AMC Montessori Fall 2014 Hands-On Creative Lesson Planning Newsletter
The AMC Montessori Newsletter Published by American Montessori Consulting Heidi Anne Spietz, Editor
2014© All Rights Reserved. http://www.amonco.org
The AMC resource participants have generously shared hands-on activities that you will want to use in coming months. You’ll be impressed with the ingenuity and creativity expressed in the recipes and crafts they have chosen to share with you. Use their ideas to foster interest in science, social studies, art, mathematics, and other academic hands-on learning activities. Integrate the recipes and crafts into your multicultural lesson planning as well. Hopefully, you will let the participants know how much you have enjoyed their recipe(s) and craft(s). Visit the websites listed throughout the newsletter. You'll find additional helpful lesson information at these sites. American Montessori Consulting is not responsible for any of the crafts or recipes posted here. All of the crafts and recipes are copyrighted and are the property of the participating AMC resource organizations listed in this newsletter. For questions concerning their individual copyrighted material, you need to visit the website listed in association with the craft(s) and recipe(s) that interest you and obtain the telephone number and/or e-mail address of the contact person(s). If you would like friends on special listservs to know of this newsletter, please request that they download the newsletter directly from
http://www.amonco.org/montessori_fall_handson.html Use special precautions when involving children in any craft or recipe where there is a potential for harm. Some children have special food allergies and/or other medical conditions like diabetes. Small children need supervision. Scissors, hot glue, hot stoves and ovens, and other elements in making some of these recipes and crafts need to be considered. Please consider carefully the age and maturity level of the child before allowing him or her to participate. Be sure to visit each resource participant’s site to see the marvelous selection of educational offerings you can use in your school and home classrooms. You’ll also find creative, unique educational gift items that are sure to be enjoyed by the special young people in your life. The following creative ideas are from the AMC Montessori Resource Center http://www.amonco.org/directory.html participants. Visit their websites for additional innovative ways to reach your students throughout the school year.
Contents of Part VII of the AMC Montessori Fall 2014 Hands-On Creative Lesson Planning Newsletter Lesson Plan for Autumn by Vivaldi Writing Pattern Activity Make a Calligram Apple Angel Food Cake Oma’s Cookies ~ A German Recipe Plymouth, Massachusetts: A Local Perspective on the Pilgrims
A Canadian Thanksgiving (Celebrating the Harvest in the Great White North)
Classical Magic® Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://www.singnlearn.com
Lesson Plan for Autumn by Vivaldi – from The Four Seasons Marjorie Kiel Persons Classical Magic® http://www.singnlearn.com/Category/classicalmagic Adaptable for an Autumn Party 1. Teach the song first, singing the lyrics and using simple actions. as suggested below. 2. Older children can sing with the lyrics as they carve faces for their pumpkins. Antonio Vivaldi (vi-VALL-dee) had red hair and was known as "the Red Priest." He was born in Venice, Italy. On the day that he was born an earthquake struck the city. There is a theory that his mother, in her terror, vowed that her son would become a priest if they did not suffer damage. Also, studying for the priesthood was often the only way a poor child could obtain free schooling. Vivaldi's education had included violin instruction. After being ordained as a priest, he was named as the violin teacher at an orphanage for girls in Venice. The girls that Vivaldi taught became very accomplished musicians. He wrote volumes of music for them and organized concerts that drew audiences from all over Europe. You'll find music and lyrics for all of The Four Seasons in Themes To Remember, Volume 2.
AUTUMN Verse One : [: Autumn colors glow Trees all dressed up for the show Leaves play tag on the ground below. :] Sing with the "music and lyrics" CD track. 1. As children are singing, if you say "forte" (loudly) the first time and "piano" (quietly) for the repeat, they will easily learn the meaning of those musical terms. 2. Notice the repeat sign at the beginning and end. Both music and words are repeated. 3. Small children can pretend they are leaves dressing in bright colors or leaves playing tag. 4. Older children can learn about personification. (Giving human traits to non-human things.) Do trees dress up for a show? Do leaves play tag? 5. Art activities: Make leaf rubbings by placing them under a sheet of paper and rubbing or crayons over the leaf form. Make a collage of many different kinds of leaves. Make a bouquet of small branches of leaves to place in a vase. Draw "human" trees dressing for a show or "human" leaves playing tag. Draw a picture illustrating one verse or a complete fall scene. (Show illustration from book.) Verse Two: Apples on the trees You can pick them if you please. Drink some apple cider While you snuggle up beside her, Stay for Vivaldi's show. Drink some apple cider, Snuggle up beside her, Stay for Vivaldi's show! 1. Pretend to pick apples from the trees. (The apples should be "twisted" rather than pulled to prevent damage to the trees.) 2. Pretend to drink apple cider. (For a party, apple cider can be provided.) 3. Find a partner to "snuggle" with!
4. Hold up the portrait of Vivaldi when his name is mentioned. (Enlarged portraits are available by web order.) Verse Three is a repeat of the first verse. Repeat actions as in first verse – trees dressing for the show or leaves playing tag. Verse Four: [: Pumpkins on the vine Soon have faces that will shine. Jack-o'-lanterns will smile From each darkened window pane. :] 1. Children can pretend that they are pumpkins and make grotesque faces! 2. Draw Jack-o'-lantern faces and show them to each other. These could be used as patterns for carving pumpkins.
Verse Five: [: Drink some cider Sit beside her, Watch that spider!! Stay for Vivaldi's show. :] 1. Children can make 3-D spiders using black construction paper. Fold the l leg pieces back and forth to make them "springy." Hang them from a string or rubber band. 2. If you have a cloth or soft plastic spider, play a spider "hot potato" game. Stand in a circle. Toss the spider while the music plays. Stop the music and the child holding the spider is a "pumpkin." You may do your own variation of this game.
About Classical Magic® Classical Magic® Products: Vivaldi's Four Seasons can be found in Themes To Remember – Volume 2, HC book with CD. Autumn, p. 6, 12 – 13 CD Tracks [5] & [6] Portraits of the Music Masters – p. 10 – 11 For a music appreciation program with a difference, go to http://www.singnlearn.com/Category/classicalmagic When music is combined with lyrics, both go into long-term memory. Children learn words better with music, and music better with words. Singing with classical music is fun. Singing promotes a good attitude. Good attitude is the most important factor in efficient learning. Set the foundation your children's lifetime adventure with classical music.
Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting System Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://www.bfhhandwriting.com
Writing Pattern Activities Click below, for a free instructions and patterns. Visit http://www.amonco.org/WritingPatterns.pdf This autumn encourage your students to make a caligram.
About Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting System Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting is easy to teach, easy to learn. No boring workbooks! Printed text guides the user. Lessons and exemplars are on a CD. Users print out pages as presented, or edit them so the student practices writing about their special interests. You can even create custom pages to make learning to write really cool. Beginners start with fun activities to establish habits of movement that support effective handwriting. They learn one simple alphabet. Then with no changes to the letterforms, they join letters for legible, fast, individual writing. No problematic letter changes to write "cursive!" No retraining of fine motor skills! Adults who, as children, learned to write with this program prove its success. Learn about this innovative, logical program at BFHhandwriting.com, by visiting http://www.BFHhandwriting.com - phone 410-272-0836 or e-mail
[email protected].
Conceptual Learning Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://www.conceptuallearning.com/
Math Activity Submitted by Dianne Knesek Fraction Circle Labels & Extensions Click on the link below for an overview of early lessons and extensions for use with Montessori Fraction circles or other fraction manipulative. The concrete is always presented first. Next, is the presentation of the written symbol. Finally, the concrete and symbol are placed together. The attached
pages include a master for the symbols as well as blank labels or studentmade or teacher made extensions. To access this free information, visit http://www.amonco.org/FractionCircle1.pdf
Recipe Submitted by Montessorian Dianne Knesek Below is a delicious treat that friends and family will enjoy. Apple Angel Food Prepare angel food cake batter Mix in 1/2 lb of pecans Pour into angel food cake pan Slice a couple of Granny Smith apples on top Bake as directed Cool With spatula, loosen cake from sides Place on platter and invert Serve and enjoy!
