Category Archives: language arts

Grammar Sense in Lower Elementary

A number of students in Lower Elementary who have completed the first half of the Montessori Grammar Boxes, and who have learned about nouns, adjectives, articles, verbs, prepositions, and adverbs, recently learned how to play a game called Grammar Sense. … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, Lower Elementary

Learning About Stories in Lower Elementary

Students in Lower Elementary have begun their semester-long study of Creative Writing by learning about the basic parts of a story: the beginning, the middle, and the end. Last week they completed an activity that allowed them to tell a … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, Lower Elementary

Learning about the Great Pyramids of Egypt in the Upper Unit

The Upper Unit students are examining who built the pyramids in Egypt and putting all the skills they have learned this year to the test. They are looking through several documents, learning from primary sources, evaluating the evidence, corroborating the … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, social studies, upper unit

Games of The Gods

Project-based work is in full swing in the Upper Unit. The students are taking their knowledge of Greek mythology to create games inspired by the Greek gods, goddesses, and heroes. There are board games, card games, and computer games being … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, McGuffey, upper unit

Hunting for Treasure… In Books

The Upper Unit students have been diving deep into their reading and searching for treasure in their Humanities Language Arts work. Treasure, in this instance, is taking the form of quotes that have particular value, beauty, or personal significance. As part … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, Middle School, Upper Elementary

Curated Collections in the Upper Unit Library

McGuffey’s Upper Unit Library received a facelift over the summer along with a lot of new books! Upper Unit teacher Allison Brigden along with Lower Elementary teacher Matt Metzler obtained a plethora of new and exciting books and spent the summer months working … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, McGuffey, Middle School, Upper Elementary, upper unit

Robert McCloskey and Lemons in Primary

Every two weeks, the Primary classroom discusses a new author and illustrator during Literature Enrichment. Last week, teachers introduced Robert McCloskey and read the book Lentil. A native of Hamilton, Ohio, McCloskey based the book heavily on his experiences in his hometown. As … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, Primary

Upper Unit Library Grand Opening

The Upper Unit celebrated the opening of their library with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. Beloved McGuffey founding director Janet Kretschmer joined us to preside over the event. The library will be maintained by a rotating student librarian, and the Upper Unit … Continue reading

Posted in building and grounds, language arts, Middle School, Upper Elementary, upper unit

Robert Paul Weston

The Lower Elementary and Upper Unit classes walked to Lane Library this afternoon to attend a Skype talk sponsored by Lane and given by author Robert Paul Weston. Weston wrote the book Zorgamazoo, which has been described as “if Dr. Seuss … Continue reading

Posted in field trip, language arts, Lower Elementary, Middle School, Upper Elementary

Writer’s Workshop

Students in Lower Elementary have been studying creative writing this semester, and they’ve recently begun producing Writer’s Workshop books. For these books, students are allowed to choose from various kinds of paper, some with more space for writing than drawing, … Continue reading

Posted in language arts, Lower Elementary, outside