'Guesstimation Jar'

Our classroom assistant assembled this activity as part of her ongoing Montessori training.  Added to the Math area of the classroom is this 'Guesstimation Jar.'

The children have a look to see how many spiders they think are in the jar and write down their 'guesstimate' on a slip of paper.  These papers are collected in the orange bowl on the right side of the tray.  Very soon, we will gather the children, read the guesstimates, and then count how many spiders are actually in the jar.  Our plan is to vary the contents according to seasons or holidays.  What a fun way to get the children making estimates and writing numbers!  

Mathematics: Place Value

Thanks to some felt and my trusted hot-glue gun, there has been a new lesson on the math shelf providing practice with quantities and place value.  Actually, it has been available in the classroom for quite some time, but I haven't had the chance to share it until now.  The idea for the lesson came from THIS site, along with the labels for each category.

A set of cards for practice retrieving quantities.

The children place the corresponding beads on the mat,

and check their work by checking the back of the card.

The rest of the mat.

The mat rolls up for easy storage.

The cards can also be used in reverse to practice quantity and number symbol.  

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!!!).

Laundry: Polish Cloths

A new lesson in our learning environment awaits the children when school begins in September.  This is an activity that has been in the planning stages for quite some time.  Needless to say, I am thrilled it is finally on the shelf!  During my time overseas, I found and purchased the most perfect wash board while visiting a Montessori factory store in St. Petersburg.  The small size of the board is ideal for washing the small polish cloths used in our polishing lessons.  "Why laundry?"one may ask.  I invite you to read more about the importance of these types of lessons in the classroom HERE.

In a perfect world, we would have a proper washing table, but for now, we will set up the materials on the floor.  The child fills the pitcher with water, and pours it into the basin.  Another pitcher of water is poured into the bucket which will be used for rinsing.  As with other washing lessons such as Washing a Table or Washing the Easel, the child completing the task dries all materials and replaces the lesson with fresh towels.  This readies the activity for the next person. 

Once the polish cloths are clean, they can be hung to dry on the small wire rack.  A small basket of clothespins sits underneath.  

I am looking forward to introducing this lesson and observing how such an activity helps nurture in children a personal sense of accomplishment while building classroom community.

Attributes

As part of the process of preparing the environment for our incoming class in just a few short weeks, I wanted to be sure  the Pre-Reading and Pre-Writing activities on the Language shelves provide inviting, meaningful lessons.  While these shelves in our classroom offer various vocabulary development cards, matching activities, and lessons preparing the child for reading and writing, I wanted to offer a couple of different, new options.  One such activity includes these attribute strips which were obtained HERE.  Activities with varying attributes allow young learners to develop critical thinking skills, enhance the ability to find patterns, and develop vocabulary while finding similarities and differences.  While this lesson this lesson could have also been in the Math area of the classroom, I chose to place it in Language as the cards are also appropriate for language development.

A sample Attribute Set.
The strips were printed in a smaller format than provided on the download - I thought they would fit better on our shelves in the classroom and take up less space.  Small counters are placed on the one that is different and a control of error is provided on the back (a small dot behind the correct one).  It could also be beneficial to provide small clips instead of counters which is something I may change later for a variation.

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.  

More on St. Isaac's Cathedral

Some of my readers may recall the post about our visit to St. Isaac's Cathedral last week.  Imagine my delight to find a beautiful set of matching three-part cards of churches and cathedrals in the classroom:

Matching cards each with a labels including the name of the cathedral its architect.

My daughter saw this and exclaimed, "Oh, I've been there!"

Each set has the control of error on the back of the cards.

I have a feeling that I will be scouring the book stores and buying postcards in sets of two for lots of material making!  

Rainbow Letters

We have been seeing a lot of Sandpaper Letter practice these days and the children very much enjoy this writing activity.

I also want to give my students as much practice as possible for writing and strive to provide lessons with variations that allow them to refine their skills.  To that end, I thought it would be exciting to introduce 'Rainbow Letters' for writing practice.  I had seen a great set of letters HERE and decided to use them for this activity.

I love how these two friends have set up their work next to each other .

A completed 'Rainbow Letter.'  The child is able to practice writing the letter at least six times with the different colors. What fun!

After plenty of practice with the Sandpaper Letter, a student can practice writing with a 'Rainbow Letter."  To complete the activity, a student can retrieve the letter from the file folder box in which all the letters are stored:

The letters are categorized into red, yellow, and blue groups according to the way they are organized on our shelves.

A tray housing two wooden trays for pencils (and sharpeners) fits directly on top of the filing box when not in use.     

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.

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.

Solids - Hard As Rocks

Here is another engaging science lesson recently introduced the children.  This lesson is part of our ongoing studies of states of matter and can be found in the book shown in the the link.

The materials set up at a table:  Instruction card, tray with various rocks, small jar containing a large nail, work mat.

Ready for exploration and observation!  

Front

Back

Sweet and simple, yet opens the eyes of the child to further investigate, understand, and appreciate the world around him.  

