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Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

Another productive week in Middle School! A highlight outside of academic classes took place on Wednesday afternoon when all middle school students assisted the kindergarteners with their research projects. They read books about their topic to the kindergarteners and then chatted about the new information they learned.

Here’s what went on in other classes:

Math

Transition math students have been discussing real-world patterns that eventually lead to division. This week’s lessons have focused on the ratio-comparison model for division, allowing students to grasp the concept of dividing quantities into equal groups. Moving on to proportions, students have been exploring the idea of comparisons between two ratios, enhancing their proportional thinking skills. To further solidify their understanding, students have also been studying proportions in similar figures, connecting geometry with their newfound knowledge of division.

In the chapter on Linear Systems that Algebra math students have been working on this week, they delved into various intriguing concepts. These included exploring systems and parallel lines, grappling with systems of inequalities, and deciphering nonlinear systems. The discussions also extended to real-world applications, such as how air traffic controllers use these mathematical ideas to anticipate points of intersection for air travel routes, showcasing the practical relevance of algebra in everyday scenarios.

The eighth-grade geometry class has been busy exploring the Pythagorean theorem and how it is used to find different sides of a triangle. They also learned how it would help them find missing sides in a complicated polygon that doesn’t have all the given sides. They can classify triangles as obtuse, right, or acute, given the three sides.

Science

6th-year Earth Science students have completed their study on rotation, revolution, and seasons. Excitingly, they are now gearing up for their next adventure into the captivating realm of eclipses. During this unit, they will delve into the mysteries of lunar and solar eclipses, aiming to model and explain the mesmerizing phenomena that occur during these celestial events. As they eagerly anticipate the upcoming solar eclipse next Monday, each student will have the opportunity to observe this rare occurrence safely with the provided pair of solar glasses.

7th-year physical science students recently wrapped up their exploration of kinetic energy by putting their derby cars to the test. They raced each car multiple times, taking the average of their runs while also carefully calculating the mass of their creations. Looking ahead to the next unit, Reflection, students are eager to design experiments to investigate the reflectivity of various materials. As they delve into this new topic, they will learn to identify key characteristics of different types of mirrors and understand how light behaves as it reflects off different surfaces, paving the way for a deeper understanding of the fascinating world of light and optics.

In their recent exploration of genetics and heredity, 8th-year life science students have gained a deeper understanding of how traits are passed down through generations. As they transition into the next unit on the circulatory system, students will explore the intricate networks responsible for transporting oxygen, nutrients, and waste throughout the body. They will learn to describe the function of the circulatory system, create a drawing illustrating the path of circulation in the body, know the difference between veins, arteries, and capillaries, and understand the structure and function of the heart. This new unit promises to reveal the fascinating inner workings of one of the body’s most vital systems.

Humanities

6th-grade Humanities classes continued reading their class novel, The Eye of Ra, by Ben Gartner, which centers around two kids accidentally traveling back to Ancient Egypt. This group is leading discussion using their annotations from nightly reading assignments. The students also read the Egyptian creation myth and learned about the first of the great pyramids, the Pyramid of Djoser, or the Step Pyramid. Finally, students are preparing a current events report and discussion for next week.

The 7th-grade Humanities class completed the novel A Long Walk to Water, which follows the real story of Salva Dut, a Lost Boy of Sudan. We have spent the week learning about Sudan and South Sudan, their geography and culture, as well as their conflicts, and delved deeper into the stories of the Lost Boys who walked from Sudan to Ethiopia and then on to Kenya. Finally, students are preparing a current events report and discussion for next week.

8th-grade Humanities classes with Mrs. Lamb began with a major check-in for the Expert Project. Most students have completed their expert interviews and research, and they are ready to write their research essays. Next, the students continued reading and annotating She Came to Slay, a biography of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. Finally, as they read and learned of the role religion played in the lives of the enslaved, they learned and listened to African American spirituals.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

“We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.” -Maria Montessori

We welcomed April with just a few April Fools Day shenanigans and a productive week. Our work cycles were buzzing with activity, lessons, and focused work.

We started the week by kicking off our new novel study for the book The Wild Robot Escapes. This is already becoming a nice change of pace from our usual literature circle activities and discussions. It will also enable us to discuss this book as a whole class instead of splitting into three groups. In other language work this week, we did some poetry reading and writing and had grammar lessons. Fourth-year students continued their study of adjectives by learning about interrogatives and proper adjectives. They learned that interrogative adjectives ask a question about the noun and that proper adjectives are formed from proper nouns but act as modifiers. Fifths had their next lesson about personal pronouns, focusing on person and number. They learned to identify the pronoun in a sentence and whether it is in the first, second, or third person.

In geography this week, we learned about the compass rose. We discussed the history and use of this symbol by cartographers and sailors. Students followed up this lesson by making their own 32-point compass roses.

In biology, we continued our study of advanced classification with a lesson on characteristics used for classification. Students learned that the basis of zoological classification is identifying specific “characters” of an animal. We also had a dynamic discussion about the origins of using binomial nomenclature, genus + species, to classify animals.

