Weekly News (Jan. 20-24)

Our science centers for our Dirt, Sand, and Water Unit were certainly the hit of the week!  A HUGE thank you to all of the volunteers who helped run each of our centers.  You did an amazing job with the children!  They had a great time exploring and making discoveries at each of the centers.  The children learned how sand is formed, what materials can be found in dirt, what objects sink and float, as well as how many drops of water fit on a penny.  The children were able to record their findings in their science journals and had a chance to take a closer look at all three materials--dirt, sand, and water. 

Morning Class 

Dirt Center

Sand Center

Water Center--Drops on a Penny

Sink and Float Center

Afternoon Class

Dirt Center

Sand Center

Water Center

Sink and Float Center

Math

This week the students worked in their math journals for the first time.  The students reviewed the concept of patterning and recorded different patterns in their journals.  We will continue to use our journals weekly throughout the rest of the year, which will be great practice for first grade!    We also learned about the concept of a timeline and created our own timelines for activities we do throughout the day.

Literacy

This week we focused on making predictions while reading a story.  We read several stories this week that were great for practicing this skill---Footprints in the Snow, Wolf's Coming, and Sadie and the Snowman.  Each book provided opportunities for us to stop and make a prediction about what was going to happen next.  The children had a chance to record some of their predictions in writing, and for two of the stories they enjoyed a surprise ending!

The students also learned how to use the Montessori Crosswords app on the iPads this week, which is a great tool to help students practice their phonics, spelling, and reading skills.  It's not a free app, but it is an excellent app if you're looking for something to use with your child at home.

Montessori Crosswords on the iPads

Thanks for reading!

Stay warm and have a great weekend!