Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 22
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| Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@zhenhappy |
This
week feels like we are getting back into the swing of things. Our 100
day celebration was this week and the students had a great time hanging
out with the other three kindergarten classrooms.
We continued working on South America in our micro discussions of
Geography and continued working through what Geography means in our
macro discussions - topics such as how do people live in other parts of
the world. We continued our Forces in Motion discussion
in Physical Science talking about what items roll and also what other
way objects can move (back, forth, up down, zig zag, etc.) We continue
to talk about the difference between fiction/nonfiction/poems and worked
on how to assess the main characters and
the setting of a story. We have begun soft introductions of
multiplication through skip counting and various works in the
classroom. And we are working hard on number writing practice.
A
HUGE THANK YOU for the fantastic projects that have come in over the
past few weeks for discussion. This by far is the BEST way I have found
to help with peer to peer learning about
the World we live in. NEXT WEEK is the last week to bring in the
projects as we will move on to our next Continent in February in order
to ensure that I am able to at least touch on each one before the
students move to First Grade.
One
last thing (before I get into the week's activities): One of the
expectations of first grade is that each child has to be able to count
to 100. Will you check with your child and
see if they have mastered this skill yet? If he/she has not, you can
find easy and fun ways to have him/her practice this concept. (1) Have
them count random items like buttons or blueberries, (2) find counting
songs or counting videos for them to watch
are just a few ideas.
MONDAY: NO SCHOOL
TUESDAY:
-We have math journals that we work in each week that include all concepts we need to master before moving into first grade.
-does it roll science experiment/graph
-write five sentences about the topic 'flowers' and draw a picture to go with the story and label the items in the picture
-create 10 frames (math)
-blue footed booby, finches
-continue to work on South America map
-landmarks: Mount Rushmore, White House, Stature of Liberty
-number writing practice practice booklets
WEDNESDAY:
-100 day celebration
-peruvian masks project
-read/spell/draw
-Lincoln Memorial, capital building, Alamo
-sound table/reading
THURSDAY:
-sort objects by length (math)
-observation table/group projects presentation
-skip counting chains/multiplication
-what is a fiction book? What is the setting of a story?
-alphabetical order
FRIDAY:
-differences between fiction/non fiction/poems
-using nursery rhymes to identify sight words
-direction things can move
-fill in the missing number/sequence of numbers
-bald eagle/American flag
-people around the world/what are people like who live on different continents
-Video:
Knuffle Bunny - what is the setting of the story? who are the main
characters? What words would you use to describe the story?
South America ABCs this week: harpy, Inca, jaguar, kinkajou, llama
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Looking forward to more adventures together next week.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 21
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Hello Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Welcome to our first full week FULL DAYS back on campus! We ended this week in a spectacular way at the Multicultural Fair. Thanks so much to our parents that had tables at the event! And thank you to those who came and walked the Fair with the class. I truly hope you enjoyed it as well.
The following is a brief recap of the week. We have begun to delve into the foundation of History and Geography and in the next couple of weeks we will begin our Ecology unit:
MONDAY:
-Physical Science — Force of Motion: occurrences on the playground. We talked about all the devices you can find on a typical playground and what force you would use to create movement: PUSH/PULL/BOTH. We also created some ramps in the classroom and charted on graphs the following information: Does it go down a ramp? Does it knock down a box? using everyday items
-Handwriting: lowercase h,b
-math: addition and subtraction (student’s choice)
TUESDAY:
-History: defined as the “study about how people, places and things in our world have been recorded on our Earth”
Lesson 1: How do we keep track history? the class was introduced to instruments used to mark time: kitchen timer, clock, watch, calendar
-Language: writing sentences that end in verbs
-Math: what two numbers comes before/what two numbers come after, recognizing numbers out of order (this is a GREAT ONE to practice at home!), domino math
WEDNESDAY:
-conjunction review — and — and introduce or
- Geography: South America — carnival, dolphin, empanadas
-Geography lesson using a map of Arizona, a compass and a small container of dirt. Geography is defined as “ the study of people and places in our world, and how the Earth has and is still changing today.”
-handwriting: q,x
-MOLA art (a style of artwork found mostly in South America)
THURSDAY:
-Discussion Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Video: Kid President (1st 2.5 minutes)
-Sentence building: “He had a dream”, what is your dream?
