Confederate Instructional Training
The Civil War lept off the pages of the history books and landed squarely on the backs of our Middle School students as they found themselves working in army regiments, just like soldiers did during the Civil War. Confederate Instructional Training (CIT) was held at the local park with Ms. Erica as the Sergeant, supported by sixteen parents acting as Corporals. Each of the Recruits (our Middle School students), were randomly assigned their regiments. When one student was out of step, a shoe not tied, some other task not completed; the entire regiment was obligated to do 10-15 pushups. Students who may had never worked together before during the school year, found themselves depending upon everyone in their regiment to pull their own weight.
Five stations of training were set up including erecting a Sibley tent, building a stretcher, administering first aid, making and eating hardtack (a staple of the war made by mixing flour and water), and running with a thirty pound pack (simulating the hardship of carrying a pack for 20-40 miles a day during the Civil War).
As each of the regiments completed their tasks, the communications between the students increased as they saw the benefit of everyone doing well, and the hardship imposed on the whole regiment when one person failed. The CIT was the culmination of the study of the Civil War for the Middle School students. Not only did it bring to life some of the difficulties the soldiers faced, it inspired a deeper understanding of the complexities of the Civil War and the human cost of the conflict.
The underlying reaction by the Middle School students from participating in the CIT, was a deeper respect for the soldiers and the hardships they endured for the sake of their beliefs. After eating the hardtack during their simulation, Mary observed “how horrible the food must have been during the war.” She also was moved at how important it was to “move as one in their regiments” and to quickly bond with all of the students in her regiment.
Keji felt a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the Confederate’s side and how that many of the soldiers were not slave owners, but were simple farmers trying to preserve their sovereignty and felt compelled to push against the North, who they felt were threatening to take over their farms.
Kameron was impressed with the number of soldiers who were killed during the Civil War, but after doing the CIT, he felt more kindred to their stress’ and challenges. He said, “Before the CIT, I just looked as the dead soldiers as a number, now I have a much better understanding of how they might have felt.”
Participating in the regiments taught Hank, that multiple things were going on at the same time, and the “more we communicated among ourselves, the better we did.” He discovered that there was a need for the regiment to act cohesively, but at the same time he also experienced the “need for individuals to share their leadership skills and to initiate action, especially when they were erecting the Sibley tent. A-Sam also stressed the need for his regiment to work cohesively, as one misstep by an individual affected the whole group.
A common response to the CIT by all of the students, was the revelation that it was really hard to be a soldier during the Civil War, and the absolute agony our country endured when brothers fought against brothers. Abolishment of slavery was a hard fought change in the United States that emerged from the blood that was shed during the Civil War, but it came at a steep price, and now our Middle School students have a deeper appreciation for what that price was.
Montessori Primary Classroom Work
Many of the Montessori works in a Primary classroom are truly hands on, with no paperwork trail to reflect the effort required to do the work. This is especially true in many of the math jobs, sensorial, and in the practical life areas of the classroom. On the other hand, you may see small strips of paper with letters traced on it, pin punched papers, and even math papers referencing the color bead stair coming home, not knowing the source of this work.
Early letter recognition is practiced using the “blue stepboard.” A strip of four letters is placed in the board and the student is asked to match the letter from the board to the strip. When they are correct, the letter fits; when it is not the right match, the letter will not fit. The tracing paper is inserted into the board and the letters are copied.
As the child progresses in their recognition of letters, more demanding strips will be used and the student will be given the chance to fill in with the beginning sound of a word, then ending sounds of a word. Finally, a simple picture is found on the strip and the student spells the entire word.
Pin punching looks deceptively easy when the work is brought home, but the labor and fine motor skills required are noteworthy. Whether the child is pin punching a metal insert design (triangle or square), or they are pin punching a seasonal shape (pumpkin or turkey), the level of concentration is immense. The child is holding a push pin with the pincer grip (between the thumb and the first and second fingers) and is literally punching out consecutive holes around the perimeter of the shape. If a student is deliberate in their work, the shape is easily extracted from the page. If they have not sufficiently punched in enough holes, it is harder to remove it from its original page. Often, a teacher will hold up the pin punching work to the window to check the quantity of holes before they attempt to tear it out effectively. The child can then see if they have pin punched enough holes to tear it out easily.
Finally, you may have seen paperwork showing a progression of 1-10 where the numbers are traced and the corresponding beads are colored with their specific color. For instance, the one bead is always red, the two beads are green.
You are looking at a foundational Montessori math work. One of Dr. Montessori’s chief insights into educating children was to recognize that a child will likely learn better and retain the information longer, if they are taught from the concrete (holding a one bead in their hands) then introducing the abstract (this is the number one). The one to one correspondence begins to take hold, where the child realizes that they are holding “one” and that the name of that concept is the number one. You will see papers reflecting this work when bead stair papers are coming home.
Language Part 5
Today we conclude our series on Language in the Montessori Classroom.
Sacred writing time is given on a daily basis, for the first 20 minutes of the day. Students explore the writing craft in depth during their upper elementary years, where they look at the process and methods of writing. “Writers workshop” now takes on a deeper and more demanding level in these grades where students successfully write at their own pace, collecting information, writing a draft, editing, and finally publishing their work. Many of their writing assignments are tied directly to their cultural lessons, especially ones taught in history and science. There is a direct link between the information that is shared about a subject, and the abilities of the students to synthesize their understanding of the facts, and then communicate their interpretations through the written word.
Understanding grammar and using it effectively continues in upper elementary where students test their understanding of synonyms, suffixes, compounds, and analogies using the grammar box system. Montessori materials are also used to diagram sentences and label the parts of speech.
Spelling is a constant thread throughout the elementary grades as the students continue using the same program found in lower elementary, called “words their way.” This program teaches students how to sort words and identify patterns, and then be able to correctly spell the words. Students are also introduced to etymology,“the origin and development of word.”* By learning the Greek and Latin roots of words, upper elementary students are preparing themselves for the challenges of the FMS middle school program.
Middle school students enrolled at FMS encounter the wit, wisdom and experience of Ms. Arlene. After teaching Language Arts for over 45 years, Ms. Arlene puts her students through a rigorous and thought provoking process of reading challenging books, writing effective essays, and being immersed in the art of etymology. Middle school students graduate from FMS with a solid foundation in grammar skills, a prolific cache of writing experience, and reading abilities honed on classic and thought provoking texts such as George Orwell’s “1984” and William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” The language arts program leads students on a literary exploration; nurturing their abilities to think, reflect, and then communicate their perspectives. FMS graduates are effectively prepared to meet the challenges of high school and beyond.
*Webster’s Dictionary
**Montessori Research and Development @2006