Teaching & Learning ~ Spring 2023
April 2023
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Teaching & Learning Updates from the Assistant Superintendent's Office
It's hard to believe it's almost April Break already, which reminds us all to start planning for our children/students during the summer months. Here is the Prek-12 compilation of the 2023 WPS Summer Academic & Enrichment Offerings(Expanded Version) for your planning purposes. In addition, this is a truncated 'Cheat Sheet' (1-Pager) WPS Summer Learning & Connection, 2023 streamlining dates, contacts, and times.
Keep each other (and yourselves) well,
Dr. Theresa McGuinness
Assistant Superintendent
theresa.mcguinness@watertown.k12.ma.us
Every Child...Every Classroom...Every Day
Quick Resources: WPS Website
Elementary Math & Science Updates
Over the course of the winter, the K-8 math team held parent math nights. It was so great to engage in math with so many of our parents and caregivers. If anyone was unable to attend the some of the slides can be found here.
STEM Visiting Programs
Through generous funding from the Watertown Community Foundation, every elementary classroom is experiencing a hands-on visiting program. Topics include: green engineering, wildlife and conservation, forces and motion, reptile adaptations, and a Geodome construction! The pictures below are from some programs we have had visit us already!
Learning about Matter
The Discovery Museum Forces and Motion
Designing Toys
WHS English Department Updates
10th Grade English with Mr. MacLaughlin: Fairy Tale Collaboration
To get them thinking about the architecture of narrative this fall, students in Mr. MacLaughlin's sophomore English class wrote fairy tales built around individual traits they'd hope to inspire in a reader. Students studied fairy tale structures and tropes and engaged in their own writing and revision process.
This March, 3rd graders at the Hosmer School received a cool surprise when sophomores visited their classes and read the original fairy tales they had written (See photo above). Sophomores were delighted to see the students at Hosmer correctly identify bravery, kindness, and others as the morals of their stories. The third graders also took advantage of this rare opportunity to get some details about life in high school. “Is homework hard?” one asked. The high schoolers assured them that it wasn’t.
9th Grade English: Simulating Lord of the Flies with Mr. Madden
Mr. Madden's 9th grade ELA class participated in a series of team building and leadership games that aimed to simulate the situation of William Golding's characters in his classic novel, Lord of the Flies.
After learning about persuasive writing and speaking techniques, students were tasked with writing and delivering campaign speeches which ultimately led two the formation of two groups within the class which were led by the newly elected "class leaders". The two groups then competed in a series of challenges that tested their communication, leadership and critical thinking skills and forced them to think outside the box and work together as a team.
Mr. Madden believes that student-centered, interactive, and collaborative activities like this one are an excellent way to build background knowledge when previewing an upcoming text and he is hopeful that this activity in particular will help them make personal connections to the characters in Lord of the Flies as they begin reading.
World Languages Updates
Students in the High School will be participating in taking assessments to determine the Seal of Biliteracy in mid-April. Official results will be delivered later this spring, but as of now at least 24 seniors have achieved the Seal of Biliteracy in English and 9 different languages (Arabic, Armenian, Italian, Latvian, Luganda, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, & Thai). Students have proven that they are able to speak, listen, read, and write at the “intermediate-high” language proficiency. Congratulations to the seniors for achieving the highest honor in learning a second language!
WIDA ACCESS Scores have arrived!
Families may also be receiving an exit letter indicating that your student doesn't need to be in the ESL program anymore!
Congratulations to the students who have worked very hard for multiple years to improve their English!!
Here are links to fliers for parents to answer general questions. These resources are available for download in 17 languages.
- ACCESS for ELLs: Understanding your Child’s Score
- Alternate ACCESS for ELLs: Understanding your Child’s Score
Please reach out to your ESL Teacher or to the ESL Coordinator, Kate Phillipson (kathryn.phillipson@watertown.k12.ma.us) with any questions.
Science Department Updates
On Wednesday, March 1st, Matthew Shuman, town engineer for Watertown, met with the earth science class at WHS to discuss stormwater runoff. This presentation provided students with information on Watertown's stormwater initiatives and how they help keep our local water resources clean and safe.
Career and Technical Education
Engineering - Lego Gadgets
3D Printed Backpack Charm designed in CAD
Bridge Design Challenge - Civil Engineering & Architecture
Elementary Literacy & Social Studies
Literacy
Teachers in grades K - 5 have participated in many rich professional development experiences across the school year expanding our work around the Science of Reading and ensuring high-quality literacy experiences for all of our students, with a particular focus on supporting our Multilingual Learners.
All teachers in grades K - 5 & our Elementary Literacy Coaches have continued learning with our partners, TLA (Teaching Learning Alliance) examining student writing.
