What do we do all day?

Here are some photos of classroom activity from the past few weeks. I was going to organize it by curriculum area, then decided that the 'as-is' order gives a better feel for our classrooms - with the Montessori approach, there are likely children working in each of the curriculum area at any time. I hope these photos can share a touch of the joy and enthusiasm for learning we experience each day!

Place value cards

Evaporation experiment

Lots of focus practicing a lacing card - preparation for sewing

Painting - and an extension of color theory work - mixing two primary colors (red & blue) to discover that they make purple!

Memory match game to practice "heart words" (words we need to learn by heart, aka sight words)

Trinomial cube

Scrubbing fruit

Color theory - mixing primary colors with water

Self-care - button frame

An introduction to part-whole circles for math modeling

Sink or float experiment - to start introducing the vocabulary and process of scientific method, we have one chart where the child makes their predictions (hypothesis), then they test each object and record their observations on the second chart

Handwriting practice

Practice reading clock times

Cleaning a chair

"5 in a row'" math game to practice addition pairs that make 10

Handwriting practice

A kindergartner teaches two younger friends how to play another addition math game

Often our students will build a story (sentence) with the movable alphabet using some words that have a spelling/phonics concept we are focusing on (in this case, silent 'e'). After we read and revise, they will write the story into their story journal and illustrate.

"I ride on the big slide" - written and illustrated by this young author/illustrator

Practice spelling heart words in shaving cream

Letter race - a partner game to practice letter sounds

Addition snake game (modified to emphasize subitizing skills)

Number rods (modified for subitizing)

Puzzle map of North America

The movement mat provides a space for a child to practice large motor movements, exercise, or dance at any time during the morning work time

Watering our classroom plants (and admiring the spines on the cactus!)

Mystery bag game - taking turns identifying by touch what object they are feeling in the bag

For "Read Across America Week" our kindergartners met up with 4th grade reading buddies. The 4th graders read biographies to us in celebration of women's history month. The kindergartners also brought along one of our "Superstar Readers" that they could read to their 4th grade buddies. On the way back to class, one of my kindergartners asked if we could do this again... every day!

Glimpses of Fall 2020

 A few of the beautiful moments from our in-person school days this fall:

When I first showed Joshua* a cylinder block on his first day of school, he was intrigued, and methodically took all of the cylinders in and out for the next 20 minutes

*All names changed

Marco, one of the youngest students in Redbud, came to school not knowing many letters but ready to learn, and has now mastered the phonetic sounds for the whole alphabet. 

One day I suggested that Aliya, in her second year of preschool, write with the movable alphabet about things she likes to do or things she loves. Her list included movable alphabet, school, family, unicorns, [watering] plants, painting, and South America. (She is just starting to sound out words, so mostly wrote the beginning sound for each syllable.) 

Naim, who had just started working with place value before we went remote in March, now easily regroups for addition with golden beads, exchanging 10 ten bars for a hundred square and 10 hundred squares for a thousand cube. 

For more photos of our school year in action, see our e-newsletter.

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Science Fair - What's inside a seed?

Our class shared a favorite seed exploration activity at the school's science fair this week.

"Do you know what these are?"

"Rocks?" was a frequent guess from students.
We discuss that they do look like rocks... and they're hard like a rock... but these are something else! They're lima beans, and that means they are seeds.

"We want to see if we can find what is hiding inside the seed. Would you like to see? "(Always a unanimous "yes!")

It's difficult to open a hard, dry seed, so we soaked them in water for a day (and added some food coloring to make them easier to see) 

Look how much they changed!

Soaking loosens the tough seed coat. Peel it off gently, starting at the side that is curved out 

Look! Do you see something poking out?!

Now gently separate the two halves... and there is the baby plant! The thicker part becomes the root and you can see the tiny little leaves 

In the classroom, we first explore the seeds as a group time activity. 

Then we have seed dissection available as an independent work choice on the botany shelf. 

Now we are waiting for spring so we can start our garden... 

Montessori Classroom News May 4, 2018

Outdoor Classroom

We enjoyed working in our shaded outdoor classroom space Wednesday morning. Highlights included building with our brand new outdoor block set, learning some introductory woodworking skills (hammering and drilling), and planting in our garden beds. 

Making a trellis for the pea plants (our gardening is in partnership with the Center for Environmental Transformation - cfet.org)

Frogs!

We have been learning about the life cycle of frogs and the different stages of their metamorphosis (and practicing that big word!) This week we also enthusiastically welcomed some real tadpoles as guests to our classroom. Thank you, Mr. Don for providing us this amazing learning opportunity

This week we also sampled pea sprouts we grew with extra seeds. Most of the children wanted seconds!

This song is a current favorite. You can find a recording online and sing along!

All I Really Need 

By Raffi

Chorus: 

All I really need is a song in my heart
Food in my belly,

 And love in my family

All I really need is a song in my heart,

Love in my family

And I need the rain to fall
And I need the sun to shine
To give life to the seeds we sow
To give the food we need to grow

All I really need is a song in my heart

And love in my family
(chorus)

And I need some clean water for drinking
And I need some clean air for breathing
So that I can grow up strong,

Take my place where I belong

All I really need is a song in my heart
And love in my family
(chorus)