Week 8 (10/21-10/25)

Happy Friday!

As another week comes to a close, I'm happy to share some of the great things happening at the Delaney. Please take a moment to read about both past and upcoming events and enjoy a few highlights from the week.

Ms. Fuller's second graders and special guest visitors participated in a variety of pumpkin math activities.  

Positive Referrals

The following students received Positive Referrals for demonstrating outstanding behavior this week. They truly represent the Core Values of the Delaney School and we are so proud of each of them!

Kindergarten Parent Math Night

On Wednesday, October 23rd, Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Helen Nunes and Mathematics Curriculum Specialist, Dr. John Ribiero conducted a math night for Kindergarten parents.  With an ultimate goal of providing parents with insight into the Common Core State Standards, attendees participated in activities designed to promote counting and cardinality skills.  A special thank you to Mrs. Nunes and Dr. Ribiero for their planning and preparation and to Mrs. Wagstaff, Mrs. Swartendruber, and Ms. Walsh for helping to run the evening.  We were so glad to see so many parents in attendance!  Thanks to all who took time out of their busy schedules.  Be on the lookout for additional parent nights as the school year progresses.

 Dr. Ribiero discusses the importance of counting skills as the the foundation for future math success.

 Parents use charts and manipulatives to practice counting.

 Mrs. Nunes reviews Kindergarten math expectations.

 Participants practice "Counting Collections" and recording their thinking.

 Attendees participate in various games designed to improve counting and cardinality skills.

Students in Mrs. Nunes' Kindergarten class visited the Wrentham Fire Department last week.

Mrs. Wagstaff's class joined in the fun as well!

...as did Mrs. Beausoleil's children.

We had a great time! Thank you WFD!!!

From the PTO...

Scholastic Book Fair News

Our in-school Book Fair begins next Tuesday, October 29th and runs through Thursday, October 31st. 

Get first pick of books with our kickoff Tuesday morning starting at 7 a.m. 

Can’t come that early? Tuesday night from 6:00 – 8:00 is our Halloween Costume Contest.  Prizes will be handed out every 20 minutes for the best costume!  Goody bags will be handed out to the first 50 students along with tricks and treats!  You can also begin your book shopping online now through November 12^th at the Online Book Fair. Check the school website for the Online Book Fair address. 

Fans of the Wimpy Kid series—reserve your copy of Wimpy Kid 8 by October 30th. Pre-order forms went out via email on 10/17, and will also be available at the Book Fair and online.

Halloween Bash (Friday, October 25th)

Preschool, Kindergarten and 1st grade don't forget to put on your favorite costume and join us for the Halloween Bash tonight from 6-8pm in Roderick school. 

Don't miss games, music, crafts and fun age-appropriate activities for you and your friends. Last minute tickets can be purchased at the door.

Thank you so much for reading.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Melissa Peterson, Delaney Principal

Week 7 (10/14-10/18)

Hello Delaney Families!
Even though it was a short week, we had lots of exciting things happening in the Delaney!  Some highlights included:

• Staff members participated in a professional development day on Tuesday centered around the Math and English Language Arts Common Core curriculum standards and their grade level and professional practice SMART goals. 
• Our Kindergarten students visited the fire station to learn more about their community.
• Our third graders continued their study of the Wampanoags with a special guest visitor from Plimoth Plantation. A huge thank you to WEST for their generous grant!
• On Thursday, the Delaney School hosted hundreds of special guests for Grandparents'/Special Person's Day.

Please enjoy this week's blog and be sure to check out the "Mark Your Calendar" section at the bottom for upcoming dates and reminders.

Grandparents'/Special Person's Day

Thank you to all of the Grandparents and Special People who were able to visit with us on Thursday. What an amazing turnout!  It was a pleasure meeting everyone and seeing them interact with the children.  I would like to offer a special thank you to the PTO board and volunteers who helped to provide our guests with name tags and get everyone to the classrooms.  I would also like to thank Mrs. Judy White and our food service staff for the delicious coffee and goodies and for hosting our guests while they waiting to visit the classes.  Lastly, thank you to our bus drivers for transporting everyone and for Lake Pearl for their generous hospitality. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

To see more pictures from Grandparents' Day, please visit the Wrentham Public Schools' website.

Positive Referrals
Congratulations to the following students for receiving Positive Referrals this week.  These students helped others, demonstrated outstanding behavior, acted like role models for their peers, and are overall great kids!  Keep up the phenomenal work!

Plimoth Plantation Visitors

 As part of an interactive workshop to enrich and enhance the Grade 3 History and Social Studies Massachusetts Curriculum Framework standards, representatives from the Plimoth based Wampanoag Museum visited the Wrentham Elementary School on Friday to provide first hand insight into the culture and way of life of the local Native Americans. Contemporary Wampanoag presenters visited with all the third grade students, and with the aid of a colorful slide presentation and real artifacts explored the culture of the local Wampanoag People in both the 17th and 21st centuries. Students had opportunities to examine Wampanoag clothing, toys, animal skins and tools and to learn about the seasonality of the lifestyle of Native Americans in New England. Thank you to WEST for funding this presentation!

Mark Your Calendars...

October 23rd:  Kindergarten Math Parent Night

October 24th:  Delaney School Picture Day

            (MWF Preschool students will have their pictures taken on Friday, October 25th)
October 25th: PTO Halloween Bash (PreK, K & Grade 1)

October 29th - 31st:  PTO Book Fair

November 8th:  Spirit Day - Food Pantry

November 11th:  No School - Veterans' Day

Thank you for reading.
Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Melissa D. Peterson, Principal

Week 6 (10/7-10/11)

Hello Delaney Families,

We hope that you all had a wonderful week.  Please remember that there is no school on Monday (October 14th) due to Columbus Day and also that there is no school on Tuesday (October 15th) due to a teacher professional development day.

Enjoy your long weekend and we look forward to seeing the kids back on Wednesday!

Mrs. Bognanno's kindergarten class has been learning about kindness and how to help others. As part of these lessons, they read a story about kindness and then decorated bags for the food pantry. The bags were sent home and the kids brought back one soup can for the food pantry.  They also learned about how the the food pantry feeds 40 Wrentham families a week.  Thanks boys and girls for being such wonderful school citizens and members of the community!


Grandparents'/Special Person Day is quickly approaching!  On Thursday, October 17th, grandparents and/or special guests are invited to visit the classrooms between 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.  Transportation will be available starting at 8:30 a.m. from Luciano's Lake Pearl.  We highly encourage guests to utilize this service as parking is extremely limited.  Buses will return our special guests to Lake Pearl beginning at 10:30 a.m.  We hope you can join us.

Positive Referrals!!!

These students received a Positive Referral this week for demonstrating outstanding behavior.  Keep up the good work!

Meet our new music teacher!


All About Mrs. Mariotti
Hello! My name is Mrs. Mariotti and I am the new music teacher at the Delaney School. I am so excited to be teaching music and can’t wait to get to know everyone! I used to be the music teacher at St. Catherine of Siena School in Norwood. I live in Franklin with 
my husband and two children (Olivia age 13 and Josh age 10). I have a dog, Ali, and two cats, Chloe and Lily. I love to play piano and sing! I spent a lot of my summer visiting my family
and going to the beach. We enjoyed camp fires and bike riding together as a family.
Please feel free to call me (ext. 2280) or email me at
mariottim@wrentham.k12.ma.us

  in Music Class...


Here is what we learned during September…
Composer of the Month is….George Gershwin
Kindergarten: We began music this year with a unit called, “Music is Every Where”. We found steady beats in the classroom, at home and in nature. We learned that a steady beat is like the ticking of a clock. We discovered the difference between a steady beat and an unsteady beat while clapping, moving, listening and playing instruments. We found long and short sounds (rhythm) in our names and while we read the story Tanka, Tanka, Skunk by Steve Webb. We sang many songs such as, “The Wheels on the Bus”, “If you are happy and you know it”, “Mr. Sun”, “ABC”, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, “Blue Bird”, and “Hickory, Dickory Dock”. We loved dancing with scarves during creative movement and learning our colors while singing the song, “The Parade of Colors”.

First Grade: We began the school year playing lots of name games! We learned about pitches and solfege (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) while playing a game called, “Solfege Ladders”. We practiced “hi do” and “low do” with our bodies and our voices. It is fun to take turns being the “conductor” and leading the class with different high and low sounds. We focused on the pitches; “do”, “mi” and “so” during our songs. We sang a lot of songs such as; “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah”, “Wheels on the Bus” and “Doe a Deer”. We played the drums while singing the songs “Mr. Sun”, “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” and the “Circle Game”. We practiced keeping a steady beat and experimented with tempo. Tempo is the speed of the beat. We played lots of musical games such as, “Stop Sign”, “Blue Bird” and “Four in a Boat”. Soon we will also learn some fall songs and get to compose “Leaf Music” using long (ta) and short (ti-ti) sounds.

Second Grade: We had a lot of fun in music this month! We practiced matching pitch and explored with our voices. We also focused on solfege and began to learn the Kurwen Hand Signs too. We added multiple drums to our songs while keeping a steady beat. It is trickier than it sounds! We also began to learn the difference between the “beat” and the “rhythm” to a song. The beat is a steady pulse like a clock ticking and does not change. The rhythm is patterns of long and short sounds. We practiced playing the beat and the rhythm of the song, “Circle Game”. We learned the proper way to play rhythm sticks and explore the various ways to play them. We made patterns of quarter notes (“ta”) and eighth notes (“ti-ti”) to compose with. Students arranged themselves in small groups to perform these patterns using rhythm sticks, bongos, body percussion or clapping. We are using the fall season as an inspiration while composing “Leaf Music” using quarter notes and eighth notes. We are beginning to learn about “quarter rests” while singing songs like, “Peas, Porridge Hot” and “Hot Cross Buns”. Grade two students learned a lot about a famous American composer named, George Gershwin. We listened to his famous song, “Rhapsody in Blue”.
Gershwin was inspired to write this song while on a train ride from New York City to Boston, MA. We imagined what he saw on the train as we listened to his song.

