A Peek into our Academic Enrichment with kindergartners | Cuyahoga Falls Campus 9/29/17

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Academic Enrichment with Mr. John
Over the past few weeks together we looked at the bodies of water that “touch” the continent in which we live, North America. The students know that Hudson Bay is to the north and Gulf of Mexico is to the south. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and to the west is the Pacific Ocean. We also identified where the Great Lakes are. Do you know what the significance of “HOMES” is?

Next, we took a look at the great state of O-H-I-O. Your children know the official “things” of Ohio:
Tree: Buckeye Tree
Fossil: Trilobite
Mammal: White Tail Deer
Flower: Scarlet Carnation
Insect: Lady Bug
Drink: Tomato Juice
Rock and Roll Song: Hang On Sloopy

They also know it is the Buckeye State, the abbreviation is OH, and the capital city is Columbus.  We also looked at the surrounding states of Ohio and learned the abbreviation and nickname for each.


Reading Group with Ms. Kate
This week our Reading Club read the story Big Wolf and Little Wolf. After the story, I encouraged the children to ask questions from the story. We then worked together as a team to come up with basic comprehension questions. After our discussions, we completed the sharing questions. The children really enjoy copy writing their sharing question from the white board. They feel so proud of their writings and drawings. During the next week, we will be focusing on vocabulary, acting out and analyzing a section of the text. We will also explore the story’s meaning by discussing interpretive questions!

 


Handwriting with Ms. Kristen
All of our practice using form drawing has paid off and the kindergarten students are working hard on forming their cursive letters. We are working our way through the alphabet. In the past two weeks, we have been working on C-H. The children are carefully learning step by step how to form each letter and are working on copy writing sentences using words beginning with the letter we are currently working on that day. I am so proud of our young writers!

A Peek into Elementary Enrichments | September 2017

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This month has been full of exciting enrichment classes. Latin, Art, and Music are in full swing, with each class fully immersing students into the topic at hand. Each class has started with the fundamentals and progressively advanced through the month. Let’s take a look inside the enrichment classrooms for this month.

 

In Art class, students have been studying colors and how each interacts with the others. Students began by designing 3 dimensional cubes in the fashion of Mondrian using straight lines and primary colors. In the following weeks, students were able to connect themselves with colors by creating a self portrait in combination with colors of their choice. This month wrapped up with mixing only primary colors to create a full spectrum palette, then using those colors to paint pears. A solid foundation of color theory leads students to a more holistic understanding of what color is, how it is used, how we perceive it, and the connotations and emotions associated with each.

 

In Latin, students began studying the Greek gods and their influences on Greek and Roman culture. Students were familiar with many of these characters, but with further exploration, there is always something new to learn. Reading and writing Roman numerals came next as it is a staple in Latin language. Students also began exploring applicable Latin words, such as “hello,” “teacher,” and “bye.” In the future, students will continue to explore conversational Latin and language structure. With this understanding of different languages, students can begin to make the connections not only between Latin and English, but more importantly the influences languages have on each other and the overall structure of language itself.

 

In Music class students have been exploring the history of music and the numerous composers who have made an impact on how we understand music today. In the picture, students are researching Beethoven and his contributions to the musical realm. In class, students played “Name That Tune” and “Musical Hangman.” They also explored the staff and scales by becoming the notes and arranging themselves on a musical staff. In the latter half of the month, students began working with the handbells and playing “Jingle Bells,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” This musical journey allows students to make connections between the music they have heard in the real world, composers of the past and present, and their own musical creativity.

What a fantastic month we had in all our enrichment classes! We can’t wait to explore what the next month’s journey in Art, Latin, and Music.

Peek at our Week | Ms. Kate’s Class | Week of September 25th

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This week we learned all about what respect is, and using our manners. Throughout the week, we had discussions about what is a peacemaker and what a peace breaker does. We also made our own classroom rules as a group. Together as a class, we also created a listening chart. I was super proud of how well the children grasped this concept!

Our friend here is working on the Geometry Cabinet. With this work the children discriminate their geometric shapes. They are also learning new vocabulary.
Our kindergartners are working on their weekly journal entries. When children are journal writing they are able to write about personal experiences, and their reflections. It also teaches children that their thoughts, feelings, and words can be transferred from their minds to paper.
This week our friend worked really hard on the trinomial cube. The purpose of the amazing material is for the preparation for mathematics, working on three dimensional patterns. This is also an introduction for algebra.

Take a Peek Into Next Week !
Next week is all about apples! We will be focusing using on the life cycle of an apple, learning about Johnny Appleseed, tasting different types of apples, and making homemade applesauce!

A Peek At Our Week | Mr. John’s Class | Week of September 25th

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This week we talked about living and nonliving things. Your children now know what makes a living thing a living thing!  All living things reproduce, grow, eat or take in nutrients, breathe or exchange gas, and need water. We are all in agreement that plants, animals, trees, grass, are living things!

