Blog

Mrs. Semmah: Next Stop, South America!

Posted on by Kaoutar Semmah

We are now studying the continent of South America in our classroom. South America is pink on the Montessori map and a topic of great fascination for the children. It is a beautiful region with vibrant cultures and traditions and a wide range of climates and terrains.

South America is the fourth largest continent in our world and comprises twelve individual countries. It is connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama. An isthmus is one of the landforms we study. Brazil is the largest country in South America, and the major languages spoken are Spanish and Portuguese.

Located in South America, the largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon Jungle. So it makes sense that we start to explore the rainforest as well. The rainforest is an ecosystem with a dense tree canopy that lets very little light through. To be considered a rainforest, there must be more than 60 inches of rain each year. Rainforests also contain over 40% of the world’s animal and plant species. There are four layers in a rainforest; each layer receives different amounts of sun, rain, and wind and is home to various species.

As the weather gets warmer, now is a great time to check the extra clothes in your child’s locker to see if they should be changed from winter clothes to spring/summer clothes.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Kaoutar & Sue

Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

This week, the Middle School enjoyed having Upper El students visit with them. They joined science and humanities classes with grade 6 and traveled with a blended group for math and art. Also, they joined the middle school whole group for recess. The teachers enjoyed getting to know the rising 6th graders and look forward to them joining us next year. Read on to learn what else went on in our classes this week.

Humanities

Grade 6 students are focused on Ancient Egypt this week! They are two-thirds of the way through their class novel, The Eye of Ra. This book follows siblings who accidentally become transported to Egypt and part of the building process of the Pyramid of Djoser. Over the last couple of weeks, the class has learned about the social structure of Egypt and the significance of pyramids. They have learned about specific figures in history relating to these as well. In groups, the class was given the following assignment: In the writing style of Ben Gartner (author), write the book’s next chapter as if it is the last. Students identified the four items needing to be resolved, and the groups wrote four different endings. Students have also completed a unit of vocabulary and will present current events on Monday,

Grade 7 classes have been working on the unit, Powerful European Leaders. They identified what they feel are qualities of a great leader based on observations of people they consider to be leaders or mentors in their lives and what they have observed in the world. Then, students completed a brief overview of World War I: who was involved, causes, major events, and resolution. Finally, we looked at the geography of Europe. The class completed a modern-day political map of the European continent and looked at maps from 1914, at the start of WWI, and 1919, after WWI ended. In addition to current events, the class is excited to learn more about Russian History during WWI and begin George Orwell’s Animal Farm next week!

Grade 8 students spent the week working on their expert project drafts, which were due at the end of the week. In addition, the class reviewed how to use in-text citations and develop works cited pages. Mrs. Lamb is excited about the project’s next phase, which is developing the presentation!

Science

6th-year Earth Science students have begun the unit Tides. From this unit, students will be able to explain what tides are, explain what causes high tide and low tide, describe the difference between high tide and low tide, explain the relationship between the sun, moon, and Earth concerning tides, describe how Earth’s rotation affects tides, understand that tides are cyclical and therefore predictable, and design a model to investigate tides.

7th-year Physical Science students are on the unit, Reflection. From this unit, students will be able to design an experiment to test the reflectivity of different materials, identify key characteristics of different types of mirrors, and describe how light reflects off different surfaces. In addition, students have begun creating illustrations of how their reflections differ while looking at a spoon, applying their working knowledge of convex and concave lenses.
8th-year Life Science students are currently in the unit, Nervous System. From this unit, students will be able to understand the parts of the nervous system, explain the structure and function of neurons, understand how nerve impulses travel through the body, and conduct simple experiments to help explain nerves, nerve impulses, and stimuli. Students have already begun creating a 3-D model representation of a neuron, including labeling and identifying key parts.

