Blog

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

We had a great and busy week after our winter break. We have a new member in our classroom until the end of next week, Miss Alyssa, a college student studying to become an elementary teacher. She is observing my lessons and working with students during our work cycle. The children welcomed her and enjoyed the extra attention.

We had productive daily group and individual lessons this week. The fourth graders learned about proving equivalence between a trapezoid and a rectangle in geometry. The fifth graders learned how to find the area of a parallelogram.

In biology, we focused on the vital function of circulation and learned that there are two types of circulatory systems: open and closed. We compared the open circulatory system to a fountain and the closed system to a radiator. During their independent follow-up work, students will learn which animals have an open or closed system.

This week, the fourth graders learned about common and proper nouns in grammar work. The fifth graders started their lessons on adjectives, focusing on descriptive, article, and numeral adjectives.

In Literature Circle, students are finishing their book and are excited to start their next book, The Wild Robot Escapes, next week.

In anticipation of snow on the ground when we return to school next week, students will need snow boots, snow pants, winter jackets, hats, and gloves or mittens to enjoy recess in the snow. We go out to play when the temperature is 20 degrees or above, and we love to play in the snow!

Mrs. Wilson: Winter Wonders!

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

Happy New Year! As we enter into the fresh new year, we’re embracing the winter vibes. This month, our little ones will dive into exciting activities to expand their vocabulary on Arctic animals, winter weather, clothing, and sports.

Our revamped movement area introduces a new thrill with activities like navigating a stabilized bike. Some kids have already taken a spin, while those unable to reach the pedals are eager for a turn to sit. Those reaching the pedals are developing the art of making them move. In addition to the bike, there’s a designated space for tossing “snowballs” into a penguin basket.

The art shelf offers creative outlets with snowflake stamp painting and putty for building snowmen. Throughout the month, we’ll be enhancing the art shelf to fuel the children’s growing interest in artistic expression.

In the language area, engaging activities include arctic animal object-to-photo matching, winter weather clothing photo-to-photo matching, and winter sports photo-to-photo matching.

Food Tasting: This week, we tasted hearts of palm. A fun fact: Did you know that the hearts of palms are harvested from the inner core of palm trees? These were a fun vegetable to taste. If you haven’t tried them yourself, give it a go. They make a great alternative to rice and pasta. 

Lower Elementary: The Montessori Classroom

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

A Montessori classroom is a sanctuary dedicated to the well-being and development of children. Our primary focus, as adults within this space, is on what serves the best interests of the children. Consequently, we approach them with the utmost respect, safeguarding their right to concentrate on their work without disruptions from peers, entering adults, or even ourselves.

Maria Montessori’s wisdom guides our approach: “To assist a child, we must provide him with an environment that will enable him to develop freely.” In alignment with this philosophy, we recognize that children, as leaders in this environment, should not be hindered by unnecessary distractions from adults. Each child in the Montessori classroom is on a journey toward independence, and our role is to facilitate this process.

Success in fostering independence hinges on empowering the children to solve their own problems, establishing a consistent and predictable routine, and creating opportunities for independent work. Within our Montessori community, we prioritize the growth of independence in every child. Our goal is to cultivate an environment where they feel both comfortable and confident, trusting that adults will respect their surroundings. This commitment fosters independence, contributing to the children’s development and shaping their character as they progress.

Wishing you a joyous New Year filled with laughter, love, and exciting adventures!

Mrs. Doyle: A Normalized Classroom

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

“Social grace, inner discipline, and joy. These are the birthright of the human being who has been allowed to develop essential human qualities.”  —Maria Montessori

Normalization is a buzzword often used by Montessori teachers everywhere. So, what exactly does it mean, and more importantly, how do we achieve it? When children in a Montessori environment demonstrate deep concentration, self-discipline, social skills, and a true love of work, we describe this as a normalized classroom. Normalization is achieved by consistent and clear ground rules that everyone is familiar with. It is our job to ensure the environment is always well-prepared and designed to meet the needs of the children. As Montessori teachers, we are confident that if we do our job well and the children are free to experience the opportunities provided by the environment and Montessori materials, they will thrive.

