Continent Studies - Africa Part 1

AFRICA ACTIVITIES 1ST INSTALLMENT

It has been all hands on deck these past two weeks since we have had our school suspended for COVID-19.  Since that time I have been working with many other Montessorians across the globe to get things into the hands of educators and parents.  I have been wanting to get back to blogging with regularity for some time now but have had other very pressing and difficult circumstances in my family's life to take care of first.  I am so glad things had gotten to a good place before all this happened.  I am also so grateful I have this platform already in place to make an impact for my own students as well as for so many others.  I wish to thank my readers for the outpouring of love and kindness at this time and in the past.  I want to be one of the helpers.  Thank you also for being one of the helpers.

We are gearing up for our Africa studies in Sequoias Class and I've been knee deep in creating new materials that are friendly to not only the classroom but for home as well.  In this post I will endeavor to share what I have made and a few other things I absolutely love.

Continent Globe

Continent Puzzle Map

Setting the Stage

Whenever we are introducing a new continent for study I will always take the Continent Globe and Continent Puzzle Map together during a Line Time.  We will sing the Continent Song together while pointing to the continents on the Continent Globe first and then again using the Continent Puzzle Map.  The WHY behind doing this is simply - the younger the child the more often they need to see that these things mean the same thing.  With the continued one-to-one correspondence practice more children will pick it up.

Every time we begin a new continent of study the children in our class renew their interest in coloring, cutting and pasting, and painting the continents.  

More advanced Early Childhood students will appreciate making their own Continent Globe.  This is also very beneficial for adults to create when a Continent Globe is not available.  If the child is really interested you can have them do the coloring with a little support.  The cuts make it difficult for Early Childhood students to know what color belongs where but it is such fun work.  I take whatever color they should be using and make a small mark in the spot to color.  This way they can be as independent as possible with the least amount of interference from adults.  Once colored they will need plenty of support in taping it together so it forms a globe.  

Continent Flat Map Work

The Colored Globe Cut Out

The assembled Globe

This following Coloring sheet is so helpful for this.  Whenever there is work that has a specific way to be done you should create a Control of Error.  That is one which is colored in the correct colors as an EXAMPLE. I always write EXAMPLE on the paper or else it may grow legs and go home with some little one.  Even then it may happen, but much less often. 

Continents of the World Coloring Sheet

This can also be used when a Continent Puzzle is not available.  You can print off two sets, color one set in the continent colors and the other with the blue ocean.  Then you can cut out the 

continent set and use them in place of the Continent Puzzle Map.

Assembling the Continent World Coloring Sheet to be used in place of a Puzzle Map

Continents Coloring Sheet Assembled as replacement for Puzzle Map

Introduction to Africa

Once we sing the Continent Song I will point to Africa and ask which continent this is.  Once that has been answered I will tell the children we will now begin our study of Africa.  There are two very good ways to introduce a continent.  The first is with ARTIFACTS and the second is through PICTURES.

ARTIFACTS

In Montessori Classrooms we sequence our work from most concrete to most abstract.  Artifacts are the most concrete representation of a continent.  I find artifacts from friends who have visited and brought things back for me, by visiting my local second hand shops, and sometimes online.  I try to get as many things second hand as possible.  Carvings, textiles, jewelry, money, art etc. all make great artifacts for students to explore.

Add in photo of artifacts

PHOTOS

Line Time Photos of a continent are large enough for everyone at the circle to see.  We want to give an overview of the continent in a short enough time to keep the interest of the entire group while whetting their interest for more.  That is easy to do with all the continents, but Africa is fabulous!

Introduction to Africa Line Time Cards

Once I have introduced our Continent it is time to give small group lessons for these very cool works.

AFRICA PLAY DOUGH MAP

This work is so lovely for the youngest students to use and they love it.  All works on a Montessori shelf should have an indirect purpose.  This work with play dough and the fitting into the small spaces of the map develop both the gross and fine motor control of the child.

