Progress...

...is everywhere in the classroom!  It is evident in the lessons I am giving, in my student's work and their choices, and certainly in these photos from this past week:
 

Three-period lesson with Puzzle Words (sight words). 
Read more about the 'Three-Period Lesson' by clicking on the caption above.



Weaving paper.



Grading the Touch Tablets from rough to smooth.  This activity not only promotes lightness of touch needed for writing but it also refines tactile discrimination.



Pouring into four cups.  The children are really drawn to this work - I think it's the tiny size and  beautiful, blue glass!



Geography and Culture:  Exploring pictures of Australia.

Sketching and watercolor painting our blooming amaryllis plant.

Extension work with the Brown Stair:  I have a set of corresponding Brown Stair cards which the child can match up to the prisms.  This student has set up the cards  across the room from where he had initially built the Brown Stair. Consequently, he is playing a distance/memory game while refining visual and spatial discrimination skills.



Two more students were ready for Static Addition with the Golden Beads this week!  (I LOVE these Collective Exercises in math!)  This picture shows two sets of Small Number Cards from which the addends are chosen (by me).  Then, they take their tray to the shelf where the Golden Beads are housed and retrieve that amount.   Next, they bring everything to the "meeting mat," (pictured above, far right) where we proceed to count all the beads together.  The Large Number Cards, from yet another mat, are used for the sum.  Do you notice the visual impression the different sized cards give to the child?
As you might imagine, this lesson takes up a lot of space in the classroom!  As a result, we have many curious eyes throughout the room watching the lesson unfold.



Fine-motor practice using a strawberry huller to transfer silver pom-poms.

Living or Non-Living sorting.

Word-building with the Moveable Alphabet.

Transition from writing to reading:  Here, the child has been introduced to the manuscript Moveable Alphabet because he is now able to read words.  Children who work with the cursive letters are able to sound out each letter but are not necessarily able to read the words back.  This material is introduced when the child is reading and can therefore, read the words back to me once they have written them with the (manuscript) letters.  The pictures, which are not used with the cursive Moveable Alphabet writing lessons,  provide an additional point of interest.  Additionally, any child who is working with the manuscript Moveable Alphabet, has previously worked with printed letters with the phonogram work. 

This child is making a word booklet by writing words from the Phonetic Object Box lesson onto sticky-notes.

My college freshman step-son was a special visitor to our classroom on Wednesday!  This accomplished pianist brought his digital keyboard for a demonstration.  The children were awe-struck and marveled at the many sounds this instrument created!  Each child had the opportunity to play and listen to many instruments such as various drums, guitar, organ, violin, and even choir voices.  We were also treated to a melodic rendition of 'La Plage' by Yann Tiersen.



Table-top Number Rods and Cards



Binomial Cube



"A robot," with the peg board.



Practicing putting on a coat, zipping it, taking it off and hanging it back up!



The Hundred Board with extension work.

And, I just have to share with you a photo of a collection of some the amaryllis watercolor paintings.  We ran out of space in our hallway, so these beautiful works adorn the space on the back of a door in the classroom. What a sight!


Amaryllis watercolor paintings.