January 2021 – Grandmother Oak

Before and following the holiday weekend, students at MWS learned about, remembered, and discussed the life and work of Martin Luther King in meaningful age-appropriate ways, from preschool to 8th grade. As our faculty dives more deeply into the important work of creating an anti-racist and inclusive curriculum, we are exploring deeper and richer ways to discuss history, activism, and social justice.

In first grade, students learned about Marin Luther King’s life and legacy with the award-winning illustrated book Martin’s Big Words.

First grade teacher Mr. Baril shares, “It prompted some wonderful discussion among the children about the beauty of different skin colors. We then went to our desks and I gave them new sets of special crayons that have about six different skin tones of various peoples of our world. They were then able to take home with them on Friday their drawings of people holding hands under a rainbow.”

Before Martin Luther King Day, 4th graders had been working on a long-term project of mapping the world around them—mapping their bedrooms, their homes, their neighborhoods. Here are the maps of their neighborhoods in their main lesson books.

As Marin Luther King Jr Day approached, class teacher Ms. Stroud shared a map of the route she bikes to the Marin Luther King memorial in San Francisco from her house.

Ms. Stroud shows the map of her neighborhood.

Drawing on the image of the memorial’s flowing waterfalls, fourth graders illustrated the words from Dr. King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963.

Ms. Deason’s 8th grade students had been studying the speeches of Martin Luther King for many years. For a different take on his work, the class dove into the lengthy piece “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which Dr. King addressed to his fellow clergymen. The 8th graders explored King’s arguments and ideas, and discussed the ways they relate to activism today. As part of that study, they watched Anderson Cooper’s recent interview with youth poet laureate and inauguration speaker Amanda Gorman.

They also drew portraits of King, each choosing a different palette. The effect is striking.

A spirit of inquiry, experiential learning, and an integration of academic disciplines are cornerstones of our school’s approach to education.

In our middle school classrooms, where 6th, 7th, and 8th graders explore complex topics in chemistry, physics, physiology, biology, and geology, science isn’t presented in concepts and lectures. It begins with observation. Through observation, our students learn to think like scientists, asking questions and posing theories before being given all the answers.

Even art, which is integrated throughout our curriculum, is used as a tool for understanding STEM topics. For example, in their studies of combustion as part of the 7th grade chemistry block, students were asked to observe and then draw a bonfire and a candle. You can see a few examples of our students’ work below.

As a capstone to the study of combustion, teacher Ms. Terziev performed a demonstration for the class, asking them to watch silently and then offer their theories on what they’d observed.

After watching the experiment, students brought their questions and theories to the group, inspiring both curiosity and critical thinking in the classroom. This approach helps students build a meaningful understanding of complex scientific concepts. In Waldorf education, this is called a phenomenological approach to science. In this way, 7th graders at Marin Waldorf School connect and internalize complex topics in chemistry, like combustion, as well as crystallization, acids/bases, and the lime cycle.

The study of science at Marin Waldorf School begins in early childhood, with the simple observation of the seasons and the natural world, and through nature stories. In elementary school, students learn to ask questions and to learn through doing, laying the groundwork for more complex critical thinking that they will need to tackle their studies of chemistry, biology, physiology, geology, and physics in middle school.

Month: January 2021

Remembering Martin Luther King

Igniting Curiosity in Middle School Science