Landforms & Water Features: Week One

Some quick notes from our first week of exploring these archetypal shapes!

You can find the complete list of landforms & water features on my website.

Monday, September 2

• review Biomes of the World Mat from Waseca Biomes
• discuss three-part cards for Reef from Mandala Classroom Resources
• read Coral Reef Hideaway: The Story of a Clown Anemonefish by Doe Boyle
• examine Coral Reef Habitat Mat from Waseca Biomes
  (younger students laying out and identifying wooden plant & animal pieces on the habitat mat; older students doing the advanced work of reading Fact File cards, solving math word problems, symbolizing sentences with the grammar materials, creating accurate food webs)
• create coral reef artwork (acrylic ink, straw, watercolor paper)
• do Form Drawing inspired by the reef lying at or just below the surface of the water (zig zag forms on middle of page 37 of Creative Form Drawing with Children Aged 6-10 Years by Angela Lord)

Tuesday, September 3

• review Reef, add to classroom display, add to MLB
• discuss three-part cards for River
• read Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
• examine Everlades Reef Habitat Mat from Waseca Biomes, note that the anhinga lives there, note also that the Everglades is not a swamp (a flooded forest) but a slow moving and shallow 50 mile wide river
• dig in the backyard and make a model of a river with Abel's Island in the middle of it, test our design with water flowing from a hose
• do Form Drawing inspired by the river (flowing lines at the top of page 27 of Creative Form Drawing with Children Aged 6-10 Years)

Thursday, September 5

• review River, add to classroom display, add to MLB
• discuss three-part cards for Cave
• look at pictures of cave homes
  • If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche
    "Cave dwelling"
  • Houses of China by Bonnie Shemie
    "Cutting caves into mountains" pp.12-13
    "Carving caves underground" pp.14-15
  • Wonderful Houses around the World by Yoshio Komatsu
    "Spain: Houses that breathe through chimneys" pp.26-29
• add cave model made with self-hardening clay to Abel's Island scene in the backyard
• do Form Drawing inspired by the cave (curves at the bottom of page 21 of Creative Form Drawing with Children Aged 6-10 Years)

Friday, September 6

• review Cave, add to classroom display, add to MLB
• discuss three-part cards for Waterfall
• watercolor painting of waterfall (mixing broken colors for the rocks, painting pure prussian blue or ultramarine blue in a straight vertical gesture for the falling water, splattering paint with a toothbrush for the spray, adding details with watercolor pencils)
• add waterfall and rocks to Abel's Island scene in the backyard
• do Form Drawing inspired by the waterfall plummeting down (straight lines at the top and middle of page 21 of Creative Form Drawing with Children Aged 6-10 Years)

A great family field trip to follow up on this would be Ferne Clyffe State Park, Goreville IL.

Ferne Clyffe State Park brochure (PDF)

list of trails (PDF)


Exploring Nature in Illinois: A Field Guide to the Prairie State
by Michael Jeffords and Susan Post
chapter 37, "Ferne Clyffe State Park"

This week we continue to have individual and small group lessons on the Montessori materials. We have also had Handwork lessons on finger knitting and braiding, and next will make knitting needles. Students are excited to learn how to knit! Next week Art classes with Ms. Anna of Ana&Mei begin.

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