-Geography: South America — futbol
-Reading Comprehension: “My New Friend is so Fun” by Mo Willems, What are the characters, what is the setting? How can you figure out what the setting is?
FRIDAY:
-MULTICULTURAL FAIR
-Forces of Motion: roll/does not roll
-Review: Geometric solids (which shapes tend to roll)
-Geography lesson: primitive map making
Lesson: “A map is a picture that tells a story. Maps can make a large place look small. Maps show what a place looks like from up high. Some maps tell us about the weather while others tell us about where to find places/things and how to go from one place to another.
“Maps were first drawn with a stick in the dirt and then on cave walls. Later maps were made of clay. silk, parchment, sticks, paper, etc. Today you will find maps on your computer or iPad or GPS.
“1st map symbols were very simple and childlike. Symbols used were to indicate specific things like mountains, population. lakes, etc.
“People that make maps are called cartographers.”
-Geography: South America — Galapagos Island (review of land and water forms — archipelago)
Blue footed booby and finches are found here — try to research what they look like and bring a picture to school on Tuesday.
-handwriting/writers workshop — label parts of a person: head, feet, leg, hand, ear
REMEMBER: make your t-shirts for the 100 Day Celebration on January 23, 2018
Have an adventurous 3 day weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 20
Good evening Montessori Kindergarten Families,
What a great first week back at school. So many students have clearly experienced many ‘aha’ moments over break and things that seemed difficult before we took the break now seem ‘so easy!’ Hurray! We began discussing South America in our Geography studies, began to work on crafting informational texts and in our History lessons began to discuss the passage of time. We are marking how many days until we become official first graders by placing a bean in a jar everyday. We have a new morning song called “Oh Mr. Sun” that we sing every morning. And we have begun to listen to the morning announcements over the P.A. system and stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance in keeping with our guidelines for our Social Studies unit. We also began talking about Forces of Motion from our Physical Science unit and discussed what items produce movement by needing to be pushed, which ones need to be pulled and which ones we can do both with. And we are back on schedule to have visits with Farmer Sean.
Thanks to all who were able to attend Parent Teacher Conferences this week. It is truly a joy to be a part of your families for this year (that is going so quickly). I hope you can feel the love, appreciation and commitment I have to the role I play in the life of your child.
Monday:
History: passage of time/how do we ‘mark’ time
ABCs of South America: Andes mountains
Writing/Language: Read, Spell, Draw cvc, cvvc, cvcc words
Farmer Sean visits
Handwriting: lowercase r,n
Tuesday:
Geography — begin pin poking work for map of South America
ABCs of South America: Bolivia
Math: what number comes before/what number comes after
Science: push/pull forces of motion
Reading: word match cvc words
Wednesday:
Language — types/names of vegetables (healthy eating)
Language/Writing: introduction to conjunctions; using ‘and’ to join 2 sentences
1/2 day
Thursday:
South America Structures: Creating a structure that embodies the styles of homes found in South America. Discuss the similarities/differences of homes found in United States: balconies vs. patios, size of windows, height of buildings, color.
Write an informative narrative about South American Homes
1/2 day
Friday:
free choice
sound table
Practice saying the Pledge of Allegiance
listening to announcements
Isaac’s show and tell: a device for practicing handwriting using a magnet and ball bearings
1/2 day
REQUEST: Can everyone please send in a composition notebook for us to compile this new quarter’s work in the classroom?
Thank you! And I hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 19
Photo by Martin Bekerman on Unsplash
Good morning Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Happy Christmas Eve morning! Finishing up the last days of 2018, we have so much to be thankful for. The friendships that have been built and the love and care shown in our community have been a beautiful to experience. We hope that your family enjoys this time together as we reflect on this school year and look forward to all that 2019 has to offer. Thank you for the
generosity of your gifts, donations and time in the classroom.