After the winter break and upon our return in January, we often see noticeable growth in the children’s social and emotional development. They come back eager to learn and raring to go! In the first half of the year, they have become comfortable and confident with our classroom routines and expectations. They have developed deeper relationships with their peers and teachers. It is always an exciting time and sets the groundwork for the second half of the school year.

Wishing everyone a 2024 filled with much peace and love.

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Lopes: A Normalized Classroom

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

“Social grace, inner discipline, and joy. These are the birthright of the human being who has been allowed to develop essential human qualities.”  —Maria Montessori

Normalization is a buzzword often used by Montessori teachers everywhere. So, what exactly does it mean, and more importantly, how do we achieve it? When children in a Montessori environment demonstrate deep concentration, self-discipline, social skills, and a true love of work, we describe this as a normalized classroom. Normalization is achieved by consistent and clear ground rules that everyone is familiar with. It is our job to ensure the environment is always well-prepared and designed to meet the needs of the children. As Montessori teachers, we are confident that if we do our job well and the children are free to experience the opportunities provided by the environment and Montessori materials, they will thrive.

After the winter break and upon our return in January, we often see noticeable growth in the children’s social and emotional development. They come back eager to learn and raring to go! In the first half of the year, they have become comfortable and confident with our classroom routines and expectations. They have developed deeper relationships with their peers and teachers. It is always an exciting time and sets the groundwork for the second half of the school year.

Wishing everyone a 2024 filled with much peace and love.

Amanda & Hema

Ms. Marissa: A Normalized Classroom

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

“Social grace, inner discipline, and joy. These are the birthright of the human being who has been allowed to develop essential human qualities.” —Maria Montessori

Normalization is a buzzword often used by Montessori teachers everywhere. So, what exactly does it mean, and more importantly, how do we achieve it? When children in a Montessori environment demonstrate deep concentration, self-discipline, social skills, and a true love of work, we describe this as a normalized classroom. Normalization is achieved by consistent and clear ground rules that everyone is familiar with. It is our job to ensure the environment is always well-prepared and designed to meet the needs of the children. As Montessori teachers, we are confident that if we do our job well and the children are free to experience the opportunities provided by the environment and Montessori materials, they will thrive.

After the winter break and upon our return in January, we often see noticeable growth in the children’s social and emotional development. They come back eager to learn and raring to go! In the first half of the year, they have become comfortable and confident with our classroom routines and expectations. They have developed deeper relationships with their peers and teachers. It is always an exciting time and sets the groundwork for the second half of the school year.

Wishing everyone a 2024 filled with much peace and love.

Marissa & Sue

Middle School: Math Carnival Week!

Posted on by msutherland
Come one and come all…..ITS MATH CARNIVAL WEEK! All middle school students were required to build a unique probability game that could easily be played by their peers. We spent the entire week gathering materials, creating blueprint sketches, and calculating the theoretical probability of winning their games. Students were creative with building games such as a ball toss, picking a specific card from a shuffled deck, spinning a colored spinner, or dropping a disc down a shoot. Students are asked to construct their physical game, make a title poster, and present their mathematical calculations on a Google Slides presentation.
We are excited to share that the official carnival will be on Friday, January 12th, from 10-11 am in the main gym. We invite all middle school and upper elementary families to attend and celebrate all the hard work put into this event. During next Friday’s event, students will record the experimental probability of having other students/staff/parents play their games. After the live carnival day, students will need to graph their results and compare the theoretical probability to the experimental probability. We hope to see you all next Friday at our carnival event!
If you have any additional questions, please contact Megan Sutherland (math teacher) at msutherland@fraserwoods.com

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

We had a fantastic and eventful week just before winter break. We want to extend heartfelt thanks to Rotem and Romy for their amazing and delicious Hanukkah presentation! We had a wonderful time and learned so much! We also had an enjoyable holiday concert, a cozy pajama day, and our Sneaky Snowball gift exchange. We had a blast making holiday decorations with Ms. Krystin. We even managed to fit in some lessons amidst all of the excitement!

We hope you have a wonderful holiday break filled with joyful family celebrations.

See you in the new year!

Lots of love,
Karen and Krystin