Logical Agreement Games

These games reinforce the relationships between the noun and the adjective and similarly the verb and the adverb. Children have a lot of fun mixing and matching and making silly combinations, it really appeals to the sense of humour of this age group.


Logical Adjective Game

Following the initial introduction of the adjective it's really important the child gets to explore the relationship between the noun and the adjective.

I love taking an object and asking the children to tell me as many qualities about it as possible, it really helps hone their observation skills. You can leave the object and all the words you make in a basket on the shelf so the child can revisit the exercise again.

It is also good to have a set of nouns and adjectives for matching on the shelf for the children to sort through and discuss which ones fit best together. Sometimes they have an adjective left that doesn't really match the remaining noun, so they have to re-think the other pairs - hence the name Logical Adjective Game.

They can also use the set to pick out as many adjectives to describe one noun.

You can find a set of cards HERE

Logical Adverb Game

After introducing the adverb the children should have opportunities to experiment with how it works with the miniature environment.

It is fun to look at the ways the adverb interacts with the verb.

This works the same way as the Logical Adjective Game - seeing which pairs work best, making up silly pairs of words and choosing as many adverbs that can be used with a particular verb.

You can find a set of cards HERE.

Logical Agreement Games

You can play similar games with the other parts of speech as the child's knowledge and understanding grows.

You can find my series of the "parts of speech" cards for free at my TpT Store.

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



For more idea's and resources visit my Pinterest Board:

Follow Elementary's board Montessori Metaphysics & Astronomy on Pinterest.

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.