About Conceptual Learning Conceptual Learning Materials has introduced several new series into the Insights into Math Concepts line. To ease the children into more abstract fraction work, we have introduced "Fraction Match," a series of 15 matching exercises that include graphics, verbal expressions, and fraction symbols for various configurations. These include numerators of one, numerators greater than one, fraction of a set, improper fractions, mixed numbers, fractions on a number line, equivalencies, and simple addition of fractions. The work is appropriate for students in 2nd through 4th grades. Other recent fraction releases include "Fraction Operations" which focuses on addition & subtraction of unlike fractions. "More Fraction Operations" includes multiplication and division of fractions and mixed numbers
as well as a comprehensive overview of all fraction operations. Previously released fraction series include "Fraction Concepts," "Fraction Line and Labels," and "Fraction Order." Three levels of time have also been introduced. The incremental matching cards encompass time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour, five-minutes, and time intervals of varying difficulty. "Introduction to Decimals" has been expanded to include mixed rounding and as well as operations involving one and two-place decimals. Previously released decimal series include "Decimal Line and Labels," "Decimal Order," "Advanced Decimals, " as well as "Decimal/Fraction Equivalencies." Please contact us for a new catalog and be sure to visit http://www.conceptuallearning.com We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Excellence in Education Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://excellenceineducation.com
Recipe Submitted by Carolyn Forte Oma’s Cake This recipe is from Excellence In Education http://excellenceineducation.com It’s favorite recipe from Martin's German Grandmother (Oma) and is very versatile as you will see. It is light and at the same time very delicious. We call it a cake, but I have used the dough in the classroom with young children. It can be molded like clay into shapes (letters, objects, flowers, etc.) and then baked on a cookie tray. After the molded shapes are baked, dust them with powered sugar. Yum!
1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 lb. butter (one stick), softened 1 egg 2 teaspoons baking powder Mix flour and baking powder. Beat egg with sugar. Mix both together. Knead in soft butter. This will take a while and at first, you may think there is not enough butter to make a dough. There is; just keep kneading until it has the consistency of play dough. Now you can make the "cookies" described above, or you can use the dough to make "Oma's cake:" Take half the dough and press it into a greased round 8 inch cake pan (a spring form works best). Then cover the dough with fresh pear halves (peeled) or apple slices. Sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Press the rest of the dough over the pears (or apples) and bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour. Be careful. The cake should not brown. It should be just golden and still soft. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar. For "cookies:" bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 10 minutes. Watch to see that they are only golden or they will be too hard. The time will vary with the thickness of the dough. You can double or quadruple the recipe and store it covered in the refrigerator for a week or two. Auf Wiedersehen! ~ Carolyn at Excellence In Education
About Excellence in Education Excellence in Education serves the homeschooling community and others searching for creative and interesting curriculum. EIE offers everything from a catalog of games, many of which are hands-on, to the EIE Independent Study Program. The latter is a help to all homeschooling parents in general, and to those who are new and need a sense of direction in particular.
This company also offers a unique game curriculum which gives the presenter a complete supplemental curriculum based on games. An EIE representative shares the following commentary: "FUN-ED was created in 1993 by our daughters. We used games extensively in our own homeschool program and they wanted to share the fun with other families. Although FUN-ED is intended for everyone, we offer an array of manipulative and multi-sensory products that will be especially helpful to children with handicaps, developmental delays and "learning disabilities." Visit http://excellenceineducation.com to learn more about the extensive offerings available from this fine organization.
Sara L. Ambarian Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://condortales.com/bridestouch.html
Article by Sara L. Ambarian Plymouth, Massachusetts: A Local Perspective on the Pilgrims One of the most well-known and beloved stories in American history is that of our Pilgrim predecessors’ trials and triumphs on the Mayflower and Speedwell and as they set up Plymouth Colony, with the help of local Native Americans, in what is now the state of Massachusetts. It is the inspiration, of course, for our Thanksgiving holiday, but it is also a great springboard for many-faceted study. Through studying the Pilgrims, students can explore elements of many subjects, including: • Geography • English, Dutch and American history
• Religious history • Sea travel and trade • Native American life • Regional flora and fauna • Colonization • Governmental structures • Colonial fashion and customs • Colonial home life and cooking • Self-sufficiency • Literature • Art To get an up close and personal perspective on the Pilgrim experience, nothing beats a visit to Plymouth, Massachusetts. There you can view the exhibits and interpretive materials of Pilgrim Hall, walk the decks of the Mayflower II, interact with historical re-enactors at Plimoth Plantation, and visit Plymouth Rock. Being on location, with so many elements lovingly restored or replicated, can help children put the historical facts into real-life perspective. They get exposed to resources that can allow them to imagine what it was really like to live through those adventures, experience those privations, and tackle those challenges. From my own family’s experiences, I believe it’s a visit most children would remember for a lifetime; so if you live within traveling distance, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, we cannot all travel to Massachusetts; so we’re fortunate that Plymouth’s main historical attractions offer wonderful internet resources, full of photos, activities, lesson plans, and links to other interesting and educational sites. Any study of the Pilgrims, Massachusetts, and/or Thanksgiving can be enhanced by information from the following local Plymouth organizations. PILGRIM HALL MUSEUM The Pilgrim Hall website provides many facts about the Pilgrims and Plymouth, including “The Pilgrim Story”, a step-by-step history of the Pilgrims. It also includes some excellent lesson plan materials. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/plgrmhll.htm For interesting facts about Plymouth Rock: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/Rock.htm
PLIMOTH PLANTATION Plimoth Plantation is a multiple-venue historical attraction which includes the Mayflower II, the 17th Century English Village, a Wampanoag homesite, a visitor center, a craft center (where you can watch artisans make 17th century items for the village), and the Nye Barn, which houses rare breed livestock. The website’s Just for Kids section includes coloring pages, colonial language information, recipes, and a virtual Thanksgiving. In Just for Teachers you will fine educators’ resources and an education mailing list http://www.plimoth.org/ If you can’t visit in person, here is a quick photo tour of the fascinating live and interactive Plimoth Plantation. http://gonewengland.about.com/library/blplimoth1new.htm
You can also view an in-depth, 30-minute virtual tour here: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/thanksgiving-virtual-field-trip To bring a little bit of the Plimoth experience home, the Museum Shops offer many educational items and gifts (even Pilgrim-style clothing!), and proceeds help fund the Plantation’s operation. http://www.plimoth.com/ THE GENERAL SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS http://www.themayflowersociety.com/ THE PLYMOUTH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY http://www.plymouthantiquariansociety.org/historic.htm THE PILGRIM FATHERS UK ORIGINS ASSOCIATION Though not a Plymouth, Massachusetts, organization, this interesting group in the UK has a well-designed and interesting website, with photos and information about the English origins of the Pilgrims. http://www.pilgrimfathersorigins.org
Sara L. Ambarian Copyright 2011-2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://condortales.com/bridestouch.html
Article by Sara L. Ambarian Celebrating the Harvest: Thanksgiving in the Great White North Canada, our neighbor to the north, is a beautiful and interesting country. They are rich in natural resources, cultural heritage, and zest for living. Canadians love to celebrate, and because of a strong agricultural history, one of their major yearly celebrations is Thanksgiving, occurring this year on October 10. In Canada, Thanksgiving has nothing to do with Pilgrim settlers. It is a day to rejoice in and enjoy the bounty of the yearly harvest (which happens a bit earlier there than in America, due to the shorter growing season in the north.) A traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner menu is actually quite similar to an American Thanksgiving meal. It usually consists of a roast turkey, stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, a cranberry dish, and a pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Many of the same foods grow well in the northern parts of America and in Canada, so we’ve both grown to love them naturally. Of course, every family also adds or substitutes their favorite dishes, based on their own tastes, just as we Americans do. In some Canadian communities, many families share similar immigrant heritage, such as French or Scottish; so they often include favorite dishes from these ancestral countries, as well. Whether you study and/or celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving on October 10, or would just like to borrow a little Canadian style for your American celebration in
November, the following ideas can get you started on creating your own “Thanksgiving, Canadian-style”.
CRANBERRIES Many Canadians and Americans think it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce and/or some other cranberry recipe. If you don’t have your own favorite, why not add a taste of Canada by trying the Canadian Cranberry Sauce (sweetened with maple syrup!) or some other of the interesting cranberry recipes presented here: http://uc-cranberries.com/recipes.html Do you know how and where cranberries grow? This interesting fruit grows in bogs in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere. The top cranberry producing countries are the United States, Canada, Belarus, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Latvia, with highest production in the American states of Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Find out more about Canadian cranberry farming here: http://www.iroquoiscranberries.com/ and here: http://uc-cranberries.com/berry.html PUMPKINS Canadians love their pumpkin pie. For Thanksgiving, local stores and bakeries make “tons of them”, I’m told by an Albertan friend. Families also bake their own, of course. Here is an unusual pumpkin pie recipe from Canadian Living Magazine. http://www.canadianliving.com/food/baking_and_desserts/harvest_pumpkin_pie.p hp Pumpkins are an increasingly important crop for Canadian farmers in recent years. Smoky Lake, Alberta, northeast of Edmonton, hosts The Annual Great White North Pumpkin Fair and Weigh-Off, to find the biggest pumpkin of the year. The festival also includes food, crafts, fun and huge pumpkins dropped from a big construction crane. http://www.smokylake.ca/galleries/show_album/300 Incidentally, Smoky Lake also has another interesting tradition to attract tourists. They have designated themselves, “BirthdayTown, Alberta”, and local businesses
