The First Great Lesson

This year the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders put on a big bang play entitled "The Coming of the Universe" for the 1st and 2nd graders.  This is the first Great Lesson in the Montessori curriculum and is meant to give an impression of the forces at work in the Universe from which all that we know was created.  Before this, 1st and 2nd graders were read some creation stories from around the world.  Below are pictures of them performing their parts or doing their experiments.  Maybe next year we will have some video.

Celena starts us off by lighting a candle that symbolizes the gathering of heat that happened before the big bang.

Rachel demonstrates how centrifugal and centripetal forces work.  They balance each other out and keep objects in space from being flung wildly about.

Above, Whitnee is demonstrating centrifugal force again by swinging a bucket with water in it around in a huge circle.  There were lots of "whoa" and "ooohh" sounds coming from the audience with this one.

Here, Courtney is using a magnet and some metal pieces hidden in sand to show how some particles are attracted to each other and some are not, creating new elements.

Just before Courtney, Josiah used a model of Idaho and a bowl of sand to show how many stars are in the sky.  If a star were the size of a grain of sand, all the stars in the universe would cover Idaho about 200 yards deep.  That is a lot of stars!

Emily and Max check their scripts.  Max's job was to show how solid elements stay solid even when they are broken.  Emily was charged with showing how solids melt a different temperatures.  We had a few technical difficulties and didn't get the heat turned on for Emily or Cameron's experiments, but the show went on with true thespian grace.

Ben, Cameron and Grace await their turns.

Ben showed two experiments that illustrate how heavy elements sink and light elements float.  Cameron's job was to show how while the Earth cooled, the lighter, floating elements cooled and formed a crust on the surface of the Earth.  Grace had the task of demonstrating the volcanic forces at work on Earth. 

 

After the performance, the first and second graders were invited to come see the experiments up close and try them again.  

Rachel gives the bucket a try.  I'm wondering how many centrifugal force experiments happened at home after this performance?

Reagan, Bridger, Naomi and Brooke have go with some experiments.  

Sarrah, Kelsa, Olivia and Elise check out the volcano.

Drew gets his hands into the Heavy Things Sink experiment.

Over the next few months, the class will dive into the next four Montessori Great Lessons.  Next up, the Timeline of Life!

Firefighter Frenzy!

Firefighters are cool!  The Eagle Fire Department visited us in October to talk about fire safety.  

They put on ALL of their firefighting gear.  The kids were 

great observers, making sure the firefighter's skin was totally covered.  We jumped a little when they turned on the personal alarm.

Then, they used Elise to show about how much weight they are carrying around fully dressed!  We're sure glad they do though.

They brought the firetruck this year and everyone was excited to have a turn to sit inside.  The line was quite long!

Here is Lydia having a turn.  Behind her is an air tank that sits on the seat, ready for the next alarm.  

Here are Ben, Grace, Courtney, Lydia, Elise, Maddie, Emily and Tyler posing by the HUGE tire on the truck.

They were amazed to learn that the truck can cost half a million dollars or more.  The Eagle Fire Department just bought a truck that costs a million!

Olivia, Tyler, Ashwin, Courtney, Lydia, Emily, Maddie, Elise and Brooke ham it up.  

Teachers are hamballs too!  Maria and Erin flex for the camera.  The firefighters also turned on the hose for us.  

Thanks Eagle firefighters for visiting and keeping us safe!

Mountain Building

Second graders are expert "mountaineers!"  Not only do they know all the parts of a mountain, they can build one too!

Here you can see Elise and Krista putting the finishing touches on their clay 

mountains.  Check out the tiny flags they have created to label the parts!  

One of the best parts of our classroom is the way one child inspires another with interesting, beautiful work.  Abigail and Dezmo were inspired to create their own mountain books and models after watching the second graders.

Below, Aaron and Parker create their Parts of a Mountain book before beginning model building.  They have painted the parts to be defined in red.

  

Hands-On Language

In these pictures, students are spending some time exploring language concepts.  It sure looks like play, doesn't it?  

Below, Bridger and Angus use the miniature environment to make meaningful experiences about grammar.  They can name things (nouns), position things (prepositions), or create action with the objects (verbs), among others.  

There is nothing like something small and interesting to capture a child's imagination and make learning fun!

Here, Drew is sorting a basket of objects by initial sounds.

"The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences." - Maria Montessori

We love Biology!

In Biology, Upper Elementary students began the year by studying the prokaryote kingdom.  Here they are creating wall charts showing parts of a prokaryote.  

After studying prokaryotes, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders began the study of bacteria and protoctista. They were busy in September and October creating clay models and Powerpoint presentations about these kingdoms.