Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 34
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You
can definitely feel the wrap up of the year on our campus. MAP testing
has begun for Kinders as well as assessment in class in order to report
for final report card/ILP assessments.
Thanks to all who have taken the time to connect with me about the best
fit for first grade. I am sad as the year is ending but so proud to
have witnessed all of the joy in learning that has gone on this year.
You
child may have mentioned that first graders are in our class for about
45 minutes in the afternoon. We as a community who strives to make sure
all students are at their cutting edge
of learning and prepared for their next academic step. Holding true to
that vision, our Montessori first graders are coming in for additional
Montessori support. This is a two fold blessing because they get to
experience our classroom dynamics and the kinders
get a chance to meet potential future classmates in the Lower El
classroom.
MONDAY:
Video: "Tacky the Penguin" - https://www.youtube.com/
Writer's Workshop: Write a personal narrative for Tacky
Geography: Begin study of Antarctica
TUESDAY:
Video: "I Broke my Trunk" - https://www.youtube.com/
Writer's Workshop: Write your own Ouch Story/Work on sequencing: beginning, middle, end
Language: Blends review
Informative Writing: Pretest for Quarter 4
Video: Antarctica https://www.
WEDNESDAY:
Art: Aurora Borealis
1/2 Day Beautification Day at School/Kindness Day
THURSDAY:
History: Telling Time Review
Math: double digit addition no regrouping
New works in practical life
Video: glaciers - https://www.youtube.com/
FRIDAY:
Art: directed line drawing - penguins
Reading: Penguin by Polly dunbar
Conservation and Ecology Video: King Penguins as an endangered species - https://www.youtube.com/
Here's to another great week!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 33
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Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
I
hope you had a restful weekend. We had a cooking activity and we made
kites - all while Ms. Gonzalez was away! We sure missed you Ms.
Gonzalez and hope you had a great birthday!
MONDAY:
Writers Workshop - Opinion Writing
Lesson on book reviews
Sight words review
Lesson on how to build a sentence
Math/Handwriting - free choice all week
TUESDAY:
Inventions- "Real Machines" by Rebecca Rissimen
Language - Blends review: br,dr,sm,fl
Art/Geography- brown coiled snake
WEDNESDAY:
cooking day: chicken and chickpea patties, cucumbers
Art: kite making
THURSDAY:
Writers workshop - personal narrative: family portrait
Geography review: Australia
FRIDAY:
no school
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 32
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Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Week
32 is in the books. We are having more conversations about the
privilege to choose your own work in the Montessori environment and many
are handling that responsibility well. For
those whom this type of environment is hindering their ability to grow
in their academics, I am having one of one coaching time with them as
well as small group sessions in an effort to ignite this desire and
foster this skill. As we close out the year, we
will have conversations as a team to make sure the next right choice
for your child is a Montessori classroom. San Tan's passion is
to ensure that each child is in the right environment to grow his/her
love of learning and keep him/her on the cutting edge
of his/her learning ability.
MONDAY:
telling time
work on student treasures book
begin Harmony day mural
Video on Harmony Day: https://www.youtube.com/
reading/sound table
Math/Language/handwriting all week
TUESDAY:
Opinion Writing Workshop- What is your favorite thing to do at recess?
Complete Harmony Day mural
Game: Who am I? Australian Landmarks
Art: Honeyeater Bird mixed media project
WEDNESDAY:
finish honeyeater project
Writing workshop: "I am happy as a honeyeater because..."
20 addition problems - no counters
FINISH STORYBOOK TREASURES
THURSDAY:
15 minutes of quiet reading time
Time: writing hands on a clock to tell time
Opinion Writing: Is it a Duck or a Rabbit?
Video: Duck? Rabbit? https://www.youtube.
FRIDAY:
15 minutes of quiet reading time
missing addends
present Australian projects all week
Teams: Brainstorm possible inventions for household jobs
RECYCLED PROJECTS OF AUSTRALIAN LANDMARKS PRESENTED ALL WEEK
Please make sure to check out the signup genius link for our cooking project next Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 31
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@mclaren1 |
Our
indoor planting activity was a glorious success. There is something
about getting our hands messy and dirty that truly delights the soul -
and you know I am always up for these kind
of adventures!
We
continue to work on opinion writing in Writers Workshop. We continue
to be AMAZED by the cleverness of the projects that are coming in the
classroom to represent the landmarks we
have studied with our Geography unit: Australia. We have an Invention
library in our classroom as part of our new works for April. We
continue to talk about recycling and composting. We reviewed how to use
a dictionary for Language work. And we discussed
the times in which we do certain activities during the day for our
Time/History unit. Handwriting, math and language continue to be daily
activities.
We
worked on addition words problems and discussed what clues we are given
in the story to help us figure out how to solve the problem: in all,
altogether, more
Week 1 of our sight words mural - we use this to have an all class review of sight words
MONDAY:
Morning conversations
Read/Spell Draw Groups - leader at each table
Math Journal: draw tens and ones
Comic book: Do Unicorns Recycle?
Sound table/reading
sight word cards sent home
TUESDAY:
Morning conversations
Addition word problems
Dictionary lesson: compost, recycle
label Australia map
5 minute timed math drill - 20 addition problems
WEDNESDAY:
Evie's birthday celebration
Sing a long
Read: Simple Machines by Rebecca Rissman
Time Game: What time of day do we do this activity (group game)
Sound table
THURSDAY:
planting day
decorate tin cans and plant grass seed
prep potatoes and plant in clear bins
Addition words problems
Writers
Workshop: pick a sight word sentence, come up with a complementary
sentence, draw a picture that make sense with your sentences
FRIDAY:
work on student treasures book
Opinion writing: What is your favorite musical instrument?
sight word mural
talk about invention brainstorming letter (IN YOUR CHILD'S BACKPACK)
Have a great weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 30
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@puonqnam217 |
We
are finishing up our unit on Australia and have discussed the types of
materials to use from our recycled projects of Sydney Opera house and
Sydney Harbour bridge - I can't wait to
see what your child is creating! We also completed a sewing project
that incorporated math, recycled products and design.
Monday:
Ecology: riddles
Math: missing addends, venn diagram review
Language: structuring sentences
Geography: what does digaridoo sound like?, animals and landmarks of Australia,
assemble map of Australia: pin poking work, ABCs of Australia: fairy bread, Commonwealth
Handwriting: 2 pages
Tuesday:
Geography: continue working on Australia maps, writing names of states
Ecology: recycle game, what can be recycled, talk about recycle projects: Sydney Opera House or Sydney Harbour bridge
Art: directed line drawing - Sydney opera house
Engineering: inventions
Handwriting: 2 pages
Wednesday:
Practical Life - sewing project, spring themed, (math) length and measurement
Language: reading/sound table
Zoology: marsupials
Engineering: inventions
Writing: opinion writing - do you prefer a cat or a dog
Math: length and measurement - longest to shortest
ABCs of Australia: E- echidna
Handwriting: 2 pages
Thursday:
Practical Life - continue sewing work
ABCs of Australia: G-great barrier reef, H-honeyeater
Language: reading/sound table
Math: memory game - tens and ones recognition
Zoology: parts of a kangaroo
Art: directed line drawing - koalas
Geometry: Triangular box lesson
Handwriting: 2 pages
Friday:
Language/Writing/Art:Read/
Math: length and measurement/practical life: flower project
ABCs of Australia - I: invertebrate, J: jumbuck
Engineering: inventions: Why was a fork a necessary invention? a marker? a tape dispenser?
Handwriting: 2 pages
Video: marsupials (full day) https://www.youtube.com/
Have a great weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 29
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Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Week 29 is in the books! As we prepare for MAP testing, we also continue to learn and grow in our math, language, science and geography experiences. The week we also started our Ecology unit. The quarter we are learning a new morning song "If I had a Hammer" - here is a link to the song: ______
MONDAY:
Math lesson: tens and ones place value review
Writers Workshop: review sequencing of a story
Writing: personal narrative
Geography: Australia - is it a continent or a country?
Language: noun/verb review
Sound table
TUESDAY:
Geography - Uluru art project and informative writing
Video on Uluru:
Engineering: What is an invention?
Review: telling time
Handwriting
ABCS OF Australia: boomerang
WEDNESDAY:
Finish ulura project
Talk about Student Treasures book collaboration
Read/Spell/Draw
Math: length and measurement review
Invention: What problem does it solve?
Video: Kid President on inventions - ______________
THURSDAY:
Math: What is a Venn diagram
Prepare for MAP testing
Language: antonyms/synonyms/homonyms review
Sound table
Art: Directed line drawing - kangaroo
Continue working on student book
FRIDAY:
Ecology lesson - land/water/air
pollution vs clean
Zoology: What is a marsupial?
Video: Why do kangaroos have pouches? _______________
Math: review skip counting - 2s,5s,10s
Continue working on student book
Have a good weekend everyone. MAP testing is next week so please make every effort to be on time to school and have your child eat a hearty breakfast.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 28
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@plmka |
This
week was filled with celebration over watching your children take
ownership of their learning. So many beamed as they shared the
concepts they have learned. My highest JOY is to see their
confidence grow over these last weeks in the classroom in their
reading, writing and math skills. Thanks so much for partnering with me
to help guide their mental, emotional and academic lives.
As
I mentioned in an earlier email, I discussed with the class a Spring
Break project where they create a map of their room, home and
neighborhood. I leave it up to the student as to
his/her interpretation of what "neighborhood" means. We will discuss
this more as a class when we come back from the break.
So
you may wonder what the thought process is behind teaching Geography
from both a global and personal perspective concurrently. This link
offers some wonderful insight as to why this
is part of the Montessori tradition: https://www.
Monday:
personal narrative review
sequencing/handwriting sentences
choose your math
new works in Practical Life area
Write the room: length and measurement
Geometry review - 3D objects - three part cards
Tuesday:
Science - Uranus painting and video: https://www.youtube.
Time - review of parts of the clock; the role of the hands on the clock
Begin creating Solar System books
prepare for student led conferences
Wednesday:
1/2 day
science - Neptune painting and video: https://www.youtube.
diagramming sentences - small group work - nouns, articles, is there a verb?
math: what is a number sentence? how do you create a picture from reading a number sentence?
sight words spelling/dictation
Student led conferences
Thursday:
1/2 day
Science - create our new planet presentations day 1
choose your math
choose your language
Student led conferences
Friday:
1/2 day
Science - create our new planet presentations day 2
new language work in the classroom
free choice full classroom
Thanks
to everyone who sent in disinfecting wipes! We are cleaning and
preparing the room for another quarter of joyful learning. We
appreciate each of you.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 27
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@dev_irl |
Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
The following is the newsletter that I missed last week:
Monday:
Begin discussing Opinion Writing
Video: "Red is Best" - https://www.youtube.com/
Writers Workshop: Work on parts of a sentence
Science: Mercury painting
Opportunity to do a sewing work
Lesson on time - Video: https://www.youtube.
Tuesday:
Review of facts about Mercury
Time: 3 part cards
ILP progress testing
Handwriting
Science: Earth painting
Your choice math and language
Wednesday:
1/2 day
ILP progress report testing
Science: Mars painting
Thursday:
ILP progress report testing
your choice: math and language
Science: Jupiter painting
Mars video: https://www.youtube.
Post narrative writing exercise all week
Friday:
Science project - create nebula jars
Review of student work - prepare for student led conferences
Time - :00 and :30, parts of a clock
Jupiter Video: https://www.youtube.
