Floating paperclip: First, we filled a bowl with water then without much luck we tried to make a paperclip float. We decided to tear off a piece of tissue paper placing it on top of the water. After that we laid the paperclip on top of the tissue paper. Using the eraser end of a pencil we carefully poked the tissue paper until it sank, and it left the paperclip floating. We were able to perform this experiment because of surface tension.
Colorful sugar water density tower: We filled three cups up with different colored water. Then, we added different amounts of sugar to each cup of colored water (3 tablespoons, 6 tablespoons and 9 tablespoons). Using an eyedropper we layered the water with the most dissolved sugar on the bottom, the middle amount of sugar in the middle and the least amount of sugar on the top. We discovered that the water containing the most amount of sugar was more dense, allowing the water with less sugar to stack on top of the mixture with a higher density.
This week our “Peek” was written by two of our students! These students read our previous blogs, took pictures around the room, and filled in a blog template. The students did some editing together and with a teacher so what you will read below is their final product. There are still some misspelled words in their final product, but in a Montessori classroom we focus on the process, instead of the end result. Dr. Montessori believed when we put all of the emphasis on the final product, we devalue everything leading up to that point. This can discourage repetition which will make mastery of a skill difficult. The purpose of the students writing the blog is to provide you with a glimpse into the room through their eyes, to provide them with practice of real world skills, and to give them a deeper understanding of the materials in the room. We hope you enjoy their work!
“A Peek at Our Week” by Darin (First Grade) and Isabel (First Grade)
On Monday we ate outside. On Tuesday we made litter bugs. On Wednesday we saw an astronaut read us a story.
She is doing Plant Kingdom Chart. She made her own Plant Kingdom Chart. This helps your brain.She is doing Bohr diagram. She’s building an oxagin atom. It helps lern what air molicules look like.He is playing recorder. Recorder helps with music. Recorder teachs you music notes.Ms. Courtney showed us animals. The chik was soft. The chik was cute. The chik was squirmy. The chik was quick. The chik was fun.The duck was brown. The duck was cute.
“A Peek at Next Week” by Ms. Ashley
I can’t believe next week begins our final month of school! Next week, first year students will learn the etymology of the words “numerator” and “denominator,” will practice their knowledge of right, obtuse, and acute angles, and will learn how animals satisfy their needs. Second year students will have their next Metric System lesson, will begin studying quadrilaterals, and will complete their study of the main characteristics of vertebrates. Third years will learn the Large Bank Game, will study the internal systems of birds, and will begin drawing their imaginary island! Fourth year students will add integers, begin studying transitive and intransitive verbs, will look at toolkits of hominids, and will begin studying protists.
REMINDERS:
Spring Portraits – Tuesday, May 1, beginning at 9:30 am! Part of the proceeds from the photos will go towards buying our classroom new materials! Please sign up here to reserve your spot!
This week we learned about Adverbs. We now know Adverbs describe Verbs and is represented by an orange circle with the grammar symbols. Adverbs usually end in “ly” and if anyone asks how you are doing the Kindergarteners know to say I am doing WELL.
This week, we continued our study of Asia! We learned that the Yangtze River is in China, and we read a story about a little duck named Ping, who lived on a boat on the Yangtze River! We also had a special visitor come at talk to us about what it was like to live in India! We learned that in India, people sometimes ride elephants! We also learned that tigers live in Asia, but the majority of the tigers who are in captivity are actually in the United States!
Working on matching the objects from the Initial Sound Box to their corresponding initial sound using the Sandpaper Letters!
So proud of her work on the 100 Board! This work aides the child in counting to 100 and learning the order of numeration!
Working on drawing some of the flags of Asia! We had so much fun preparing for the International Festival!
We continued to practice for the International Festival and created The Leaning Tower Of Pisa. I am so proud of your children for the hard work they put into this event. They worked hard learning their lines, learning songs, and helping with the creation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I wanted to thank Kathleen and Sabrina for their hard work preparing your children for The International Festival.
Peek In Our Class:
We had a student’s grandmother give a presentation on India.
A student rolling clay to create the arches for the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
This student is painting the base for the tower. Notice his tongue as he is soooo focused on his task.
This student is coloring the flag that goes on top of the Tower Project.
The kindergartners listened to a story by the Brothers Grimm called the Shoemaker and the Elves. They started a new homework assignment to write a question about the story. They shared the questions and we discussed them in class. The kindergartners acted out two scenes where the elves are making the shoes ( we will be using several shoes from https://vessifootwear.com/ for the play), and when they find the clothes the shoemaker’s wife made for them. We learned some new vocabulary words and completed comprehension activities such as drawing the havaianas the elves made, writing how the shoemaker and his wife felt after seeing the elves, and writing a poem.
A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks
-The students will be listening to a Russian folk tale about a frog who takes a trip.
-The students will complete writing and art activities.
-The students will write a question to share for group discussion.
