Well, it appears I'm one of those Montessori teachers who can't stop thinking 'Montessori', even during summer vacation! One of the joys of being a teacher (Montessori or otherwise) is the surprising places one finds inspiration. The source of inspiration for the following idea was a simple trip to the playground with my kids!
Anticipating an early school year study of the Earth and preliminary lessons on
Land, Air, and Water for this Fall, I have been mentally planning some basic activities. Additionally, I have been wanting to add some meaningful pre-writing and reading lessons to the Language shelves which will give my students ways to practice important skills. When I was on the playground with my children the other day, my eye caught the beauty of these rocks and I knew exactly what I would do with them!
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| The inspiration... |
First, pre-writers can fill in with lines, using water and a small paintbrush, moving from left to right to aid in training eye movement (for writing and reading). Holding the paintbrush will strengthen hand muscles needed for writing as well.
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| Lines (or filling in) moving from left to right... |
They can also fill in with curves or loops - how fun!
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| loops, etc.. |
Children who are ready to practice writing letters can write letters...
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| Letters (or numbers, too!)... |
What I most appreciate about this lesson is how I can incorporate geography into the work as well. When introduced, I plan to explain to the children that the rocks represent the land, the water used represents the water on Earth, and for air, well this is the best part - I"ll place a fan (preferably one from another country, which I still have to find...) with the work so that the child may fan their work dry! What a fun way to demonstrate the effect of 'air'? It will be the ideal match to one of the first songs I teach my kids at the beginning of the school year:
The Earth is made of land and water,
Land and water, (2x)
The Earth is made of land and water,
And air is all around us!
I know it is just the beginning of summer vacation, but I seriously cannot wait to set this up the classroom when school begins again!
As always - awesome idea! My son has collected so many stones the other day and now I know what to do with them:)
ReplyDeletePS. What is the tune of that song?
Thank you K! As I was writing this post, I wanted to include the tune, but I couldn't think of it... Now, of course, I do and it is 'The Wheels on the Bus.' Thanks for reading! :)
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ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful idea! I can't wait to incorporate it into our geography lessons. I am posting this on my blog over at thehelpfulgarden.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting your comment and link to your blog. I love it - thanks so much for providing such high quality materials.
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