The children were so excited the past few weeks as the anticipation of sharing their research with their friends and family crept up. They were thrilled to be sharing their projects with their classmates, who they love so deeply. The third-year students had their first official public speaking experience, presenting to their classmates. They were amazing! Although it was optional, some second and first years wanted to present to their peers as well! They were all so brave! All of the children worked diligently and should be very proud of their work, as am I.

I hope everyone has a great spring break! See you in two weeks.

The teaching of grammar is an integral part of the Montessori language curriculum for elementary children. The aims of this work are for the children to learn the parts of speech and to understand the relationships between them. This work also provides practice in reading and writing and enriches the vocabulary of the children. Introductory lessons for each part of speech are given as part of a story; their purpose is to give an impression of the function played by each different part of speech. The children are introduced to grammar symbols for each part. Lessons are followed up with work which is a tool for the children to explore the parts of speech. The first years are learning about adjectives, second years are learning about the verb family, and the third years are learning about interjections.

We have been hard at work completing our research projects! Next Thursday, the third years will present their projects to the class. Afterwards, the second and firsts will have the choice to present as well. They are eagerly waiting to share their hard work with their friends!

A short but eventful week in Lower Elementary. The first and second graders started the study of reptiles, specifically a turtle. The first graders are examining the external parts meanwhile the second years are taking a look on the inside learning about the body functions.

The third graders received the lesson of interjections this week. They are very excited to have finished learning about all nine parts of speech within the three year cycle. Soon, they will begin the study of sentence analysis!

If you walk into our Lower Elementary classroom you will find children working on independent and group research throughout the year. The children absolutely love researching topics of their choice as one of their work options during our work cycle. Although research is a frequent occurrence, this time of year is special because the entire class is focused on one common goal, completing their research projects. This common focus connects us as a class and allows opportunities for the older children to take a mentoring roll and help the younger children who are new to research.

The third graders did an outstanding job mentoring the younger children and teaching them about the research process. Each child was patient, kind, and very helpful as the younger children got acclimated to the new process.

The children are exhilarated to share their research projects and posters with their classmates and families within the next couple of weeks!

The students were hard at work this week working on their geography assignments. The first graders enjoyed their follow up work, making a peninsula and gulf out of clay and water. The second years explored a Montessori material called lands end. With this material they learn about capes, peninsulas, promontories, isthmus, and spits. The third grade group was intrigued about the parts of a river.

The children are in the process of choosing a topic of interest within some categories we provided them. Children will work together with us to do all of their research at school. First year students will make posters with information about their topics, second year students will make posters and write research papers, and third year students will make presentation boards, write papers, and give oral presentations. We will provide all of the information and resources for the children to complete this process successfully.

Thank you for sending your children in with appropriate snow gear (snow pants, gloves, hats, jacket). Children at this age are learning to keep track of their belongings. To help support their independence, it would be great if their names were written inside their clothing!

This week we started our physical science unit on sound. To begin, the children sat quietly outside for two minutes. Afterwards, we created a sound survey and listed the sounds we heard. Here are some of the sounds we discovered below:

• Jackets rustling
• Cars driving
• Crunching snow
• Airplanes
• Animals scurrying
• Wind blowing
• Dropping water

Afterwards, we brainstormed uses for sound and why it is important. I was very impressed with some of the uses the children came up with.

• Used for communication
• Protection from danger: fire alarms, horns, radio/TV
• Entertainment/pleasure
• Used for directions

The children have such enthusiasm for learning! It is a joy to watch!

It has been a quiet yet busy week in Lower Elementary. We started a new unit in Readers and Writers Workshop on nonfiction. In Writing, the students kicked off the unit by partnering up and teaching each other all about something they are experts in. In reading, the children are exploring how nonfiction readers learn facts while reading. The purpose of non fiction is to learn information. They are learning to slow down and absorb each page, using close observation skills when reading non fiction texts.

Next week, Tuesday through Thursday, the third year students will take a practice standardized test called the CTP5. This test is given to third through eighth grade students and is scored and reported to parents starting in fourth grade. We treat the third grade year as a true practice  year so the children have the chance to take the test with a little more help learning to navigate it this first year. For this reason, we don’t score and report it in third grade. As a Montessori school, we give this test to give our students the practical life experience of taking a test, to prepare them for future years in school.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and break with your children! We are all happy to be back, working hard and having fun. It was a short but energetic week.

Maria Montessori’s primary goal for education was to bring about a better and more peaceful world. Staying true to this goal, we spend intentional time in our classroom on kindness and caring for one another. Focusing on this now will help the children to grow into peaceful, compassionate adults. The children in our class regularly and spontaneously help their classmates in need, from helping each other with challenging work, giving one another spelling tests, to cleaning up spilled test tube division beads.