This short week, we focused our lessons on Thanksgiving and what it means to be grateful. We discussed the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Native Americans, which led us into our discussion on gratefulness. We brainstormed all of the things we are grateful for which includes family, friends, and pets! We also talked about yummy Thanksgiving foods and our family traditions. It was a super fun short week here in the Blossoms classroom!
Thanksgiving Inspired Work Activities!
This preschooler is practicing table setting.This preschooler is using a ladel to move pom poms from one container to another. We learned that Native Americans did not write messages using letters the way that we do now, and that they communicated through pictures. This preschooler is practicing copy writing, by copying the symbols at the top of the page. This preschooler is using a baster to move water from one container to another. I wonder if the children will recognize this kitchen tool if you use it this weekend.This preschooler is grasping feathers, just one of the many ways we strengthen the hand muscles for writing. This Kindergartener is practicing reading sentences and matching the sentence to its corresponding picture. This preschooler is practicing his addition facts with turkeys! This preschooler is tonging Indian Corn and sorting them by color. These Kindergarteners are working together to read the Thanksgiving inspired word and match it to the picture. This preschooler is creating a turkey craft. We also made these adorable turkeys to take home!
The Time of Year to Spend with Family and Friends.
We ended the week by spending time with our friends from Aspen and Buckeye! We watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and enjoyed a special snack of popcorn and pretzels!
“Gobble Gobble!”
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ms. Sam and I wish your family a wonderful holiday, and hope you are able to spend this time with family and friends. We also hope that you get a moment to relax! We are so thankful for all of you! – Ms. Tonya
This week in Aspen we discussed how we behave at the dinner table with our Table Manners lesson! During Line Time we took turns sharing “What to do” and “What not to do” at the dinner table! All the children agreed that proper manners included lots of please and thank yous!! They also talked a lot about the importance of sitting in a chair appropriately and using eating utensils correctly. We also read How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. We sure had a lot of fun discussing all the silly and rude things the Dinosaurs did in the book. Our Aspen parents sure have some super polite children!!
This week the Aspen students also practiced how to set a place setting at the dinner table with our Table Setting activity. They are pros! If you need a helper this Thanksgiving , ask your child to show you what they learned!
Extensions with the Red Rods and Number Rods!
Building the Binomial Cube on the lid with no guide!!
Discrimination of height with the Cylinder Blocks.
Labeling the Continent Map!
Building the Trinomial Cube on the table!
A big thank you to Lily for bringing in a special Thanksgiving Turkey craft!!
Coloring our Thankful Wheel project! We got to draw or write all the things we are thankful for!
Watching The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie with our friends from Buckeye and Cherry Blossom!!!
Hello Aspen families! My apologies for not posting a blog for quite awhile! I got locked out of my WordPress account when they updated their security policy! Nevertheless, I am logged in, verified, and our Blog can once again be posted!! Please enjoy a massive amount of photos at the end of this week’s blog as part of my apology!
This week in Aspen it was all about our continent North America, Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Native Americans. The students in Aspen have been studying the locations and names of the countries in North America for the past few weeks. However, this week we began to take a look at the history of our continent and the U.S.A focusing on our upcoming holiday. In preparation for Thanksgiving next week we decided to discuss why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Aspen learned that long ago there was a group of people named the Pilgrims that lived in England. The Pilgrims held certain beliefs that were different from the King’s! The King had “Absolute Power” and you could not disagree with the king or you would be punished! The Pilgrims believing strongly held to their beliefs and decided to do something really brave! They decided to leave England for the New World (North America). We learned that the Pilgrims set sail across the Atlantic in a ship called The Mayflower. When the Pilgrims arrived in the new world they only found wilderness (trees, plants, and animals).There were no houses for them to move into, there were no stores like Giant Eagle or Acme to buy food! The Pilgrims had to build their own homes using wood they chopped down from trees in the forest, they had to grow their own crops, and hunt if they wanted meat! Aspen then discussed how the Pilgrims had a very hard and difficult time adjusting to their new environment! The soil for growing crops was different than theirs in England, there were different types of plants and berries (hard to know what was safe) , and they had to work hard planting, harvesting, hunting, and building to survive! Their first season was difficult, many Pilgrims did not make it through the winter! As the Pilgrims worked hard to survive they eventually realized that they shared their environment with a group of people called the Native Americans a tribe called the Wampanoag! The Wampanoag helped teach the Pilgrims how to survive in North America! As a result, during the Fall harvest the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag held a three day feast together celebrating the harvest thankful that they would have enough food and supplies to last the winter! Therefore, establishing our tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving! The children in Aspen used our puzzle maps and our Painted Globe to trace the Pilgrim’s journey while learning all about the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts! We also watched a Scholastic video on YouTube called Pilgrim Life with Scholastic News! We got to see what their daily life was like!
Next week we have a two day school week to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday! Our group lessons will be all about Table Manners! If your child attends school on Tuesday, we will have a Sharing Day! Your child is invited to bring in one item from home to share and discuss during Line Time! Your child’s sharing item should be able to fit in their bookbag and should be limited to one item. Pretend weapons of any kind are prohibited including Lightsabers!
In Readers Workshop both groups have continued their work with segmenting and decoding! Cardinals are continuing their work with Phonograms and Sight Words. They have been reading paragraphs and booklets utilizing their knowledge from group lessons to practice fluency. The Chickadees have continued their work with decoding focusing on booklets (Readers) with new Sight Words weekly! Next week there will be no reading group!
Tweezing corn kernels!
Grinding our corn kernels into cornflour like the Pilgrims with a mortar and pestle!
Fun with the Tree Puzzle!
Sensorial Extensions with the Knobless Cylinders.
Labeling the countries in North America.
Moveable Alphabet Fun and copy writing the words onto lined paper!
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.
Food For Thought: Why are things transported on land called a shipment but things transported by boat called cargo? MIND BLOWN!
Thoughts From Mr. John (Ear Bug):
This is the song. It was filmed at my villa in Greece when I wasn’t using it. The Cure asked. I said yes.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 15 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog, Hebrew)
Know Your Languages (Hebrew):
SpecialsScene(Music):
Frieda Frog saying hello to the children at music.
Peek In The Classroom:
She is working on the math material called the number rods with numbers. The Number Rods help children learn the names of numbers, and identify the symbol and their sequence and learn to correctly associate between the spoken number and its quantity. Children grow to understand that each rod represents a unique quantity and that each number is represented by a single object as a whole, separate from others.Children love learning about geography while perfecting fine motor skills. She traced the continents and poked (with a large push pin) and placed the continents to the map. Poking improves fine motor skills in toddlers while also getting familiar with the shape and boundaries of each continent.The Montessori Change Game, also called the Exchange Game, is a classic Montessori math activity. The purpose of the Change Game is to give children the opportunity to experience how small quantity categories can be exchanged for larger quantity categories and still total the same amount.Ask your child what the magic number is. Cards are placed at the top of the tree and read slowly. Once the first word/nonsense word is read, the card is slid up the trunk reading all the words and deciding if they are real words or not. This material gives the child plenty of work with the changing middle vowel sound that often needs a lot of practice.This is a popular pre-reading work.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- The Game!
Letter Of The Week- Taking a break to practice for the Christmas Show
Rhyming Word Of The Week- Taking a break to practice for the Christmas Show
Next Week: Weekly Themes: Geography.. biggest to smallest (Galaxy to street address) Math.. Fractions Language.. No School Geometry.. No School
Synonym Of The Week: Not til 2024 Sight Words Of The Week: Not til 2024
I thought it would make a cool album cover.
Future Happenings: –Bring Your Parent To School: Mondays and Wednesdays starting November 20, 2023… follow the link to sign up, https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B48A8A92DA6F94-45382628-buckeye#/ –Thanksgiving Break: No school from Wednesday November 22 thru November 26. Returning Monday November 27.
-Christmas Show: Rehearsal- Wednesday December 13…6pm to 7pm NOT a dress rehearsal at Cuyahoga Falls High School Christmas Show- Friday December 15…6pm to 7:30pm at Cuyahoga Falls High School -Christmas Break: Friday December 22, 2023 returning January 9, 2024
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
Another set of twins.Another example of you just don’t ask why a student puts a backpack on their head.But someone thinks it is funny.She got tired of waiting for me to fix her binder pages so she taught herself. He said it was so easy he can roll a mat with his eyes closed.
Your Children Say The Darndest Things (my little sister):
We continued our vertebrate animal study this week by learning all about Reptiles.