Math

In Pre-Transition math class, students were happy to be investigating Chapter 7 and learning about integer division. This week, they discovered prime factorization tree diagrams, how to use different long division strategies, and decided if a decimal is terminating or repeating. They concluded the week by discussing dividing negative numbers and using fact triangles to solve for missing variables in a single-step division question.
In Transition math class, students worked through different exercises focused on division. This class learned how to solve problems involving proportions, and they can now find missing lengths in similar figures. In addition, students can represent multiplication and division-related facts with a fact triangle and successfully divide fractions with variables.
In the Algebra math class, students are continuing to explore solving systems of linear equations. They have covered a variety of strategies, such as solving by graphing, solving by substitution, and solving by elimination (adding, subtracting, or multiplying). This class can also determine if a system has one solution, no solution, or infinite solutions based on the slope and y-intercept of the given equation.
As a reminder, all classes will have their respective unit tests next week to summarize their current chapter. Therefore, I encourage all students to practice long-term study habits to prepare for the upcoming assessment.
Make Joke: Swimmers love one kind of math more than all others; what is it? ……………Dive-ision!
Have a wonderful weekend, Middle School community!

Mrs. Wilson: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into nature and then you would understand everything better.”

Children are naturally curious about the world around them. They want to explore everything from the tiniest ant to the tallest tree. What I love about our spring curriculum is that we get to explore the life cycle of a butterfly. This experience is so magical even for me. We started with one of my favorite childhood stories, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. Next, we went over the object and language card matching of the life cycle of a butterfly. They learned the vocabulary butterfly, eggs, caterpillar, and chrysalis. Next, I showed them real live caterpillars. They each had a turn holding the container gently to observe them. Each day we will observe the magical metamorphosis process.

Food Tasting: This week, we tasted the fun fruit kumquats. The children experienced the sourness of the first bite, but as they continued to eat, it was sweet.

Cynthia and Sara

Mrs. Hood: Los Pollitos!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

Toddlers are curious about the world around them and eager to learn new things. One educational topic that captures their imagination is the life cycle of living things! Teaching toddlers about life cycles has numerous benefits, including building scientific knowledge, fostering curiosity and wonder, enhancing vocabulary and language skills, encouraging hands-on learning, and instilling empathy and respect for nature.

Spring is the perfect season to introduce these concepts! So this week, we started our studies on the life cycle of a chicken! From interesting eggs to fluffy chicks to clucking hens, the journey of a chicken from egg to adult is a fascinating process that toddlers always seem to enjoy!

So far, we have focused on two concepts: chickens come from eggs, and a baby chicken is called a chick. Children enjoyed some short educational videos where they could observe the hatching process. The smiles on the children’s faces were so priceless.

To bring a real-life experience to this topic, we explored an egg as part of our food-tasting lesson. We introduced vocabulary words like a shell, egg white, and yolk. Children seemed surprised to find “a yellow ball” -as one of the children called it-  inside the egg. Children could practice their fine motor skills by learning how to peel their eggs. They seemed to enjoy cracking the egg and carefully peeling the shell. I encourage you to allow your toddler to practice this skill at home. The children seemed to feel proud of themselves.

Some of the children didn’t find the sliminess of the boiled egg very attractive and didn’t want to taste the egg, but other children kept asking to repeat the activity and taste another egg. It’s always fun to observe how the children react to these sensory experiences and how their brain seems to work hard on classifying the textures and flavors of the food items we introduce. Since some students don’t consume eggs, we had an extra food-tasting lesson with delicious “look-a-like-egg” tofu! That was a hit as well!

To reinforce the Spanish language, the children were also introduced to a fun Spanish song called: Los Pollitos. In Spanish, the chicks say, “pio, pio,” instead of “chirp, chirp.” Just an interesting cultural bonus sent your way :). I hope you enjoy the song at the bottom of this note and practice with your children at home if you would like.

Lastly,  we explored the color orange and learned that we create orange when mixing red and yellow. We also had a blast playing with water and enjoying the wonderful summer-like weather. Your children did great in our whole school fire drill as well. Enjoy some of the pictures of the toddlers visiting the Middle School play and a birthday celebration last week as well.

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and if you are planning to visit a farm as a fun spring activity, please take the time to observe the chickens and talk with your toddler about what you see.

Best,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Marissa 

Family Connection Newsletter

Posted on by Karen Sankey

The topic of April’s Family Connection Newsletter is The Montessori Method and Independence: An Aid to Life. As stated in the article, Maria Montessori believed that the overarching goal of education was to educate for independence. She said, “If [the child] cannot acquire this independence, he does not exist as an individual – for the characteristic of an individual is one who can function by himself.” The article contains helpful information for early childhood, elementary, and secondary levels.

