Hello Autumn!

September 16 – September 20

Our theme for the third week of school was "Hello Autumn!" The leaves in the mountains are starting to turn to reds and golds.

FIELD TRIP
This week's field trip was a hike up the canyon. We hiked up the Battle Creek trail due to the rock slides in AF Canyon from earlier this month. We talked about the settling of the area by the Mormon pioneers and how it got its name. (I have two ancestors who reportedly participated in this particular battle and it is a solemn feeling to think about the tragedy that occurred.)

We also took our science journals to sketch the different plants and animals we found. The first animal anyone found was a black widow. How he saw it from fifteen feet away in all that underbrush is beyond me! I am so terrified of spiders that I ended up having nightmares that night that a little girl tried to pick it up and got bitten. I cropped the picture below so it looks like we are closer than we actually are :).

We topped it all off with a discussion about people not cleaning up after their dogs. It was chillier than I expected but still fun.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Penmanship
Here are this week’s copywork selections.We also had a discussion related to social studies on how important good handwriting is. Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark expedition) had a dog named Seaman. For over 100 years, the dog's name was reported to be Scannon because the two look similar when written and Lewis had such poor handwriting.

Reading
We read Old Henry by Joan W. Blos and our mini lesson focused on "analyzing characters." 

Spelling 
In addition to the word sorts from the Words Their Way spelling program, we work on occasional "Wacky Words." This week we learned to spell AUTUMN. I made up new words to Rita Mae Olsen's song "It's Autumntime" and we fingerspell A-U-T-U-M-N as we sing the chorus.

Poetry and Literature
I reinforce our grammar lessons through poetry. We are learning about nouns and this week's poem was "What I Found in My Desk" by Bruce Lansky. By replacing the various nouns in Lansky's poem with our own words, we made up fun poems. I wrote my own sample to give some inspiration:

What I Found in My Purse
An apple with an ugly bruise,
a shoelace for my tennis shoes,
a coupon for a pecan pie,
a lipstick that I meant to try,
a flashlight for when it’s dark,
the keys I thought I lost at the park,
a Ziplock bag with Cheerio crumbs,
a broken phone that barely hums,
a driver’s test I almost failed,
a past due bill I should have mailed,
and one more thing, I must confess,
a note from myself: Clean This Mess!!!!

Composition
This week we focused on the 6+1 Writing Trait CONVENTIONS (which includes grammar). Since we are learning about nouns, we did another sorting activity. The objective is to sort words into one of two categories: nouns or not nouns. It is going to take a while understand the abstract nouns like love, religion, etc.

MATHEMATICS
To learn about the different sets of numbers (Natural, Whole, Integer, Rational, Irrational, Real Algebraic, Transcendental, Real, Imaginary, Complex, etc.) we played a sorting game. I printed and cut out various number cards (you can download them here). I set out six nesting boxes with the simple directions to "sort the number cards". In the past I have used different sized baskets but this summer I found nesting containers at Walmart that work perfectly.

 

I use Ziplock bags taped inside the two largest boxes for Imaginary and Irrational Numbers.

Because this activity is so similar to the spelling and vocabulary word sorts, I don't label the containers. Students look for similarities and differences in the number. It amazes me how easy it is for some kids to sort the numbers into accurate groups. There are usually a few incorrect numbers-- generally money (it can be hard to understand the details of cents vs. dollars/euros/pounds)-- and I need to help put the nested boxes in the correct order but I have found that the second time the activity is repeated, there are few, if any mistakes.

SCIENCE
This week we studied endangered Utah plants and animals and practiced science journaling while on our hike in the canyon.

HISTORY
Still focusing on Manifest Destiny, we studied Lewis and Clark (and Sacagawea) along with the details of the Louisiana Purchase (connecting to Napoleon and last week).

One of the things I find most fascinating is that some people believed that this new territory contained unicorns, wooly mammoths and seven foot beavers. (Kids find this fact amusing as well.)

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Painting Center of our art studio. After a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the three centers now open: drawing, painting or collage.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
We went hiking this week.We also talked about types of walking- jogging, sprinting, hiking and race walking. (Race walking is an Olympic sport. Olympic racewalkers can "walk" a mile faster than I can run it. Pretty cool! Here is a video to check it out.)

This is my country!

