“History should not be taught as a collection of dates and places. But rather be approached to arouse gratitude and appreciation. This gratitude should be aroused first to the law and order of the universe and the preparation of the environment into which human beings came.” -Maria Montessori

One of my goals for our Upper Elementary students is to become independent and have ownership in their classroom. Some ways we are working toward this are through the organization of the classroom so they are able to be self-sufficient, class-led community meetings that give them decision making power over their school life, and involving them in arranging field trips. I’m looking forward to sharing more about field trips with you soon.

During our annual bread baking last week, Upper El students expressed how much they enjoyed making the pumpkin bread. They decided that they would like to start baking in the classroom on a regular basis. And so we shall! In the coming weeks, I’ll be gathering ingredients and some simple recipes for students to follow independently. Feel free to share any that you have at home. Each recipe will need to be gluten free and nut free.

Next week we will be making sandwiches and collecting hats and mittens for the St. Vincent DePaul Mission in Waterbury. These two volunteer opportunities have become a wonderful tradition in Upper El. It creates a great sense of joy at helping others in a very real and meaningful way. Our class parents sent a sign up for the hats and mittens already and you will soon be receiving one for the ingredients for making sandwiches.

Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

This week we wrapped up our first Lit Circle books of the year. Each group had a great final discussion of their book and they are anxious to get started on the next. We also enjoyed hearing some original creative writing shared by our class members this week. We heard a short story, a chapter book, and some poetry. We will continue to share our writing-in-progress each week.

In biology this week we learned that the vital functions of animals fall into three categories: vegetative functions, functions of relationship, and function of reproduction. We learned that vegetative functions are what keep us alive. They are nutrition, respiration, and circulation. Functions of relationship move us around so we can get what we need to survive. They are sensitivity, movement, and support. The function of reproduction is different from the first two types in that it is a function of species instead of individual.

Our history lesson this week was called The Trash Heap. This is a lesson that gives an impression of the heritage of the artifacts we study when we are learning about human cultures. During this lesson I told a story of a sequence of cultures, all of which were located on the same site, each leaving behind “trash” artifacts. As I told the story, we placed the artifacts in a trash heap and covered each layer with a layer of sand. Upon completion of the story, we had a mound of sand, hidden within which were layers of artifacts representing the sequence of cultures we discussed.

Our student-led, weekly class community meetings focus on concerns and topics brought up by students. This week our meeting was focused on where we should have recess. This topic was added to our agenda after a student reached out asking for a change from our daily recess on the field. The class brainstormed ideas, had a respectful, open discussion, and then voted. They decided we would go to the playground and outdoor classroom, each one day a week, and on the remaining three days, we will vote on where to go. I wish you could see the maturity and respect for each other these students have; they impress me every day.

 

 

In Montessori math at the elementary level, concrete materials are used to introduce and practice concepts, leading students to understanding and abstraction. Instead of the focus being on the answer, it is on how students get to the answer. The Montessori math materials allow students to discover for themselves the algorithms that guide their work, instead of memorizing math rules given to them by their teacher in order to solve their problems.

It was great to get back to a full week of school after our short week last week. We started on Monday with individual student-teacher conferences, checking in to make sure that everyone is on track and staying current on their assignments. These check-ins help everyone to pause and organize. They allow me time with each student, one-on-one, to guide them to develop time management and organizational skills. They bring their planner to the conference and we make sure that all assignments are entered on the correct due date while also making plans for when they will work on each assignment. We also use the time to check in and see who needs extra help on anything. This opportunity to learn and take part in the organization of their day teaches students responsibility and allows them to take ownership of their daily and weekly schedule, providing them the opportunity to exercise executive functioning skills like planning and prioritizing, organization, time management, and defining and achieving goals. These are skills they will carry with them  throughout their educational journey.

Have a wonderful weekend!

“So in the child, besides the vital impulse to create [themselves], and to become perfect, there must yet be another purpose, a duty to fulfill in harmony, something [they] have to do in the service of a united whole.” -Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Empathy, the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes, share in their feelings, feel for them, and value what they are feeling, plays a key role in building and maintaining friendships and relationships and in developing strong communities. Maria Montessori believed that every one of us has the duty to work toward something bigger than ourselves which serves the interests of all humanity. Because of this, Montessori education teaches empathy in a variety of ways, one being the modeling of empathy by teachers and peers. Over time, children observe and absorb this empathy into their own behaviors. This helps to set an expectation for the way we treat each other. It’s always heartwarming to see friends helping each other spontaneously throughout the day.

