Vocabulary Building

Spelling words should definitely be student driven, and many of my colleagues like to balance a selection of student driven words with words that are immediately meaningful to them - words from their prepared environment.

This integration of language and all of the other learning areas is a fundamental aspect of the cosmic curriculum at work. No learning area is in isolation of another, they are all connected, and language is the key to all learning.

I have created some cards with vocabulary words from the various learning areas to incorporate into the classroom. They could be printed onto coloured card, but I prefer plain white for spelling. Although they are grouped by learning area, I am taking a selection of words from each area based on what various children in the class are working on and placing them on the shelf (I have a box earmarked to house them in but I am also considering a clear canister for this purpose as well). Alternatively they could all be put in a large jar, like fishbowl words, for children to choose freely.

A fun activity, especially as a start of the year team building exercise, is to take a selection of words that would be good to act out, place them in a jar or box and invite the children to play charades.

These lists are primarily targeted for upper elementary, but lower elementary children may also benefit from incorporating these words into their spelling repertoire. I think the children also benefit from this as it may act as a form of revision and can lead to discussion and spark a re-interest in some learning areas.

Please note in the biology set that both protista and protoctista appear - please choose according to which your class follows.

Language list, Math list, Geometry list, Biology list, History list and Geography list

What do you do in your elementary learning environment to enrich spelling and vocabulary?

Collective Nouns

Sometime after discussing concrete and abstract nouns, and possibly even after discussing masculine and feminine nouns, the child can be introduced to collective nouns.

Invite the child to identify an object (have something prepared that you have several of) and briefly revise nouns and how everything has a name.

Then introduce the collection of items.

Some children may want to keep going with this work as they may enjoy matching the collective noun with the noun.

You can find my collective noun cards HERE and in list form HERE. You could use the list as the control of error (alternatively you can write the animal type on the reverse side of the animal card before laminating).

I think it is also important, either in the same lesson or in a follow up, to illustrate that collective nouns are not limited to animals (although they are often the more interesting examples). There are fleets of ships, bouquets of flowers, bunches of bananas and so forth. The children often have a lot of fun exploring the language of collective nouns and many will want to research more examples.

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The Great River

A friend of mine requested a copy of The Great River Chart from our training the other day. When I pulled it out I realised it was a black and white one and quite blurry so I decided to recreate it.

I have made a blank (mute) chart:

Shades of Meaning - Introducing Synonyms

After the introduction of the verb, the child can be introduced to synonyms. This is a more exact form of the 'command' games the children are familiar with.

A box labelled 'Synonyms' or 'Shades of Meaning' is introduced. Inside the box are several bundles of verbs, each bundle contains a series of verbs similar in nature, hence "shades of meaning" as the child develops a sense of awareness in differentiating subtle differences in similar words.

Aesthetics and the Prepared Environment

During my training and studies one thing that really stuck a chord with me personally about the prepared environment was the idea of aesthetics.

Upper Primary classroom courtesy of Lincolnshire Montessori 

     "The child should live in an environment of beauty"

                                                        - Dr Maria Montessori

Continuing with Fractions

Following on from my previous post on introducing fractions, the next key experience covers the concept of the whole - moving from the concrete experience of the golden bead representing a whole to the red circle as seen in the fraction insets.

The child should spend time labelling the fractions circles.

Introducing Fractions

After the key lesson for introducing the concept of fractions we then go on to start providing the language aspect.

For this presentation I use a narrow strip of black paper, labels for 'denominator' and 'numerator' and corresponding number and word cards. I also like to write on strips of paper at the conclusion of the lesson.

Firstly we explain to the child that there are two parts of the fraction to understand. The number under the black line is called the denominator. The denominator is the family name - it tells us how many members belong to that family.

The numerator is above the line and tells us how many of the family are present.

We then produce the corresponding numeral over the denominators:

We then continue with the rest of the three period lesson by asking the children to show the denominator, asking what numerators do, etc. To finish we show the child how we write these:

Revision of this lesson is required before moving on to the next presentation.

You can find a PDF file of the labels that can be used for this lesson, and any extensions, here. After this lesson the children can practice matching them and even writing them if they like.

Introducing the Article

Introducing the definite and indefinite articles with the use of objects.

It is important with this initial lesson, as mentioned in previous posts, that we handwrite the words in front of the child - a black pen and a red pen are required for this presentation. Have a variety of objects on hand for the lesson: