Diary of a First Year Montessori Kindergarten Teacher - Week 3
Hi Kindergarten Montessori Families,
I hope your
weekend is going well! I am pleased to report another lovely week
together in the classroom. Thanks to all who have had the opportunity to
check out Sign up Genius and contribute some lovely new items to make
our classroom feel more like a home away from home.
We
had a super busy week indeed! We got a chance to visit (and for our new
friends get to know) Farmer Sean with Carter’s Farm, we got to have the
experience of having our school pictures taken, we got to experience
our first Celebration of Life Ceremony with A and we are whisking
our own soap that we grate from our Practical Life work to make the suds
to clean our plates at lunch time. You have no idea how FUN this is to
do! Or maybe you do 🙂
One
thing I forgot to mention is we make it a priority at lunch time to
wait for everyone to sit down and unpack our lunches onto our plates
before we begin eating. It is such a beautiful experience to watch your
children care for each other enough to be patient as we wait to eat
together.
I
don’t know if I mentioned our MAIN science focus this semester is
weather. We began with a picture story about Cloudette and this week we
looked at types of clouds (we will learn the vocabulary later; this week
we simply observed the pictures of different types with our magnifying
glasses). You may have heard about our first official science experiment
in the classroom — Rain Clouds in a jar — everyone participated and
then each child wrote about the experience.
This
week we also began to explore math concepts like the concept of zero,
counting to 50, how teen numbers work and single digit addition with
manipulatives like numbers and counters, number rods and addition strip
boards. Some friends became interested in trying the hundred board. And
we participated in a couple collage art/process art activities. OH! And
the llama shirts are completed — make sure to wear them Wednesday!
UPCOMING NEEDS FOR OUR SCIENCE PROJECTS:
— 20 empty aluminum cans ( 14.5 oz and labels off)
— 6–8 trays of blue ice cubes (they can be left in the ice tray and we will make sure to return them)
We would like to do at least one of the experiments by Thursday so I will keep you posted WHICH ONE based on everyone’s ability to donate.
Here is a breakdown of the week in particular:
Monday:
we observed everyone’s peace rocks and talked about the peace inside us
and how we can shine peace in the world. We also started 30 days of
kindness where each day we talk about 1 way we can be kind to someone in
the world. We also did a rhyming activity where the student was given 2
rhyming words and he/she had to make up a rhyme on the spot to the tune
of “Down by the Bay” — they loved it!
Day 1 Kindness: leave someone a surprise
Day 1 Kindness: leave someone a surprise
Tuesday: Talked more about community helpers. Saw a video about sanitation workers and how a garbage truck works
Kindness #2 Help someone before they ask
Lesson on odds and evens and preliminary lesson on what is a noun.
Lesson on odds and evens and preliminary lesson on what is a noun.
Wednesday: talk about pronouns using one of the class favorite songs “The Choo Choo Song”
Kindness day 3: Tell your mom something that you love about her
We received a new set of dressing frames so the students can start to practice buttoning, tying shoes, velcro, snapping, etc.
Started conversations about extreme weather using real life pictures and language for hurricanes, hail storms and mudslide.
Thursday:
Kindness day 4: Ask “How are You?’
Complete our peace sticks, talk about the value of taking turns when talking and making sure to listen.
Played a game where the student had to listen to his friend answer a question and then tell the class the answer.
Read a book called “Some Bunny Loves me” by Parry Gripp that talked about kindness to animals.
Practice yoga together in the afternoon.
Science Experiment.
Complete our peace sticks, talk about the value of taking turns when talking and making sure to listen.
Played a game where the student had to listen to his friend answer a question and then tell the class the answer.
Read a book called “Some Bunny Loves me” by Parry Gripp that talked about kindness to animals.
Practice yoga together in the afternoon.
Science Experiment.
Friday:
Took time to look at and admire the Peace Sticks at the Observation
Table, Talked about extreme weather blizzard, lightning storm, floods,
review of the week.
Kindness day 5: Give your friend a high five or fist bump.
Kindness day 5: Give your friend a high five or fist bump.
Thanks as always families for the PRIVILEGE to be a part of your children’s lives.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Norgren