Saturday, November 19, 2011

An Attitude of Gratitude

I try my hardest to instill a sense of gratitude within my students as they navigate  their world.  This is a concept that is present in our classroom all the time and not just during Thanksgiving!  One of the first songs we learn together as a class is one of gratitude:

Gratitude Song
(tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Thank you, thank you very much
For everything that I can touch.
Thanks for all of nature's food,
And for when I'm feeling good.
Thank you, thank you very much
For my family, friends, and such!

I share the following photos from this week with my own sense of gratitude for the opportunity to work with such a talented, intelligent, and unique group of children!  Thank YOU, my students and their parents, my readers and followers of this blog, and mostly my dear family for giving me their understanding and encouragement while I set out to do what I love each and everyday!  :)

Understanding Geography concepts with the Land and Water FormsPeninsula and Gulf

This child has combined the Sound Box objects with the Sandpaper Letters, allowing him to make meaningful connections to the letter sound and symbol.  While I typically do not present this as a formal lesson to my students, I encourage this association if it is child-initiated.

Three-Part Cards of the Continents.  Here, the child is in the process of making his own set of cards, an idea he came up with completely on his own! :)

And here is the the self-made material after one and half morning sessions of hard work!

Elements of the Earth:  Land, Air, and Water
(Click on caption above to read more about it.)

Art Appreciation with Child-Sized Masterpieces: Matching identical paintings.

Writing words with the Moveable Alphabet.

Using our November poetry basket to read and dramatize our 'Thanksgiving' poem.

Practicing the preliminary Practical Life exercise of Sponging, this month with the help of leaf bowls!  :)
Refinement of the thermic sense with the Thermic Tablets.
Learning the countries of South America with the Puzzle Map.  This child came to school with a book about Pink River Dolphins of the Amazon.  So, we got out the map and later...
...wrote about them with the Moveable Alphabet:  'Pink river dolphins.  Their ears are inside their heads.  They live in the Amazon river.'
Fun sensorial work with the Smelling Bottles.
(Click on the caption above to learn more.)
Seasonal Practical LifeTonging Acorns
Grading and pairing the Touch Tablets from 'rough' to 'smoothest.'  This exercise is not only beneficial for training the tactile sense, but also in preparing the hand for writing by practicing lightness of touch.
Practicing threading a needle.
(Click caption to read more.)

Preparing our 'Thanksgiving Gratitude Snack'.
(Click on caption if you missed that post!)
 I'll be taking a little break from blogging during our vacation, but am looking forward to sharing with you all that I have planned for December upon my return.  Wishing you all a wonderful time with your families and a very Happy Thanksgiving!

8 comments:

  1. I love your blog! The activities you have for the children are awesome. I would love to visit your school one day. Thank you so much for sharing.
    Discovering Montessori

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  2. I love your blog, too! I so enjoy your observations of the children in your care and thank YOU for sharing! Please let me know if you are ever in Maine - I'd love to have a Montessori blogger visitor to my school! :)

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  3. This is fantastic, Sasha! Thank YOU so much for being the dedicated, caring, inspiring and loving teacher you are!

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  4. You are too kind with your words, Stefanie! I just love what I do!

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  5. Your posts are always so inspiring! Thank you! We do not celebrate Thanksgiving but I will sing that song with my boys for sure - as the (English) lesson of gratitude!

    I am so glad that I have found you Sasha!:)

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  6. Thank you, K! A feeling of gratitude is so important everyday and I feel this song is helpful in reminding us all! Such simple words, but so important... :) Thanks for reading and I'm so touched you are inspired by my blog...!

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  7. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Sasha! I love your Gratitude Song. I featured your sound box activity in my DIY Alphabet Box post at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2011/12/26/montessori-monday-diy-alphabet-box/

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  8. Thank you Deb! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well - we had a relaxing time at home and enjoyed our time together. Thanks for featuring my activity on your post, I look forward to checking it out!

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