Primary and Upper Elementary Partners

September 26, 2016, 10:32 am

≫ Next: Cubbies in Lower Elementary

≪ Previous: Imaginative Play in Lower Elementary

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Last week Primary had their first meeting with their Upper Elementary Partners! These special days are a favorite of both these groups of children. The bigger kids get a chance to be the experts while the younger ones get some special, undivided attention.

We read a book called “What if Everyone Did That?” which explores what might happen if everyone left their coat on the ground or talked at the same time. The Partner groups brainstormed together about ideas with the same premise, coming up with some thought-provoking ideas! We can’t wait to meet with our Partners again.

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Cubbies in Lower Elementary

September 27, 2016, 2:20 pm

≫ Next: Snapshot Autobiographies

≪ Previous: Primary and Upper Elementary Partners

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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, and students have been taking great advantage of the extra floorspace for doing large works and activities that require spreading out. With the cubbies now facing outward into the sunroom, we’ve been encouraging students to pay extra attention to how organized their belongings are.

Today, Kendall helped many of our students clean out all loose papers from their cubbies, asking them to place any unfinished work in its proper place in our classroom file cabinet, and any finished work or drawings into their bags to go home.

Please make sure that you and your child are making a habit of checking his or her bag at the end of the school day and emptying it of any work that has been brought home. Asking students to explain their work to you is a great way to check their understanding and help them reach mastery of the concept at hand!

Snapshot Autobiographies

September 28, 2016, 1:17 pm

≫ Next: Pizza from the Primary garden

≪ Previous: Cubbies in Lower Elementary

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This year in the Social Studies component of Humanities, we are learning about World History. History is the study of what happened in the past. To introduce our students to this concept, we began by looking at their own histories. Starting with the story of their births, each student was invited to write about four significant moments in their lives.

To gain another perspective and more evidence about their historical events, they were also asked to interview someone else who was present during one of these experiences. This was a fun way to introduce the concept of multiple sources of information and the corroboration of facts, which are so important to building an accurate picture of the past.

Pizza from the Primary garden

October 3, 2016, 11:45 am

≫ Next: Sketchbooks in Lower Elementary

≪ Previous: Snapshot Autobiographies

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Now that it’s fall, the Primary unit is harvesting quite a bounty from their garden. Last week they gathered tomatoes, basil, and lettuce and turned it into a snack. During morning meeting they combined the ingredients and made a sauce. Each child then had a chance to make a pizza—some gluten-free and others dairy-free, but all delicious!

Sketchbooks in Lower Elementary

October 4, 2016, 3:13 pm

≫ Next: Democratic Meetings in the Upper Unit

≪ Previous: Pizza from the Primary garden

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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. Once students finish eating their lunches, they can get their sketchbooks out and draw in them while they listen to their teacher read.

Democratic Meetings in the Upper Unit

October 5, 2016, 3:26 pm

≫ Next: Cloud Club

≪ Previous: Sketchbooks in Lower Elementary

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Every other Wednesday, our Upper Unit students get a chance to shape their world. Democratic meetings give our students the opportunity to make changes to their classroom and their school.

Students have the opportunity to come up with ideas for positive changes, form committees, and make proposals to their class which are then voted on. Proposals must reach at least 90% consensus before they can pass which is a high threshold. Some proposals need to come before staff but most can be voted on and then carried out by students.

With this contentious political season upon us, it is nice to see our students working together, compromising, and reaching consensus. We could likely all learn a little bit from them in this area!

Cloud Club

October 6, 2016, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Most Likely to Succeed—Film Screening

≪ Previous: Democratic Meetings in the Upper Unit

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Each year our Middle School students have the opportunity to attend Broadway shows in Cincinnati as an extracurricular activity. A long-standing tradition at McGuffey, it’s called Cloud Club because our tickets are usually in the high seats, practically in the clouds!

We select 3-4 shows and have dinner out together before each show. Parents can join us and many help with transportation. Group ticket rates reduce the cost of tickets significantly, making this cultural experience much more affordable. Last week we kicked off the year with our first show, The Sound of Music. The other shows for this year will be Phantom of the Opera, Something Rotten, and Matilda. Many thanks to the parents who support this program!