Thanks for your patience!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 26
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@teddykelley |
We had our field trip. It was such a great way to hang out and enjoy each other's company. What an incredible environment to experience together. We had a short week but there was no interruption in our learning process. We continue to work through our Astronomy unit focusing on Venus, Saturn, Nebula and phases of the moon. Speaking of the moon, we learned about Snow moon. We let Saturn inspire us to complete our informative text for Writers Workshop. We learned about Rosa Parks, taking advantage of having ridden a bus on our field trip and we created a collage to extend the learning (and of course an excuse to create art!). We continued studying nonstandard measure. And everyone has now had a lesson on the moveable alphabet. This material allows the student to focus on phonetic sounds and allows those who struggle with writing to begin to practice spelling.
MONDAY:
NO SCHOOL
TUESDAY:
field trip
WEDNESDAY:
- Government: Statue of liberty line drawing and video: https://www.youtube.
- nonstandard measure
- moveable alphabet
- phases of the moon
- Rosa Parks https://www.youtube.com/
THURSDAY:
-Language - fix the sentences
-Venus/facts about Venus
-Video: Saturn https://www.youtube.
-Lesson: phases of the moon
-sound table
FRIDAY:
-read/spell/draw
-Writers workshop: Venus
-sight words/sound table
-nebula video https://www.youtube.com/
Have a great weekend! I am looking forward to seeing you all at the Montessori Fundraiser on Saturday.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 25
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photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@jonathanborba
Good morning Montessori Kindergarten Families,
Valentines
Day AND cooking and all the learning that occurred in between - what an
incredible week. Your child may have told you we are tracking the
amount of days it takes to 'grow
a first grader' by adding a bean to a jar every day. It is fun to
watch the 'days' add up. I see such growth in the area of reading,
writing and math. Thanks so much for your assistance at home with
counting not just 1-100 but with concepts like 'what
comes before' and 'what are the 2 numbers after...' - very helpful
concepts as we deepen our math skills. For phonics, questions like
'what is the middle sound you hear' or 'what other word do you know that
starts with..." are important to language growth.
We
completed our South America study this week and projects started to go
home on Friday. The other hands on activities associated with this study
are being saved for the Student Led
Conferences coming up - sign up genius link will hopefully be sent by
the end of this weekend. This conference is not mandatory and if you are
not able to attend, I am happy to send home the portfolio your child
created - please allow your child to present
the information inside to you so he/she can experience the pride of
his/her accomplishments. Conferences are held the first week in March.
1/2
day students took some work home on Friday. Because of Picture Day and
Valentines Day, I was not able to cover everything I planned during
class time so I wanted to make sure they
were able to work on the concepts by sending them home.
MONDAY:
- CVC middle sounds
-History: how to read a calendar
-length/measurement using unconventional materials (how many paper clips long is this pencil?). Review of estimation concept
-read/spell/draw spelling
-Create the sun using rays, symmetry, warm colors
-Handwriting: b vs h (lowercase)
-Science: Mars video https://www.youtube.com/
TUESDAY:
-Writers workshop: sequencing FIRST, THEN, NOW - How to build a snowman in three steps
-CVC middle sounds
-Black History Month: Jackie Robinson https://www.youtube.
-Art collage: Jackie Robinson
-Geography: map a part of the room
-Science: Jupiter https://www.youtube.
WEDNESDAY:
-PICTURE DAY
-Science: Forces of motion review
-Government: Study of Abraham Lincoln
-Science: Review of planets, order, rotation, orbit
-Sound table
THURSDAY:
-VALENTINES DAY
-Valentines Box Fashion show
-Practical life: making jam - blackberry and strawberry/taste test
-Artist of the Day: Jim Dine - create 4 Hearts inspired painting https://www.tate.org.
FRIDAY:
-Geography: create a map of the room - north/south/east/west
-read/spell/draw spelling words
-write the room South America
-math journal
-Government/Writers Workshop: Draw Abraham Lincoln, write 2-4 facts about his life
-science: Is Pluto a planet? https://www.youtube.
Thanks so much for all the support our community feels from you all.
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 24
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Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
February
brings new opportunities to learn more about the world around us. This
month's main themes are the Solar System and Black History Month. We
are exploring these topics with our
art and writing components and well as our language and sorting work.
We continue to discover the main components of a good sentence:
capitalization, spacing between words and punctuation at the end of the
sentence. We expand these ideas in our writing by
asking ourselves: does the sentence make sense and does the
illustration I create contribute to the words I have written. We have
the pledge of Allegiance about 90% memorized and we started learning the
National Anthem. We learned about Ruby Bridges and
we talked about Mercury and Venus. We rounded out the week with a
quick review of compound words and (action) verbs.
MONDAY:
-American Landmarks review: Empire State Building, Grand Canyon, Betsy Ross, Mount Rushmore, Statue of Liberty
-Write your numbers: how high can you go? 20? 40? 60?
-introduce blends through rhyming words
-what is a paragraph
-read/spell/draw activity
-missing addends
TUESDAY:
Length and measurement - longer/shorter
-National Anthem
-Create the cover of your book: You are a Writer!
-5 rules of writing
-black history month
-Lesson: map a section of a room
-Introduce Barak Obama, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman
-Video: Library Mouse https://www.youtube.com/
WEDNESDAY:
-Forces of motion: push/pull/both
-verbs review
-who is Ruby Bridges? https://www.youtube.
-Introduction to the Solar System - learn song "We are the planets" - https://www.youtube.com/
THURSDAY:
-sewing lesson
-bald eagle line drawing and graphing - write informational text
-handwriting
FRIDAY:
-Ruby Bridges art project
-Complete the Sentence worksheet using sight words; does the sentence make sense?
-missing addend review
-what comes before/after
-informational text writing - come up with your own topic
Did I forget to send the video link last week on The White House? Here it is! https://www.youtube.com/
Have a great weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren
Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 23
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| photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@anniespratt |
Good afternoon Montessori Kindergarten Families,
This
week was filled with art projects that focused on South America and
writing assignments that focused on Government. I am always blown away
by the incredible abilities and talents
I have the privilege of witnessing in the classroom. Students got a
crack at drawing George Washington and The White House - both of which
are on display - and we created Maracas and many have finished their map
of South America. In Math, we are reviewing
length and measurement and we are working on how to find the missing
addends in single digit addition problems. And we celebrated a birthday
and did another one of our amazing cooking adventures. Plus we
officially welcomed two new students into our community.
ONE
MORE THING: the South America projects have been INCREDIBLE! Thank you
for supporting this amazing way to learn and grow in our knowledge of
the world. Please encourage your child
to finish up her/his project to present next week as we are finishing
up our study of South America.
MONDAY:
math journal
History lesson: how to read a calendar
work on map of South America all week: assemble and write country names and label map
Food tasting: plantains
History Lesson: the age of trees (looking at tree slices)
Draw George Washington
Video about George Washington: https://www.
Handwriting: number practice/writing sentences
Choose your math
TUESDAY:
Video: How to play maracas https://www.youtube.
Book: "Katie and the Spanish Princess" by James Mayhem
Review: American Landmarks
Draw The White House
Choose your math
WEDNESDAY:
Art masterpiece - Kandinksy - work on fundraiser project
Math Journal
Math lesson: How to find the missing addend
Handwriting/Language/Writing Informational text - write about The White House
Language Lesson: pronouns
Book: "Have you seen my Elephant" by David Barrow
THURSDAY:
Cooking Experience - Peruvian Chicken Soup
Listen to Peruvian Music: https://www.youtube.
Language Lesson: conjunctions
Handwriting/Writing Review: punctuation marks - question mark/exclamation point
Sound Table/reading
FRIDAY:
South America ABCs topics
Fun facts about Maracas
Full day: Maracas art project
1/2 Day: sensorial/practical life
Work on South America maps
Sound table/reading
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Warmly,
Mrs. Norgren