September 9 – September 13

We just completed our second week of school and we are now starting to settle into a routine. The weekly theme was "This is my country!" (Remember that Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance is celebrated this week.) Here's a recap of our week of fun.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Penmanship
Fourth through sixth graders have the option to use whatever handwriting style they want so long as it is legible. Some will choose to print, others will work on cursive. We use Handwriting Without Tears as the instruction in the younger grades and then give children the opportunity to learn a second or third script or to study calligraphy. Each week, copywork selections (poems, sayings, jokes, etc.) that coincide with the theme are provided for children to use. Here are this week’s selections.

Reading
We read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. It's always fun to see children's expressions when they realize that it is a true story about the author. Our mini lesson (check it out here) focused on "sequencing chronological events." The supporting skill is "determining meaning through text and picture clues."

Spelling 
We use the Words Their Way spelling program because it is an individualized spelling program that integrates beautifully into a Montessori classroom. This week students learned how to mark their own spelling tracking sheets and how to do word hunts and how to fingerspell/ type/ write each of their words from a word sort.

Poetry and Literature
This week's selection was “The Star Spangled Banner” by Frances Scott Key. It's a social studies tie-in for the War of 1812. I used it as an introduction to explain the major differences between poems, drama, and prose and we discussed the structural elements of poems and drama

Composition
This week we focused on the 6+1 Writing Trait IDEAS. We read The Memory String by Even Bunting and then created our own memory boxes.

MATHEMATICS
We are reviewing how to read and write all sorts of numbers: extra large whole numbers, fractions, decimals, negative reals, rational expressions, numbers written in scientific notation and even numbers with exponents. Students learn the patterns for reading large numbers starting in first grade but we review the concept at the beginning of each year. One popular independent activity this week was the "Really Big Number" name generator.

SCIENCE
This week we studied "sound." We watched Bill Nye and Magic School Bus clips from YouTube. We made connections to music (The Star Spangled Banner and the 1812 Overture) and artillery fire (the War of 1812) but by far the most fun was had with the iPad decibel meter app. Even with yelling, the loudest sound any single person could generate was 90 decibels. (We left the meter on during the lesson and someone dropped something on accident.) It was surprising that normal background classroom noise hovered around 45dB.

HISTORY
Following last week's introduction to the concept of Manifest Destiny and in celebration of Patriot's Day, we studied Francis Scott Key and the War of 1812. We discussed the burning of Washington D.C. and how the famous portrait of George Washington was saved by Dolley Madison. Everyone had the opportunity to share the items they wold save if their home caught on fire. We also listened to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (for a Napoleonic connection to War of 1812 which will be another connection to next week's lesson on the Louisiana Purchase). On the timeline, we added the following events: the War of 1812, the composition of the Star Spangled Banner and the burning of the White House.

MUSIC
Many Americans mistakenly believe that the Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture to celebrate the United State's victory in the War of 1812. Not only did the U.S. NOT win the war, but the 1812 Overture is about the Napoleonic retreat from Russia, Tchaikovsky's homeland. However, the Napoleonic Wars are an important factor in the U.S.'s decision to declare war so the song makes a fun tie-in. Besides, the cannons are just great fun! (Start watching at 4:54 for the "famous" bit.)


VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Collage Center of our art studio. After a five minute introduction, everyone chooses to work in one of the two centers already introduced: drawing or collage. (For a review of our art program, click the VISUAL ART link on the sidebar or the Art Studio tab at the top of the page.)

I love to integrate children's literature with every subject area and art is no exception. Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Ehlert, Leo Lionni, and Eric Carle are children's authors who are also fantastic collage artists. Other books I like include Boom Chicka Rock by John Archambault, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and This Little Pirate by Philemon Sturges. (BTW- these three authors did not illustrate their own books.)

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
As I mentioned last week, one of our goals for P.E. is to show children that there are many choices for physical activities and they don't have to be organized sports . In preparation for our hiking field trip, we are learning how to walk. We analyzed our gait by making foot impressions on construction paper with a wet foot. Then we studied proper posture (which we will review many times in dance class and music class.) We learned how different ways of walking affect our forward movement (heel-toe-pushoff versus landing on a flat foot or running on tip toes.)

THEATRE
We are learning the Pledge of Allegiance in American Sign Language. Here is the version that we use. There are many regional variations of the pledge but this version breaks it down into individual signs (some with explanations) and also has a video of the entire pledge.