Most Likely to Succeed—Film Screening

October 7, 2016, 3:48 pm

≫ Next: First Experiences with Kindermusik

≪ Previous: Cloud Club

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We are excited to partner with Miami University’s Department of Teacher Education to bring the film Most Likely to Succeed to Oxford on Thursday, October 20. The screening will be in Room 322 McGuffey Hall from 6-8:00pm. McGuffey Hall is located at 210 East Spring Street on Miami’s campus.

This film offers an inspiring look at what students and teachers are capable of—if we have the vision and courage to transform our schools. We offer this screening to the community as the start of a thoughtful dialogue about the purpose schooling and our role in supporting schooling that truly prepares kids for life in this 21st Century.

After the screening we will have a panel discussion that will include a range of stakeholders in local education.

Go here to see a trailer or the read more about Most Likely to Succeed.

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First Experiences with Kindermusik

October 10, 2016, 3:24 pm

≫ Next: The First Great Lesson: Our Universe

≪ Previous: Most Likely to Succeed—Film Screening

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Our youngest students in the Primary classroom recently had their first experience with Kindermusik. While discussing their many different feelings, they played instruments, sang, and danced their way through class. The pictures above show experimentation with zig-zag blocks. They can be played in so many different ways!

The First Great Lesson: Our Universe

October 11, 2016, 10:20 am

≫ Next: SOARing at McGuffey

≪ Previous: First Experiences with Kindermusik

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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 lessons answer lots of the big questions that children between ages 6 and 9 find themselves asking about our world, our universe, and life itself.

The Great Lessons start on the largest scale possible: with our universe and its origins. These lessons also lay the foundation for further units that we teach in our classroom, including as astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, geology, and geography. At McGuffey, we always try to collaborate on the teaching of the Great Lessons so that our students can learn from teachers who aren’t usually in their classroom.

Susie read a book to the Lower Elementary students about the Big Bang and how modern scientists believe our universe was formed (Big Bang!: The Tongue-Tickling Tale of a Speck That Became Spectacular, by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano) and then she taught them about the twelve different epochs our universe has passed through, using plush toys from the Particle Zoo to illustrate each time period. Susie was kind enough to leave these plush toys as well as the book in our classroom for a few days so our students can take a closer look!

SOARing at McGuffey

October 12, 2016, 12:33 pm

≫ Next: Curated Collections in the Upper Unit Library

≪ Previous: The First Great Lesson: Our Universe

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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 of our playground area trying to complete miles and earn foot tokens.

SOAR also functions as our Fall fundraiser to raise money for our playgrounds and outdoor facilities. Your children should have brought home a sponsor sheet; they are encouraged to ask friends and relatives to donate for each mile they walk.

The McGuffey community has really been running hard this year, logging over 160 miles in the first three days! We are thrilled by their excitement about the program, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish by the time this year’s SOAR program is done.

Curated Collections in the Upper Unit Library

October 13, 2016, 4:29 pm

≫ Next: A Visiting Performance of Sleeping Beauty

≪ Previous: SOARing at McGuffey

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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 on the library and its collection. Once school started, however, they were ready to turn it over to the students!

Each week there is a new curated collection in the library set up by one or two students. They bring in, or select, their favorite books, series, author, or genres and put them on display for the entire Upper Unit. This gives students a chance to turn their classmates on to a genre of literature they may be unfamiliar with or introduce them to a new author.

Students sharing their love of books with other students is a beautiful thing to behold.

A Visiting Performance of Sleeping Beauty

October 14, 2016, 1:39 pm

≫ Next: Pokémon Club Meets at Lane Library Tomorrow

≪ Previous: Curated Collections in the Upper Unit Library

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Earlier this week, we were treated to a performance of Sleeping Beauty by the Windy City Players. This Chicago-based touring group has come to us several times and is a wonderful addition to McGuffey’s Theater program. Our students were not only delighted by the performance, but it was also an opportunity to learn from the production; they watched terrific acting, they saw how simple props and sets can be very effective, and the actors generously offered a question and answer time after the show. During the days preceding the show, students were asked to think about and discuss what makes good audience etiquette and to remember actions they appreciated from an audience when they performed in the McGuffey musical.

Even though our first-semester Music classes are devoted to music theory, it is ever-present in our students’ minds that our next big musical production will be gearing up soon. How wonderful to have this opportunity to refresh the mantra of our musicals—that we are giving a gift to the audience—since our students were well aware of the gift they were given from the Windy City Players.