In addition to this month’s newsletter, I am also including March’s Family Connection on Freedom and Discipline. This article discusses what that looks like in the Montessori classroom and includes information on freedom of movement, choice, time, repetition, communication, and mistake-making. It also provides information on self-discipline and an intriguing discussion with upper elementary students on the question: “What does freedom with responsibility mean to you?”

I hope you enjoy these newsletters,

Karen Sankey
Director of Montessori Education

Upper El Historians

Posted on by Karen Sankey

What an exhilarating two weeks! Upper El students wrapped up their research papers, made slide presentations, and created three-dimensional models of their ancient civilizations. They worked hard and displayed intense focus and outstanding collaboration skills during their big project leading up to their presentations on research night, the first in-person in three years. While preparing, they independently learned about their ancient civilization, gathering and retaining a great deal of information and passing it along to their peers.

This week, after completing their models, they participated in an activity in art called TAG: Tell something you like, Ask a question, and Give a suggestion. After this activity, they made minor improvements to their models, demonstrating a willingness to listen to the critiques of their classmates. Then, with the fifth-years leading the way, they planned their speaking parts for their presentations and practiced, practiced, practiced. Finally, students pushed through their discomfort to speak in front of the group, each time getting easier. The result was four fabulous presentations in front of families and friends on Thursday night.

Bravo, Upper El!

Wishing you a marvelous weekend,
Karen and Angie

Middle School: Toys’ Adventure & Science Fair

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

What a beautiful week! Students spent time outdoors enjoying the sunshine and were able to return to outdoor lunches.

The middle school has had two exciting events since returning from spring break that we want to highlight: The Middle School play and Science Fair.

First, thank you for coming and supporting our middle school production of the original play, Toys’ Adventure! Seeing the words that students write come to life on stage is always a highlight. All of their hard work with memorizing lines, remembering their blocking, creating the set pieces, and changing the set during the play all culminated in two successful performances. Additionally, it is a joy to listen to the students talk about the process of writing and executing the play in the question-and-answer segment following the show. The students saw every piece of what it takes to put on a show, including setting up and breaking the set. All culminated with a reflective activity and an ice cream party.

Next, the 6th-year Earth Science and 7th-year Physical Science students presented their science fair research projects. Students could choose a concept from their science tech book or related field in either earth or physical science. Then, students formatted their research based on the scientific method, stating the problem/question, identifying their hypothesis, formatting research, compiling data, analyzing results, and providing a conclusion.

Topics for the 6th year Earth Science class were “How Was the Solar System Created?” “Wind Turbine Efficiency,” “Why do Coastal Redwoods Grow So Tall?” “Rocket Efficiency,” “How Does Density Affect Seismic Waves?” “How are Galaxies Classified?” “Engineering Behind Bridge Design,” and “Retrofitting Buildings to Withstand Earthquakes.” The 7th-year Life Science students’ topics were “Kinetic vs. Potential Energy,” “Heat and Pressure,” “Science Behind Acrylic Nails,” and “Titanium vs. Wood Golf Drivers.”

Every student did an excellent job researching, formatting their poster board, and presenting their topic to friends and family.

Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. Doyle: Five Fun Senses

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

First the education of the senses, then the education of the intellect—Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori believed there is a sensitive period for a child’s development of their senses. Although the senses are an integral part of our lives, children have the greatest potential to develop and retrieve them during their early years. It is precisely this idea that demonstrates the purpose of Sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom. The Sensorial materials are powerful tools that allow children to become aware of their unconscious impressions and bring these impressions into conscious awareness. Additionally, they enable your children to create a basis of order in their minds, allowing for the intelligent exploration of their environment.

This week we are beginning our study on the five senses. What better way to teach this than to use popcorn? Popcorn is a multi-sensory snack as it incorporates all five of our senses. It might just be our most appetizing science unit yet! Did you ever notice that when you make popcorn, somehow the entire family knows about it and shows up to have some of this favorite treat?

We begin by discussing our five senses and how we use different body parts to learn about things in our environment. For example, our noses are for smelling, ears are for listening, eyes are for seeing, hands are for touching, and our tongue is for tasting. We learned that sometimes we use more than one sense at a time.

Next, each child had the opportunity to handle popcorn kernels to observe what they saw, smelled, and felt. We record all of our observations as we go along. Finally, we used an air popper to pop some popcorn. Now we can include our observations about hearing and tasting as well.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria