A Montessori Foundation for the Language Arts
In 1920, Maria Montessori posed the following question to her teacher trainees,
“How can anyone paint who cannot grade colors? How can anyone write poetry who has not learned to hear and see?” Nearly 100 years later, we at Mayfair Gardens Montessori could not agree more. That is why we first set the foundation for literacy with the classical Montessori curriculum, and then expand the language arts with 21st century research-based models of inquiry. We use the Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Workshop model based out of Teachers College Columbia University. During the Kindergarten year, or earlier if your child is ready, our children become immersed in a literary world of wonder that includes lessons in all components of the writing and reading curriculum including opinion, information, and narrative writing. The reading program works to develop strong reading muscles to include: concepts of print, phonemic awareness, and story language. The year progresses with competency in accuracy, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These foundational skills are put into context via literature discussion with peers and teachers, as well as learning rhymes and poetry. We have a heavy literature-based curriculum where children learn to think about who they are becoming in this world through voluminous and frequent interactions with high- quality pieces of children’s literature.
Units of Study: The Reading & Writing Workshop
We use the Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Workshop model based out of Teachers College, Columbia University. During the Kindergarten year, or earlier if your child is ready, the children of Mayfair Gardens become immersed in a literary world of wonder that includes lessons in all components of the writing and reading curriculum to include opinion, information, and narrative writing.
Literature-Based Curriculum
Our reading program works to develop strong reading muscles including: concepts of print, phonemic awareness, and story language. The year progresses with competency in accuracy, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These foundational skills are put into context via literature discussion with peers and teachers, as well as learning rhymes and poetry. We have a heavy literature-based curriculum where children learn to think about who they are becoming in this world through voluminous and frequent interactions with high- quality pieces of children’s literature.
Accountable talk in a whole-class book discussion.
Children learn valuable ways to think about information text, including questioning techniques and connections during close reading. This teacher-led seminar guides the path for future independent reading work that allows children to create meaning from texts that they have read.
Thinking, talking, feeling.
After analyzing the writing of her students, the teacher noticed that the pieces could use revision in the concluding paragraph. Here we see her use pieces of children's literature as mentor texts in order to teach young writers how to create powerful endings in their writing. This is an example of a small group conference.
The Power of Literacy:
Using Literature & Writing to See and Hear the Human Spirit.
"It is not just about the teaching of reading. It is about the belief that we can outgrow ourselves as humans."
~~ Lucy Calkins