Africa Play Dough Map

AFRICA TEAR MAP

This work helps the child with the fine motor control as they tear green paper strips into pieces small enough to be glued onto the paper.  The older the child the better they will be with the fineness of their tears.  It is a great thing to challenge your older and more advanced students to stay as much in the lines as possible.  This also develops hand-eye coordination.  I have included a page of green in case there is not access to a green sheet of paper.  It works best to cut the papers the child will use into a 1/4th of a sheet or even into strips 2 inches wide.

Africa Tear Map

AFRICAN MASKS ART

When presenting this work I will show a small group of children the African Mask cards and then invite them to color, watercolor, paint, or use oil pastels to create a beautiful mask with the African Masks Coloring/Painting Pages. They are meant to be cut in half.  We keep a smattering of the masks on a tray for the children to choose from.

African Masks

African Masks Coloring/Art Pages

AFRICAN TEXTILES CARDS

Something the children seem to enjoy a lot is the bold patterns of many African textiles.  These cards could to be printed twice to make a matching set.

African Textile Cards

  They could also be traced to make clothing like you see here using the Clothing Cut Out Patterns

Clothing Cut Out Patterns

ANIMALS OF THE SAVANNAH DIORAMA
This new work has been fun to create.  It is best suited for more advanced students to do independently.  Younger students will love doing this with a little support.  Follow their needs and help only as much as they need.

African Savannah Diorama Animals

African Savannah Animals Diorama Completed

Keep a look out for Installment 2 of Africa Activities!

Stay Safe!  Stay Healthy!

Loves,

Cath

Oceania Mat for the Early Childhood Classroom

I am in love with this work.  Not only because it took a while to produce, but because I got to make it with my sweet son, Andon, who is battling Leukemia right now.  I want to express my thanks and love for all your support and kindnesses during our fight.  We are not done yet by any means.  He still has another 2 years and 10 months, at least, to go.

The Oceania mat laid out.  I forgot to take a picture of the mat in the bag.

The work on the tray.  The mat itself is kept in a bag that can hang on a wall or sit
behind the tray on the shelf.

I've been taking a sabbatical from school while Andon undergoes chemotherapy, but that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping very busy.  I have so many things I could post about, and I really want to post everything, but I don't have that kind of time right now.

Since Andon has come home he has been VERY interested in islands, and we have studied all kinds of them when he has felt well enough.  In fact his Make-A-Wish wish is to go to Aulani resort in Hawaii with his family.  He wants to see the island up close, swim with the dolphins, and learn to surf.  He has also had a real interest in Australia, so I thought it would be perfect to study Oceania.  I figured I do several things all at the same time, and get some work in for school as well.  We ordered the Elementary Biome work from Waseca Biomes, which will arrive on Wednesday (we are so EXCITED!!!).  While I've been waiting for that to arrive I set to work making something I have been meaning to make for over a year now.  The Early Childhood mat of Oceania.  Since Andon hasn't been exposed to this type of work he helped me to create it while also learning.  We spent some time learning about the animals, plants, biomes, industry etc. of Oceania and then we worked to create this mat.  He has learned a lot of things through this process, and has really enjoyed it.

The first order of business was to find a site where I could print a large-scale copy of Oceania.  I found that here.  I used the 4X4 setting, which used 16 sheets of paper.  I tried the 5X5 setting first, but thought it was too large.  I wanted to be certain that littler arms could reach the center of the mat without walking on it.

NOTE:  I think it is important that children be exposed to the Biomes before they start this work.  Waseca has a great curriculum that you can download for free.  It is, however, one of those life changing and mind expanding sites.  I LOVE their biome work, but am not such a fan of their rainbow boxes for language.  I DO, however, love their biome readers.

I traced Australia onto brown Duck Canvas twice.  This was to give stability and a control
of error you will see later.  I used some of the left over brown canvas to make a bag to hold the mat.

I turned the paper pattern backwards so that when I cut out the  fabric I could turn it the
right way and not have the tracing show.

In this mat I am teaching the child the biomes found in Australia mostly.  The other islands
won't have their biomes expressly taught since they are significantly smaller.  Sorry to all my kiwi
friends :).  I do talk about them in the presentation a little.  You can see the biome map I am
referencing above.  You can find it below.

I sketched out the biomes onto the paper pattern.

Then I cut them out.

I traced those lines onto the front of one of the canvas cut-outs of Australia. Once that
was finished I used a triple stitch and a light blue thread to sew the lines onto the top piece
of the cut-out.

The next step was to pin the two pieces of fabric together and sew them.

I used clear thread and a zig-zag stitch.

I cut a piece of blue Duck Canvas to 20X40 and placed Australia where I wanted it on the fabric.
I was certain to leave plenty of room for New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and some of the  smaller
islands of Oceania.  I traced the outline of Australia onto the front of the blue fabric.  I then used brown
thread to sew the outline onto the blue fabric.

I then cut the biomes out of their respective colors.  Again I used duck canvas and cut two
of each piece.  I traced the major rivers and Lake Eyre onto the top side of the biome fabric and
 sewed them in a darker blue thread with a triple stitch.  Once that was done I again sewed the pieces
together with clear thread and a zig-zag stitch.

I cut out a small Australia and sewed it onto this light blue fabric with
clear thread and a zig-zag stitch.  I then turned it into a drawstring bag.
  It holds items that go onto the mat.  Here you can see the stitch work on the biome fabric.

Next I made pieces for Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.  I used some tan
vinyl to do the other side in order to be neutral.  I cut two pieces of blue for each, sewed
the islands onto the top side with clear zig-zag.  The white paint dots
you see are for the placement of objects.

Using the sewn island pieces, I traced onto the blue mat and then sewed the
 outlines for them in blue thread with a triple stitch.  Some of these photos
were taken at night so they didn't turn out so well.

Once New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were made, I used the large scale
print-out as reference to trace more smaller islands onto the mat.
I used brown fabric paint to paint them onto the mat itself.  Tasmania was cut
out of the Duck and sewn directly to the mat.  Then I used double fold bias
tape in a dark brown to finish the mat.
The contrast of color is nice.

This shows the basic set up of the mat with just the brown fabrics.

Finally, all the fun stuff is added.  I am a big fan of using already made resources if I can.
The Down Under Toob had a lot of these things.  I also used the cycad palm
 from the Trees Toob, the coral, seahorse, diver, chest of gold and clown fish from the
Coral Reef Toob.  I used the apples and bananas from the Fruit Toob.  I used Super Sculpey
to create the Mountain ranges, Ayers Rock, the base of the Aboriginal man
(because he doesn't stand on his own), and the volcano.  I used a wooden disc and
painted it with dot painting.  I cut very thin blue rick-rack for the rivers,
and blue felt for Lake Eyre.  Each item is placed during a "story"
 told to the children.  I am working to find a tiny boomerang, cassowary,
echidna, kiwi bird, "diamond", "opal", sheep, Maori carving and Sydney Opera House.

The story goes something like this:

"This is Oceania.  Well, not all of it, but a lot of it.  There are many small islands not on this mat, but this mat has Australia (place it), Papua New Guinea (place it), and New Zealand (place it). Here is also Tasmania (point to it).  Up here at the top are several smaller islands (name some of them if you can).

"In Australia we can find several biomes (pull out the biomes control card).  The orange is desert (place the desert), the yellow is grasslands (place the grasslands including the small yellow piece), the light green are the temperate forests (place the temperate forests), and the dark green is the tropical forest (place the tropical forest)  We can find some rivers in Australia.  Down here we have the Darling River, the Lachlan River, and the Murray River (place the three rivers together)  Over on this side is the Murchison River (place it).  There are other rivers in Australia, but these are some of the largest.  Sometimes the rivers in Australia DRY UP!  Sort of in the middle of Australia we have some lakes.  I am just putting on Lake Eyre because it is the largest lake (place it).  On the eastern edge of Australia there is a range of mountains.  These mountains are called the Darling Range (place the three mountain ridges).  This curved set on the bottom is also know as the Australian Alps (point to the bottom ridge).  In the center of the desert is a very large rock formation called Ayers Rock. The Aboriginal people; the people who have lived here a very long time, call it Uluru (place it and the Aboriginal man) and it is very special to them.  In the desert there are gold mines (place it), and diamond mines (place it), and opal mines (place it).  Bananas and pineapples are grown in Australia because it is hot (place them).  The Aboriginal people create wonderful works of art called dot painting (place it).  We will be creating some of these ourselves.  Off the west coast of Australia people dive for pearls (place the diver)."

