While our third-year friends are out of the room this week, taking part in the ERB standardized test during the work cycle, we have a smaller group left in the room. During this time, the students have been enjoying working independently and with their classmates  on a variety of work, including the Cosmic Mat, the animal Who Am I cards, and Reading Comprehension.

Continuing with our study of Units of Time, we have started learning about personal time lines. We have discussed different cycles of time, such as days, weeks, months, years, seasons, decades, and centuries. This week we made a Family Graph of our class in random order using our ages. We will continue by putting our next graph in chronological order. The children were amazed to see how long their teachers’ columns were. Some even thought that one of them wasn’t going to fit inside our circle.

The children were inspired by the book Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, which we read at the beginning of the week. They are enthusiastic about researching peacemakers of the world and many are already asking to start writing their papers. We are looking forward to all of the wonderful, focused research that is about to happen!

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

We had lots of fun at recess after last weekend’s snow! The children had a blast sledding on our playground with the sleds Miss Ryerson brought in. They took turns and worked together, going down the hill two at a time.

We are happily hard at work not only on our academics, but also preparing for a wonderful Holiday Celebration. The children’s voices sound beautiful. We are looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday morning.

The children are doing a wonderful job leading by example. This is something we have been working on and discussing as a group. One of the ways they help each other quiet down is by making a coyote symbol with their fingers. This means “the coyote is listening” and is a gentle reminder that it is time to use a quiet voice.

 

“But those children who have been able to work with their hands make headway in their development, and reach a strength of character which is conspicuous.” -Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Maria Montessori believed that when children do meaningful work they achieve self-satisfaction. Part of our meaningful work is the care of our classroom. Each week students select the classroom jobs they will have for the week. Participating in the care of our classroom is real work with a practical aim. Doing this Practical Life work helps the children to develop inner discipline, a feeling of self-worth, and an understanding of what work is. The children feel the satisfaction from completing a meaningful task and a sense of ownership in their classroom. Some of our daily and weekly jobs are: taking care of Rocky (our leopard gecko) and Fraser, vacuuming, dusting, emptying the trash, rolling the rugs, cleaning the tables, setting the tables, and organizing the books in our classroom library. Before starting our weekly jobs this week, older children gave younger children advice about how to complete their tasks efficiently. Children whose jobs for the week had already been completed offered to help their classmates. When the bell was rung letting the children know time was up for jobs, many wanted to continue working.

We also place a great emphasis on meaningful academic work for each child. During their work cycle, which is two to three hours long, the children are able to plan the work which is worthwhile and appropriate for them. This creates a feeling of ownership and focus within the children.

 

 

The children enjoyed baking bread to share with their Lower School, Upper Elementary, and Middle School friends at our Thanksgiving Celebration. Thank you Margaret, Kianna, and Eric for volunteering your time to help them. We had a beautiful ceremony last Wednesday. We started by calling forth the elements of air, fire, water, and Earth with a poem read by a Middle School student. We sang a song together as a school and then Upper Elementary told the history of Thanksgiving. Next, each level, Lower School through Middle School, shared what they are thankful for and Middle School shared eight prayers of thanks in different languages representing the many different cultures that make up our community. We ended with the sharing of bread. This ceremony is a meaningful tradition for Fraser Woods.

Third year students told the story of the creation of the universe to the second and first year students. Throughout the story, they performed demonstrations which illustrated the different scientific concepts in the lesson. The third years worked hard, practicing their parts, in the weeks leading up to the lesson. Telling the creation story has become a rite of passage for our third year students.

First year students practiced partner reading during Reader’s Workshop. Examples of respectful partner reading were modeled during the mini-lesson and then the children practiced with their peers. They were able to decide together which books to read, respectfully share the book with their partners, and help each other figure out challenging words.

Second year students learned about measuring angles with the Montessori Protractor. This material is a complete 360°. Students have learned the history of why the circle has 360° in a previous lesson about the Babylonians. They will learn to put angle inset pieces into the Montessori Protractor to measure, add, multiply, subtract, and divide angles. Later they will transition to the standard protractor.

One of the authentic and beautiful aspects of our classroom community is the desire and opportunity the children have to problem solve together. The classroom is a safe space for children to share their feelings and concerns. Second and third year students called a meeting to discuss a common issue they were experiencing. They each took turns voicing their concerns and then they participated in a discussion of possible solutions to the problem. They were respectful and considerate of each other during their meeting. One of the solutions that came out of the discussion was that they want to lead by example. They then proceeded to do a fantastic job leading by example during work cycle. When children are given a voice in their problem solving, they take ownership and responsibility for the solution. As an adult in the classroom, it was a joy to watch as they demonstrated respect, cooperation, and independence.

During work cycle, students are doing a great job working independently in the different subject areas.

When the older students are ready, they start to research topics of interest independently. They begin by choosing a topic. They select a research guide, reference materials, and write answers to the questions in the guide. They are then able to take their answers and turn them into a report on the topic.

We have many different types of math going on in our classroom with multiple materials being used for the different operations. The dot game is useful for addition and multiplication. Adding, multiplying and subtracting can be done using the bead frame. The checkerboard is a favorite material used for multiplication. Once students learn about multiples and factors, the peg board is used to find the lowest common multiple and the greatest common factor. Fraction materials are used for beginning fraction lessons in the four operations.

It was great to see you on Parent Child Night! The children carefully planned what they wanted to do with you that night. They enjoyed showing you the work they have been doing in school. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us!