Spelling List A (April 4 – 11)
Spelling List B (April 4 – 11)
Spelling List C (April 4 – 11)
Hi parents,
We had a really good day today!
In the morning the students finished up work from earlier in the week, and made some big improvements to their pendulum whacker devices.
The spelling quiz went quite well - a lot of A's today - and then we went to play a math game with our buddies.
When we got back, we started the writing portion of the Book in a Box project. I gave this class this exemplar for how a 'character item' writeup should look:
Hi parents,
We had another good day today. In the morning, students continued working on their pendulum-based whacking devices from yesterday. They reflected on the changes they'd made to the 'prototype' model, and how these changes helped to improve their design.
Then, we went out into the hall and tested them all. Every single device outperformed the prototype - some were even able to hit the ball more than 30 feet!
6 x 3 = 18
3 x 6 = 18
18 / 3 = 6
18 / 6 = 3
The idea here is once again to help students see division as being connected to multiplication, and not a whole new concept that they have to start from scratch to learn.
We had a class conversation about 'Roasting', which has been a bit of an ongoing issue at recess. Students often seem to confuse lighthearted, friendly banter with mean, hurtful insults. We talked about how it can be hard to know what might hurt someone's feelings, and that in general, it's probably best just to not engage in 'roast battles', or any kind of negative talk at school. The class felt that was a good plan.
We ended our day with Daily LA, Social Emotional Learning, and Music.
Here is some information about the upcoming PEACE night, which features an art auction, where you could bid on our class' beautiful hand-painted dollhouse!
The Montessori Alternative Public School Society Presents
PEACE Night with Tammy Shamuhn (R.Psych, RPT)
April 24th, 2025, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Captain John Palliser School
FREE Workshop and Classroom Art Fundraiser
(Art from all classes of our 3 Montessori Public Schools will be present and part of our PEACE night Art Auction Fundraiser)
TOPIC: Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child
Join us for a night of education and conversation with a registered Psychologist, Tammy Schamuhn, around the topic of "Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child". This presentation covers why Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is more important to your child’s success in life than IQ, What the research says about how children develop Emotional Intelligence Helping kids manage their emotions, so they can manage their behavior Secrets every parent needs to know about crying and anger Managing your own emotions so your child learns to regulate their own
CLICK HERE to get your FREE ticket:
CLICK HERE to sign up for FREE CHILDCARE at the event:
Go to www.careinapinch.ca/onlinebooking and click on the link to register your children.
2) When you get to the registration page, under Event Name, select "MAPSS Fundraiser" and write "NA" in the ticket or membership field and follow the prompts.
Spelling quiz tomorrow! Have a nice night,
Zac
Hi parents,
We had a pretty awesome day today, especially in the afternoon.
We've been learning about matter, and forces, in science, and today the students designed their own device to apply consistent contact force onto a ball. Basically the devices were made from K-Nex, and involved a swinging mallet-type thing, that collides with a ball and makes it move. I was super impressed by how well the students independently built, tested, and modified their creations - I'm seeing a big improvement in their resilience, teamwork, and flexibility, compared to when we started building simple machines. Here are a few creations I managed to catch in action:
In math, the Grade 3s worked on division and multiplication worksheets. They've pretty much learned everything they need to about division, and now its just a matter of practicing it, and moving from reliable, concrete strategies (for example, physically dividing counters into equal groups), to more abstract ones (using skip-counting with no materials).
The Grade 4s, and a few brave Grade 3s, started learning long division, using the Stamp Game. The Stamp Game is my all-time favourite Montessori material because it does such a good job of representing the processes involved in the standard division algorithm. Today, the students just used the Stamp Game, while I modeled the algorithm on the board. Tomorrow, they'll start using the algorithm alongside the Stamp Game, and eventually, they'll be able to just use the algorithm, while still understanding how and why it works.
Have a nice night,
Zac
BLOG HOMEWORK: Write a 1-2 sentence response to this question. (+1 table point)Liquids are substances that flow to fill their container. Is sand a liquid? Why or why not?
Volunteers Wanted - Thursday, April 10We will be making traditional Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs! This activity will take most the morning, in our classroom, likely from 8:30am - 11:00am or so. Students will likely need support with dying their eggs, lighting candles, and using the tools.Please let me know if you're interested in helping out!
Hi parents,
We had a great first day back after Spring break.
In the morning, the students wrote about their spring breaks, after doing a quick 'topic / sub-topic' web to organize their ideas. I think that this extra step actually made a big difference in the quality of writing, as many kids were able to quickly write 3+ paragraphs that each focused on a different aspect of their break. It made the writing a lot more organized and encouraged kids to elaborate on their ideas rather than just listing off a series of events.
