I’m always impressed by the students’ ability to find inspiration from among their classmates.  My mom (also a Montessori teacher) calls it the spill-over effect.  And what a spill-over we had this past week!  

At the beginning of the week, I suggested that two friends try out one of the pages from the Research Masters binder.  In the binder are a number of pages with guided research options ranging from investigations into particular kinds of animals, planets, continents, countries, and even to plane figures.  When I presented the binder to these two young learners, they decided to research a reptile and spent a better part of the morning delving into the topic.  The research questions sparked a multi-lesson approach to helping them grasp the classification system and the Phylum, Class, and Order of their chosen reptile.

The next day the two students tried a new paper – research of a bird – and their classmates, having witnessed their intense interest and engagement, were intrigued.  By the third day, we had a number of individuals, pairs, and small groups of children trying out the Research Masters.  Some children also began to study animals (focusing on mammals, amphibians, etc.), but others were interested in planets and plane figures.  

The spill-over effect inspired some pretty cool work last week.  I look forward to next week’s “spills!”