When you can't make copies...

…wonderful lessons are made!
We have been learning about the layers of the Earth and I wanted to introduce the children to an extension activity.  The only problem was that I didn't make it to the copy store before the day I planned to show the lesson.  A solution was found in my recycling bin at home!

Various lids for tracing, coloring, and labeling the layers of the Earth.

Here, the lesson is set up along with a model from our Science shelf.

It has been quite a popular activity since introducing it the children.  I have also enjoyed listening to their conversations about the different layers and how the "inner core is the hottest place on the planet!"  

Foreign Language and Culture

It should not come as a surprise that many items were collected for the classroom during my family's stay in St. Petersburg last winter and spring.  In addition to numerous books, cultural artifacts, and souvenirs, I purchased a coveted set of Cyrillic Sandpaper Letters (to be introduced to the children later).  While preparing the classroom over the summer, my thoughts kept returning to the same theme, "Where am I going to put these items as they are introduced?" I think many Montessori teachers face the same challenge  - Do we ever have enough shelf space?!

The materials should have particular meaning to my students as they discussed my whereabouts during my absence from the classroom and they learned much about Russia.  It is important that a special place in our environment be created given the special significance of the topic for my students.  With a few things rearranged, there was space for, you guessed it- more shelves:

They are small, but serve the purpose of creating a separate area for our cultural and language items from Russia.  The top is reserved for a beautiful class journal the children made during my time away (top left), along with what has become a trademark of our classroom - a copy of The Littlest Matryoshka with a matching set of nesting dolls.  I have replaced the dolls with a brand new set from St. Petersburg (I ended up having to search the whole city for just the right ones!!!).

Geography Booklets

One of my goals this year is to explore the Geography materials in more depth with my students.  One way I plan to do this is with the help of a set of Geography Command Cards.  Hopefully the use of such cards will not only provide meaningful points of interest for the students, but also act as springboards for using materials and conducting individual research.  The cards I have printed for are available HERE for free.  Thanks to the generous donations of many thoughtful teachers, this site provides many materials available for instant download.

The Geography command cards range in complexity of tasks, which is helpful in being able to meet the needs and interests of our mixed age setting.  While some cards invite children to explore Land and Water Forms, globes, maps and various extension actives, other tasks include recording information in a 'Land and Water Booklet.'  To that end, I decided to make a number of 'Geography Booklets' for this type of work in the cultural curriculum:

Covers were made with a little help from Google Images and shipping labels.  Inside each booklet is a blend of lined writing paper and unlined pages for drawings, collages, etc.  The button and twine closures remind me of genuine field work journals which adds a unique point of interest (not to mention I was able to use up a bag of buttons I have had for quite some time!).  

As the children work with the Geography materials, these booklets will be filled with their own work and recordings - outlines of maps and puzzle pieces, pictures of land and water forms, lists of continents and countries, interesting facts children wish to record, and anything else that may come up.  

While You Were Out:

It has been quite an adjustment for me to be away from my classroom for such a long period of time.  Of course, I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences we have been afforded during my family's stay in St. Petersburg, but how I've missed the daily interactions and happenings in the classroom!  Thanks to the wonderful teachers at my school, I have been able to stay in close contact and know that progress continues being made in great strides during my absence.  Here are just a few photos of current activity in the classroom:

An engaging math extension activity - counting elephants to go along with an Asia theme.

Carefully constructing and walking the maze with the Red Rods.

The 45 Layout.  I am so, so excited to see this out!

Practice skip counting with the Square Chain of 9.

Writing practice. 

Naming the Geometric Solids.

Matching the Geometric Cabinet shapes to their cards.

Kanji writing.

Squeezing orange juice.

Lots of flag work.

Constructing the layers of the Trinomial Cube.

Animals of the World and World Map.

Pouring with a syrup server.

Dry Transfer shelves.  The color yellow corresponds not only with number four in our Short Bead Stair theme, but also with the continent of Asia.

Practical Life:  Wet Transfer activities.

Just looking at the pictures makes me miss my classroom even more!  I am forever grateful that I have such dedicated staff to give their care attention to our students during my time away.  Thank you, and I miss you all!  