What makes a reptile a reptile? Reptiles are cold blooded, have dry scaly skin, lay soft shelled eggs, (most) do not take care of their babies, and they breathe with lungs. We learned that there are so many neat things that reptiles can do! Snakes can smell with their tongues. Chameleons can change color depending on how they are feeling. Some lizards can detach their tails and grow new ones. However, our favorite reptile to learn about was the sea turtle! We really loved reptile week!
Preschool Corner:
This preschooler is copy writing, using the month label on our calendar! This preschooler is working with our Colored Bead Bars. She is matching quantity to symbol. Look at that proud smile as this preschooler works with our Spindle Box to practice quantity and symbol.
Kindergarten Corner:
Another proud smile from this Kindergartener as he works with our Square Chains from the Bead Cabinet. He is practicing the multiples for 9, 8, 7, and 6!
Operation Christmas Child:
We participated in Operation Christmas Child on Friday. We were able to pack a shoebox full of gifts, such as fun toys, school supplies, and personal care items and a letter that we wrote! These boxes will be delivered to children in need around the world! We are so grateful that we were able to help others this holiday season!
Come work with us!!!
Bring Your Parent to Work Days begin on Monday! If you are able to, sign up for a time slot on one of our allotted days and come work with us! Visits are approximately 30 minutes, and you will be able to observe the classroom as a whole for about 15 minutes and then work alongside your child for another 15-20 minutes. It is a wonderful way to experience our classroom setting and spend some very special time with your child! Sign up at the link below!
We have continued our study of the Animal Kingdom over the past two weeks. Our Blossoms are currently studying groups of Vertebrates. We started with Mammals and Birds!
What makes a mammal a mammal? We learned that mammals are warm blooded, covered in hair or fur, breathe air with their lungs, give birth to live babies, take care of their babies, and babies drink their mother’s milk.
What makes a bird a bird? We learned that birds are warm blooded, covered in feathers, breathe air with their lungs, hatch from hard shelled eggs, take care of their babies, and don’t have teeth – they have beaks!
With each of these classification studies, the children have been introduced to different species of mammals and birds, as well as the parts of one specific animal. For mammals we learned about the parts of a horse, and for birds we were introduced to the parts of a bird in general but encouraged to look through our various bird books to see how birds look different.
These two children are working together to determine if an animal is a mammal or not a mammal. Just one of the ways we review the characteristics of animals! This child is working with our Mammal 3 Part Cards under the watchful eye of Douglas, the goat (who is a mammal by the way).This child is working with our Bird 3 Part Cards. All of these birds within this work can be see around your backyard at home or around the school!
Our Favorite Visitor – Charlotte
Mr. John surprised us with a visit from Charlotte, the tarantula and one of his hissing cockroaches. As a group, we reviewed what we know about arachnids and insects while observing these animals more up close. Thank you Mr. John!
Peek into Work Time:
All smiles for Dynamic Addition! We’ve started practicing carrying over with our Equation of the Day!Check our those beautiful cursive u’s!Such a beautiful watercolor painting!
Peek into Next Week!
Focus Lesson: Reptiles
November 17: Operation Christmas Child Packing Party
November 22-24: No School – Thanksgiving Holiday
Come work with us! Bring Your Parent to Work Days! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B48A8A92DA6F94-45382631-cherry#/
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).
Dino from the Flintstones
Did You Know: Why Swiss Cheese Has Holes? Carbon dioxide given off by the bacteria used to make Swiss cheese creates the air bubbles in the process, resulting in those holes that we refer to in the industry as “eyes.” The size of the eyes does not have an effect on the taste of the cheese and can be controlled through temperature, storage time and acidity.
My children say Swiss Cheese smells like stinky feet. What are your thoughts on Swiss Cheese?
November Birthday: The Montessori Classroom prides itself on having a multiage cclassroom. Here is our newest 5 year old student.
Message From Mr. John (Star Struck):
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 14 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish, Tagolog)
Know Your Languages (Tagolog):
SpecialsSpot (Art):
The old hand turkey craft.
Peek In The Classroom:
She is working on consonant/vowel blends. This will help her with advanced reading.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. She is working on the memory game where I show her a number and she goes across the room the retrieve the correct number of sticks. Memory game incorporates movement, elements of suspense, control, and academic learning. Look at her expression of excitement.She decided to “go all in” with her work on sand paper letters by taking out all of the letters.
Next Week: Weekly Themes: Geography.. Ohio Math.. Fractions Language.. Adverbs Geometry.. Large Hexagon Box
Synonym Of The Week: Not til 2024 Sight Words Of The Week: been down
A “nice” pic with a bit of spunk from the kinders.
Future Happenings: –Operation Christmas Child: Friday November 17, 2023 –Bring Your Parent To School: Mondays and Wednesdays starting November 20, 2023… follow the link to sign up, https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B48A8A92DA6F94-45382628-buckeye#/ –Thanksgiving Break: No school from Wednesday November 22 thru November 26. Returning Monday November 27.
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
Pretty In Pink.Did they call each other to plan on wearing the matching pants?She is practicing dance. I’d be walking with a cane if I attempted this.Quite the ladies man.
Your Child Says The Darndest Things (My Brother’s Birthday):
Line Time: Arachnids, Insects, Invertebrates- This week we broke away from vertebrates and looked at some invertebrates. Namely, insects, arachnids, and some other invertebrates. We learned that insects have a head, thorax, abdomen, six legs, and two antennae. Some examples of insects are the ladybug, bee, butterfly, and ants. Arachnids are a bit different and have a fused head and thorax (called a cephalothorax) and an abdomen. Some arachnids include spiders, ticks, and scorpions.
Who remember Atom Ant?
Breaking out the insect and arachnid.
Did You Know: Be nice to crows Crows can recognize human faces and remember them for their entire lives. They’ve also been known to leave gifts for humans. My question is if you anger a crow how long do they hold a grudge?
Message From Mr. John (Let the Music Move You): For general admission shows I get to the venue 2 hours before doors open to get against the stage.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 15 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Swedish)
Know Your Languages (Swedish):
SpecialsSpot (Music):
Music class implements movement which is very important at this age.
Peek In The Classroom:
In the foreground he is working with the language material, Opposite Cards. In the background she is working on the Binomial Cube which is found in the sendorial area.She is learning how to write from 1 to 100.She is working on the knobless cylinders that can be found in the sensorial area. This material strengthens fine motor skills and visual discrimination. Did you notice she discovered the relationship in regards to height? She us working on the trinomial cube that is housed in the sensorial area. As with all Montessori sensorial materials, the cube has both a direct and an indirect purpose. The direct purpose of the binomial and trinomial cubes is for the child to practice the steps to properly disassemble and build the cube, while refining dexterity and visual acuity.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Dinosaurs
Letter Of The Week- L l
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bot
Next Language is Tagolog
Academic Enrichment aka Kindergarten:
Weekly Themes: Geography.. North America Bodies of water Math.. Division with Golden Beads and other materials (no borrowing) Language.. Adjectives Geometry.. Construction Box (blue rectangle box)
Next Week: Weekly Themes: Geography.. Ohio Math.. Fractions Language.. Adjectives Geometry.. Small Hex Box
Synonym Of The Week: OLD: ancient, elderly, used, seasoned, mature Sight Words Of The Week: how each
I never understood the mismatch craze.His sweatshirt is stuck on his head.Who wears it better my student or Mike Reno of Loverboy?Peace, Love, and Donuts!
Line Time: Birds- This week we learned about what makes a bird a bird. We learned a bird is a vertebrate and is warm blooded. A bird is born from a hard shelled egg and has feathers. Not all birds can fly and the ones that can not fly are called flightless birds which include penguins, ostriches, and the dodo bird. The jury is still out if chickens can fly.
I say, I say, That boy ain’t right.
Did You Know: Napoleon’s chief of staff organized the hunt. He bought more than 3000 rabbits from local farmers as he wanted to impress his boss. Napoleon and his guests turned up one summer morning in a field, ready to hunt as many rabbits as possible. When the bunnies were released the rabbits didn’t scamper away in fear. Quite the opposite — they bounded toward Napoleon and his hunting party. Napoleon and his buddies soon found themselves bombarded with a barrage of fluffy bunnies. This reminds me of the Monty Python scene in The Life Of Brian.
Run away. Run away…
Message From Mr. John (Hot Blooded):
I do not think Foreigner has any original members but they’ve played Blossom the last two years and they sound great.
Cultural Subjects: Your children can now count to ten in 14 languages (English, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, German, French, Greek, Japanese, Arabic in the Lebanese Dialect, Italian, Russian, Romanian)
Know Your Languages (Romanian):
Impromptulesson of going through an owl pellet. We found fur, claws, and many small bones.
SpecialsSpot (Science):
They are pointing at the clay in the shape of a bowl floated while the clay sphere sank.
Trunk or Treat Celebration:
It was like hearding cats, yoysk.
Parent and grandparent helping with Trunk or Treat!
Peek In The Classroom:
Tracing and Coloring the Fish Puzzle. Can you find where he drew the fish heart(s)?Tracing and punching the continents (with a push pin).Making Tens with the color bead bars. Montessori bead bars are introduced to the child to teach them the counting concept and color recognition. Counting with ten bar beads is a practical method for learning complex mathematical operations, like addition and subtraction efficiently. Do you see she went in order 1/9, 2/8 then did the opposite 9/1, 8/2?She is learning to count, write, and identify numbers from 1 to 100.
Peek Into Next Week: Line Time- Insects and arachnids
Letter Of The Week- J j
Rhyming Word Of The Week- bip
Next Language is Swedish
Academic Enrichment aka Kindergarten:
Weekly Themes: Geography.. North America Math.. Division golden beads no borrowing Language.. Pronouns Geometry.. Construction Box (rectangle box 2)
Next Week: Weekly Themes: Geography.. North America Math.. Division with Golden Beads and other materials Language.. Adjectives Geometry.. Construction Box (blue rectangle box)
Synonym Of The Week: COLD: freezing, chilly, frigid, frozen, cool Sight Words Of The Week: use your
Kinder students in alphabetical order which they did on their own.
Operation Christmas Child: Friday November 17, 2023 Bring Your Parent To School: Mondays and Wednesdays starting November 20, 2023… follow the link to sign up, https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B48A8A92DA6F94-45382628-buckeye#/ Thanksgiving Break: No school from Wednesday November 22 thru November 26. Returning Monday November 27.
Friends, Frolic, and Fun:
Sometimes you just do not ask.
Mighty oaks and sprouts. Our tallest and shortest students. Loosing teeth is a right of passage. This student has crossed that line quite often.I said there was something different about her. I asked: Did you get a haircut? No Did you shave your mustache? giggling, no. OH! you’re wearing your glasses!!!
Your Child Says The Darndest Things (TMI about her brother):
The children learned that mammals are the only animal that eats/drinks mother’s milk!
This week we started our study of the Animal Kingdom. We began with the two biggest categories – Vertebrates and Invertebrates! Vertebrates have a backbone and are classified into 5 groups – mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. We will spend a week on each of these categories over the upcoming weeks. Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. We will learn about 2 groups of invertebrates this school year – insects and arachnids. However, we were also introduced to some other categories this week – crustaceans, worms, mollusks, sponges, corals, and jellyfish!
Speaking of Arachnids… we learned all about arachnids this week, but mostly about SPIDERS! Spiders have two body parts and eight legs. There are many types of spiders, some are poisonious and others are not. We learned the life cycle of a spider – egg sac, eggs, spiderlings, and spiders. We learned the parts of a spider. And we ended the week with an adorable spider craft!
Preschool Corner:
Some of our older Preschoolers were introduced to one of my favorite work activities this week – the Moveable Alphabet! We use the Moveable Alphabet for so many concepts, including isolating the beginning sounds of words and sounding out words phonetically! This material allows children to work on their writing skills without the pressure of forming each letter – although we work on that skill within the classroom as well!
Kindergarten Corner:
Kindergarteners from all of the primary classrooms participated in their first “Author Share”! At the end of each Writer’s Workshop unit, the children read one of their pieces of writing to their peers. We celebrate the hard work of our friends as well as practice some public speaking skills. I am so very proud of my favorite authors! At the end of the Author Share event, Ms. Kelley surprised the group with a fun, Halloween themed reading game of choosing words out of a cauldron and using their “sound detective” skills to read the words!
TRUNK OR TREAT!
We had SO MUCH FUN at our Trunk or Treat event! We started the day by decorating our classroom and then played some games with our wonderful parent helpers! We saw so many wonderful trunks during Trunk or Treat and ended our day by watching Room on the Broom!
Peek Into Next Week!
November 10: Parent/Teacher Conferences – No School for Students
November 17: Operation Christmas Child Packing Party
