“The study of mathematics, like the Nile, begins with minuteness and ends in magnificence.” -Charles Caleb Colton
Having previously taught in a Montessori Primary classroom (ages 3 to 6), gives me a unique understanding and sense of awe when I present Upper Elementary lessons. I presented many math and sensorial lessons when I taught preschool and kindergarten with the understanding that they were foundational lessons for work later in the Elementary curriculum, but I never really understood what they would be doing with the concrete lessons and materials they used as Primary students. When I get to present lessons like “The Algebraic Binomial,” I always love the look on the faces of the students as they learn more about a material they used at the age of 3. Have you ever wondered what the Binomial Cube is really about? Find out below!
Our students first solved the equation 23^2 by writing the binomial in expanded form and distributing the multiplier among the multiplicand. After solving the equation and building it on our pegboard, we assigned letters to each part of the binomial. We again distributed and came up with a simplified formula. I showed the students how it resembled the lid of The Binomial Cube and told them we had found the formula for the lid: a^2 + 2(ab) + b^2!
Lower Elementary
These third year friends are learning about the function of the pistil in a flower. They learned that the pistil is the female part of the plant and is where the seeds are stored to be pollinated by the stamen, or the male part of the plant. We discussed different pollinators in our lessons and took notes for future lesson review!This student is working to record the different types of leaf margins. During our lesson, we reviewed the parts of the leaf before learning the names of the types of margins that leaves can have. Each second year student will be creating a book with examples of leaves with different margins!
Upper Elementary
Our fourth year students are continuing their study of chemistry with an introduction to the history of chemistry. They assembled our timeline and are answering questions about chemists and discoveries together. They were so surprised to see how long ago chemistry was studied!Our fourth year students were also excited about their math lesson this week. They began their study of the divisibility of numbers by researching rules for divisibility of 2, 5 , and 25. After their lesson and recording of divisibility rules, these students worked together to determine if certain numbers were divisible by 2, 5, and 25. Did you know that a number is divisible by 25 if the last two digits of that number are 25, 50, 75, or 00?
Enrichments
These first and second year students are working together to sing, “Where Are You, Christmas?” Many of our students auditioned to sing it in the Christmas Show and the students chosen have been working hard to sing this challenging song!
REMINDERS:
Send in anything you signed up to bring Monday for our meal together Tuesday!
NO SCHOOL – Wednesday, November 27 – Friday, November 29
Nutcracker Ballet Field Trip – Driving details to come
