Check back for news

Check back for news

Check back for news

Check back for news

Check back for news.

October 12, 2011

Dear Families,

Thank you for helping us raise $268.15 for breast cancer by supporting our bake sale. We sold out! The money we raised will go to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that Dixie and Molly walked in. Again, thank you.

From,
Alice, Daniel T., T.J., and Leo in Dixie's class

Please click here to see photos from our bake sale!

 

September 2011 - We are happy to be back at school - working and playing. Here are some pictures from the first few weeks of school.

Enjoy,

Dixie and Jyungmin

October 21 - AUTUMN ARRIVES

OUR WORK:
We are really busy in our classroom. There is a lot of “big work” happening. The children are always enthusiastic about their accomplishments. Here is a sampling of some of our studies:

1st year: The 1st year children are working on animal stories and reports, completing their counting pages 1 to 500 (or 1 to 1000), doing addition work, making lists of nouns, writing spelling sentences, and reading, reading, reading.

2nd year: The 2nd year children have studied the five classes of vertebrates, completed reports about the sun and the planets (and even presented them to children in the Children’s Houses). They will begin a big study of invertebrate animals soon. They have also worked on counting pages (by 2, 3, 4, 5..), math computation, and are reviewing the noun family (article, adjective, noun) and verbs. Their story writing is more involved and adventurous this year.

3rd year: The 3rd year children have made lists of invertebrates and vertebrates; written about sundials; used pin maps, made maps, and studied countries in South America. They are getting to be geology experts and know their igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. They really surprised their instructor at the Museum of Natural History with their knowledge of rocks in a recent workshop. (See an article on the Ruffing website from this "World of Rocks" field trip by all three Lower El 3rd year children.) They like to study famous volcanoes, too. Third year know their addition and subtraction facts quite quickly now, and are more skilled in math computations. Their grammar work with articles, adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and prepositions (over, under, around & through!) is impressive. Spelling work is more detailed and their dictionary skills are growing. They have begun reading to and with their reading buddies in extended day.

Everyone is writing a daily journal entry, and enjoys our quiet reading time in the afternoon. We’re also learning more about roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds.

Click here for photos.

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, our Third Year students spent a morning at the Natural History Museum. See our photos and read what our students had to say about their experience:

Third Year Trip to the Natural History Museum
By Sam and Maddie (Dixie’s Class)

We learned about rocks. We learned about volcanoes. There are two different kinds of volcanoes, strato and shield. There are three different kinds of rocks - igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. We did an experiment about volcanoes.  We filled two bottles with water and put Alka-Seltzer in it. One cap for one of the bottles had a hole in it. The other did not. The cap with a hole bubbled slowly.  The other volcano had the cap without a hole, and it blew the cap off. It shows the shield and strato volcano. The strato was the one that blew the top off. The shield was the one that bubbled.

We interviewed a few children and here is what they had to say about our trip:

I liked the experiment on volcanoes. I liked touching the rocks. My favorite rock is metamorphic. - Anabel (Susan’s Class)

I liked the volcano experiment. I also liked the experiment showing the layers of sediment. My favorite rock is igneous. - Cooper (Susan’s Class)

My favorite part was the experiments, especially the one demonstrating the two volcanoes. My favorite rock is metamorphic. The best thing I learned is there are two types of volcanoes. - Nola (Dave’s Class)

My favorite part was everything! My favorite rock is igneous. The teacher was pretty good. - Mitchell (Dave’s Class)

Click here for pictures.

 

November 11, 2011

We are using a new design in order to make our student written Classroom News more attractive. Click here!

September 12, 2011

Welcome back to our returning families and those new to Ruffing Montessori School! We hope that you have settled into a nice school routine as a family. It is truly wonderful to be back in school again and teaching every day in Ruffing's Upper Elementary environment. We came out of the starting blocks and the race officially started with school off to a magnificent start. The children, as individuals as well as a collective entity, are a wonderfully inspiring group of students and we thank you for sharing them with us!

Each student has been assessed individually in each of the core subject areas (Reading, Writing, Math), and began writing in their personalized and hand-decorated journals. They were each assigned a novel to read according to their level, along with their first critical thinking work. They also received the five Great Lessons and we hit the ground running, working with challenging new lessons in math, geometry, language, including spelling and novel, history, geography, botany and zoology. The children are thirsty for knowledge, and have so much knowledge to share in return. Materials were eagerly taken from the shelves as the children had missed their work during the summer. They seemed so appreciative and happy to be back to school. We also took time for the students to come up with a list of jobs to do in order to keep our classroom community going, rules so we may live respectfully with one another each day and the all-important task of naming our two classroom Goldfish and Guppies. They have established systems for organizing themselves and the classroom environment, and have rekindled friendships, both new and old. They have also enjoyed the new science lab and field experience, Spanish, music, art and physical education opportunities offered by Ruffing's Specialists. The children are an amazing group of individuals, each one full of personality and character, and make a dynamic and inspiring community.