We spent a bit of time outside enjoying the snow.
In math, we talked about problems involving balancing equations. Problems following the format: "1 + 1 = ___ -1" have been really difficult for the class, even though the math itself isn't actually that complicated (just about everyone would've written '2' in the blank, and been wrong). We talked about the equals sign as representing a 'balance' - both sides need to be the same number, regardless of what operations you use to get there.
In the afternoon, we talked about the next steps for the book in a box project. We will be working on that in class, during class time, so please don't feel obligated to do anything at home, other than help your child choose four items and acquire a box.
In science, we did some experimenting with forces, on marshmallows. This is part of the Grade 3 science curriculum but also overlaps with elements from Grade 4 science. Basically the kids got to crush, stretch, hit, and twist marshmallows, and write down their observations. Yes, it was as fun as it sounds.
Have a nice night,
Zac
Spelling List A (March 31 – April 4)
Spelling List B (March 31 – April 4)
Spelling List C (March 31 – April 4)
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good day today.
In the morning, we learned about sentence structure, and how to combine two simple sentences into a compound sentence, using conjunctions. We learned the acronym FANBOYS, which stands for: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so - 7 great conjunctions to be aware of for writing. I noticed in many of the kids' dinosaur paragraphs, the word 'so' was often used incorrectly.
We visited the book fair and did the spelling quiz. In the afternoon, we did Music, Social Emotional Learning, and had some more time to work on novel study stuff. The students also assembled their 'student-led conferences' folders, which contain:
-Leprechaun Trap Rubric
-Dinosaur Paragraph
-Division Check-In
-Spelling Quiz
-Novel Study / Novel
-Information about the Book in a Box project
It'd be great to have that folder handy for online conferences today and tomorrow so we can talk about the work. :)
Talk soon, and if we haven't booked a conference (please email me right away if you'd still like to book!), have a wonderful Spring break!
Zac
Hi parents,
Sorry about the lack of a blog post yesterday, I was sick - I also want to apologize for the lack of clarity around Book Fair visits! Our Book Fair purchasing time is actually tomorrow morning (I was mixed up), so if you sent your child with money today and they did not buy anything, that's on me. Please send it again tomorrow and we'll make it happen.
The students continued working on a lot of tasks they started yesterday, including paragraphs about the importance of sleep, and division worksheets.
We did a quick 'Division Check-In', which the students passed with flying colours. Since we've only just started division, this is really just an indicator of whether students understand the fundamental concepts of division. There may still be troubles ahead. But we are off to a good start, there's no doubt about that.
Many students have finished their novel study novels already! This is good news. Students who have finished their books started working on a graphic organizer to organize information about important plot points. I think it might be a good idea for students to read the whole book over again a second time, just to ensure they have a really solid understanding. Over Spring Break, I am going to ask students to gather up a few items for the Book-in-a-Box portion - there'll be information on that in your conferences package.
Today was Ms. A's last day :(
We said our goodbyes and look forward to seeing her again soon!
Have a nice night,
Zac
Hi parents,
We had an okay day today. The students finished up their leprechaun traps, after we discussed how the traps would be graded. The students came up with 'success criteria' that we put on a rubric together - I will be sending those rubrics home for Student-Led Conferences, so if certain sections sound a little weird, it's their fault. In all seriousness though, I actually think the students did a fantastic job of explaining what made a great, good, decent, and poor leprechaun trap, and to decide where their trap fit on that scale.
We revisited the sleep paragraphs from last week. We talked about topic sentences, and came up with a few examples of classic 'hooks' that work well as topic sentences. For example, asking the reader a question, using a sound effect, or describing a scene in vivid detail. While these hooks can come across a little cheesy to adult readers, they're a great starting place for kids.
We spent more time in the afternoon working on leprechaun traps. We have spent about 4 hours working on them now, and for some students it really shows. Others' traps look pretty much the exact same as they did after 15 minutes... which was something we talked a lot about today. In Montessori, intrinsic motivation is everything. Projects like these are meant to teach time management as much as they teach science. When students have four hours to complete a task, I expect a lot!
Anyway - the ultimate test will be seeing how Lucky the Leprechaun handles them.
Have a nice night,
Zac
We will begin gymnastics in our regularly scheduled gym classes from March 17-20 and March 31-April 17. Safety routines, cooperation and sportsmanship are taught and reviewed in each class.