Halloween Information – Next Wednesday, October 27th, elementary and middle school students are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to school. We will participate in a Halloween parade on the field and will show off our fabulous costumes to friends and teachers in other grade levels. Each student should bring clothes to change into after the parade. Costumes cannot include masks or weapons and should not be scary. If you have any questions, please reach out.

Have a beautiful weekend!

“The satisfaction which they find in their work has given them a grace and ease like that which comes from music.” -Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child

In Upper Elementary, students who are on top of their assigned work have the freedom to work on an “independent study.” This is often an individual or group research paper and presentation, but can also take the form of a creative story, an extra math exploration, or another project. This week we have enjoyed listening to some interesting and informative research presentations which were chosen as independent studies.

In a Montessori classroom there is great emphasis placed on learning to think. This is different from memorizing information and reciting it back. Thinking requires more effort and brain activity. Students who learn to think, learn to innovate, ask questions, be creative, and problem solve. They are persistent and confident, self-motivated, independent, and courageous. Montessori classrooms are student-centered instead of being teacher-centered. This places the emphasis on their learning, independence, and discovery. My role in Upper El is as a guide, experiencing the curriculum along with the students while carefully observing them, ready to introduce the next concept when each student is ready.

We welcomed two new members to our classroom this week, Fabio and Houdini, our class guinea pigs! Thank you to the Hildebrand family for gifting these sweet class pets to us! The students are excited to help care for them and they will bring our Montessori “care of living things” to a whole new level.

Have a wonderful weekend!

“They will imitate us in any case. Let us treat them, therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help develop in them.” -Maria Montessori

Each week the Upper El students recognize acts of kindness which they observe happening around them. They do this by writing the act they witness down on a paper leaf and placing it inside a box. On Fridays we read each kindness aloud and the person who performed the act of kindness hangs the leaf on our interior classroom door. These kindness leaves accumulate all year and at the end of the school year, the children bring their leaves home. This recognition of kindness has an effect not only on the giver and the receiver of the kindness, but also on the rest of the class as observers.

We continued learning about the classification system in Biology. We looked at the classification systems of the Kingdoms of Protoctista, Prokaryote, Fungi, Plant, and Animal. Our follow up work focuses on Fungi Kingdom, with each student learning a little more about a particular fungus to share with the class next week. In our History lesson about Closest Relatives we learned about cladograms, organizational tools used to compare three species. We also learned about homologies, characteristics that are similar because they may have been inherited from a common ancestor.

Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up on October 28th! Please look for an email this coming Tuesday with a link for you to sign up for your conference slot. 

Have a wonderful long weekend!

“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

One of the best complements a teacher can receive is to be told how wonderful their students are when they aren’t around. I was lucky to be on the receiving end of one of these complements this week. After unexpectedly being out of school on Monday, (not an ideal day for a teacher to be absent) I was told by a colleague who helped out in the classroom, how amazing this group of students is. This is something I have already observed about this group this year, but it is even sweeter to know that they maintained their focus on their work and respect for one another and the adults who were helping, without me being present. Bravo, Upper El! I am so fortunate to be working with you!

This week we had our first Literature Circle of the year. Each student read their assigned pages and prepared for small group discussion by choosing a certain “role” to fill. This week they had free choice of roles. Many chose to illustrate a section of the assigned reading, others described and analyzed a character, some looked up interesting or new words they came across in their reading, and one chose to be the discussion director for her group. It was such a pleasure to walk around and listen in on each group’s conversation about their book. They laughed and shared feelings and thoughts about passages and discussed their opinions with each other. I also heard them complementing each other on their work with the roles they chose.

In History this week we started work with Humans’ Closest Relatives. We looked at how and why animals are grouped together and looked at some shared characteristics of certain groups of animals. In Biology this year we will be focusing heavily on the animal kingdom. We started by discussing the classification of animals and looked at the five groups of vertebrates. In Geometry, fourth graders learned about the Seven Triangles of Reality and fifths reviewed the formula for finding the area of a parallelogram.

I hope you enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!