Articles: This week the students learned that articles (a, an, the) are a part of speechused to indicatenouns. A hooks up with consonants. An hooks up with vowels. The hooks up with anything.
Below the students are identifying and labeling the nouns, verbs and articles found in each sentence, by using a large black triangle for nouns, a large red circle for verbs and a small light blue triangle for articles.
Australia is the smallest of the seven continents. It is just one country surrounded by water. Australia is called the land “down under” because it is located under the equator. It has two big cities Sydney and Melbourne. The central part of Australia is called the “outback.” Australia produces more wool than any other country.
Asia is the biggest of the seven continents. It has more people living on it than all of the other continents combined. Asia has many different kinds of land such as: tundra, evergreen forest, wide grasslands, sandy deserts and tropical rain forest. The highest and lowest places on Earth are found in Asia which are Mount Everest and the Dead Sea.
Antarctica is an icy continent with no countries or people. Most people who do visit are scientist or visitors who are observing all the amazing animals and the climate. Antarctica has tall mountains that are covered by snow and ice. It also has thick sheets of ice and giant ice chunks known as icebergs.
Work Time
Parts of a Mammal (Horse) Puzzle: This child is tracing and coloring the horse puzzle by doing this he is learning how to grip and hold a pencil correctly. It also helps refine his hand control to steady the pencil and he is learning the characteristics of a horse.Linear Counting: This child is working on one of our cubed bead chains, he is identifying the names of the numbers and seeing the correspondence of the quantities with the written number on the cards. He is also discovering that 8X1=8, 8X2=16, 8X3=24 and so on.Movable Alphabet: These children are saying the word of the object and matching the symbol with the correct initial sound to the object.Suds Whisking: This child is using many motor skills while also remembering the order and sequence of each action to successfully suds whisk, which naturally leads to the development of concentration.Introduction Tray: This child is being introduced to the decimal system and becoming familiar with the symbols and quantities associated with units, tens, hundreds and thousands. He is visually seeing the difference between 1 unit, 1 ten, 1 hundred and 1 thousand.
Reminders
Tallmadge Grandparents Day | May 9th
Moms N Muffins | May 11th | 7 am to 8 am
LAST Bring Your Parent to Work Time | May 21st
Memorial Day | NO SCHOOL | May 28th
Last Day of School | May 31st
Kindergarten Graduation | June 1st | 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
I am just so proud of how hard our friends have Been working on the International Festival. This is also our last week learning all about North and South America. Tomorrow is the big day, so don’t forget that we have early release tomorrow at 12!!! See all of you at the show!
Practicing for the big day! A few of our students working on our classroom project. Our project will be displayed in the cafeteria:) Our two kindergarten students are tracing, labeling, and coloring the parts of the tree and flower. The purpose of this work is to teach the different parts of the tree and flower. One of our friends worked so very hard on labeling, tracing, and coloring our continent puzzle. When working on our map puzzles the children are able to recognize the continent’s, countries, and the different oceans surrounding them.
Take A Peek Into Next Week:
Next week is all about Down on the farm. We will be learning about baby animals, farmers, the different tools you will find on the farm, and also the different types of foods that are found on the farm.
Reminders:
Tomorrow is early release. Please pick your child up at 12!
Tomorrow is also the big day! Please bring your child to the high school at 5:00pm sharp!
“The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction.” -Maria Montessori
The International Festival is always a very busy time at our school, but one of my favorites. Students (and teachers) have the opportunity to learn languages, traditions, and history about many different places that some of us have never been! It is wonderful to see students enjoying learning about people and places that are so different from what they usually experience. Montessori always had the idea that in order for the world to be more peaceful, that we must teach children about peace and tolerance. Learning about other cultures is one of the many ways we do this in a Montessori environment.
These second year students are putting together their knowledge of types of sides and types of angles to learn the Seven Triangles of Reality. Students are building the seven different triangles and then sketching them onto paper to keep for reference as we move through the rest of our Triangle Study. Learning about the different triangles will help students when they begin to study how to take the area and volume of different things.This first year student has helped his group complete their model for the International Festival. His group researched Yosemite National Park. This group drew an aerial sketch of their park, built it using clay, and then painted it. Make sure to find it tonight at the International Festival to get a closer look at their hard work!In kindergarten, our students are introduced to the parts of speech. Throughout their time in Elementary, they continue to study words, sentences, and parts of speech. This student recently began studying conjunctions. He is practicing what he learned by using our Conjunction Grammar Box. This material gives sample sentences that require students to decide which part of speech each word is. Practicing this work will help students with the structure of their writing.
A Peek at Next Week
Next week, first year students will measure on a number line, will begin studying interjections, and will continue studying different angles. Second year children will add and subtract lengths and will continue studying interjections and triangles, it’s like a socks for everyone! Third year students will be focusing on building a city together by using their knowledge of perimeter, area, and volume. Fourth year students will continue studying early humans and bacteria and will draw line plots to show data.
