Category Archives: Lower Elementary
Displaying Self-Portraits in Lower Elementary
After lots of planning, Lower Elementary happily unveiled their new display of student self-portraits in the classroom recently. Each student’s self-portrait is now framed and sitting on a ledge shelf in our upstairs classroom space. This is quite an upgrade, and students have … Continue reading
Posted in art, Lower Elementary, practical life
The Pentatonic Scale
Our Grade 2 students have been working on using the pentatonic scale in Music class. The pentatonic scale consists of 5 notes of the octave: do, re, mi, sol, and la. This scale is frequently heard in folk songs all … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, music
Making a Discovery
A few students in our Lower Elementary classroom dug up a piece of rock filled with ancient coral and seashells this morning in their outdoor classroom. They used brushes and shovels to dig it out of the ground, and they worked … Continue reading
Posted in building and grounds, Lower Elementary, outside, science
SOARing at McGuffey
It’s Fall and SOAR is in the air! SOAR, or Students Outside And Running, is an all-school running and walking program that inspires fun and fitness during the noontime recess and P.E. for two weeks. The entire McGuffey community takes laps … Continue reading
The First Great Lesson: Our Universe
Susie, the Science teacher for our Upper Unit, paid the students in Lower Elementary a lunchtime visit on Friday in order to share the First Great Lesson with them! The Great Lessons are a Montessori tradition in Lower Elementary classrooms; these five … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, Montessori method, science
Sketchbooks in Lower Elementary
Students in Lower Elementary received brand new sketchbooks yesterday afternoon and began adding to them immediately! We offer time for free-drawing daily in Lower Elementary. Halfway through lunchtime, the room transitions into a quiet lunch, and a teacher reads aloud. … Continue reading
Posted in art, Lower Elementary
Cubbies in Lower Elementary
As you have likely noticed if you have been in our Lower Elementary classroom this year, students’ cubbies were relocated from the classroom to the sunroom over the summer. This helped open up a significant amount of space in our classroom, … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, practical life
Imaginative Play in Lower Elementary
Earlier this year, we shared some photos of Lower Elementary students building various things in their outdoor classroom with our new Outlast blocks. Although the newness appeal of these blocks has begun to fade ever so slightly for some students, we have … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, outside
A Glimpse into Lower Elementary’s Work Period
Students in Lower Elementary have been delving deeper into the Albanesi Mathematics Curriculum over the past week, as well as continuing their work with Ingrid on growing their own succulent plants. We’ve also been working hard on time management skills, … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, math, outside, practical life
Music from Beginning to End
From Grade 1 to Grade 8, Music class is off to a great start this school year. Grade 1 students are learning the vocabulary to describe music; for example “forte” means loud and “piano” means soft. One game these students played … Continue reading
Posted in Lower Elementary, Middle School, music
