Last week, Primary made gelato. They poured the ingredients for Italy’s tasty take on ice cream into the machine at morning meeting. By the time afternoon enrichment rolled around, their gelato was ready.
While they enjoyed their taste of gelato, they invented different floors of gelato—some pretty traditional and others quite original. Everyone thought this exploration of Italy was quite delicious!
Students in Lower Elementary recently completed work on their Personal Timeline projects. This project is part of our History curriculum and aims to help students learn more about how time unfolds and how they can begin to view their own life in the context of the time that has passed since they were born. Prior to this project, they learned about different ways to measure time, including days (and the origins of the names of our days), weeks, months (and the origins of their names, too), years, decades, centuries, and millennia.
For the Personal Timeline project, students brought in one photo for each year of their life so far. They glued these photos to a poster, made note of which photo represented which year of their life, and then wrote a sentence for each year, either describing what the photo depicted or one thing they did during that year.
After everybody finished their timelines, we displayed them all in our classroom and allowed students to walk around and see these small glimpses into each other’s lives. We will be keeping these timelines in the classroom until our Celebration of Learning next week when you can come see them for yourself.
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 information, and coming to a conclusion supported by the facts they find.
As this is a Humanities project, the students will first be working in Social Studies to make sure the content and factual information are correct. Then they will be working on their paragraphs in Language Arts to correct the style and punctuation.
These critical thinking and writing skills will help the students decipher information from various sources and convey what they have learned in clear, accurate language.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Club meets tomorrow (Sunday) at the Oxford Lane Library from 1-3pm. Tomorrow’s meeting is scheduled to be held in the Havighurst Meeting Room (upstairs). Should we be moved to a different space, we will post a notice on the front door of the library.
You can always check this page on our website for Pokémon Club dates and times. Our upcoming meetings after tomorrow are on February 5 and February 19.
This unit of Science really takes some imagination! Last week Primary students were talking about the living things that exist that we can’t even see. Just in time for cold and flu season, they talked about viruses and bacteria. While some of them are good for us, others can make us pretty sick. Another great reason to keep washing our hands!
The class also talked about how they can see the effects of tiny life. The pumpkin they’ve been pounding is beginning to look pretty mushy. They put it outside, and are watching the effect of the tiny life that is helping it decompose.
Students put some of their lunch leftovers into a bin and have been watching the result of microbes at work. By the time they walked in after the long weekend, things were looking pretty different! The class put some of the mold under the microscope to get a closer look.
Always a favorite are the plush microbes. Teachers do explain that real microbes aren’t quite as adorable, but these cuddly versions always seem to make microbes a bit less intimidating.
2017 Shop Local cards are here! Get them at MOON Co-Op, Juniper, the Oxford Farmer’s Market, and McGuffey Montessori School for only $15. This year’s card features benefits including…
—5% off every day at MOON Co-op
—10% off your purchase at Kofenya
—15% off one item at Juniper
—$5 day passes at Miami Rec Sports… and much more! For a complete list of the discounts available, go to oxfordshoplocal.com.
Although fundraising is a critical piece of McGuffey’s budget, it is also part of our school philosophy to act responsibly as a part of our community, and to pay it forward.
For this reason, McGuffey has decided to share a portion of the proceeds with some of our favorite non-profit organizations—the Oxford Community Choice Pantry, the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown Sprouts Program, and the Friends of the Oxford Lane Library. These are organizations our students, families, and staff consider a valuable part of this community.
We also believe it is important to support our local economy, and, for that reason, have chosen a “Shop Local” theme for our card, and have sought businesses from Oxford and the neighboring communities to participate in this program.
McGuffey students, parents, and staff donate their time and talents to facilitate the production, sale, and distribution of the Shop Local card, so there will be no cost to participating businesses or our non-profit beneficiaries.
We thank you for your support!
McGuffey students in Grades 1 through 8 have been experimenting with various types of concrete and paper mixtures. Grade 1 students created bowls out of shredded construction paper and concrete. This project had multiple steps and required some patience as our bowls slowly dried and became somewhat flatter than anticipated. But more importantly, we got to use the big, noisy paper shredder in the beginning and had unlimited access to glitter in the end.
Last week Primary received a visit from the Upper Unit science teacher, Susie! She came to talk to them about tardigrades, also known as water bears. These microscopic creatures are one of the most resilient forms of life on Earth. Because they are capable of surviving extreme heat, cold, and pressure, tardigrades have been sent into outer space to see how they handled those harsh conditions.
Susie brought her microscope to allow the students to see live tardigrades, happily going about their day. The children were so excited to see these amazing creatures for themselves.
If your child would like to know more about tardigrades, look for Episode 207, “Tough Enough,” of the PBS series The Cat in the Hat.
Students in Lower Elementary spent last week preparing for their part of the school-wide Celebration of Learning that took place on Friday. The Celebration of Learning is a time when students from all grades at McGuffey can invite their parents to come see their classrooms. Students in Grades 1-3 each chose two or three specific works or activities that they wanted to “present” to their family members, and they practiced their presentations several times ahead of the event. During the school day on Friday, these students cleaned and straightened their classroom, arranged several vases of flowers, prepared fruit kebabs as a snack for their visitors, and put the finishing touches on their presentations.