Math Facts: Addition/Subtraction

Recently, I put together a new Math activity highlighting basic addition and subtraction facts.  I am hoping to reinvigorate some math lessons through the use of this material as my observations in the classroom tell me some children might enjoy a little variation - in other other words, we need to "spice things up a bit!"

I have re-arranged some materials in the math area and added this set up at a table, against a wall.   Each drawer contains ten small, identical items such as stones, acorns, shells, beads, etc.  On the top left a small box holds addition equation "tickets" (with sums no more than ten).  The box on the right holds subtraction equation "tickets."  The decorative wooden sphere contains small number stamps which the children may use for recording their work.

Addition:  To complete the  activity the child choses a drawer and a ticket, and places the manipulatives accordingly.

To find the sum, the items are counted into the remaining space.  I do not have a picture of the recording sheet, but at this time, the child could record his/her work on paper.

Subtraction:  To complete the activity, the child first places the corresponding minuend in the first box.  

Then,  the corresponding subtrahend is counted into the second box, leaving the difference in the first box.  Again, work can be recorded by writing out the equations or using number stamps.

I tried to tone down the utilitarian look of the drawers with natural elements - I think it worked because it looks so inviting and lovely in our classroom! :-)

And, while I was rearranging things, I took the opportunity to unpack and place some newly acquired Math materials in their new "home":

Due to limited space for additional math shelves, I converted our window still  - much better than having it crammed on the existing shelves (and there was really no other place to put those beautiful  fraction circles)! 

Tally Mark Practice

One of the skills practiced by my Kindergarten students is making tally marks.  This is practiced on a daily basis in the their Calendar Notebooks as they track the number of days in each month as well as the daily weather.  I have noticed that this skill is one that could stand some additional practice, so I put together a hands-on lesson highlighting the tally mark concept.

Craft stick tally marks -  it's very simple yet concrete.   I added a basket of small stones each with the numbers 1-15. Later I plan to add numbers 16-20 - I just ran out of craft sticks…!

Tally Marks 1-10.

Reading Sentence Practice

This is what hours and hours and several days worth of making classroom reading materials looks like:

Reading Sentence Practice folders ready to be transported to the classroom.

FYI:  First, I would like to warn you how much paper, ink, glue, paper cutting, laminating, and extra trips to the store for office supplies this project requires…!  Second, if you would like the make a set, you will be overwhelmed with the sense that the job will never be done…!  This took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

The project started innocently enough - I just wanted to supplement the Montessori Language curriculum with some reading practice for my emergent readers.  Specifically, I was looking for a systematic, easy-to-follow, set of materials providing practice with reading full sentences (rather than only words) along consistent sight word repetition.  I found exactly what I needed while browsing Teachers Pay Teachers: Reading Sentence Practice file folder lessons.  The material consists of three separate groups - Set One, Set Two, and Set Three.  The illustrations are adorable and I really feel they will be a significant point of interest for my students.  I went ahead and purchased all three sets as they are very reasonably priced.

The Montessori teacher in me decided to code the sets by color.  Actually, the red, yellow, and blue coding follows perfectly with the way our Sound Boxes and Sandpaper Letters are coded in the classroom.  After many hours (days) of preparation, the sets were completed.  Here is a breakdown of what is included in one folder (there is a total of 32 folders):

The first folder:  Each folder has a cover with the following items tucked behind: 

One laminated envelope (I used an exacto knife to open the top after laminating) with the corresponding answer cards - each folder includes 12 picture answer cards.

Behind the cover is also the storage place for the folder's Answer Sheet.  This is an essential component to my decision  to make these materials for my classroom because this allows the lesson to be self-correcting - children can easily check their own work through the use of these types of  answer sheets.

Here is the inside of the first folder.  As you will notice, the phonetic sentences in this first folder are simple and short.  While I do not have photos of other folders, the sentences become progressively more challenging as fluency increases.  

The folder completed with the answer cards.

The child can check his/her work with the corresponding Answer Sheet.

As I was making these materials, the following thought occurred to me, "How am I going to keep track of each child's progress for each of the 32 folders?! (gasp!)"  So, the fun didn't end with the completion of making all three sets of folders - I also decided to make a tracking chart so children can self-monitor their progress.  Again, I used the same color-coding system for each folder while providing three headings to track progress:  Read with a teacher; Read to myself; and Read to a teacher.

Front

Back

The idea here is repetition, repetition, repetition - it is my hope that they will spend a the most time in the 'Read to Myself' column.  I am planning to use stamps or stickers to mark each box as each section is completed.  Once the whole row is filled in with stamps/stickers, they child is ready for the next folder.  By using this type of chart, the child knows exactly where he/she is in the series.  Likewise, any  adult in the classroom can look at the chart and know where the child is in the sequence.  You can find a free copy of this chart at my Teachers Pay Teacher store.

This photo shows how I ended up placing them on the shelf - I did have rearrange a bit, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.