A Montessori classroom consists of multi aged students. In the Primary Classroom we have 2 1/2 to 6 year old children. This is our newest 3 year old!
The Number Rods are one of the beginning materials in the Math area. Number Rods help the child experience the “quantities” in addition to counting from 1 to 10.
This Math work is called Cards and Counters. This reinforces that each symbol (number) is made up of separate quantities. *** Notice the other students observing the student working on this material *** A big part of the Montessori classroom is the student learning from their peers by observing or by the older student teaching younger students.
Color Box 2 can be found in our Sensorial area. It is very attractive to our children with all the colors it contains. The children match the colors and identify what colors they are. We also introduce the terms primary colors and secondary colors when the student is ready.
This material is called Pink Rhyming and found in the Language area. The Pink Series focuses on the short vowel sounds. Pink Rhyming consists of the five vowel sounds and rhyming word within each group. For example. HAT: bat, cat, fat, sat. DOT: cot, rot, hot. **** Notice younger students observing the older student work ****

 

Peek At Next Week:

Mammals:
Characteristics:  Warm Blooded, have hair or fur, vertebrates, born alive!

Letter of the Week:
F f

Rhyming Word of the Week:
Big

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of September 25th

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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 Ainsley (Third Grade) and Tyler (Fourth Grade)

This week the first year students learned the artical. The second year students learned AM/PM. The fourth year student learned the noun folder. He also learned Estimation. This week the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years learned the yarn timelein.

This student is doing Spelling. His activities are write your words three times in cursive and write your words one time in bubble letters. Spelling helps with research.
These students are lerning racks and tubes 3 digit division. The next step of this is division on paper.
We held adishons for the halloween play. The adishons were for “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.”
This student is doing science. She is practicing the volcano.

A Peek into Next Week

by Ms. Ashley

Next week, Lower Elementary students will be taking a deeper look at the Timeline of Life. First year students will discuss capitalization and the Dance of the Molecules. Second year students will edit sentences, measure angles, and discuss how animals satisfy their needs. Third years will discuss types of sentences and the main characteristics of Porifera. Fourth years will work with direct objects and will begin studying multiples. All students will study the compass and map keys. Some students will travel to Tallmadge Circle to complete their compass work!

REMINDERS: Picture Day is Tuesday, October 3. There will be no gym Friday, October 6.

 

A Peek at Our Week | Ms. Courtney’s Classroom | Week of September 25th

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Topic: Five Senses

This past week the children learned how our five senses help us understand and explore the world around us. Our five senses help us collect information about ourselves and our surroundings. They also learned to identify the five senses: hearing, tasting, smelling, touching and seeing.  We discovered that sometimes we use two or more senses at once; and how important it is for our senses to work together. The children had the opportunity to practice using their senses to determine properties of objects and distinguish them from one another.

 

Taste testing sweet, salty, bitter and sour foods.

 

  

Work Time

Tracing Name: This child is tracing her name in cursive. By doing this she is developing fine motor skills and coordination because her eyes and hands have to focus on the same thing in order to form each letter.
Color Box 2: This child is using her ability to discriminate and identify different colors in order to match them.
Pumpkin Scrubbing: This child is using many motor skills while also remembering the order and sequence of each action to successfully pumpkin scrub, which naturally leads to the development of concentration.
Floor Mopping: This child is mopping the classroom after lunch, doing this makes her more aware and willing to care for the classroom environment.
Spindle Box: This child is matching the correct quantity of spindles to each numeral symbol. She is also being introduced to the concept of zero and what its symbol looks like, while also seeing the natural sequence of the numerals.
Color Box 4: This child is grading different colors from lightest to the darkest, while also refining his sense of sight.
Tracing Tree Puzzle: This child is tracing and coloring the tree 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.
Pattern Peg Board: This child is reading the pattern control chart and creating the same pattern on the peg board. By doing this work she is gaining the skills needed to recognize and create patterns. This will not only help her determine patterns in math but also provide her with the needed pre-reading skills in language.
Cursive Chalkboard Writing: This child is practicing writing cursive letters on a chalkboard. She is developing multiple skills involving her eyes, arms, hands, memory, posture and body control.
Pyramid Puzzle: These students are matching the different colors together in order to create the pyramid shape. This puzzle involves not only the ability to concentrate but the ability problem solve.

Guest Reader (if you are interested in being a guest reader email me at cowens@themarterkids.com)

Reminders

Picture Day Tuesday, October 3, 2017

A Look into Next Week: Leaves

  • The students will observe the differences in leaf shape.
  • The students will observe the different Fall colors and the fun we can have with leaves.
  • The students will sort a variety of fall objects.
  • The students will learn different textures leaves have and identify them.

 

A Peek At Our Week | Mr. John | Week of September 18th

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This week we had fun learning about the food groups in our class.  Grains and Cereals, Fruit and Vegetables, Dairy (my favorite), meats and proteins, fats and sugars and how many servings we should have per day.  Next week we will be identifying and learning the characteristics are of living things and non living things(non-living thing: me at 5 am in the morning). Notable events of this week was the death of guitarist Grant Hart from the band Husker Du and actor Harry Dean Stanton (Cool Hand Luke, Repo Man, Pretty In Pink, Wild At Heart).