offer many free and discounted items to people who spend their birthdays in the town. You might even get a surprise visit from the mayor! I am sure it is especially fun to have a birthday in Smoky Lake around Pumpkin Fair time. http://www.birthdaytownalberta.com/ UKRAINIAN DISHES Ukrainian-descent Canadians, many of whom live in the western provinces, are one group who traditionally like to add favorite recipes from their European ancestors to their meals. Cabbage rolls and pyrogy are two of the most well-known and best-loved Ukrainian dishes. If you’d like to try cabbage rolls, here’s a very traditional recipe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Holubtsi (Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls) (Recipe handed down from Ukrainian Canadians, Margaret Krysa- Boisvert and Barbara Kostyniuk.) You can buy "sour" cabbage (like sauerkraut) in the store, or if you prefer "sweet" cabbage rolls, get a head of fresh cabbage and core, then gently steam or set in 200F oven for a few minutes to make leaves just pliable enough for rolling. Prepare / cook white rice as per usual (i.e. 2 cups cold water / 1 cup rice / 1 tsp salt) bringing to boil then covering and steaming for 15 - 20 minutes on low heat. Fry 1/4 cup chopped up bacon in a pan (if bacon is very lean add some butter to the pan) with 1/4 cup of white onion until bacon cooked (but not crisp) and onion transparent. Stir rice and bacon / onion mixture together, add salt and pepper to taste. Place a TBSP. of rice on a cabbage leaf about the size of your palm, fold sides over the rice filling and roll tightly. Place on layers in a casserole dish. Pour 1/2 cup cream (or water if you prefer lower fat) over the Holubtsi, cover and bake in 340 oven for about 2-3 hours (depends on thickness of cabbage leaves and how much you steamed them).
Note: Rolling cabbage rolls is an "art"! No worries if they fall apart , there is also a dish called "lazy cabbage rolls" which just means you put eveything in the casserole "unrolled". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pyrogy (also spelled “perogy” and “perogi”) are a traditional eastern European dumpling which can be made with several different fillings. Like all dumplings, they are time-consuming to make, but fresh dumplings do taste especially delicious. Here are a few recipes; you can also often find pyrogies frozen: http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Miscellaneous/Pyrogy.html and http://www.foodgeeks.com/recipes/20216 In Glendon, Alberta, they celebrate their Ukrainian heritage with a 27-foot tall, 6,000 pound statue of a pyrogy. Now that’s a big dumpling! http://www.bigthings.ca/alberta/glendon.html Those of you who garden and/or hot-water-bath can your produce may already be fans of pickled beets, but for those of you who aren’t, here is a quick and easy “non-canned” version of Ukrainian-style beets. http://www.grouprecipes.com/18472/ukranian-pickled-beets.html FRENCH DISHES Canada has a very large population of citizens of French ancestry, especially in Quebec and other eastern provinces. French Canadians and Acadians pride themselves on their cooking. If you try one of these three popular and delicious desserts, you will understand why! Tarte au sucre, or sugar pie, is a popular pie in French Canadian communities. Similar pies are also found in Shaker, Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking in America. Culinary historian Linda Stradley shares an interesting discussion of the history and regional differences in sugar pie recipes and many other fascinating subjects throughout her website, What’s Cooking, America. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PieHistory/SugarCreamPie.htm Butter tarts are a dessert and snack standby in Quebec and many other places in Canada. You can make your own authentic Canadian butter tarts from the award-
winning recipe of Wilkie's Bakery in Orillia, Ontario, with this recipe. http://www.food.com/recipe/Award-Winning-Butter-Tarts-14756
FIRST NATIONS DISHES In Canada, the native North American tribes call themselves The First Nations. Read about the contributions their ancestors made to our favorite traditional dinner menus. It is really interesting! https://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng/1307460755710/1307460872523 You can also find many interesting First Nation and Native American recipes on the following pages: http://www.foodbycountry.com/Algeria-to-France/Canada-Aboriginals.html http://www.turtleisland.org/culture/culture-food.htm FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CANADIAN THANKSGIVING http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/symbols_facts&lists/thanksgiving.html http://www.sccc.ca/site/panel5/CanadianCustomsandTraditions.html http://www.helium.com/items/1971836-how-do-canadians-celebrate-thanksgiving http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/traditions/thanksgiving-recipes/
About Sara L. Ambarian Copyright 2011-2014 All Rights Reserved. Website: http://condortales.com/bridestouch.html Sara L. Ambarian is an author, designer, illustrator, wife and mother with professional and personal experience in a wide range of subjects, including: arts and crafts, fashion, weddings, homeschooling, cooking, nature, and travel.
End of Part 7 Read the other parts of this creative hands-on lesson planning newsletter by visiting
http://www.amonco.org/montessori_fall_handson.html
