January 6-24
DAIS Art Show
Delaware Art Museum
January 13-17
Toddler Conferences
(all classes still in session)
January 16
8:30 a.m.
WMS Family Involvement Group Third Thursday Nature Walk
3:25 p.m.
WMS Woods (meet in Peace Park by 3:20)
January 16-24
Middle School Super Bowl Raffle
Tickets sold in the lobby at drop-off (until all raffle squares sold)
January 20
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 22
Primary Information Night (for parents of rising 3-6 students)
5-6 p.m.
Great Room
January 23
Classroom start times to 9:30 a.m.
January 30
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Great Room
Tickets on sale in the lobby January 22-29
January 31
Parent-Teacher Conferences (Primary-Middle School)
No classes for all levels except Toddler;
child care available
- please register your child even if he/she only requires care for the duration of the conference. (Sign up for conference times via
Bloomz
.)
|
|
|
Toddlers continue to explore the sounds different percussion instruments make when they shake, tap and scrape them. They are also experimenting with different vocal sounds, including animal noises and parts of speech.
Primary classes are beginning to learn songs for the spring concert in April. This year’s theme will be “Flora and Fauna.”
Primary students are also learning folk dances with partners and in group circles.
|
|
Kindergarten classes are learning the basics of musical notation, including identifying, reading and writing notes and rests. They are learning to apply those skills to the reading and playing of rhythmic patterns.
Lower Elementary students are still feeling the glow of their wonderful performance of the winter musical “The Cuckoo.” (
Watch a video of their performance.) They are continuing to learn to play the recorder and read music. They are currently using their names to create rhythms and melody-fragment “theme songs” to play on their recorders.
|
|
Upper Elementary students recently began a unit on American folk songs to support their classwork about U.S. cultures. They are learning about the history, forms, instruments, typical themes and subjects for folk songs in various regions of the United States.
Before the winter break, the
middle-schoolers supported stage management, sound, lighting and costuming for the
6-9 winter concert. They are also continuing to develop their ability to read and write music, as well as studying European music history from 1600 to 1900. This month they are beginning to plan for the newly combined 9-12 and middle school talent show and spring musical.
|
|
Physical Education (P.E.)
|
|
In the
Primary program, students have been working hard these last few months on more complex locomotor skills such as skipping, galloping, hopping and slide-stepping.
These practices are helping students gain better control over their bodies and allowing them to recognize the different, amazing ways we can move to have fun and get some exercise.
|
|
In the
Lower Elementary and
Upper Elementary programs, students have also been reviewing basic locomotor skills, learning and playing soccer, and participating in some general fitness work. Before the winter break, Noel Dietrich, WMS's director of advancement and communications, introduced the students to
Pound fitness - a full-body workout that uses lightly weighted drumsticks. (Noel is a certified Pound instructor.) In Pound, participants use drumsticks to "pound" along to the beat of an energetic song. This workout was tough, but everyone seemed to have a great time. Students have already requested to do it again so Noel will likely be rocking out with this group again soon.
|
|
In the
Middle School program, students participated in some of the same activities as their younger peers (including Pound with Noel), but they enjoy the additional freedom they have at this level. On most days, when the middle-schoolers arrive to P.E., they may choose their own warm-up. This allows students to explore different forms of exercise. Some students may choose to play basketball or volleyball, while other students practice gymnastics with the help of a more experienced classmate. Sometimes students even make up their own activities, such as “Chicken Ball,” which involves using rubber chickens to hit a yoga ball into the opposing team's goal.
|
|
Technology (Middle School)
|
|
Middle School technology class wraps up this month, and students will soon shift gears to work with Paula Sharpe on their STEAM curriculum. Students are finishing up their 3D final projects, in which they were challenged to design a simple machine with both moving and interconnected parts. Some students have designed mobile toys such as cars and even a functional trebuchet, while others created their own unique designs. Jacob Bradley, a seventh-grader, created a device (pictured above) to support growing a moss garden, equipped with a manual twist watering system.
|
|
Students have also worked on their introductory Genius Project. Students endeavored to create an experiment that required changing variables, gathered data to compare those variables and used the results to make a conclusion. Seventh-grader Maya Connelly created an experiment to compare how different concentrations of vinegar affected the shell of an egg over time. Maya submerged eggs in different vinegar solutions and observed how the shell of each egg changed at specific time intervals. She then recorded her observations, taking pictures at each stage, and collected her data which focused on shell color, transparency, and texture.
Check out Maya's presentation.
|
|
Other students experimented with baking and using human subjects to collect data. Variables included using different oils to make cookies and different amounts of yeast in bread.
Students experimenting with cooking faced the challenge of gathering enough taste-testers to get accurate results. Being able to use their classmates allowed them to meet the minimum requirement of 10 testers.
Eighth-grader Ella Walsh made a variety of ice creams, changing the dairy ingredient as her comparison variable. She then created surveys for her taste-tester classmates to complete. Students did a blind taste test comparing texture, how quickly the ice cream melted in their mouths, flavor, and overall experience.
Check out Ella's results.
|
|
|
|
The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.
Please send submissions to
wednesday-weekly@wmsde.org
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.
|
|
|
WILMINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL
WWW.WMSDE.ORG
|
|
Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