 

Beginning to intermediate works in Math, focus on the correlation between quantity and symbol. This material (the 9 Tray) includes the quantity and symbol but goes beyond that and focuses on the unit, ten, hundred and thousand columns using the Golden Beads.

 

Kept the photo bomb! Color Box II contains 22 tablets/11 colors, primary colors, secondary colors, brown, gray, pink, black, white. The student gets familiar with these colors. The child matches colors and identifies the name of the color.
Practicing cursive- Since all cursive lower case letters start from the same beginning point, the confusion resulting in reversals or inversions is eliminated. Cursive letters are more distinct than printed letters.
The color Beads Bars are found in the Math area. Again, this material uses the concept of quantity and symbols. Each color bead represents a quantity( 1 through 10). The visual of the different color beads is particularly enticing for the child.


Sneak Peek for Next Week: Living and Non-Living

Together we will spend time over the week learning about the characteristics of Living Things
(take in nourishment, breathe or exchange gases, grow, reproduce,etc)

Letter of the Week: Ee
Rhyming Word of the Week: bad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Peek at our Week | Ms. Courtney | Week of September 18th

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Topic: Feelings and emotions

This week the children learned what they can do when they are angry, happy, sad, frustrated, excited etc. They learned how to manage their feelings and emotions. The children practiced how to process, identify and appropriately express their emotions in different scenarios throughout the week. Towards the end of the week we started seeing them express their feelings and emotions to their friends on their own!

A fun activity we had together to help students learn how to express their emotions.

Work time

Tangrams: The student is completing the picture by moving and rotating different shapes.
Multiplication Board: The child is matching the numbered tiles to the corresponding location on the board, while also memorizing multiplication facts.
Sandpaper Numbers: This child is learning the symbols for the numbers through the sense of touch and sight.
Tying: This older child is presenting a lesson on how to tie a shoe to a younger student.

Guest Reader (if you or someone you know is interested please email me at cowens@thesmarterkids.com)

Reminders

Friday, September 29th: Bring Your Parent to Work Time

You can sign up by following this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48a8a92da6f94-bring

A look into next week: Five Senses

The students will learn about their five senses and their parts of the body that correspond to each sense.

A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of September 18

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A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of September 18

This was an exciting week in our classroom. We tie dyed shirts, had our first Latin class, and are going on our first field trip! This week first year students began adding to their research skills by learning to alphabetize, discussing how to use a table of contents and index, and practicing how to paraphrase words to avoid plagiarism. Second year students practiced reading numbers on the Large Bead Frame, reviewed common and proper nouns, and looked at consecutive and adjacent line segments. These students discovered there are consecutive and adjacent line segments in many of the letters of the alphabet! The third year students reviewed rules for plurals of nouns, practiced greater than, less than, and equal to with fractions, looked at types of corolla, and explored similarity in geometry. Fourth year students discussed words coined by famous authors, looked at the history of the English language, created their own Multiplication Checkerboard, and discussed evolution of life theorists.

Our students made their own tie dye shirts for our field trips this year. Some students followed the directions to make certain patterns, while others created original designs!

Our students are conducting an experiment about germs. We used two apples for our experiment. Half of one apple is our control and the other half was touched by students with dirty hands. The first half of the second apple was touched by students that washed their hands and the second half by students that used hand sanitizer. So far, the apple touched by students with clean hands has changed the least. The students are so interested to see our final results. Take a peek at drop off or pick up!
These students are working to read numbers on our Multiplication Checkerboard. Students add beads to the squares and read the numeral they have created. These students made the number 999,999,999. After practice with this, students will begin multiplying on the Checkerboard.
This student is doing subtraction on paper with the Stamp Game. In the Elementary classroom, students learn math concepts with our concrete materials. When they have mastered that material, the next step is solving an equation with the material and on paper, with pencil. The final step is complete abstraction of the concept, just on paper. This process leads to a deeper understanding of the “why” of math work.
For International Peace Day, we discussed different peace makers and world changers. After our discussion, students made peace pinwheels. On one side of our pinwheels, we wrote what peace means to us and decorated the other side before turning them into pinwheels! Check them out near the playground before the weekend!

A Peek into Next Week

Next week Kids Bop begins! Lower Elementary students will make bar graphs, continue studying nouns, look at parts of a fruit, and experiment with an overflow basin. Upper Elementary students will work on word problems about money, practice note-taking, draw angles with a protractor, and will discuss ions and electron shells.

Next week the blog will be written by two students! Don’t miss a look into our room through their eyes!

 

A Peek at our Week | Ms. Kate’s Class | September 18th

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We had so much fun this week learning about our families!  All week long we had a variety of activities which  gave a better understanding of what a family is. We had many discussions about who is in our family, brothers and sisters, special traditions families celebrate together, and how all families are different. We also shared our family trees.

One of our kindergartners working on the South America Map. With this material they are learning how countries fit together into a continent and learning about the different countries. They are gaining fine motor skills but tracing and coloring the map.
Sharing our family trees!  The children take so much pride in talking about their families.

A Peek into Next Week: We are learning about Respect!
– Learn how how we can respect others
-What does respect look like?
-How manners tie into respect