Just for Fun

I've tried to keep Halloween very low key in the classroom.  Other than enjoying a German song about a Jack-o-Lantern during circle time, and an occasional finger poem about the Five Little Pumpkins, we have kept it a low-profile event.  During these last days days of October however, I thought the children might like the following activity - just for fun...

Drawing faces on a pumpkin!  All that is needed is a dry erase marker for drawing and a cloth for wiping the pumpkin clean when finished.

 You can imagine the delight of my students who are eagerly drawing Jack-o-Lantern faces!  Here are a couple of examples:

Continent Stamps

Several years ago I purchased a set of Montessori continent stamps and have not had the chance to use it in the classroom...until now!

The students in my class have been enjoying learning about North America and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use the continent stamps.  I've set the materials out on the art shelf for the students to stamp, color, and paste onto orange paper.  We will save at least one of these papers to collect with others (of different continents) and each child will eventually have their own booklet of continents.

Small white papers for stamping, larger orange papers for mounting, a small tray with ink pad, stamp, and jar for glue, and pencils (an orange one for coloring and regular one for writing).

Here, the child has brought the materials to a workspace, used the stamp, and is coloring in the continent with the orange pencil.

The kids will have one for each continent for their booklets.

Coming Together

Things are definitely coming together in the classroom.  It brings me much joy to see the growth and progress being made each day.  It amazes me that such leaps in development can be identified in the smallest of details.  If one is continuously and closely observing, these details can be seen everywhere in our classroom - and I am so fortunate to be able to share my days with these children and watch them unfold before my very eyes! :)  Here are some pictures from the week:

Number writing practice on the chalkboard.

Exploring the Brown Stair.  

Learning about varying shades of color with the Third Color Tablet Box.

Matching primary and secondary colors with the Second Box of Color Tablets.

Animals of the World

Developing the hand for writing - Touch Boards.

Practical Life - Tonging.  I recently placed these eye-catching acorns in the bowl - the children have enjoyed this small change.

Understanding size and dimension while working with the Pink Tower and Brown Stair.

Working with the Grammar Symbols and Farm for an 'Adjective' lesson.

Tonging and sorting dark/light beads.

Spooning - this little spoon is a major point of interest! :)

Pin pushing the shape of North America.

Working with the Parts of a Flower puzzle.

Introducing to the Golden Beads - counting ten hundreds in one thousand.

Polishing glass

Writing practice with the Sandpaper Letters.

Learning the names of continents with the Puzzle Map of the World.

Birthday greetings for family members.

Playing the Memory Game of Numbers with items from around the classroom.

Working with the Knobless Cylinders.

Reading color names and matching objects.

Teen Beads

Drawing and writing practice with the Marker Paper.

Buckle Frame practice.

Number writing with the Sandpaper Numbers.

Metal Inset work - one shape, two positions, and two colors.

Our class enjoyed an autumn nature walk on Friday morning.  Here, the children are counting and sorting the treasures we found during the nature walk.

One of our shelves has a decorative table runner from India on the top.  One child was taking a closer look and exclaimed, "Hey look!  It's [cursive] 'i'!" and proceeded to trace it.  This made my day, my week, my year... perhaps my teaching career....! :)

Making Greeting Cards

A new activity recently placed on the Language shelves is writing greeting cards.  I love how this lesson allows for plenty of writing practice while giving the children opportunities to think of others.  I set the materials up in our writing area which includes a laminated display of cursive letters.  A set of small colored pencils in a crayon roll creates a wonderful point of interest for the kids.  There is also a set of small stamps to use for decorating the cards.  Behind the basket tray are the folded papers for cards.

Card making activity on the shelf above the Marker and Story Papers.

A series of greeting card wishes which include 'I love you', 'Happy Birthday', 'I'm sorry' (if someone would like to apologize for something), 'Sending happiness your way', and I'm glad you are my friend,' among a few others.  

Colored pencils for writing and drawing placed in a crayon roll.

Writing...

...and stamping!

We have some very proud writers (and happy recipients) as a result of this greeting card writing activity! :)

Another Week in October

I can hardly believe that October is more than half way over!  This week, we have certainly felt the cycle of seasons as the kids have been enjoying our 'Fall Reflections' art project and 'October' poem - if you are a parent of one of my students, be sure to ask your child about the October poem! :)  Here are a few pictures from our week:

Teen Beads and Board

Enjoying our Fall Reflection art.

More Pink Tower exploration.

Several students were ready for Static Addition with Golden Beads!
  

Reading our 'October' poem.

Working with the third box of Color Tablets - grading varying shades of color.

A lesson with phonograms- 'sh'

Brown Stair activity.

Using the Puzzle Map of North America.

Pre-writing practice with water and rocks.

Land/Air/Water cut and paste activity.

A Sensorial lesson with the Touch Boards.

Fine motor and letter matching practice.

Calendar and number writing.

Binomial Cube puzzle.

Sound/No Sound lesson.

Practical Life:  Metal Polishing.

Matching number symbol to quantity with the Number Rods and Cards.

Weaving with seasonal ribbons.

Looking at pictures on our Continent Folder for Asia.

Number writing practice with the Sandpaper Numbers.