Monday:
Montessori Beads — what
numbers make ten/number bonds
numbers make ten/number bonds
Writers Workshop:
Informative text: scarves
Informative text: scarves
Video: History of Santa Claus —
Art/Cultural — complete Dreidels/discussion about the Hebrew letters displayed on the dreidel
Music Program practice
Character Trait: Helpful
Sing Christmas songs
Tuesday:
Music Program Practice
Finish Writers Workshop: scarves
New writing lesson: read/spell/draw
Group Art Activity: Sight words- color by sight words Ornament
Sound Table/Reading with me
Wednesday:
finish all holiday projects
Jingle jog
Language review: rhyming/what does not belong/beginning sounds — 2 person groups
Mini Art Walk — dreidels/ornaments/Christmas Cats
Sound Table/Reading with me
Read/Spell/Draw
Book: “Jack B. Ninja” — what is the setting of the story
Choose your math
Thursday:
½ Day
Color by Sight word/Christmas Tree
Writers Workshop: Mittens — topic sentence/structure of a sentence/create your own sentence
Friday:
½ day
Snowman collage/directed drawing
Movie: Frosty the Snowman
Enjoy the break dear families! We will miss your kiddos and look forward to coming back fresh and ready to begin our adventures as we talk about preparing for first grade at our parent teacher conferences the FIRST WEEK back at school. Make sure to sign up on the link sent in the prior email.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 18
Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash
Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Just a few short days until we have our break. I will be sending a reminder email filled with all of the activities to plan on attending next week. Also, please keep in mind that NEXT Thursday and Friday, we have early dismissal at 11:00am WITH NO AFTERCARE options so please plan accordingly.
Monday:
We finished our Laurel Burch inspired Christmas cats — you will see them displayed in next week’s art walk.
Introduction to blends through Winter vocabulary: skiis, sled, snowball, snowman, gloves — created a write the room activity to practice spelling and handwriting
Sing Christmas songs
Kwaanza video and discussion:
Yuletide logs craft
Math: introduction to ten frame/teen number practice
Tuesday:
Finish YAG and MAP testing
Finish Christmas cats
Sing Christmas songs
Continue teen number review
Listen to Kwaanza song:
Character Trait Focus: joyful
Wednesday:
finish all holiday crafts
Choose your math
Video: the legend of the poinsettia —
Language: practice blends
Writers workshop: “My mom likes” — talk about adjectives
Begin Kwaanza necklaces
Thursday:
Math — teen numbers dot frames
Free choice — math and language
Character trait: forgiving
finish necklaces
Friday:
Daisy’s birthday celebration
Cooking Day: Applesauce and Biscuits
Talk about Rosh Hashanah, read book “Apple Days” Book by Allison Sarnoff Soffer
Holiday focus: Hanukkah Video:
Begin watercolor painting: dreidel
Math — small group single digit addition or choose your math
Have a good weekend everyone!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 17
Photo by Joseph Gonzalez on Unsplash
Hello Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Happy Sunday! I hope you are enjoying the cool weather and all of the fun activities going on around town. It is so fun to run into your families as we are out and about enjoying the holiday season.
We are finished with week 1 of MAP testing and are preparing for another week of testing. There is still plenty going on in the classroom. You will begin to see some of what we have been up to on the walls of our school. We continue to work on Writers Workshop prompts where we incorporate sight words, handwriting, structuring sentences and creativity. We also began to learn about many traditions celebrated in November and December, beginning with Diwali and Winter Solstice. The students created rangolis and yule logs. The class is transitioning to more of the responsibilities for care of the classroom and now sweep and wipe tables after lunch along with the other responsibilities they have for preparing for lunch and cleaning up after eating together as a class. And we celebrated two birthdays this week!
Monday:
Finish Great Horned Owl Writing Prompt
“I am a great horned owl. My name is ___________. I like to ___________.”
History/Time: Day of the Week and Months of the Year
Diwali and all of its traditions including Diyas and Rangolis
Video:
Math: single digit addends
Language Lesson: Introduction to Verbs
Tuesday:
Math: Introduce number lines/addition
Practical Life — Sewing Circle: introduction to sewing using sewing cards
Handwriting: lowercase “l”
Review addition vocabulary: addend, sum
Free Reading: Cultural Holiday books
Character: Content
Isaac’s Birthday celebration
Food tasting: Rambutans
Verbs Review
Character: Virtuous
Handwriting Centers: days of the week/months of the year/major cities in Arizona
Math: number line addition
Cultural/History: Winter Solstice
Thursday:
Ember’s Birthday Celebration
Math: number line addition
Language: Noun/Verb connection
Cultural: yule Logs/art project
Video: Winter Solstice
Friday:
Start Art Masterpiece Holiday Theme: Christmas Cats
Math: what comes before/what comes after
Review: numbers 11 and 12
Complete various projects half day/absent students
Noun/verb group game
Video: Winter Solstice
I hope to get the sign up link out this evening for our cooking project on Friday. Have a good rest of your weekend.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
The Best looms are found in nature - here's how to make your own nature loom
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| photo credit: https://babbledabbledo.com/art-and-design-for-kids-natural-loom/ |
Here is the beginning of a series of the things we do when we are NOT TEACHING art. some you may catch up posting pics of on my instagram account. There is so many ways to take creativity and nature and bring them together to make some exquisite memories with your loved ones.