I am looking forward to meeting with you on April 19 for Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences! Please look for the sign-up in your email on Monday.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Karen & Deb

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 (even though winter had a sneaky appearance, huh?)! 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 shell, egg white, and yolk. Children seemed surprised to find “a yellow ball” -as one of the children called it-  inside the egg. Children were able to take their time and strengthen 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. It’s truly a great exercise! Peeling an egg requires coordination between the fingers and thumb. This can improve dexterity and precision in hand movements, plus it helps their patience and persistence tremendously! 😀 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. 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.

Based on our color studies, we introduced the concept of color mixing to the children this week. We gathered the children to circle and showed them what happens when you mix yellow with blue color. It was a magical moment! The children’s expressions were amazing! They couldn’t believe that we had made a new color. Their faces seemed to be in awe! Immediately, they were ready to take a turn at the easel and make the magic happen by themselves!

Lastly, we celebrated another 3-year-old birthday in our class! It’s always such a special day for all!

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 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. Mollie 

Mrs. Doyle: Five Fun Senses

Posted on by Michelle Doyle

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.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be on Friday, April 19.   A link to sign up for a time slot will be going home on Monday.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Lopes: Five Fun Senses

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

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.

Reminder: Parent/Teacher conferences are on Friday, April 19th.  An email will be sent out on Monday with a link to choose a time slot.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Amanda & Hema

Mrs.Wilson: Welcome Spring?

Posted on by Cynthia Wilson

Although the weather didn’t quite match the springtime vibe, we’ve transformed our classroom into a lively celebration of the season. Through hands-on activities with seeds, eggs, and birds, we’re immersing the children in all things spring. In the weeks ahead, they’ll discover the world of backyard birds and learn how to care for them by refilling feeders and providing fresh water.

Food Tasting: The children tried a sweet, tangy, and juicy pineapple. The pineapple was hidden under a towel, and the children guessed what it could be, with one guess being a pickle. However, when the pineapple was revealed, everyone enjoyed its juicy and delicious taste without any complaints.

Cynthia and Sara

Ms. Marissa: I Sense Something Amazing In Our Class

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

What the hand does, the mind remembers. —Maria Montessori

Every Montessori classroom has a Sensorial area, and it is filled with materials that help the child study their environment through their five senses. Maria Montessori believed that sensorial experiences begin at birth for every child, and by refining these skills, they begin to understand their surroundings. The sensorial materials allow the child to acquire concise information and classify things around them. They use their senses not only to create their own experiences and knowledge but also to help them figure out different impressions each sense receives. The child is, therefore, a natural “sensorial explorer.”

Each material in this area has a built-in control of error so that after an initial lesson, little teacher direction is needed. This control of error helps a child determine what needs to happen to complete the lesson successfully. The children can distinguish, categorize, and relate new information to what they already know. Each sensorial material isolates one specific quality, such as color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, or smell. These materials emphasize this particular quality by eliminating or minimizing other differences. Many of the sensorial materials are also the basis of future mathematical concepts the children will learn.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Marissa & Sue (she’s back!!!)

Mrs. Hood: Springing Back into Learning!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

Hello Parents! Welcome back!

As we return from our rejuvenating spring break, I am delighted to share some of the wonderful happenings in our environment this week. It’s been a joyous transition as our little ones settled back beautifully into their routines, demonstrating their ever-growing curiosity and engagement with the world around them.

Firstly, I’m thrilled to introduce a new addition to our classroom family: Rowan. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Rowan and her parents, James and Shevon. It has been truly heartwarming to witness the kindness and empathy our students have shown in embracing Rowan, offering support and guidance as she navigates the environment, and embodying the values of compassion and inclusion that are at the core of our classroom community.

In addition to welcoming Rowan, we’ve also introduced an exciting new movement structure to our classroom—a climbing side complete with a taller slide and A SWING! I am not sure if you are familiar with the benefits of swing in a toddler’s life but this extends beyond mere amusement. Swinging not only provides physical exercise but also enhances sensory integration and balance. As children sway back and forth, they engage their vestibular system, which plays a crucial role in spatial orientation and coordination. Additionally, swinging encourages proprioceptive input, helping children develop a sense of body awareness and control. Moreover, the rhythmic motion of swinging has a calming effect, promoting relaxation and emotional regulation. Children LOVE it! They literally spent so much time in the movement area this week!

Our food-tasting lesson this week centered around exploring a large pineapple, a fruit as fascinating as it is delicious. As we dissected the pineapple, we delved into learning about its various parts, from the prickly skin to the juicy flesh and the fibrous core. The children were naturally curious about the weight and texture of the skin, fostering an appreciation for sensory exploration and the diversity of fruits in nature.

Furthermore, we have begun to delve into the fascinating world of wild animals while continuing our exploration of colors in the environment. By incorporating these themes into our curriculum, we aim to spark curiosity, encourage observation, and instill a sense of wonder and respect for the natural world.

As we navigate the remainder of the school year together, I am confident that these new additions and engaging experiences will continue to inspire and empower our toddlers to flourish and grow. Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in nurturing the curiosity and potential of each child in our classroom.

Enjoy the pics,

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Mollie