We've Gone Around the World

One characteristic of a Montessori setting is the mixed age group,  which gives the opportunity for students to remain in the classroom for up to three years.  This allows for increased continuity throughout the years both for the child and the teacher.  It has been two years since we first started our continent studies with North America.  That same year, we also learned about Europe and Asia.  This school year, we continued these units with Africa, Antarctica, South America, and Australia.  Many of the lessons from these units of study can be found under the  label Geography in the sidebar on the left of the page.  Recently, I decided to purchase the following book for our classroom as I knew it would be a fitting culmination to our continent themes (and when I discovered the book promotes the use of cursive writing I just couldn't resist!):

Around the World from A to Z by Christina Cheung and Han Tran; Illustrated by Tong Wu

The illustrations are dynamic, engaging, and appealing to adults and children alike.  Of course, the cursive component is outstanding and I very much appreciate the explanation in the front cover:

"The book approaches language learning as a holistic process that combines letter formation and pronunciation with cultural awareness and mindful thought.  Careful penmanship and cursive writing not only refine motor skill from shoulder to fingertips, they also help to sharpen thought formation and brain development.  More specifically, cursive writing has been shown to stimulate brain synchronicity: the physical act of fluidly connecting letters coordinates the visual right wide of the brain and the verbal left side."

To read more of this explanation, see close-ups of the illustrations, and get a sense of the meaningful text in the book, please look HERE.

Needless to say, this is the perfect book to end our year together (and to have in our classroom for years to come)!  For a culminating lesson, I put together the following booklet making activity:

The materials at a table:  The labels are to make cover for the booklet - My Book of Continents and a place to write a name.

Each page has an outline of a continent...

…to color and label.

The last page with a map of the whole world.

(I can't seem to remember the source for the booklet - if anyone knows please let me know so I can include it in the post.  Thanks!)

UPDATE:  Please find a link to the source of the booklet pages HERE.

Lupines, Lupines, Lupines!

June is a lovely month in our area with the blossoming of a coastal Maine symbol - the beautiful lupine plant.  We always take the time to read a favorite story which enchants the children each year,  Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney:

To go along with the same theme, the children were introduced to an art activity to make their own thumbprint lupines.

White paper cut lengthwise; green paper folded with cutting lines for leaves; tray with green crayon, jar containing pencil, scissors, gluestick; small tin which contains dampened sponged with purple paint.

The child gathers materials and brings them to a table.  Next, a green line is drawn on the white paper and the leaves are cut out.  

The leaves are then glued to the bottom...

and thumbprints are added.

Of course we have to have lupines for flower arranging too!

Waltzing Matilda

If I pause and think of our week together in the classroom, the first thing that comes to mind is, "Waltzing Matilda!" and the children singing it with huge smiles on their faces…  What a fun song to learn  - with words like 'jumbuck,' 'billabong,' and 'swag man,' who can resist?  Clearly, we are enjoying learning about Australia!

Australia Continent Folder Cards.

Pre-reading:  Bird matching activity.

Tracing the Parts of a Bird Puzzle and pin pushing it out.

Sorting animals by continent.

I watched the child in this photos roll and re-roll the mat several time to get it just right and straight.

Checking work with the Hundred Board using the control chart.

Pouring dry material using a funnel.

Using a small baster to transfer water.

Grading the color tablets around the globe.

Meet Sydney, our newest classroom pet - we wrote down ideas for a name and this was the selection from a random draw.  Sydney is named after the largest city in Australia.

Working with numbers 1-25 using the Math Step Board.

Picture to picture matching.

Practicing addition with the Stamp Game.

Reading sentences.

Exploring the Pink Tower and Brown Stair.

A lesson about matter:  Solids:  Hard as Rocks.

Using the Binomial Cube as an engaging puzzle.

Patterning with Stamps

This has been a lesson has been actively used since it was introduced late last week.  It is a an engaging patterning activity which promotes pre-reading, literacy, language, and math concepts.  The koala and kangaroo pictures are intended to go along with our unit of study for Australia.  Many of the children have been creating stories while making their patterns, associating their knowledge from the Aboriginal stories we have been reading together.  Here is the lesson on a language shelf:

Far left - strips of paper with eight sections; tray with stamps, pencil, stamp pad; mat underneath with two pattern cards.

The materials set up at a table with an ABB pattern card.  The other pattern card is for  an AB pattern.

Completed strip with ABB pattern.

As with other activities in the classroom, the child replaces all of the materials used in the lesson and brings it back to its place on the shelf, readying it for use by the next child who wishes to use it.