
Teaching & Learning ~ Together
March 29, 2020
Recent Highlights... The Beginning of WPS Extended Learning @Home
WPS Families & Staff:
Through the bad and the good, the surprises and our fear, this is an experience that we are sharing. We recognize that although in larger arenas we're approaching this problem as if it is an educational crisis - in reality, it is a health crisis that has educational impact. While we are all feeling uneasiness and pressure, one thing is certain: together, we will surround our children and teens trying our best to model resiliency at home and virtually with our students. I'm grateful to work in this caring community of supportive people. (For an uplifting Sunday song, checkout Berklee Music Students' 'Love Sweet Love'.)
To keep learning vibrant for our children and teens, we are joining forces with compassion, sharing the teaching and learning, and supporting each other during this most challenging time. Our outstanding teachers and support staff are providing connecting communications and enriching recommendations for students and parents. In addition, the Extended Learning Website is intended to be a guide that you can adjust to meet the needs of your family as you support your child or teen in balancing on-screen and off-screen tasks while they are out of school. You may find some help using the holistic Daily Planning Framework below.
Keep each other (and yourselves) well,
Dr. Theresa McGuinness, Assistant Superintendent
theresa.mcguinness@watertown.k12.ma.us
WPS Daily Planning Framework
Something for our bodies ~
Eat, play, run, walk, mindfulness, throw a frisbee with the dog...
Something for our brains ~
WPS Extended Learning Curriculum Overview
Early Childhood | K - 1 | 2- 3 | 4 - 5 | 6| 7 | 8 | WHS
WPS Curriculum Overview Brochures
K| G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | G5 | G6 | G7 | G8
MA Curriculum Frameworks & Ed Resources for Students & Families
See what we use to plan our curriculum for your child’s grade level
i-Ready - Online Learning and Assessment Platform, K - 8
Something for our happiness ~
What lifts your spirits and brings you joy?
Games, music, puzzles, movies, crafts, writing, social media...
Something for someone else ~
Share gratitude & be open-hearted ~ Begin or end each day with an email/note/drawing gifted to one person (maybe mail carrier, grocer, teacher). Help with chores, meal preparation, pet care, lifting another's spirits, connecting conversation with family/friends...
Early Childhood Learning @Home
Early Childhood Learning @Home
Early Childhood Learning @Home
How to Use Zoom and Google Classroom for our ESL Families
In an effort to help parents help their children access Zoom Meetings and Google Classroom, our ESL and Digital Learning Coordinators are joining together to offer a workshop on How to Use Zoom and Google Classroom. Each session will be in English with interpretation in Español or Português. If interested, click on the link below to join them. If you would like to join the session and are experiencing difficulty signing up, please call ESL Coordinator, Kate Phillipson at 617-581-8200 and she will assist you.
Secondary English Department Updates
All teachers are diligently working to contact students and families to ensure that both have what they need to keep students’ education moving forward. If you are having trouble reaching an English teacher, please contact the 6-12 English coordinator, Susanne Dunn (susanne.dunn@watertown.k12.ma.us) for assistance.
The District’s central website houses the 6-12 English Department resources for extended learning.
Follow the 6-12 English Department on Twitter @WatertownELA612 and Instagram @WatertownELA6to12.
Coming soon: Read Aloud Bingo! Students can complete a bingo board of read alouds as an enrichment activity. All read alouds are done by teachers and staff.
Coordinator, Susanne Dunn, will be holding weekly office hours for students on Mondays from 1:00 - 1:30pm. A zoom link will be added to the Resource page each Monday. Contact by email if you need to speak one-on-one.
Hosmer School Faculty 'Zoom'
WHS Robotics Team
50 Writing Prompts - All Grade Levels
WMS Gives
WHS Donations
Elementary Packets
Elementary Literacy & Science Collaboration
Argument and Advocacy: Human Impact on the Earth ~ All 5th graders created excellent ideas at a forum (a panel made up of local professionals) on how to reduce human impact on the environment, which all of us can do while home.
- Start or continue composting food waste
- Turn off lights when leaving a room & water when brushing teeth
- Plant something