Week in Review - September 15th-19th

We had another fantastic week in Lower Elementary!

      For language jobs this week, first graders were introduced to synonyms, classified items as "living" and "non-living", and worked on building sentences with a capital letter and a period. First graders also took a walk with Mrs. Sue to look for objects in nature. When they returned, students worked together to add articles in front of those nouns. Second graders worked with homophones, symbolized sentences, classified nouns into categories, and used a thesaurus to find synonyms. Third graders continued working with prefixes,  identified irregular past tense verbs, classified nouns into categories, and sharpened their dictionary skills. 

      For math jobs this week, first grade students counted pennies, identified fractional pieces, wrote number words, and solved addition problems by using golden beads. Second graders solved multiplication problems with the stamp game (Stamp Game - See Below), reduced fractions to their simplest form, and counted sets of mixed coins. Third graders solved multiplication problems with the checkerboard or stamp game, counted sets of mixed coins, and added fractions.

The highlight of our week was our microscope lesson with Mrs. Sue! Students looked at bacteria (found in pond water), insects, and a feather through the microscopes.

      Next week, students will have practice with synonyms, homophones, prefixes, place value, expanded notation, and common/proper nouns. All students will receive presentations on the second Great Lesson (The Timeline of Life), volcanoes, and the parts of a flag! It will be a great week!

Montessori Minute: Stamp Game 

This material is the next step toward abstraction after the Golden Beads. It can be used for instruction in all the operations. It is comprised of different colored wooden stamps; which have a numerical value imprinted on them. They are also color coded in accordance with the family hierarchy colors (green = units/thousands/millions and so on; blue = tens/ten thousands/ten million and so on; red = hundreds/hundred thousands/hundred million and so on). This material is also used in conjunction with color coded counters and skittles as needed. 

Reminders 

- Homework will be sent home each Monday and is to be returned the following Friday. We also encourage students to read for 30 minutes each night and record it on the reading log found in your child's red folder.

9/23- Internet Safety Meeting (sponsored by the PTO) 6:30 p.m.

9/30- School Picture Day
10/7- Lower Elementary goes to Children's Theater
10/7- Open House 6:00-7:30
10/13- NO SCHOOL
10/16-10/17- Parent Teacher Conferences
10/17- School Play at 7:00 p.m.