CLICK HERE for instructions
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 16
Good morning Montessori Kindergarten Families,
16 weeks of learning and growing together. This has been quite a journey getting used to being a part of a Charter School. What I love about the environment is your child gets an amazing opportunity to connect with so many wonderful teachers and have amazing experiences that just would not be possible for me to give him/her if I want to stay aligned with the beautiful Montessori curriculum — which of course I am biased but I LOVE teaching it and inviting your child to discover the world through the approach. There are definitely times it can be a bit overwhelming. There is so much to communicate because there is so much going on all the time. So it is definitely a give and take to have the opportunity to have these additional experiences and I am growing along with you. Your trust and patience with this process is DEEPLY appreciated. I could not do what I do without your support. Thank you.
Monday:
Continue to work with the Botany Cabinet
Free Reading: Penguins, Chickens, Owls, Flamingos
ABCs of North America: Yukon and Zuni
Character Trait: Mannerly
Handwriting: lowercase k
Study of Great Horned Owls
Reading: “Great Horned Owls” by Melissa Hill
Vocabulary: predator, prey, hatch, danger, swoop
Choose your math
Tuesday:
Writers Workshop:
choose a story prompt
1. write the topic sentence
2. write a second sentence about your story
3. label your picture
Language: compound words review — take the words apart
Review of North America — through living and nonliving and plant/animal sort cards
Review of teen board
History Lesson: time broken down by morning, noon and night
Book: “Do You Really Want to Meet an Owl” by Bridget Heos
Choose your math
Wednesday:
Stella’s Birthday Celebration
Math: What comes before? What comes after?
Group Lesson: Subtraction Strip Board
Language: Compound Words Review
Handwriting: your choice
Geometry/Sensorial Lesson: Constructive Triangles Rectangular Box (1)
A bit of information about this material:
“The constructive triangles are used to demonstrate that all plane geometric figures can be constructed from triangles. There are five boxes: 2 rectangular, 1 triangular, and 1 large and 1 small hexagonal. Each box contains triangles of different sizes, shapes, and colors. With the exception of Rectangular Box 2, black guidelines are painted in different positions on the triangles to help the child to construct other figures. This should be encouraged as an exploratory work that will provide a foundation for later concepts of equivalency, similarity, and congruency.”
Read more here:
Thursday:
Handwriting:First and last name written on all work
Penguin symmetry and label three parts of the penguin using phonetic spelling
Intro to adjectives
lowercase: j,y
Continued conversations about owls
Vocabulary: camouflage, nocturnal, prey, pupil, swivel, talons
Begin prepping for Great Horned Owls art and writing project
Sponge painting with acrylic paint
Friday:
Watch MAP video and prepare students for MAP TESTING NEXT TWO WEEKS
Group time: life cycle of a turkey
Autumn sort cards — two person work
Character Trait: thankful
Mrs. L talks to class about rules in P.E.
Yoga sequence: I am kind, you are kind, we are kind, to ourselves and to each other
Continue working on Great Horned Owl project
Handwriting: lowercase p
Have a lovely weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 15
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Good morning Montessori Families,
Thanks so much for extending grace to me with communication responses. With the move, the holidays, a house guest, Josey’s softball games and non existent internet at our new place, my response time may not have been as quick as you have experienced from me in the past. We hoped to be settled in (ha ha! at least with internet access — still trying to locate shoes!) by this weekend so that I can at least return to the routine we have established together.
Here is a recap of Thanksgiving week:
Monday:
Kevin’s Celebration of Life
life cycle of a penguin
Land and Water forms: strait and isthmus
North America: living vs. nonliving
Handwriting: lowercase e
Writers Workshop: beginning/middle/end of a story
Tuesday:
History: Seasons — how they mark time/history
Continued Conversations about bodies of water/art project: island, lake, strait, isthmus
Fire Drill
Cooking Day — so awesome! Tex Mex Quinoa YUM
Math: what comes before/what comes after
North America: Grand Canyon Project shared with class
Handwriting: your choice worksheet
Wednesday:
We are thankful place mats — thank you for all the leaves that we had to choose from. We began the morning with the investigation of our Botany Cabinet and discovering what types of leaves are available in Arizona. Why do we have a botany cabinet? Directly, the Botany Cabinet is a great activity for a child to develop visual discrimination. The activity relies on the child being able to distinguish one leaf shape from another. Indirectly, the Botany Cabinet is preparation for further botany work in the Primary and Elementary classroom, including developing appropriate language and investigation of the natural world.
We looked up the word “botany” in the dictionary. We discovered we had eight different types of leaves to work with for our project. When creating the place mats, we applied the use of fractions and pattern making to create the designs you see on the placemat. We also included the poem we say before we each lunch together every day (please forgive the typo UGH!)
Math: Crisis of 9
Zoology: Penguins
Stay tuned for this week’s newsletter!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 14
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Good morning Montessori Kindergarten Families,
It was so good to see you all at our Learning Celebrations this week. Your children were so excited to be able to show you how much they have learned and grown in our 14 weeks together. It was beautiful to watch everyone become immersed in the environment that we all have created together. It was TRULY student led and as a teacher I felt very blessed to witness it.
Some of the work you saw in your child’s working folders included:
-one of our first art projects based on the theme “living and nonliving” — flowers and cow skulls inspired by Georgia O’Keefe
-flip book: life cycle of a bat
– “A Noun is A …” book written by your child where they had to choose a person, place, thing illustrate it and write the sentences on his/her own — including spelling the words phonetically
– Map of North America — I want to share a bit about what went into that project. The countries were ‘cut out’ through a pin poking activity — NOT scissors — and was completed entirely by your child. Pin poking helps a child develop his/her pincer grip, co-ordination, and concentration. A child must be able to sit and focus, be ready to handle a sharp object without hurting themselves or others, and show interest in the activity. The placement and the writing of the countries and their names was also done by your child. This really is a BIG work.
Monday:
No school
Tuesday:
-Riot’s Birthday Celebration
-Introduce: Turkey, Penguins, chicken, turkey, kitchen utensils language work and life cycle work for the month
-Physical science: Matter — solid, liquid, gas
-Group discussion: chickens-where do they live? How do chickens begin their
lives? What does a rooster look like?
-H.W.T: practice review of all uppercase letters/ introduce lowercase u and cvc words with “u”
-Continue illustration work on “Seeds” book
-World Kindness Day: “You Hold Me up” by Monique Gray Smith and Danielle Daniel
-ABCs of North America: Tornado
-Character trait: responsible
Wednesday:
Working Meetings: ½ day and full day
— COMPLETE map of North America
— COMPLETE map of North America
-Complete illustration of “Seeds” book and cut/assemble/bind
– Matter: focus on liquid
-Begin Weaving project: review of Native American textiles
-ABCs of North America: Umpire
-Character trait: kindhearted
-Language: singular vs. plural
-Math: single digit addend + addend + addend
-Focus: egg, baby, mother penguins
Thursday:
-Whole Group: punctuation — introduce exclamation point
-Physical science: solid/liquid/gas
-Solid- can it change shape?/ Liquid- does it change shape?/What is similar? Different?
-Language: 2 person work sorting/matching
-ABCs of North America: Vancouver
-Character trait: Neighborly
-Introduce spelling practice with moveable alphabet
Friday:
-Group Math: single digit addend + addend + addend
-Morning work: choose your handwriting
-Physical Science: Land and Water Forms
-Introduce: lake and island
-Solid vs. liquid: holds/conforms to shape of vessel
-Everyone at Sound Table today
-North America: White House
-Character: Brave
-Full day: finish weaving project
Extend the Learning: Demonstrate with an ice cube solid, liquid and gas —
Thanks to all of you who were able to volunteer your time this week!
See you all tomorrow,
Mrs. Norgren