A Whitby School Newsletter Connecting Parents, Teachers and Students in Learning

Fall /winter 2010-2011 p r i m a r y iB Units: How we Organize

Ourselves ........... 1

who we are ......... 3

music, art, theatre ... 5

world language ........ 5

our community

the classes started with discussions about what makes a community and how each child is a member of a class,

a school and a global community. Included in these discussions were ways to show em-pathy, compassion and respect for others in the classroom and playground.

The students learned about the Whitby campus and community by taking a tour of the school. Afterward, they color-coded maps of The Children’s House. The third year students used their maps as naviga-tional tools. They climbed the stairs to see the offices of Mr. Fainelli, Head of School, and Ms. Diane Carlson, his Assistant. Among other places they visited were the Art Studio where they met Ms. Artale. Mrs. Brent, Head of the Lower School greeted them in her office. Along the way they met other important people such as the nurse, Ms. Judy Paton, the librarian, Ms. Anne Van Leer and Director of Facilities, Mr. Tom Coleman.

To reinforce the part these people play at Whitby, a BINGO game was created by the

teachers. The children matched the picture of the important person with their role. Be-fore long the children were becoming risk takers as they recognized and greeted these people throughout the school.

Problem solving for the older children incorporated transdisciplinary learning in math and language arts. The students be-came thinkers as they tried to solve teacher-created word problems. An example of this would be using the maps they created to find answers. One problem asked the chil-dren to count how many steps it was from their classroom to the Reception Desk, the Library and the Brent Oval.

curriculumconnection

iB UnitHow We Organize Ourselves

titleOur Community

Central ideaEveryone lives in a community.

Primary students share traditional dress from home.

the school year opened with a study of marine life. Many of the children wanted to share their summer experi-

ences at the ocean. This provided a spring-board for the older children to learn about other habitats such as rainforests, forests and deserts. The Nature of Things visited the classrooms for an in-house field trip

through a rainforest. The children got to touch beautiful animals as they explored this environment.

Concurrent with this study was the be-ginning of the IB units which correspond well with the objectives of the Montessori classroom: cooperation, order, indepen-dence and coordination.

Curriculum Connection is a publication of Whitby School connecting parents, teachers and students in learning. Thank you to all the faculty, administration and staff who contributed to this issue.

Editor: Bob Horne Contributing Writer: Polly TafrateDesign and Production: CP Design

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Primary student journal entry

we are family

iB UnitWho We Are

titleWe Are Family

Central ideaEveryone belongs to a fam-ily, but not every family is the same.

Primary students share something important from home with the class.

Dovetailing with the idea of being a member of a community is the idea that each child is a member of a family. As a way for the students to introduce their family to the class, each child took

home an empty bag to fill with artifacts that would give a visual rep-resentation of their family and its traditions. Many brought in pho-tographs. Abigail Gschwind was excited to share her grandmother’s beautiful quilt with Primary C. Alexander Morrison shared the Scot-tish flag, map and family genealogy chart with Primary B and Nina Lutz (PR1 in Primary E) included her family’s recipe for crepes. Over the following weeks, the children presented their family at morning meeting by showing and explaining the contents of their bag. Second and third-year students wrote in their journals daily, often about the community or their family. The older students made family trees, while the third-year students wrote books about their families during Writer’s Workshop.

Seasonal learningDuring October the classes observed and learned about the two types of trees: deciduous, ones whose leaves change colors before dropping to the ground, and evergreens whose needles remain green year round.

They correlated this with learning about Native Americans and how important the harvest was to them. The classes traveled to Sand Bridge Pumpkin Patch where they enjoyed a hayride, chose a pumpkin for the classroom and a gourd to take home.

The traditional Whitby Thanksgiving feast was a November highlight. (See page 4 for more photos.) Students could choose to make a Native-American headband or a Pilgrim hat to wear. Each class prepared different foods to share with their parents and classmates. Lead by Lillian Lotufo (mother of Francesca and Marcus), the Primary class parents served the children. Plates were piled high with applesauce, pumpkin muffins, oat-meal cookies, mashed potatoes and gravy, clementines, apples, carrots, and of course, turkey!

January brings a new IB weather unit as well as our excit-ing physical science unit. If you are ever out and about on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, walk through the Oval around 1:30 and you will see the third year scientists con-ducting experiments.

montessori method As always the Montessori philosophy and materials are the foundation of our primary classrooms. Concrete and senso-rial materials are coupled together with the specific IB units in our curriculum. Through inquiry and exploration the children work in either small or large groups as they learn order and cooperation. The concept of base ten was introduced as was the nomenclature for two and three dimensional geometric shapes. Practical life activities reinforce grace and courtesy, as well as develop small motor control.

Language and math areas are building the foundation for learning as the children develop the academic skills needed to empower them as they become life-long learners, independent thinkers and problem solvers.

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music and art

writer’s workshopTwice a week the third-year students participate in Writer’s Workshop. After learning about the different animal habitats, these students chose a favorite one to research. They formu-lated some “What, Where and Why” questions, such as what does their animal eat, who are their enemies and why do they choose this habitat to live in. Next came research where the children checked books out of the Whitby library in search of answers. They were encouraged to ask to ask challenging ques-tions of their parents and teachers. Each child collated their findings into a book and made a diorama to illustrate their animal and its habitat. The final step was when the children became communicators as they presented their projects during Author’s Share to the Lower Elementary students.

musicOnce a week each Primary class has music in their homerooms. The students are working on songs with several verses as they match pitch and learn rhythmic patterns. They’re also beginning to appreciate dif-ferent musical genres by listening to audio samples and singing pieces of various styles. As part of the Primary Wheel, the third-year students rotate into the new music room in Caedmon for a focus class twice a week. Here they work on basic composition as they write melodies and rhythmic patterns. Musical families such as the woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings are introduced.

artThe Primary students began the semester by identifying and applyingart skills. Learning and using specific vocabulary helped them to de-scribe the elements of geometric and organic shapes, textures and pri-mary and secondary colors. They learned to follow directions as they practiced the skills and techniques of using art tools and materials correctly when they worked with paint, pastels, stamps and sewing. The artistic styles of Jackson Pollack and Keith Haring were viewed and discussed which served as a springboard for the students to learn how to describe and critique their own work and that of others. This helped them to communicate visual art with expression and purpose and to make connections across disciplines, life cultures and art work.

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Unit resources on the whitby website www.whitbyschool.orgHome > Academic Programs > Primary: 3-6 years > PYP Units of Inquiry 2010-2011

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world languages

ChineseThe focus for primary students’ weekly class has been on the grad-ual exposure to the language. They’ve learned to sing a few Chinese songs, have tried their hand at traditional Chinese paper cutting and have enjoyed watching Chinese cartoons, in particular Xiaotou Baba, Datou Erzi.

Spanish Children are exposed to other cultural perspectives, using language as a doorway to this understanding. In Primary, students learn the Spanish language by hearing it used while playing games, or listening to a song or a story. They also learn basic greetings, colors, numbers, seasons, weather descriptions, talk about themselves and hold basic conversations in Spanish.

memories from the thanksgiving Feast