The classroom's prepared environment is an integral component of Dr. Montessori's method of education, and it is designed to ignite the child's imagination with carefully selected materials, treasures, information and specimens which bring the entire universe to their fingertips. The environment, void of obstacles yet full of opportunities, offers children freedom and encourages them to participate in the unfolding of their academic interests. With this responsibility the children grow to function independently and thus, interdependently as a class and in the world. Our attractive environment, though somewhat limited, is merely meant to whet each child's appetite, as the myriad of possibilities on the journey of life-long learning are, indeed, endless! We are fortunate to live in a culturally rich and diverse area which supports learning and entices young minds.

Going Out is an essential part of the Upper Elementary curriculum and camping out is a long-standing Ruffing tradition that fulfills this need. On Tuesday, September 6 through Wednesday, September 7, 2011 we ventured out to focus on community building during our Class Campout to beautiful Camp Red Oak in Willoughby, Ohio. Nestled in close proximity to Holden Arboretum, the 50-year old camp offered us opportunities for team and community building through doing cooperative activities, playing and learning new games, climbing a high-ropes course, zip-lining, canoeing, sharing meals, cabins and the evening campfire. Memories abound from our wonderful stay there. Please share them with us and see the posted photos of all the children from our time there!

We look forward to seeing you at Ruffing's Upper Elementary Potluck Dinner next week.

Julie

 

 

Friday, October 6 - Clarence Moore, father of Cameo and former EMT, shared CPR training with our class - 30 Compressions, 2 Breaths, 5 Cycles! Click for photos.

Thursday, September 8 & Friday, September 9 - Camping Trip for William's Class! Our students had such a great time, and enjoyed the physical challenges of the Zip-Line, Canoeing, High-Ropes, Double-Ball, and a game called Entourage. Even the rain we experienced during the trip could not dampen their spirits. Click for photos.

Thursday, September 1 - William's Upper El Iron Chefs enjoyed preparing and serving basil pesto with our class. Delicious! Click for Photos.

 

 

 

Content 4

Sixth Year Stained Glass Designs - 1-9-12

In conjunction with a Middle Ages unit studied in the classroom, sixth year students explored the history and art of stained glass. Historically important and contemporary examples of stained glass were studied, with a focus on the storytelling aspect of the medium. In addition, the studio experience explored the special qualities of the translucent and transparent colors found in the stained glass. Using plastic acetate, black glue, and acrylic gloss paints, students created miniature glass like designs that illustrated an element of a true personal story. To further explain the meaning behind their image, sixth year students also created titles and descriptive explanations of their story. Click here to see photos of their creative work!

Fifth Year Relief Prints - 12-16-11

Our fifth year students created relief prints that are illustrations of Japanese Haikus. We began the project by discussing the aesthetics of a Japanese woodcut and its creation process. The students then selected two poems to illustrate. We discussed how vertical compositions were best when illustrating individual objects, such as portraits, and horizontal compositions were best for illustrating a range of things, such as landscapes.

The students then chose their favorite drawing illustration to create a plate (printing matrix) by drawing their illustration on foam, being mindful that a plate would become a negative of their drawing in that the white areas in their drawing would be black, and vice versa.

After completing their plates, the students were then ready to begin the printing process. The relief printing process is where ink is applied to the original surface of the plate, the plate is then covered with paper and pressure is applied so that the inked image will transfer to the paper. The students repeated this process several times with both black and colored inks to create the final layered print.

Children’s House Exploration of Lines - 11-21-11

The Extended Day students in the Children’s House classrooms spend the year learning about art elements and design principles. Elements of art provide the foundation for every work of art, and consist of line, shape color, form, texture, space, and value. Lines were the first art element studied, which is, by definition, a mark that can be measure between to points. To explore the many aspects of a line and its application in art, we focused on 3 projects this fall.