"Emus live almost ALL over Australia (place it), so do cockatoos (place it).  Frilled lizards and kangaroos live mostly in the hot deserts and in the grasslands (place it).  Dingos can be found a lot of different places in Australia, but they are finding less and less of them all the time (place it).  The taipan lives right along the upper coastal areas of Australia (place it).  The platypus lives on the western edge of Australia (place it).  Koalas have to live where they find eucalyptus trees, so they live on this western side of Australia (place it).  Wombats only live down here as you get to the southern tip of Australia.  They also live in Tasmania (place it).  Another animal that lives in Tasmania is called the Tasmanian Devil.  It is known for being very aggressive (place it).  Off the east coast of Australia we can find the Great Barrier Reef.  It is home to many kinds of Corals (place it), fish (place clown fish) and seahorses (place it).  There are many, many other kinds of animals that live in the coral reef, but we will learn about them when we study the coral reef.  In New Zealand they have many volcanoes (place it).  They grow apples and they herd many sheep (place them).  In Papua New Guinea and on the top of Australia we can find the Saltwater Crocodile (place it).  We can also find a kind of palm tree called a Cycad (place it).  Scientist believe that this type of palm tree has been around a very, very long time."

When you are finished with the presentation, carefully return all the items to the bag.  return the pieces to the tray.  Roll up the mat and put it in the mat bag.  Ask the child(ren, because by about 1 minute in you will have most of the class wanting to watch your presentation) if they would like a turn with this work.  When they say yes, you get to tell them that you will show them where to find it on the shelf so they will know where to put it back.  You then put the entire work away before allowing the child to use this work.  In this way you are consistently showing the child the importance of putting their work away in pristine condition for the next child to use.

The best thing about this work is that it has endless extensions.  Reading, writing, grammar, math!!

Parts of the World Coloring Sheet

For a long time I have felt frustrated about how much it costs to be a Montessori teacher.  Some of us are very lucky and have schools that cover our costs, while others of us bear much of the expense of teaching.  I think that is the real reason that I have this blog and do what I do.

There is a principle involved here that I have never been able to think or learn away.  It is this... Maria began her work with the poorest in her country.  These children had not had much experience with beauty, grace, or loveliness in their lives.  They were poised to become a miracle in the eyes of the world BECAUSE of what they had lacked.  So many of us teach the children of well-to-do families, and we love what we do, but it is, in my experience, the children of those who struggle financially that dive into the works with abandon, who really have an inner appreciation and love for the beauty on our shelves and in our environments.

The reason for bringing it up at all is that I love what I do and want to serve children globally, if possible.  If it is my goal to lift up and free the potential of the disadvantaged child, I need a better way to do it.  If one has to outlay so much money just to get the printed materials downloaded, before printing costs, what are they not able to provide in the classroom.  This is an ethical question for me and  prompts me to action since I have it within my power to change this situation.

My blog doesn't have a huge following, but I get emails and comments every week, at least, telling me how much it means to someone in a developing country, or a small school or homeschool on a tight budget to have access to these files for free.  I am sure some Montessori minds out there dislike that there is not a tighter control on what people have access to, and may frown on my blog.  I would simply ask if they really feel they are watching out for the needs and interests of the children of our planet.

  --I actually have a reason for this post besides getting my thoughts down.  I can not find a nice and free Parts of the World Coloring Sheet.  I was sitting through my Geography part of the course this summer, saw what we were given to use as our masters and knew that I could make one in just about 1 hour that I would love to have in my geography area.  The other master would have, and has worked for others, just fine, but I really like clean lines.  The new one I have made is beautiful to me.  I believe it will be enticing to the children.