Down on the Farm

September 2 – September 6

We made it through the first week of school! The weekly theme was "Down on the Farm"-- Here's a recap of our week of fun.

FIELD TRIP
For the first field trip of the year we visited the Utah State Fair. It was incredibly hot but lots of fun. We visited farm animals, discussed how genetic traits are passed from parents to their offspring, critiqued the visual art displays, watched the lumberjack show, browsed the craft booths, practiced spinning wool into yarn, touched a moon rock from the NASA exhibit, and judged quilting/baking/preserving entries.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Read-Aloud
Our first selection for the year is from the genre of realistic fiction: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It makes a fun start to the year for fourth graders (and up) and because the reading level is appropriate for most students this age, many will be excited enough by this first book to read the others in the series.

Penmanship
Each week, students are provided with copywork quotes related to the weekly theme that they can use to practice their handwriting. They are a fun addition to our Montessori classroom. Here are this week’s selections.

Reading
We read Alexander and The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Our mini lesson (check it out here) focuses on using prior schema to make connections. It's an introductory lesson that we will build on during guided reading all year long.


Spelling 
We use the Words Their Way spelling program because it is an individualized spelling program that integrates beautifully into a Montessori classroom. This week students learned how to use their spelling folders and how to do word sorts independently.

Poetry and Literature
This week's selection is “I Know All the Sounds the Animals Make” by Jack Prelutsky. We had lots of fun creating silly poems by substituting our own animal sounds for those Prelutsky chose.

MATHEMATICS
Measurement: Money, Time and Temperature Review-- As we start our first math unit of the year, I want to make sure that my students are familiar with the common forms in which we see and use numbers. When learning about time, students must understand what "quarter 'til" and "half past" mean. They should know that temperatures drop below zero so we use negative numbers to describe those temperatures.They need to be recognize that 75 cents is the same thing as three quarters (3/4). These basic concepts will help them as we delve deeply into the Real Number system.

SCIENCE
We are using several fun matching games from the University of Utah research division on genetics and heredity.

HISTORY
Introduction to Key Events and Ideas in Utah's History and the History of the Westward Expansion of the U.S. [i.e. Manifest Destiny]; Introduction to the  Montessori Timeline

VISUAL ART
This week we got an introduction to the Drawing Center of our art studio. On day one, we learned how to put away paper and pencils, how to use our personal drawing kits, and how to store our completed drawings in our art portfolios. On the second day of art class, we talked about preparing to work and how artists find inspiration.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
One of our goals for P.E. is to show children that there are many choices for physical activities. How about exploring traditional county fair games: Horseshoes, Three-Legged Race, Gunny Sack Race, Wheelbarrow Race, Basketball Shooting, Baseball Throwing at Bottles, Hoop Rolling?

DANCE
Line dancing anyone? It's a great way to teach spatial directions.

Five Minute Museum: Paul Klee

Paul Klee, 1911

This is another Five Minute Museum mini lesson that is taught during the first five minutes of the lesson period. The curriculum sets Paul Klee as one of the artists studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

All of the paintings in the lesson plan are in the public domain and can be downloaded in various sizes from Wikimedia Commons.

These are the additional works (to use, but not included as samples, in the attached lesson plan) by Paul Klee:

•  Blumenmythgos, 1918
• Cat and Bird, 1928
• Death and Fire, 1940
• der Goldfisch, 1925
• Die Vase, 1938
• Ohne Titel (der Todesengel), 1940
• Red Balloon, 1922
• Revolution des Viadukts, 1937
• Senecio, 1922
• Sinbad the Sailor, 1923
• Tale a la Hoffman, 1921
• Twittering MAchine, 1922

 Because Paul Klee used oil paints, colored pencils and watercolors together in the same paintings, his works are fun to display as samples in the painting center where children can experiment using multiple media and tools in a single work of art.

Red Balloon by Paul Klee, 1922

While there are many fun extension activities to accompany this unit of study, rather than have the entire class duplicate a particular art project, I prefer to show students several works of art created by other children who are imitating Klee's style. This provides my students with inspiration for their future works of art but still gives them the freedom to choose.

Links to websites with samples of children's artwork inspired by Paul Klee:
Paul Klee Inspired Abstract Fish
Paul Klee Goes to Africa
Paul Klee Art Projects for Kids
Broken Window Drawings