Third Grade: We learned so many things this month in music! We began the school year with a unit on Rhythm Sticks. We played various patterns of quarter and eighth note patterns. We had a fun time playing the game, “Musical Detective”. We needed to practice being a good leader and a good follower. Team work was the key! We played lots of name games, “Soup, Soup, Soap, Soap”, “You Whoo” and echoed patterns/movements. Grade three students learned about a famous American composer named, George Gershwin. His birthday was September 26. His parents were Russian immigrants and decided to move to New York City for a better life. Gershwin loved to combine classical music with jazz. He was an amazing pianist and taught himself how to play the piano by watching a player piano. We followed a listening map while listening to his famous song, “Rhapsody in Blue”. Gershwin was inspired to write this song while on a train ride from New York City to Boston, MA. We listened for the various orchestral instruments (violins, trumpets, trombones, piano, cymbals, timpani) while following our listening map. We are beginning to read music. Music is written on a staff and is read left to right just like a book. Notes can be placed on the lines or the spaces of the staff. Each third grader decorated a note and placed it on either a line or space on our staff in the hallway. Reading music notes will make playing the recorder so much easier! The kids can’t wait to get playing those recorders!!!! Recorder forms are still coming in. Please send in your form if you haven’t done so already. I will be ordering recorders later in October. It takes a few weeks for them to come in. We will be starting our recorder unit in December. As always, please feel free to email me or call me with any questions!

Wrentham Elementary Schools Trust, Inc.

            Awarding Grants to Enrich the Wrentham Education Experience

Come be a part of the WEST team!  WEST has awarded 69 grants totaling over $110,935 to teachers of the Wrentham Public Schools.  We are currently seeking volunteers to help.  Some needs include treasurer, auction collection, fundraising, purchasing, website, writers and more.  WEST will be hosting an informal open house on Thursday, October 17^th at 7:30pm at 140 Riverside Drive.  Please feel free to stop by to find out more about WEST and how you can help.  If you have any questions, please contact Deirdre Foley at deirdre.foley@hotmail.com.  Hope to see you there!

PTO Meeting-Home Room Parent Reception

Thursday, October 17 @6:30pm

Delaney Staff Lounge

Volunteer for Special Person Day

Thursday, October 17 8:30-10:30am

email PTO at wrenthampto@gmail.com

Pre-K, Kindergarden and 1st Grade

Save the Date: Halloween Bash

Friday, October 25, 6-8pm

Flyers go out next week

Thank you for reading.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Melissa D. Peterson, Principal

Week 5 (9/30-10/4)

Greetings Delaney Families!

This week's blog is filled with some great photos of our students and staff. Also, be sure to check out the upcoming events and important dates section at the end of the blog. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

                                            

                                                       

Thank you to all who came out to cheer on the Wrentham Public Schools' staff at the softball game last night.  I am happy to report that this fun night raised $1,502.00!  This money will be used to fund Wrentham Teachers' Association scholarships.  A special thanks to all the staff members who participated and to all of the police staff who participated.  Finally, a big thanks to Mrs. Moon and Mrs. Cederbaum for organizing this event, Susana Wickstrom for beautifully singing the National Anthem, and Mike McGuire for serving as the announcer for the evening.  Here are some of the sights from the game.

In accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90 Section 7B, our school participated in a bus evacuation as they arrived at school yesterday.  Students who did not take the bus to school were placed on a bus to go through this important exercise.  Special thanks to bus coordinator, Donna Burt for her assistance with this bus evacuation

Congratulations to the following students for receiving Positive Referrals.  They are each exceptional students and great role models!  Keep up the good work boys and girls...we're VERY proud of you!

On Thursday, we celebrated the opening of the season for the Boston Bruins.  Check out these students showing their spirit.  Go B's!!!

The Fall Scholastic Book Fair is coming! The Book Fair will be in the Vogel Auditorium from Tuesday, October 29th through Thursday, October 31st.  The Book Fair will be open from 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM and 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Tuesday, 8:10 AM - 3:00 on Wednesday, and from 8:10 AM - 3:00 PM on Thursday.

October 14th - No School - Columbus Day

October 15th - No School - Professional Development Day

October 17th - Grandparent's/Special Person's Day - 9:30 - 10:30

October 24th - Delaney School Pictures

October 29-October 31st - Fall Book Fair