Early Elementary Research

What does research look like in the elementary classroom? It is something that those new to Montessori sometimes struggle with, but Montessori is the original inquiry method...

Question and Answer games (botany & zoology) - these games are early forms of research for

Grammar Mind Map

Last year I introduced mind maps to some students. After the initial introduction I decided to use the process to revise the parts of speech with some students moving into the upper elementary classroom.

We work-shopped it together as a group and students were then encouraged to make their own in their journals.

I created a completed version (based on our little work shop) to sit next to our traditional grammar chart in our language area.

It was an interesting and fun way to revise the parts of speech.

You can find a copy HERE.

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.