The first project of this unit was a material line exercise. The purpose was to introduce the children to the many characteristics of a line, such as length, width, color and finally the different materials or medium used to make a line. The students were given a variety of art materials: charcoal, marker, crayon, oil pastel, and chalk pastel and created many different kinds of lines using the available materials

The second project involved exploring with line and color. We began by looking at one of Wassily Kandinsky's paintings, "Study for Composition No. 2." The Russian artist Kandinsky is known as one of the founders of pure abstract painting, as well as one of the first artists to create non-representational paintings. We looked at this particular Kandinsky painting because of the use of lines as expressed in primary and secondary colors. The students were then asked to draw a line with black crayon all over their paper, periodically changing direction and varying the line, such that shapes were made as the line crossed over itself. The children applied color to the large shapes created using primary colors and applied secondary colors to the smaller shapes. The final step of the project was to take tissue paper the color of the secondary color and glue it between the two colors that create that color. For example, a child would glue purple tissue paper between a red and blue shape. As a final touch, the children mounted their work on a larger paper and decorated the frame with a colorful pattern.

The third project involved studying three dimensional lines by creating paper roller coasters. This fun project explored the differences between two dimensional and three dimensional objects. After an initial discussion about two and three dimensional objects, and a quick demonstration on folding and gluing strips of paper onto a base, the students enjoyed curling and bending their colorful paper strips and watching their lines come alive.

 

It is hard to believe we are closing in on November! We have been incredibly busy in Art, and wanted to share what our students have been and will be learning.

Extended Day Children

Extended Day students are focusing on the basic art elements: line, shape, color, space, form, texture and value. In addition to the self-portraits your children completed for their Art to Remember project, the children have been working with lines, creatively. They began the year with Kandinsky Line Explorations using primary colors. They will soon be creating three-dimensional lines in a fun project constructing three-dimensional Paper Roller Coasters, which helps children understand how a line can be both two dimensional and three dimensional. Lastly, students will explore how lines make shapes, specifically geometric and organic, creating Joan Miro-inspired Shape Creatures.

First Year Students

First years will be taking the concepts they learned in Children’s House and apply them to observing and creating art based on their environment. They began this exploration by creating Landscape Paintings, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. Setting up outside on Beaumont Field, the children were able to observe, draw, and paint the beautiful foliage of the surrounding area. In connection with their classroom studies and research on animals, first year students will begin a unit on animals. The next several projects are all animal themed: including Animal Drawings, Crayon Etchings, Paper and Ceramic Sculptures.

Second Year Students

Second year students will learn how nature and design are used in different traditions and crafts, specifically Indian and American. They will create Rangoli, a symmetrical chalk drawing, that is created during the Hindu holiday Diwali. One of the influential design inspirations found in Rangoli is nature, and how that translates into color, shape and scale of the drawings. They will then study the American craft tradition of Quilt-making, making their own paper Leaf Quilts using the leaves from Ruffing’s gardens as inspiration.

Third Year Students

Third year students are beginning to use art elements in more complex ways. Students are currently using lines to create and draw Contour Shoe Drawings. They will then create paper lanterns called Aakash Kandeels, traditionally made for Diwiali in certain states in India. Using markers, they will design a warm color and cool color symmetrical geometric composition, after which they will construct the lanterns out of tissue paper. We typically hang the finished lanterns in our Lower El kitchen area, as they make a colorful and festive contribution to our space.

Fourth Year Students

In the Upper Elementary, students focus on how artists use images to communicate their vision. The fourth year students have just completed an illustration based on the work of Murray Tinkleman. For this project, each child created a Mechanimal, which is an illustration that combines an animal and machine. The children truly enjoyed coming up with fun (and funny) combinations. We will continue to explore the idea of “an artist as communicator” throughout the year.

Fifth Year Students

In the fifth year, students begin to plan a composition in more complex ways, such as the use of positive and negative space. Students also begin to explore how artists use images and symbols to express ideology and abstract ideas in art, such as peace, hope, and dreams. Fifth year students recently completed Symbolic Self Portraits that were inspired by the painting “I am the Village,” created by artist Marc Chagall, which uses these concepts.

Sixth Year Students

Sixth year students continue to explore the basic elements of art, with a focus on shape relationships. The artwork and unique love-hate relationship of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were studied in this regard. Picasso and Matisse's individual artistic styles differed greatly, causing confrontation, but ultimately a life-long friendship ensued between these two artists. Students explored both artist’s use of line and shape, ultimately creating a final artwork that fused both of their styles. Using a variety of markers, patterns, textures, and warm/cool color schemes, students combined geometric and organic shapes to create energized unified Abstract Shape Compositions. Integrated with their classroom studies of the Middle-Ages, sixth year students will next create Symbolic Stained Glass-Like Window Designs. Additionally, all sixth year students have created sketchbooks for developing project ideas, lesson extensions, etc., and are currently working on mixed-media cover designs for these books.

