A Peek at Our Week | Elementary | Week of October 2nd
I can’t believe it’s already the first week of October! The students have accomplished so much in such a short time. All students discussed the differences between prehistory and history, made constellation tubes from your donated toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and practiced summarizing. This week first graders practiced math facts with the Addition Snake Game, had their first experience with Geometry Proofs, danced like molecules, and discussed density of objects on Earth. Our second graders began adding fractions with like denominators, added to their editing repertoire with inserting punctuation marks, and practiced finding good information for research. Third grade students measured using fractions and decimals, reviewed the use of the thesaurus, discovered equivalence of the constructive triangles, and found main characteristics of Porifera. The fourth grade students solved word problems about currency, learned about daffynitions (coffee – someone who is coughed upon), discovered relationships of angles in Euclid’s Theorem, and practiced proper adjectives. We spent time together this week practicing our play that we will perform for the Primary students at both campuses, trying papaya, and using a drill!
Elementary Montessori students do a lot of research throughout their six years with us, both independent and assigned. To help students feel successful, first year children are introduced to many research skills. These students learn how to use an index and table of contents, how to avoid plagiarism, how to determine if information is useful, and how to organize their information. This first grade student is recording research about Black Widows onto a research note card. This card must be labeled with the title, author, publisher, and copyright date for later use in a bibliography.One of our Spelling choices this week was “Michelangelo Write.” Students that chose this activity had to tape their paper to the bottom of a table before writing their words three times each. It was quite a sight to see students working on and under tables!Using a pumpkin from our Ramseyer Farm trip, students had their first chance to use the drill this year. Before using the drill independently, students had to learn how to insert the drill bit, how to put on and remove the battery pack, how to lock the drill, and how to drill forward and in reverse. Some students drew faces on the pumpkin before drilling out the shapes to make a jack-o-lantern.This fourth year student and a third year student wanted to practice estimation by estimating the amount of books in the entire school. They counted books in our rooms, Ms. Courtney’s room, the office, and the storage room, which is a separate self storage from the storage companies in Leicester. Their estimation was 1,001 books and the final count was 1,091.Thanks to your help collecting toilet paper and paper towel rolls, we were able to make constellation tubes. We began our work by defining the word “constellation” and sharing what we already knew. We looked at drawings of common constellations and then made our tubes. Students had to label their tubes with the name of their constellation and poke holes in the paper on top to form the constellation. You can see it if you look towards the light or shine a flashlight through the tube. We also have constellation cards on the shelf for students to practice their sewing skills!
A Peek into Next Week
Next week Lower Elementary students will discuss end punctuation, different types of measurement, indenting a paragraph, leaf veins and plant stamen, and will begin studying North America. Upper Elementary students will begin decimal studies, continue exploring Euclid’s Theorem, and work with the microscope. We have our first bus field trip on Tuesday, October 10, to Holden Arboretum. While there, we will learn about plants and animals of Ohio and try their Canopy Walk! Please dress your child for a day outdoors and send a disposable lunch.
REMINDERS: Holden Arboretum Field Trip 10/10
Please sign up for the Parent Education Night (10/25) about preparing your child for success now and in the future. You can sign up for the workshop here.
