DO YOU KNOW THE ABUNDANCE OF BOOKLET MAKING ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ENGAGE CHILDREN IN THE MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT?
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Okay, so your children found a snail in the lettuce patch this morning.
Make a note to put out "The Parts of the Snail" 3-Part Cards and nomenclature booklet making trays. And, if you have the parts of a snail puzzle, that is a must for the shelf, too.
Here's a quick 1-minute video showing the process of children creating their little Montessori Nomenclature Booklets:
A MONTESSORI HALLMARK
PARTS OF THE TREE BOOKLET MAKING
How about booklets for parts of the guinea pig?...or the gold fish or whatever classroom pets you may have!
Over the years, we've put out some amazing parts of...booklets for the children.
Here are a few ideas:
Parts of...
~ Insect
~ Volcano
~ Sea Horse
~ Space ship
~ Fire truck
~ Horse
~ Cheetah
~ Sea Turtle
~ Land Turtle
~ Ant
~ Butterfly
~ Plant
~ Fish
~ Amphibian
~ Reptile
~ Bird
~ Orchestra
~ Trumpet
~ Violin
~ Timpani Drum
~ Dog
~ Cat
~ Rabbit
~ Penguin
~ Evergreen Tree
~ Flower
~ Solar System
~ Tarantula
~ House
~ Car
~ Dump Truck
The list goes on.
A GREAT WAY TO "FOLLOW THE CHILD"
When the children bring us questions about their favorite discoveries in the environment, that's the time to engage their interest even further with activities that feature their new interest.
And, "Parts of.." Booklet making can be one of the most engaging activities for Montessori children.
THE PROCESS: FROM "CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT"
The process goes something like this:
~ Begins with a real experience, if possible (ex: hugging a tree in the garden)
~ Next, the child puts together a Montessori style "Parts of...puzzle" related to the real experience (Ex: Parts of the Tree puzzle)
~ Then you will see the child exploring the Montessori 3-Part Cards that go along with this new interest of the child/ren (Ex: Nomenclature cards with control cards, and cards with labels for the child to manipulate)
~ Finally, the child will dive into making a "Parts of..." Booklet (in this case: "Parts of the Tree" Booklet)
HOW I SET UP THE TRAYS FOR
MONTESSORI-STYLE BOOKLET MAKING
How you set up the trays for making these Montessori Booklets is up to you. I've seen so many lovely ways to set these up in the many Montessori classrooms I've been in.
You can see the way that I like to set it up in the slide show video included in this post. (above)
HERE'S ONE WAY
In my newest Musically Montessori eCourse we will be making gazillions of "Parts of..." Booklets, along with 3- Part Cards to match.
Here is a partial list from the eCourse:
~ The Sections of the Orchestra
~ Parts of the Music Stand
~ My Orchestra Booklet (with vocabulary words like: Orchestra, conductor, stage, audience, etc.)
~ Parts of the Brass Family of Instruments
~ Parts of The Trumpet
~ Parts of The Trombone
~ Parts of The French Horn
~ Parts of The Tuba
~ Parts of the String Family of Instruments
~ Parts of The Violin, The Viola, The Cello, and The Bass
~ Parts of the Woodwind Family of Instruments
~ Parts of The Flute, The Clarinet, The Oboe, and The Bassoon
~ Parts of the Percussion Family of Instruments
~ Parts of The Snare Drum, The Bass Drum, The Timpani Drum, the Xylophone, The Glockenspiel, The Tambourine, and The Triangle
A FEW OF THE
COGNITIVE BENEFITS FOR THE CHILD
- Language and vocabulary development, of course
- Child's developing skills in organizing knowledge
- Small muscle exercise (Filling in the "Parts" and eventually WRITING!)
- Self confidence (READING the book you created!)
- Creativity: putting the little book together (I like to use colorful ribbon so that the books turn out absolutely adorable and are very engaging to the aesthetic sense in the child)
- ORDER, CONCENTRATION, COORDINATION AND INDEPENDENCE!
VERY ENGAGING FOR THE MONTESSORI CHILD
After the child has worked with Montessori 3-Part Cards, they soon catch on to the fact that the particular part that is featured is usually colored in with red.
Likewise, when making a "Parts of..." Booklet, the child sees that the featured part is colored in with red. (like Montessori 3-Part Cards) This is a familiar concept by now (it's the "key'!) and so the child embarks upon making the pages of his or her booklet come to life with that red colored pencil!
In the beginning, the teacher or an older child can write in the words on each page of the child's booklet. However, I have found that the children quickly become motivated to write in the words themselves and these first little books are the most charming of all!
Many Montessori environments encourage the child to read their newly created "Parts of..." Booklet to the other children. This is very fun for all, but especially confidence-building for the child who has discovered the "key" and it is also very motivating for the child who is about to discover the "key."
"PARTS OF THE MUSIC STAND"
FROM LESSON ONE: "MUSICALLY MONTESSORI ECOURSE, INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA"
The real experience!
All the way to creating the Montessori style
"Parts of..." Booklet
I invite you to join my newest Musically Montessori eCourse and take 20% off!
I am happy to have you visiting my Blog today. I hope you and your group enjoy these ideas.