Pokémon Club Meets at Lane Library Tomorrow

October 15, 2016, 9:22 am

≫ Next: Harvest Supper on Friday

≪ Previous: A Visiting Performance of Sleeping Beauty

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Pokémon Trading Card Game Club meets tomorrow at the Oxford Lane Library from 2-4pm. Please note: Tomorrow’s meeting will be held in the downstairs meeting room, off the children’s section.

See this page for our upcoming dates. Beginning next month, we will be meeting from 1-3pm instead of 2-4pm.

Harvest Supper on Friday

October 16, 2016, 7:42 am

≫ Next: Primary’s Bread and Butter

≪ Previous: Pokémon Club Meets at Lane Library Tomorrow

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McGuffey’s annual Harvest Supper is this Friday, October 21, from 5:30-7:30pm. Please bring a dish to share and we will have cards to help you label items that are gluten-free, nut-free, etc. Please keep in mind that we have a few students who are severely allergic to nuts and peanuts. It always helps when families bring their own plates and utensils, especially if they are reusable! Parents are welcome to walk or run a SOAR lap during Harvest Supper, since this year’s SOAR program will be concluding on Friday, too.

Alumni and former McGuffey students/families are welcome to join us for Harvest Supper this year! We look forward to seeing some familiar faces and old friends.

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Primary’s Bread and Butter

October 17, 2016, 4:29 pm

≫ Next: Making a Discovery

≪ Previous: Harvest Supper on Friday

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Our Primary students recently made bread! Elizabeth brought in her bread maker and showed us how she adds all the ingredients. We talked about yeast, and how it helps the bread rise. (Science!) All morning we peeked in the window to see the machine stirring, rising, and, finally, baking the bread.

During Primary’s enrichment time that day, everyone helped make butter. Children worked in groups to shake bottles of heavy cream until it formed butter. Working in a group helps make sure your arms don’t get too tired!

We all agreed our day of baking and making was a tasty success.

Making a Discovery

October 18, 2016, 10:37 am

≫ Next: SOAR Family Hike

≪ Previous: Primary’s Bread and Butter

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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 together to carry it to an open space where they could continue to clean it up and investigate it with a magnifying glass.

Then, Kris helped these students begin some online research to try to identify what they’d found. They haven’t come to any definitive conclusions yet, but they will be continuing their research throughout the rest of the week.

SOAR Family Hike

October 19, 2016, 2:02 pm

≫ Next: Upper Unit’s Star Party

≪ Previous: Making a Discovery

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This past Saturday, some of the McGuffey community gathered for our annual SOAR (Students Outside and Running) Family Hike. Zafer Ozdemir led us on a three-mile hike followed by an optional three-mile run. It was a great opportunity for the students to gain more foot tokens in our SOAR program and enjoy a beautiful day outdoors.

As McGuffey’s annual fundraiser for our outdoor facilities, SOAR ends this Friday. The students have logged over 400 miles so far and we can’t wait to find out their grand total on Friday during our Harvest Supper.

Upper Unit’s Star Party

October 20, 2016, 2:48 pm

≫ Next: The Pentatonic Scale

≪ Previous: SOAR Family Hike

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McGuffey’s Upper Unit welcomed Aaron Eiben of the Cincinnati Observatory last Thursday night for our Star Party. Aaron brought two large telescopes and star maps for everyone. He guided students and parents through viewing the moon, several planets, stars, star clusters, and even two galaxies. Many parents and students also brought their own telescopes from home, and Mr. Eiben offered tips on getting the most out of each type of telescope.

We all enjoyed hot cocoa and good viewing during the brisk, clear fall evening and night. Thanks to Upper Unit Science teacher Susie Lute for organizing this experience.

The Pentatonic Scale

October 21, 2016, 3:06 pm

≫ Next: Primary Studies Electricity

≪ Previous: Upper Unit’s Star Party

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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 around the world.

First, the students learned to sing the five notes in various patterns. Then, they composed their own songs, singing them aloud to each other. The last step was singing a song, “On A Mountain.” Once they learned the song, the children deciphered the melody. Each student took a turn figuring out a note of the melody and writing the solfège name under the word. The delight and excitement was palpable when these 7-year-olds realized what they were doing! Their final achievement was playing the song on barred instruments.