Getting a chance to show off their work, their knowledge, and their classrooms in a formal capacity has helped all of our students develop a keen sense of pride in their education. Thanks to all parents and family members who attended this year’s Celebration of Learning!
The Upper Unit is wrapping up its tour of the ancient world in early Mesoamerica. We have spent the last few weeks learning about the Maya. The students had the opportunity to learn about Mayan hieroglyphs and created “glyph blocks” of their names.
We also learned about Mayan numerals and base twenty mathematics. The students used this information to write their birthdates using Mayan numerals.
Last week, students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 had an opportunity to sing with a conductor from The Cincinnati Children’s Choir. Debra Shawver came and talked about the choir and gave the kids a taste of singing with this group by teaching the song “Ding, Dong, Diggy Dong.”
Cincinnati Children’s Choir is an award-winning educationally based choral ensemble program. Participants learn healthy vocal technique, sight-reading, music history, and music theory while experiencing performance excellence using the philosophies and techniques of Carl Orff among others. We can’t recommend this program enough and are happy to tell you that one of the satellite choirs meets at Miami University. See http://www.cincinnatichoir.org for more information.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Club meets tomorrow (Sunday) at the Oxford Lane Library from 1-3pm. Tomorrow’s meeting is scheduled to be held in the downstairs meeting room, near the children’s section. Should we be moved to a different space, we will post a notice on the front door of the library.
You can always check this page on our website for Pokémon Club dates and times. Our next meeting after tomorrow is on February 19.
A couple weeks ago we hosted our annual Celebration of Learning. This is a special night where our students get to share their classroom with their parents and show them what they do. They are so proud of their classroom and the work they do each day. Last week we showed you how Lower Elementary prepared for their part of the celebration; this post gives you a glimpse into Primary’s celebration.
Students in our Primary class spent the day of the event getting ready for the evening. In preparation, they created a welcome sign, cut and arranged flowers, prepared a snack, and cleaned the classroom.
Special thanks to all the parents who took the time to attend and let your children give you a peek into their world!
Students in Lower Elementary are in the midst of their second sewing project of the year with Ayelet. Last week, students made bookmarks out of felt and stitched a border onto them to practice stitching. This week, students are making small pillows stuffed with beans. There are heart-shaped patterns for them to use, and they are also free to design their own pattern if they would like. Ayelet provided the pillow pictured above as a sample for students as they are working.
This is part of our Practical Life curriculum, and students in Lower will be continuing with their sewing projects for the next few weeks.
Math is fun! That’s what Upper Elementary students are learning as they work on their Mathematics skills using several games. These games work on drilling skills like multiplication and division while making the experience more enjoyable for the students.
Ask your child if they’ve had a chance to play Prime Climb yet… it’s a big hit in the classroom.
Yesterday in Art, Ingrid hosted a “color party” for students in Lower Elementary. Grade 1 students study the color wheel every year, but this year our students in Grades 2 and 3 got involved and helped prepare for the party, making invitations and decorations ahead of time. Underneath the color-changing lightbulb, students examined various pieces of artwork, the color wheel itself, some handmade tissue paper decorations hanging from the ceiling, vintage Fisher-Price toys, and even some fresh strawberries and grapes. Afterwards, they got to eat their lunches underneath the color-changing lightbulb, too!
Thanks to Ingrid for organizing the color party, and to all of the students in Lower Elementary for coming together to help introduce our new Grade 1 students to the magic of the color wheel.
The Oxford Martial Arts Academy welcomed our students back last Friday for our first Taekwondo lesson of the year. These lessons are part of our PE program, and they give our students the opportunity to run, jump, kick, and block with their instructors.
The lessons are tailored to each age group, with the older students working on blocks and escapes with a partner while the youngest students work on flexibility and strength with an emphasis on fun.
McGuffey students will be practicing Taekwondo for the rest of February.
McGuffey Factoid: Upper Unit teacher, Mark, LOVES Groundhog Day.
Mark came to Primary on Groundhog Day last week to be their guest reader. He brought with him books about one of his very favorite holidays. His books explained this very silly holiday, and he even wore a groundhog hat that his sister knitted for him!
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 three-part story like this in both pictures and words, and this week they have moved on to an activity that is both simpler and more challenging: telling a story in the form of a three-panel comic strip, making sure to still include a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Next week some students will advance to learning about the five elements of plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution) and produce five-panel comic strips that include each of these elements, while other students will transfer their knowledge of beginnings, middles, and ends into a Writer’s Workshop storybook of their own creation.
Our Upper Elementary students were able to spend some fun time with their Primary partners getting ready for Valentine’s Day. The students worked together to decorate their card bags with foam hearts, markers, and stickers.
Partner work is a special opportunity for our older students to spend time with their younger peers in order to model positive behavior, practice leadership, and remember how fun it was to be little.
We are always grateful for the time we get to spend with our partners!
