Studying Sharks

There has been some interest in sharks around here lately.

We looked at some shark cards that I found at the Natural Beach Living blog, which you can find HERE - there are some other fun activities to be found on that post as well. You can find more shark picture cards at Every Star Is Different, you can find them HERE.

There was some research and discussion about the parts of the shark and types of sharks.

I have previously shared my parts of the shark nomenclature for free HERE.

I created some great white shark taxonomy cards for an older child, which put all my zoology drawings to good use.

I am offering this file for FREE for a LIMITED TIME - you can find the file HERE. 

We used them with my free taxonomy title cards which you can find HERE.

I also have mute and labelled charts, definition cards and master sheet available HERE. (Note the nomenclature cards are also bundled with this pack)

It was great to see some of my reluctant readers with books open!



Linking to Montessori Monday  and A Little Bird Told Me

Follow Elementary's board Zoology Round-up on Pinterest.

Planning

This post is from September 2015:

As all teachers can appreciate, planning and record keeping are an ever-evolving process.  

This is the latest version of part of my process - weekly lesson planning. I have created a weekly template covering the main learning area's to schedule in lessons.  .

I hope to write a post further discussing planning and record keeping some time soon.

If you are interesting in taking a look you can download a copy from HERE. The file includes two blank page templates as well.

Studying the Solar System {with a Freebie}

How Small the Earth Is & The Sun's family

Children are often fascinated by magnitude of our sun and solar system and by providing them with pictures and activities that reveal the scale of the planets in relation to each other they can appreciate and grasp this concept more clearly.

As an extension of the Sun and Earth chart I have created these cut-outs of the planets to scale. The file has a black and white master set (which can be printed onto whatever coloured card/paper you prefer) as well as set with coloured planets and a control sheet.

We started with the white set which I laminated onto A4 cards - the initial focus being the different sizes of each planet. I put the name of each planet on the reverse side as a control of error. The cards can be ordered by planet sequence as well as ordered by size.

I also created the colour set, that I laminated and cut out, as a way to allow further investigation and comparison of size, by using the control chart it is easier to see which planet is which with the colour coding.

You could also cut a large yellow circle from A2 paper to include the sun to scale. There is plenty of scope to adapt these for yourself.

I also created a set of solar system Who Am I? cards that the children can use in a group, in pairs or independently. These are similar to what you might use for first knowledge of zoology or botany.

For introducing this material I find it is often best to do it in a group with children of various ages, where the older children can help the younger ones read the question cards and work together to find the answers. It is a highly engaging and enjoyable way to spark interest in learning more about the solar system. They also make a good revision exercise for older children.

You can find the Planets to Scale Freebie HERE.

You can find the Solar System Who Am I? cards HERE.

Linked to Montessori Monday



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Introducing Conjunctions

This was the lesson that made me fall in love with Montessori Grammar. It just stuck with me and it made me realise how powerful the Montessori approach can be.

Tying that pink ribbon around the flowers was such a strong image for me and it made me think back to my own schooling and how the things that stuck with me most were those that captured my imagination.

The lesson requires three flowers of different colours and begins with asking the child/ren to label the flowers, e.g. "the white flower". Once the flowers are labelled write the word "and" on two pieces of paper and place between the flower labels. Then take the flowers and tie them together with the pink ribbon and read all the labels aloud. Tell the children that the word "and" is a conjunction, placing the symbol above the "and" and then symbolising the other words.

Conjunction comes from the Latin word 'conjungere' which means to join together, which is why its symbol is the pink ribbon.

As a continuation of my word cards series for exploration, transposing and logical agreement games, you can find my conjunction word cards for free HERE.



Extensions:

After the initial lesson, children can practice with the miniature environment.

I have also created some extension cards, which are similar to the logical agreement games that the children can play with the word cards. There are four exercises for exploring how conjunctions function.



I would suggest introducing the child to the exercise by choosing two conjunctions for them and using one of the exercises with just two pictures and ask the child to choose one of the conjunctions and place it in the pink box. Then replace it with the second conjunction and ask them how it seems different to the first.

  

You can find these extension cards HERE at my store.





Notes on Spelling

I was recently asked by a reader "What comes after green in the pink/blue/green series?". I will be honest, I was (momentarily) stumped. Mostly because I was not trained in PBG - so trying to wrap my head around that paradigm took a few moments. Also the idea that spelling occurs in a linear fashion did not really compute in my mind, as it is the result of reading and writing. So many experiences contribute to this ability.

So I thought I would expand a little on my answer to that reader here and share my thoughts and ideas with you all.

To me regardless of what type of learning environment - Montessori or otherwise - spelling cannot occur in isolation. My feeling is that spelling for spellings sake is counter-intuitive. When I began my studies what really resonated with me about elementary Montessori was the integrated approach, what we call cosmic education, in which learning is fostered. We, as the guide provide, children with the keys to self learning.

The transition from phonetic to non-phonetic words is developed and supported in many ways, including but not limited to:

• orthography folders
• studying the parts of speech - e.g. noun studies include the spelling rules for plurals and gender
• etymology - which happens across all learning areas
• word study - prefixes, compound words, etc.
• providing individualised strategies based on the needs of each child
• individual spelling dictionaries generated by the child (words of interest, words of difficulty)

Spelling is the natural consequence of reading and writing and should be:

• student driven
• not regimented into a meaningless task
• made interesting through etymology, history and stories
• connected to other learning areas
• connected to the child's interests

Setting arbitrary words for an end of week quiz cultivates competition and impedes  lasting understanding of spelling concepts.

I see and hear of other teachers who implement various spelling programs, something I would be reluctant to do unless I felt it benefitted a particular child and it could be implemented in a Montessori way.


Related posts:

Plural Nouns

Vocabulary Building

More articles:

Spelling in the Montessori Upper Elementary Classroom - NAMC

Elementary Spelling and Research Writing - MTIPS - transcript

Introduction to Prepositions

I shared some photos from a recent prepositions lesson on Facebook
and wow were they popular!

This work is so much fun and you can use any objects at hand.

When writing and working with sentence strips it really appeals to the humour of the elementary children to transpose the subject and the object, reinforcing the importance of correct word usage.

It is also important that the children build their own sentences as follow up to this work.

These cards can be used to build sentences in conjunction with the other parts of speech cards, they can be used as simple single word commands or your children may choose them for spelling words.

You can find my printable file HERE.

Noun Boxes - Plural Nouns

Through noun study we introduce some of the nuances of English spelling.

There are ten boxes for covering the rules for plural nouns. Today I am sharing the first three of these boxes.

Plural Box I - adding 's'

Plural Box II - nouns ending with a sibilant sound add 'es'

Plural Box III - nouns ending in '-f' '-fe' '-lf' that have a long vowel 'f' becomes 'v'

And be sure to enjoy some healthy discussion of the how and why the English language has evolved the way it has :)

You can purchase the full range word cards for plural nouns at my store.

See more grammar and language on my Pinterest board:

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