Staying on our (my) feet...

...otherwise I could get "knocked down!"  While we have been busy with our regular lessons and activities since our return from the winter vacation earlier this month, I have noticed somewhat of a change in our classroom.  Speaking in general terms, because not all students are affected, but it just seems as if some of my kids are forgetting things - big things like how to speak to each other with kindness, how to be patient, how to show that we care about the people and things around us...  I am so thankful that we have implemented the Kindness Wreath as it has turned out to be a very meaningful point of interest and remembrance for the children.  But oh my goodness!  These are the things that really weigh on me because first and foremost, my wish is for our classroom to be filled with a caring harmony and sense of peace!!!   There is a part of me that knows it is not really as bad as I think it is - it's simply that I have very high expectations and when something does not go according to plan, I tend to over-analyze and blame myself...  "It must be something that I am doing wrong..."    Needless to say, I have found myself  analyzing many aspects of the classroom (as any teacher does at given given point in time....).  I have concluded it is more important for me at this time to be spending more time developing our classroom culture of understanding, kindness, and compassion rather than diving into new individual lessons.  Interestingly, I found myself with far fewer pictures from each day's activities as we are spending more time cultivating a more harmonious culture in the classroom - something that does not happen in a matter of days or weeks.  Nevertheless, here are some pictures that I was able to take throughout the week depicting snippets of activity throughout the learning environment.

The bells - listening.

Color Mixing.

Exploring primary and secondary colors with the Second Color Tablet Box.

Tape resist snowflake painting.

Counting, cardinality, odd, and even numbers with the Cards and Counters.

A fun lesson following and stamping the letter 'p' - the baby polar bear finds its mother at the end...

An extension with the Solid Cylinders - two at a time.

Parts of the Leaf botany puzzle with control mat.

Constructive Triangles - Second Box.

'Peace' cards - the word 'peace' in different languages.

Exploring length with the Red Rods.

Pink Tower/Brown Stair work.

Opening and Closing Boxes

Writing practice:  'Wet, dry, try.'

Decimal System Cards - "Can you show me six thousand?"

Matching the Geometric Solids to their cards.

Three-Part Cards: Continents

Extension work with the Knobless Cylinders.

Binomial Cube

Smelling Bottles

Numbers 1-100 with the Hundred Board.

Continent Cards - Europe.

Refinement of the baric sense (weight) - feeling 'heavy' and 'light.'

Caring for plants with the plant washing tray.

More writing practice with the "Wet, Dry, Try" method.

Snowflake tracing - prewriting practice.

Many children are still enjoying this rock painting activity.

"Snow" poetry reading with manipulatives.

January calendar work.

Counting, cardinality, odd/even numbers with the Cards and Counters.

Tape Resist Snowflakes

A fun winter art project the kids have been enjoying:

Masking tape snowflake on heavy paper.

The child paints the over the entire paper...

...and peels off the tape when the paint is dry.

Here, are the materials set up on the Art shelf.  It is simply a variation of our painting with two colors lesson, so the children are already familiar with the steps necessary to complete the activity.  The only differences are the addition of another color choice and the circular tray for colors and mixing.

Tape Resist Snowflakes

A Writing Boost

The children in our class have been actively engaged and loving this new, simple writing lesson.    Inspired by the Handwriting Without Tears method of 'Wet, Dry, Try,' I put together the following small tray:

'Wet, Dry, Try' writing tray to be used with the chalkboards.
Small dish for water; sponge; two pieces of chalk (one for the teacher, one for the child receiving the lesson).

This lesson is typically done with a teacher because the first part requires the teacher to demonstrate the formation of a letter, word, or number:

First, the teacher writes the letter ('t') with a piece of chalk. 

Next, the child dips her finger into the small dish with water and proceeds to trace the same letter produced by the teacher.  

Then, the child retrieves the sponge to 'dry' the letter by tracing over using the same motion.

Lastly, the child 'tries' the letter on her own with the chalk.  

This photo, showing a separate lesson, demonstrates the same process only practicing writing words rather than letters.

This lesson has a 'rock star' effect - not only have groups of onlookers been mesmerized by the process, but the student completing the lesson is filled with great satisfaction and sense of pride.   That tiny tray (holding the 'wet, dry, try' materials) surely carries BIG impact!!!

Beaded Snowflakes

One of my student's favorite activities is making bracelets and necklaces with the bead stringing materials.  Periodically, the contents are changed by providing different beads, pipe cleaners, string, etc., depending on the class' topics of study, seasons, or holidays.  Inspired by ideas I found on Pinterest, I decided to provide the children with snowflake pipe cleaners for stringing beads.  As with most creations by the children, there is always a story behind their masterpiece.  To highlight this aspect of the activity, I thought it would be interesting to document the children's thoughts on their art work.

First, the children will gather the materials for creating their beaded snowflake:

Tray with snowflake pipe cleaners; assortment of beads; small tray for gathering beads.

Then, they will place the beads on the snowflake:

Beaded Snowflake

Lastly, the shape is stapled to black card stock and the children are asked if they would like to share their thoughts or make a story about their snowflake.  This will be recorded on the the white paper on the documentation page:

Beaded Snowflake documentation.

Not only do we begin to better understand the child, but we are also allowing them another opportunity to observe the action of writing.  I  also appreciate how the simple step of writing the child's thoughts and ideas brings an entirely new dimension to the child's work.  

Time Flies

This shortened week after the holiday vacation has certainly made for our sense of time to be off balance - it is hard to believe I am posting already about our "week" together.    Despite coming back to school in the middle of the week, we have clearly made use of our three days together:

Always a favorite: Flower Arranging.

Practicing counting, number symbol/quantity, and the concept of zero with the Spindle Boxes.

Sewing with the items from the first sewing drawer.

Practical Life:  Transferring water with a dropper into egg tray ( more challenging that it appears!).

Counting the Decimal System - Golden Beads.

Building words with the Moveable Alphabet.

Checking work with the smallest of the Brown Stair prisms - the last one fits only when the prisms are lined up in order from largest to smallest.

Exploring number combination of 10 with the Addition Snake Game.

A preliminary sewing activity: Transferring pins to a pincushion.  The main emphasis during this lesson is safety and handling the materials appropriately.

Spooning marbles into a narrow-necked bottle.  The kids have been intrigued by this new lesson - I think it must be the beautiful marbles! :)

Static Addition with the Stamp Game.

Patterns of color and size with the Pink Tower and Brown Stair.

Practicing threading a needle - a prerequisite for subsequent sewing lessons...

...such as this one: Sewing on burlap with a running stitch.

Filling water to the line.

Cutting on a straight line.

Parts of a Flower puzzle with control mat.

Story Writing:  "I love the kindness wreath.  I am thankful we have a kindness wreath."

Kindness Wreath

I've seen the following idea floating around Pinterest and the blogosphere for some time now.  After reading an article in Tomorrow's Child magazine about the 'Kindness Wreath', I decided it was time to integrate this wonderful idea into our classroom.  What better time to do so than with the ringing in of the New Year?!

The 'Kindness Wreath' promotes kindness in general while cultivating the notion of doing good onto others in a child-friendly, visible way.  The children in my class are already familiar with our 'Kindness Pledge' which I will use as an introduction to the 'Kindness Wreath':

Kindness Pledge

I pledge to myself on this day

To be kind in every way.

To everyone, both big and small,

I will help them if they fall.

When I love myself and others too,

That is the best that I can do.

We will talk about what it means to be kind and to show kindness.  I will explain that each time an act of kindness is seen, the child who sees it can obtain a piece of paper from the designated tray and bring it to a teacher. The teacher will write down the act of kindness which was observed.  The key thing here is that the child will have had to see another child doing something kind rather than it being about himself.  The paper will then be folded up and placed in the bowl.  After the bowl has been filled, we will gather the group and read each paper.  As each one is read, the child who has done the kindness will choose a ribbon to be tied onto the wreath.  Over time, the wreath will fill up with ribbons representing each act of kindness that was observed in our classroom.

'Kindness Wreath' materials:  tray with papers and pencil; jar with various ribbons to be tied on the wreath; bowl for gathering written acts of kindness observed in the classroom;  behind the tray and jars is a copy of our 'Kindness Pledge.'

The 'Kindness Wreath' hanging on the door above our art gallery and next to the peace corner/reading area - waiting to be filled with ribbons!

UPDATE - April 22, 2013:

As you can see, we've been busy with our Acts of Kindness! :-)

Montessori Monday Link-Up

Thrifted New Year's Treasures

I came across an incredible bounty making an impromptu thrift run on this NewYear's Day:

Thrifted Treasures

Each item cost only pennies - all of this for under ten dollars!  Oh, the inspiration we Montessori teachers find in the aisles of thrift stores...! :)  I take this as a symbol of all the wonderful gifts this New Year will bring - Happy New Year to my readers and followers!  I truly appreciate your interest and support in all of my endeavors and wish you health and happiness this year and always.