Preprimary students used magazine photos of dancers as their “muse” and mimicked the dancers’ movements in their own drawings. Jennifer Frank, (3-6) teacher, shared with students a little about each artist’s life, showed famous works and demonstrated the styles each artist employed.
Non nappers study animals that live in the soil
Non-nappers have been studying worms, slugs, pill bugs and other animals that live in the soil and in rotting logs. TNSM teacher Colleen Blumer introduced the children to these animals through various books, Under the Ground, Under One Rock, and Log Hotel. They then took their study to the preprimary woods where they cracked open a soggy log and found many of the creatures they’d just read about. Students crawled through a cloth tunnel, pretending they were worms. They learned about worm anatomy, touched real ones and then used cut strips of brown felt to make their own. Who knew logs …
Rainy-day play!
One of my favorite things about TNSM is that a rainy day doesn’t mean preprimary children don’t get to play outside. They are dressed for the weather and can absorb all that there is to learn about water and puddles!
Rookwood Pottery Artist Teaches Clay Club at TNSM
TNSM offers a wide variety of after-school clubs. Ximena Flores is not only TNSM’s Spanish teacher but she’s also an artist and expert potter at Cincinnati’s Rookwood Pottery. We are so grateful that she is offering Clay Club again this semester to TNSM students.
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More experiments with light
(9-12) teacher Nancy Buchman reported that in her students’ work with light, 4-6th graders learned that when a mirror reflects an image, it will appear backwards. Arielle took this one step further and discovered that when she wrote her name backwards and held it up to a mirror, backwards became frontwards. On one of our sunny days, Parker focused the sun’s natural light through her prism. She was thrilled to see a rainbow of colors (aka ROY G BIV) appear in her shadow.
Reflected, refracted or absorbed…
In physical science, Nancy Buchman’s 4th – 6th grade students are studying light. They learned that light can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed. When light is absorbed, it can be changed into 3 different types of energy. Sophie and Parker are looking at a work that shows how light energy can change to heat energy like hot sand on the beach on a sunny day. The solar-powered calculator is a great example of light energy changing to electrical energy. Photosynthesis in plants is proof that light energy changes to chemical energy.
Preview of 1st graders’ upcoming performance
TNSM elementary dance teacher Jeanne Speier is rehearsing with first graders in preparation for their upcoming Montessori-in-Motion performance in March. Enjoy the preview of their work.
(9-12) students Skype with friends in Italy
During (9-12)’s community meeting, Annex students were able to Skype with their classmate Gardner who moved to Turin, Italy with her family in January. Both Gardner and Dawson are attending an English-speaking school that is a 45-minute bus ride from their apartment. Their 18th century apartment has beautiful ornate ceilings, and they live in front of a park. The girls love the food and say that Italian pizza is even better than American pizza. The (9-12) students can’t wait to talk with Gardner and Dawson again to learn more about their lives in Italy.
Heifer International receives valuable gifts from TNSM students
Students in TNSM’s (9-12) program competed in a “Penny-Pinching Challenge” among their homerooms. Their goal was to raise as much money as possible for Heifer International. Student board members came up with a combination of animals and educational opportunities that totaled their $610 earnings. The class then got to vote on which combination they would like to donate. With the $610 raised, the students chose to give: the dollars needed to pay for one young girl to go to school bees 2 pigs 4 sheep rabbits starter flock of chickens
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Alumni Updates for Winter 2016 Community Newsletter
Livi Logan Wood (’06) is team co-captain and 4-year starter at St. Louis University. This year, she started in all 18 games and was on the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll both semesters. Livi earned Atlantic 10 All-Academic acclaim and was one of 60 seniors in NCAA Division I soccer to be considered for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. The award is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I soccer and is chosen by a vote of Division I women’s soccer coaches, national soccer media and fans. Congratulations to Molly Giglia (’10) for being named as a National Merit Scholar Finalist. Sam Lorry (’13) emailed TNSM Civics Teacher Johnnye White …