To Maria Montessori, the teaching of grammar was at the center of her language curriculum for elementary age children. Today, it still remains a critical element in the teaching of a complete language program in a Montessori environment. At this age, grammar is being presented at an impressionistic level and later on in their later elementary years, they will explore these concepts on a more formal level.

This week the first year group has enjoyed learning more about adjectives. We started the lesson reviewing the previous parts of speech learned earlier in the year (nouns and articles) and used descriptive words to describe our nouns. These words are called adjectives! As a follow up work to practice this grammar, the first years love to use the grammar box.

The second years are continuing their study of the adverb- a complex part of speech. They are learning that an adverb supports the verb and they tell us how to do an action. In Montessori grammar, just like the verb, the adverb is also represented as a ball. The adverb is a smaller ball than the verb because it is less important than the verb itself. This group is also enjoying using a grammar box to practice this work!

In the third grade year, the children begin the process of sentence analysis. The aims of this work are to study how words are used in the context of sentences and to make logical analyses of those sentences. Right now the third years are learning how to analyze simple sentences with subject, verb and direct object. They are beginning the process of asking themselves, “What is the action?” “Who is it that did the action?” “What/whom received the action?”

We were fully immersed this week in magnetism. The children enjoyed being scientists and exploring how iron filings are attracted to magnets. They also had a blast “fishing” for metal and steel objects in a bowl filled with sand. They learned that magnets are used in every day life- to separate metal accidentally mixed in with food and for recycling. Also, they are used by doctors to remove metal splinters from eyes without even touching the eye!

In addition to our science unit, the children are getting back into the swing of things in their geometry work. The third years are loving using the box of sticks to make and identify parts of a polygon. The second years are continuing their complex work with the Montessori protractor, measuring the angles of different types of triangles. The first years are enjoying learning the difference between lines, rays, and line segments. We’re keeping busy and motivated!

The first and second graders were ecstatic to learn about reptiles this week! The lessons began by taking a moment to observe Rocky, our leopard gecko, closely. You can see their excitement through the smiles on their faces, even behind the masks! From there, we had a group discussion to share our observations and our previous knowledge about reptiles. The first years learned about the external parts of a reptile, meanwhile, second graders took a closer look at the inside of reptiles; learning about the body functions. Working with the biology materials help enhance reading comprehension as well as teach organization, classification, and making comparisons and contrasts.

The third graders were immersed in history this week, learning about the Clock of Eons. We zoomed into the clock and took a closer look at the Hadeon Eon and explored the time of formation, bombardment, volcanoes, cooling, and layering. This eon of time is when our planet, Earth, was formed! Ask your child what they learned about proto earth and the planet, Theia!

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.”  ~Maria Montessori

After a few short weeks due to holidays and snow days, we are happy to be back in our routine. Even happier to welcome a new friend, Ellis, into our class community! We are thrilled to have you back.

A Montessori classroom is a sacred space. Each child in a Montessori classroom is working to become independent. To be successful with this independence, the children have to feel empowered to solve their own problems, have a consistent and predictable routine, and have the opportunity to work cooperatively and independently. The Lower Elementary classroom is a community where I take the growth in independence of each child seriously. I strive to provide a space where the children feel comfortable and confident. This enables them to become independent and helps to shape them as they grow.

 

In continuation of our Composition of the Earth lessons, the children enjoyed learning about the Earth’s insulation. To begin the lesson, each child had a turn to feel the heat radiating off of a spoon that was heated up. From there we had a group discussion about the difference between warming your hands near an open fire and feeling the heat coming off of the spoon. From there, we talked about the two different types of heat: radiant and passive. Radiant heat comes from something burning; when the sun heats up the Earth’s surface. Passive heat comes from something that has collected heat from something that is burning; when the Earth’s surface heats up the atmosphere.

In addition, the children learned that as hot air rises, it cools and is forced to release moisture. To illustrate this concept, I boiled water in a pan and covered the pan with a cool glass bowl. Water droplets quickly appeared on the bowl because the coolness of the bowl allows the air to release its moisture. This is called condensation.