ECA friends created a collaborative art piece completely driven on their own without the help of the guides. This included crumbling tissue paper and gluing it on a large piece of art paper.  ECB created jellyfish after looking at different types of jellyfish in their study of the oceans. This project involved cutting and gluing tissue paper bodies and cutting and gluing pieces of yarn for the tentacles. ECC is exploring music by using a keyboard through creative expression. Friends are learning to distinguish high and low sounds. This also helps strengthen the hand muscles for writing.  LE collaborated and created a salt map of Pangea as well as a salt map of Laurasia/Gondawanaland to go along with their classroom study of the formation of the supercontinents. ME learned the art of making sushi!  They spread the rice on the seaweed, put the ingredients of their choice on top, and then rolled their sushi all while learning the vocabulary in Spanish. Sushi by

ECA is practicing their cutting work to help them develop the control and coordination necessary for later cutting activities. ECB explored creating art with a marble that went along with their study of the primary colors.  The children squeezed drops of primary colored paint in the center of the paper and then moved the container to roll the marble through the paint, creating the design.  ECC created a mosaic of dots to create intricate detailed patterns.  This work also helps strengthen the hand muscles for writing and performing practical life activities.  LE learned about the work of the master artist, Claude Monet. They created their own watercolor inspired by Monet’s love for painting water forms.  Monet Inspired Watercolor by Kate LE also received the final piece of the collaborative fall art they did with Kolidiko. ME did a Mandala Project to honor someone or some place important in their lives.  It was a way of giving thanks by designing with the

The Abintra Montessori School is proud to be a partner of the West Meade Conservancy. The outdoor education curriculum in the Upper Elementary classroom at Abintra strives to help students develop awareness, foster respect and share enthusiasm for the natural environment and learn how to work as a community to protect and preserve our local ecosystem. Currently, the class is building a database of organisms on the Abintra campus, following the example of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) project taking place in the Smoky Mountains National Park. It documents parts of the biodiversity existing in the hills of West Meade. Members of the WMC have been very supportive in our efforts: Jane Bibring donated several field guides to our classroom and Willi Honegger recently presented a lesson about insects. We hope that this collaboration will continue and become stronger. Jonell Smith, Upper Elementary Guide, Abintra Montessori School Above: Abintra representation at the West M

In ECA, students do a sewing activity while learning the vocabulary in Spanish:  aguja (needle), hilo (thread), nudo (knot), coser(sew), cortar (cut), tijeras (scissors). ECB created a representation of the Earth's core with red as the inner core, orange as the outer core, yellow as the mantle, and black as the crust.  The students are creating these through pin punching, using a push pin to create the shape, which strengthens the three-finger grasp.  This is a continuation of our study of the Earth's core, providing the students with the opportunity to experience the lesson in another form, incorporating movement and fine motor skills. ECC took some time during November to study the beautiful season of fall.  Each child created their own unique fall tree using paper bags and torn pieces of construction paper. LE kicked off their study of printmaking this week.  Using leaves that have fallen on campus, the students did positive and negative prints.  They used a g