but they are sooooooooo small you can not see them but they are still there.  We cover our sneezes and coughs on the inside of our elbows.  Eating healthy is important just as exersising, getting enough sleep, and brushing our teeth. Eating a healthy diet was a good segway into tour next lesson on food groups.  We learned about grains/cereals, fruits/veggies, meat/protein, dairy(my fave), and sweets/fats. Since we all need to eat to “live” we talked about what it is that makes a bird living and my shoe non-living.  We discussed that living things eat/take in nourishment, breathe/exchange gases, grow, and reproduce. After our lesson on living things we moved on to discussing the different kind of animals there are.  We started with the mammal because WE are mammals!  We are warm blooded, vertebrates, have hair or fur, are live bearers, and we drink mother’s milk when young (not pizza or pop tarts)!

Some of you may not be aware, that Absorbent Minds Montessori School has a relationship with the University of Akron where we have student teachers observe and, in my class, they participate in the daily activities in my room.  I had the pleasure of having another enthusiastic student visit my room this month!

All in all this was a great start, to a great year, with great children!

   

Cultural Subjects:
At line time we count to 10 in eight different languages(English, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, and Japanese).  The kindergarten students can count in English, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, and Arabic with the Lebanese dialect.  Our goal is to reach over twenty languages.

Academic Enrichment (Group Lesson with all Kindergartners):
Led by Mr. John

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.

The first week of school, the kindergarten students started out learning about the these things called continents. There are seven of them and each has a fun fact and countries within them.  Did you know (without googling) Central America is not a continent?  My kindergarten students do!  Next we discovered that the Earth has something called cardinal directions(North, South, East, and West) or N,E,S,W=Never Eat Soggy Waffles.  We went further and found you can get more specific directions by stating something is northeast, or southwest.  With that under or belts I told the students that there are two imaginary lines that are on the Earth.  The Prime Meridian and the Equator.  If you go where these two imaginary lines are you will NOT fine a painted line.  But these lines have a purpose to divide the Earth into hemispheres.

We took a closer look at North America(because this is continent in which we live).  We discussed the three major countries of Mexico, USA, and Canada, the location of the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and Hudson Bay.  Since we live in the state of Ohio we learned some fun facts about this great state.  The official things such as the bird, mammal, and fossil to name a few.  The K-Kids now know the surrounding states, their nickname, and abbreviation.  Ending the month we broke down where we live from biggest to smallest….  From the galaxy of The Milky Way to our individual street addresses (street not email). And everything in between!

In the beginning of our group lesson, we count to 10 in eight different languages(English, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, and Japanese).  The kindergarten students can count in English, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, and Arabic with the Lebanese dialect.  Our goal is to reach over twenty languages.

     l

It’s Been A Long Time Since I Rock And Rolled              

Ahhhh, Led Zeppelin sums it up nicely.  Yes, it has been a long time since I rock and rolled.  It seems this all started right around the time my first child was born in October of 1999.  Is this a coincidence?  Maybe.  It just seems that (while driving in a mini van from my cool Sentra) nights out, partying, driving with my music of The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Peter Gabriel, Black Flag, New Order, and Joy Division was quickly replaced urgent care clinic visits, diapers and music by Raffi, Veggy Tales, and Barney sing a longs, .  I am not sure if this was a gradual or an immediate thing.  All I know it happened leaving me shell shocked and wondering where my carefree days of Ohio State and John’s Life BC (Before Children) disappeared.  I recently went to the The Ohio State Spring Game.  As we were stuck in traffic going home going through campus I saw many parties.  I longing looked upon the revelers hanging out on porches, and downing adult beverages.  The person I was with said I was being ridiculous. She said I am an old “29” years old, I have a bad knee, can’t stand loud noises, recreationally drink Pepto Bismol, and got to bed at 8pm.  Geeesh, talk about being brutally honest!  Recently, I did get a glimpse of that past life(sort of).  We went to the downtown restaurant Cilantro because I was craving Thai food and some good wine. The food, the amazing Oddbins Wines offered, the people at the restaurant, and the décor made me, for a very short moment, feel “hip” again.  Well, if that’s all it takes…. I will take it because it has been a long time since I rock and rolled.

Line Time Lessons

The Continental Tango, Kookaburra, My Aunt Monica, and What a Small World it is.  Those thoughts and music is still ringing in my ears.  As you know these were the songs sung at the International Festival.  We learned about all the continents and some of the individual countries within the continents.  The students had fun learning about the climates, foods, clothes, and differences of how children attend school. I wanted to thank all of those who came in and talked about different countries.  This adds so much to International Festival month.  All the presentations are fun, informative, and the children and teachers enjoy it.

It never ceases to amaze me how much our students can learn in a short amount of time.  They did a fabulous job with their lines and performing the songs.  Not to mention how colorful the stage was with their costumes.  I cannot give enough thanks to the people who prepared the food!  Who didn’t gain ten pounds that night?

    

We returned to normalcy in the classroom the last week in April.  We learned about life cycles and these medical alert reviews.  A life cycle is nothing more than the birth of a creature, the creature grows, reproduces, then dies.  Wow, this is our life in a nutshell?  A humans life cycle is pretty boring compared to the life cycle of frogs/toads and butterflies/moths.  The students now know that a butterfly comes from a chrysalis and a moth comes from a cocoon.  The children learned a really big word called metamorphosis. This is what happens during the butterfly’s life cycle.

      

We had three guest readers this month. We had Jade who attends St. Joe’s and is in the second grade.

Taylor who is in the second grade and attends Preston (C.F.).

James who is in first grade and attends Dunbar (Tallmadge).

Kindergarten

In the kindergarten lesson we continued our work with grammar. The students learned the pronoun takes the place of a noun.  We looked at the adjective which describes nouns and pronouns, the adverb which describes the verb and usually ends in “ly”, the conjunction which connects two sentences or thoughts and acts like a bridge.

    

Cultural Subjects

My line time and the kindergarten class count to ten in 25 different languages (English, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Tagalog, Polish, Irish, Welsh, Hebrew, Arabic w/the Lebanese dialect, Japanese, Hungarian, Swedish, Swahili, Korean, Serbo-Croation, Hindi, Flemish/Dutch, Malay, Cebuano),

MUSIC

At our first music class this month Ms. Lisa shared her pictures from her trip to El Salvador. .Ms Lisa traveled there on a medical mission trip entertaining children with her musical skills, while they were waiting in line to see a Doctor.Then she gave each child a Tambourine. They used these while they were dancing in a circle to the Spanish song “I have joy in my heart”, and then to the song “John Jacob Jingle Him-er Smith.” This song was fun for them because they were either singing it real soft or loud,. Our students enjoyed hearing about her trip! This month, Ms Lisa reviewed 4 musical notes with the children. They are the whole note, 1/2 note, 1/4 note,and 1/8 note. The children clapped along to the different speeds the notes make. Next, she gave them rhythm sticks and the used them to march to the song “The Ants Go Marching.” Then they used the rhythm sticks to tap along to fast or slow music. Ms Lisa also taught the children that the musical term for soft is called Staccato. We always have fun a learn in Music class!

SCIENCE

This month is Science Mr. John first did an experiment with an empty clear bottle, Vegetable Oil, Alka-Seltzer and water. He filled up the bottle first with 1/4 water then added red food coloring, filled the rest up with the oil. The oil and water then separate because of the density, then he added the Alka-Seltzer tablets to this it produced carbon dioxide bubbles because of the of the carbon dioxide tablets it brings the bubbles to the top. Oil is lighter and less dense then water. The next class Mr. John filled up two balloon’s. One with air and the other with air and some water. Then he held them both over a lit candle, the balloon filled with only air popped and the one with a small amount of water did not. Why? because water is a substance that soaks up heat therefore the rubber does not get hot and does not pop, the water takes the heat away from the balloon.