Seventh Year Students

Seventh year students began the school year with Line Designs, a project that served as an introduction to art elements and principles, with a focus on creating a balanced, unified, abstract composition using line, pattern, and texture. Using black marker on colorful chalk-stained paper, students created richly-patterned and textured line designs with strong visual movement for their Art to Remember projects. The decorative art movements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, along with African and Aboriginal art, were also introduced to students, helping to inspire their own creative use of geometric and organic line. Next, seventh years will explore basic one and two point perspective tools with the creation of Line Mazes. Additionally, all seventh year students have created sketchbooks for developing project ideas, lesson extensions, etc., and are currently working on mixed-media cover designs for these books.

Eighth Year Students

Eighth year students explore art elements and principles as a means to plan and structure their artwork, but are also encouraged to develop their own artistic voice and sense of self through their choice of subject matter. Students began the year exploring the often mysterious paintings of the symbolist painter Odilon Redon and the stylized ink drawings of contemporary artist Patricia Renick. Various cultures' symbolic images, including Aboriginal and Native American, were also explored. Students were challenged to create Layered Symbolic Compositions with strong visual movement that expressed a personal theme, while utilizing stylized symbols, patterns, textures, and marker techniques. Next, eighth year students will take a closer look at nature and color, exploring the pointillist painting techniques of Georges Seurat and create a Pointillist Color Study of their own. Additionally, all eighth year students have created sketchbooks for developing project ideas, lesson extensions, etc. and are currently working on mixed-media cover designs for these books.

We are enjoying working with your creative and enthusiastic children! Click here to see some of their work!

-Erika Anderson and Katie Hannon

Greetings from the music classroom!

I feel thrilled and honored to be joining the teaching staff at Ruffing Montessori School this year! Our first few weeks of class have been packed with activities that I would like to share with all of our families.

Every class began the year by learning a Native American chant called The Earth is our Mother. This song also incorporated three different percussion lines that were first taught with poetic chant. Once the rhythmic patterns were learned through spoken word, we transferred the parts from voice to fingertips on percussion instruments. We also added traditional foot patterns and felt the chant from voice to fingertip and all the way to our feet.

Our 8th grade is starting off the school year by studying the classical period of music and is learning the famous Emperor's Hymn by Haydn on soprano and alto recorder. We will be creating a percussion line to accompany our recorders. Our 7th grade is studying the music of ancient cultures and will be creating their own songs using the ancient Greek modes and poetry.

Along with plenty of folk dancing, our 4th - 6th grade students are currently working on Orff arrangements with barred percussion of the folk songs "The Deaf Woman's Courtship", "My Momma Told Me" and "Kansas Boys.

The Extended Day - 3rd grade students have been learning an array of folk songs, dances, games and play party activities, based on their level of development, to impart important musical concepts.

I look forward to meeting all of you and making music with your children.

Dini Karam

Physical Education Update - 1-27-12

Toddlers have enjoyed time indoors and out learning small group movement games, turn taking, coordination of movement, balance, kicking, throwing, catching, jumping, running and even some tumbling! Click here for pictures.

See photos of Children's House children playing Steal the Bacon, Brownies and Fairies, cooperative games with the Omnikin Ball, and rope jumping.

Lower Elementary students worked with rope jumping. Third year students proposed, organized and ran a jump rope contest for the entire elementary program. Students enjoy crab soccer and cooperative games with the Omnikin Ball. Click here

Upper Elementary students are very pleased with the results of their student run Gym Uniform Committee. See photos of students playing Capture the Flag, indoor soccer, and group rope jumping. Students climb the climbing wall and play table tennis. The Ruffing tradition of Roast a Ghost was enjoyed this fall.

The Middle School students participate in a wide range of games and activities. Here are photos of some, including: archery, Minkey, volleyball, kickball, Steal the Bacon, indoor football, Doctor Good and cooperative games with the Omnikin Ball. Students lead dynamic stretching, participate in morning running club and enjoyed the return of the Ruffing tradition, Roast a Ghost.

Fourth Year Spanish - Puppet Show!

Click here to see the photos from our in-class puppet performance! A fun way to reinforce a child's Spanish skills is through play, and our Fourth Year students recently put on a skit with animal hand puppets. There was quite a bit of work involved over the course of 3 lessons. First, the students read through the play several times, which, of course, was written in Spanish. Then we translated the play to make sure we understood what was being said. Students were assigned parts, practiced their lines and acted out the skit with the script in front of them. Lastly, they performed the skit without the script. A fun time was had by all - ask your child to tell you the story.

-Lili Rose