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W E D N E S D A Y W E E K L Y
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In this Issue
Upcoming Events
Through May 25
Student art show
WMS lobby
May 17
Running Club WPD 5K
6:30 p.m.
Conaty Park
Come cheer on our WMS runners, or join us for the run (register at the event starting at 5:30)!
May 24
9-12 musical - "Compose Yourself"
9:30 a.m. (dress rehearsal) &
7 p.m.
Gym
May 28
Memorial Day -
school closed
May 29
Sixth-grade art show
WMS lobby
May 30
Primary Field Day
9:30 a.m.
WMS sports field
May 31*
Elementary Field Day
9 a.m.
WMS sports field
*Note date change from original calendar.
June 5
End-of-Year Assembly
11:15 a.m.
Gym
June 6
Last Day of School
Graduation ceremony -
9:30 am,
Gym
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You Make the Difference
Message from
Head of School Lisa Lalama
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for more from Lisa.
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Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and oh, were WMS teachers appreciated! From flowers to lunches to heartfelt notes of appreciation, teachers felt the support of children and families. The genuine care our community expresses is simply heartwarming.
Sometimes the gestures are huge, like they were last week, and sometimes they are smaller, such as when young students act as greeters to visitors to our school. They are always genuine and demonstrate the WMS difference... you!
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News & Notes
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End-of-Year Co-op Hours Reminder
There are now just three weeks left in the 2017-18 school year! It's time to get in your co-op hours (read the
end-of-year co-op email sent Monday, May 7, for more information). If you haven't submitted your co-op hours, please do so today via the
co-op report form
.
If you are in need of additional hours to fulfill your 30-hour requirement or have questions, please email
[email protected]
.
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Your Feedback Counts: Please Take the Parent Survey (and earn a co-op hour!)
Each year, WMS surveys our families to inform our planning for the coming year and assess progress on our strategic plan. Your feedback is extremely important to us! Please take a moment to fill out the survey and
submit your responses by Wednesday, May 23.
Co-op Opportunity: Each family may earn one hour of co-op time for completing this survey. Please print out the "thank you" page that confirms your survey has been completed and include it with your co-op submission.
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Middle School Preview: Empowering Learning on the "Flip" Side
"Flipped learning" - a natural extension of the classic Montessori work-time - shifts work traditionally done at home into the classroom.
Students work at home to familiarize themselves with content, often using videos
prepared by teachers or topic experts, and spend classroom time doing work with a teacher nearby to answer questions and lend support.
As
WMS prepares to add seventh and eighth grades this September, students will learn some subjects via the flipped approach. Mandy Reis, our incoming middle school teacher, has been using the flipped model successfully at PRIED Middle School.
"Our goal is subject mastery," Mandy said. "Using the flipped approach, every student gets the attention needed to master the material at an individual pace."
Mandy uses flipped learning most often in math. She said when students arrive in the classroom having learned the math basics on their own, they're able to use classroom time to explore the math concepts in greater depth. The flipped model also ensures students who need extra review get that time, while students who are ready to move ahead can do so.
"By exploring material more fully, each student gains mastery and becomes a higher-level thinker in general," Mandy said.
Additionally, the flipped instructional style complements the expeditionary approach that will be used in the middle school grades. In their culture studies, for example, middle-schoolers will focus on more traditional reading assignments at home, and use classroom time to explore museums and other primary source materials available in our area. Following this model, PRIED students have visited such places as the National Archives, the United Nations and the National Constitution Center.
To ensure WMS middle-schoolers are prepared to succeed in a traditional high school setting, the flipped classroom strategy will incorporate a gradual increase in homework assignments. "As the kids develop their online resources and get into the flipped routine, it gets easier to introduce these new elements," Mandy said.
Mandy also noted that more Wilmington-area high schools are adopting the flipped classroom strategy, and by employing the flipped model at WMS, middle school graduates will be well prepared for high school.
"It's been my experience that after the first week in a flipped classroom, seventh and eighth graders are coming to me asking for additional lessons," she said.
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Today's Learners
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Exploring Nature and Metamorphosis in the Toddler Classroom
by Lead Toddler Teacher Kirsti Forrest
"There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and all the life to be found around them, in a real forest. Something emanates from those trees which speaks to the soul, something no book, no museum is capable of giving." - Maria Montessori
A typical toddler at WMS has many opportunities to delve into cultural studies. The Montessori approach to these important topics cultivates a child's fascination with the natural world and gives the child first-hand experiences with living things, such as plants and animals. These experiences create memorable lessons about the world, and allow children to experience nature and care for it too.
This spring in Room 6, the children have been introduced to one of my favorite subjects: metamorphosis (more specifically, the metamorphosis of a butterfly). I can still distinctly remember from my time as a young WMS student how excited and surprised I was when I found my very first caterpillar on the preschool playground. I remember how small and fragile its body was, and how fast it moved across the stick I used to pick it up.
The children of Room 6 have learned through music, art, technology and other forms of exploration about the different stages of metamorphosis for an adult butterfly: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and finally the butterfly itself. In order to extend our knowledge about butterflies, we even explored a dried milkweed pod (a Monarch food source), removed the seeds we found from the floss (the fluffy part) and later planted some of those seeds to watch them grow. More recently, in partnership with Room 2, we watched several caterpillars shed their skin and reveal their chrysalides. They emerged as butterflies earlier this week, and we released them on Tuesday in the Peace Park.
It was such an absolute joy to be able to share a concept with the children and then have them be a part of important steps to help the Monarch population grow. Cultural studies truly shape a child's experiences and influence development. Toddlers can explore the passage of time, explore new vocabulary that relates to the experiences they discover and learn more about caring for their environment. This study of nature has been a perfect way to end the year. Like the children observing the butterflies emerging from their chrysalides, I have also had the pleasure of watching the children transforming over the course of the year. Toddlers are truly capable of so much.
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 The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.
Please send submissions to
[email protected]
by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday prior
to the issue in which you wish to include your information. Content may be edited for length
and style and may be held for a future issue due to space constraints.
For more information, contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Advancement & Communications.
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