This coloring sheet is done after the children have had work with the Parts of the World Puzzle Map for a while.  This one is unlabeled so it can be used for oceans as well as continents.

Parts of the World Coloring Sheet
click on picture to link to file

Montessori Amphibians of the World Cards

This newest set of cards for the montessori classroom and homeschool is a great addition to an Amphibians Folder, or as a stand alone set.

Children are not usually exposed to the different kinds of amphibians that live on this earth, and as a result these cards are very interesting for them.  Even most adults do not know much about caecilians which is the 3rd order of Amphibians.  The 1st being frogs and toads, the 2nd being salamanders and newts.

These cards contain 5 amphibians from 6 different continents.  There are no amphibians found on the continent of Antarctica, which is an interesting part of the conversation when using these cards with a group.  The 6 continents are symbolized on the cards to facilitate the children in locating them on the puzzle maps or continents globe.  Each card also contains a fairly easy sentence for early readers that gives a little bit of information about each amphibian.  There is also a header card for sorting by continent.

*Note that Australia has 5 frogs since no other amphibians are found there.

Amphibians of the World Cards
click on picture to link to file

Continents Nomenclature Cards in D'nealian and Little Booklets

I am happy to introduce the Continents Nomenclature Cards in D'nealian font!!!

Continents Nomenclature Cards - D'nealian Font
click on picture to link to file
UPDATED - NAME CHANGED FROM AUSTRALIA TO OCEANIA

If you are looking for them in Print this is the link.

I also took some time to make a little booklet.  The thing that has kept the little booklets from getting finished for so long, is that I have wanted all the blank outlines to look the same.  I have decided that it is more important to have the outlines than to have them all the same.  They looked a little rough on the pdf, but they printed out just fine.  You should probably print on the grayscale setting for the best result.

This file includes the following styles of fonts:

• each of the continents in print tracing font
• each of the continents in D'nealian tracing font
• a page with a blank line for independent writing

Parts of the Flag Nomenclature Cards and Little Booklet

I am sure that I will be slowing down with all these cards and other things I have been making around here.  School is beginning and I have so many other things to prepare for during the year.  Who knows what goodies I will be making during the year, but you can be sure that I will share them with you.

Just like this free set of the Parts of the Flag Nomenclature Cards.  Another teacher at school mentioned today how she really likes the larger size of these cards.  I agree with her (of course that is why I make my own so much of the time).  I hope that you will enjoy these and use them.

****I am doing something NEW!!  You will see that there is now a file in D'nealian.  Hooray for the day!

Parts of the Flag Nomenclature Cards
click on picture to link to file

Parts of the Flag Nomenclature Cards - D'nealian
click on picture to link to file

I have also done something a little different with the Little Book to go along with these cards.  You will find all of the following included in this one file:

• Print
• D'nealian
• Blank Line

Parts of the Flag Little Booklets
click on picture to link to file

 

Animals of North America Cards

These cards are what I will use along side The Animal Continent Box that I am putting together from the animal replicas at Safari ltd.  A few of the animals cannot be found through them (like the mountain goat), but I want them so much that I will get them from somewhere else.

These could be used as matching cards by printing two sets.

This set of cards is useful to both non-readers and readers alike.  The non-readers will be able to match the replica not only with the continent, but also with the picture of the animal.  I am sure that this will make it a more interesting exercise.

This set of cards has 35 choices for animals.  I have done this so that anyone using these cards could find enough animal replicas to go with them.

Animals of North America
click on picture to link to fileTHIS FILE IS BIG AND NO PREVIEW WILL SHOW

When my version of The Animal Continent Box is completed I will post everything here.

Just a Note:
I am also in charge of a bear den here for cub scouts, and they LOVED these cards.  I used them as a matching game (printed two sets), and then after we were finished playing, had them choose one of the animals to do a poster about.  I was told last week that I am officially the COOLEST LEADER EVER!