By the end of May all teachers will be trained in a new Early Literacy Screener: DIBELS. This assessment will provide teachers with actionable information to support all students during the literacy WIN block.
Wilson Learning has also visited Watertown to provide professional development around Fundations - our phonics program. Next year, Fundations will expand to grade 3 to provide an aligned experience for students.
Local literacy expert Jenn Traverso presented to all teachers K-2 and 3-5 on the key elements of the Science of Reading providing theory, research, and practical strategies for daily classroom instruction.
Beyond this, a District Literacy Study Team ----consisting of educators and administrators from grades K - 5 across all 3 schools--- continues to meet to review and utilize DESE resources on ensuring High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) are in all classrooms. Updates in June.
Social Studies
Some elementary classrooms recently participated in a 'Zoom with a Judge' experience hosted by Discovering Justice, a curricular partner from the Moakley U.S. Courthouse. This live, interactive, virtual event allowed students to think more about justice and the justice system with two inspirational judges!
At the middle school level, students continue to participate in many hands-on learning activities in Social Studies such as a recent Silk Road Simulation in grade 7 to an Egyptian Mummification Simulation in 6th grade.
Grade 2 "Zoom with a Judge"
Grade 7 Silk Road Simulation
Grade 6 Egyptian Mummification Simulation
Social Studies in Grades 8-12
Teachers in Social Studies have been hard at work over the last months expanding their skill-sets and building new content and experiences for our students.
Our 8th graders have just returned from a field trip to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate in Boston. While there, our Gen Ed and Sheltered Civics classes participated in activities on Gerrymandering, voting rights legislation, and constituent advocacy. Soon, they’ll be traveling to Washington, D.C. or participating in Watertown Week activities, experiencing how their Civics training and experiences translate to real-life situations. Starting in April, students in grades 8 and 9 will be participating in their Civics Action Projects, looking at issues important to them and learning how to advocate for change. After a long delay due to Covid, a number of High School faculty, led by our own Ms. McGovern, are bringing students to Ireland and England for a historic and cultural tour. It’s an exciting opportunity for students to see some of the locations that they’ve read about in their history classes and experience new cultures.
Many of our teachers have been participating in rich professional development activities with our valued community partners including workshops on the Holocaust from Gilder Lehrman and Environmental Justice and Asian-American Stories from Primary Source. As a grade 6-12 group, we’re developing a unified set of CER rubrics (centered on Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning) that will allow all secondary Social Studies students to have a consistent and progressive set of writing expectations over their seven-year Social Studies career. We’re also wrapping up our first year of a K-12 Social Studies Review with a dedicated set of elementary and secondary educators, Dr. McGuinness, Dr. Henry, and other coordinators driving a close look at our programs and courses. The work will continue next year as we invite a team of educators from area schools to provide us an objective look at our curriculum.
Fine, Applied & Performing Arts
Young Fellaz Brass Band
WMS Workshop With Young Fellaz
AP Studio Art Field Trip
Digital Learning & Libraries
Cunniff 3D Printing
A Student with the 3D Printer
A Flowerpot Printing
Checking on the Project
WMS Coding during WIN
Since January, two WMS cohorts have been learning Python, one of the most popular text-based programming languages in the field. Students are coding their own projects, such as Mad Libs games and drawings using the Turtle graphics library in Python. Check out their excellent work at https://sites.google.com/watertown.k12.ma.us/pythonwinprojects/home!
WPS Teaching & Learning Coordinator Team
Teaching & Learning Contact Information
Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Theresa McGuinness theresa.mcguinness@watertown.k12.ma.us
K-7 Math/Science Coordinator, Elizabeth Kaplan elizabeth.kaplan@watertown.k12.ma.us
K-7 Literacy/SS Coordinator, Deb Opar deborah.opar@watertown.k12.ma.us
8 - 12, Math, Dan Wulf daniel.wulf@watertown.k12.ma.us
8 - 12, ELA, Casey Andrews casey.andrews@watertown.k12.ma.us
8 - 12, Social Studies, Kraig Gustafson kraig.gustafson@watertown.k12.ma.us
8 - 12, Science, Lynsey Kraemer lynsey.kraemer@watertown.k12.ma.us
K - 12, Digital Learning & Library, Dr. Susan Bisson susan.bisson@watertown.k12.ma.us
K - 12, World Languages, Adam Silverberg adam.silverberg@watertown.k12.ma.us
K - 12, English as a Second Language, Kate Phillipson kathryn.phillipson@watertown.k12.ma.us
K - 12, Applied & Performing Arts, Richard Saunders richard.saunders@watertown.k12.ma.us
K - 12, Health/PE/Wellness, Frank Cacia frank.cacia@watertown.k12.ma.us
6 - 12, Career/Tech Ed (CTE), Laura Alderson laura.alderson@watertown.k12.ma.us