Week 16 (12/16-12/20)

Greetings Delaney Families,

Congratulations to the following students for receiving a Positive Referral this week.  These outstanding school citizens helped others in need in a variety of ways.  We are so proud of each of them!

Mark Briggs visited Mrs. Hanewich’s class this week. He lost his leg in a car accident many years ago and he shared with the students how he has persevered in spite of his disability. Matter of fact, he does not view himself as disabled. He says that he can do whatever he wants as long as he works hard. He shared with the students how he ran The Boston Marathon last year and is currently training to run it again this year. He also has a black belt in karate/kickboxing. Two amazing feats to say the least! Since he works for the Patriots, he also shared with the class his 2 AFC Championships rings and 3 Super Bowl rings. The students thoroughly enjoyed  his visit and learned a valuable lesson about the meaning of perseverance. 

Mrs. Beausoleil's kindergarten class and Mrs. Pitman and Mrs. Maxwell's second graders joined forces for a math lesson.  Working in pairs, students counted collections and recorded their work.

Ms. Fuller's second graders, working alongside parent volunteers (thank you!), became carpenters for a day building their own individual bird houses using "real life" tools.

They then transformed their bird houses into gingerbread houses complete with frosting and goodies.  Yum!

Mrs.  Mariotti’s

Here is what we learned during December…

This month’s composer…..Peter Tchaikovsky

Kindergarten: Wow! This month flew by!!! We began the month with a unit on bells. We learned about how the bells make their sound, and played them in different ways (fast, slow, loud, soft and shook them high and low. We sang lots of songs about bells like, “Jingle, Bells”, “Ding Dong”, “Blue Bells” and “Listen to the Bells”. We also learned a new song called, “Put the Beat in your Feet”. The children took turns putting the beat using movement and body percussion. We ended the month with the ballet, “The Nutcracker” by Peter Tchaikovsky. We learned that a ballet is a story that uses dancing and music instead of words. We watched the “Nutcracker” movie and listened and danced to the music.

First Grade: We began the month on a unit about musical opposites (forte verses piano, fast verses slow, high pitch verses low pitch). Soon we will learn about the different instruments and listen for musical opposites in music. We will also be learning about mood in music (happy verses sad sounds). We sang two new songs: “Charlie Over the Ocean” and “Put the Beat in Your Feet”. The children took turns putting the beat using movement and body percussion. Finally, we learned about the Russian composer, Peter Tchaikovsky. Peter had to work hard to be a great musician; his parents did not think that a composer was a good enough career. They encouraged him to go to college to study law instead. Eventually, Tchaikovsky left law and began composing music professionally. We watched the “Nutcracker” movie and listened and danced to the music. We learned that a ballet is a story that uses dancing and music instead of words.

Second Grade: This month we focused on two musical concepts; form and pitch. We learned that music has a form (or pattern). We used large and small snowflake cutouts to make our own musical patterns. The large snowflake represented a strong (loud) beat and the small snowflake represented a weak (soft) beat. We learned about two special forms; march (sets of two) and the waltz (sets of three). We listened to several marches and waltzes composed by Peter Tchaikovsky. The children seemed to enjoy making movements to match the music. We also learned about pitch. Pitch refers to the “highness or lowness” of a sound. We did a lot of vocal exercises and had fun exploring with pitch. Ms. Mariotti also recorded the children singing the song, “Charlie Over the Ocean” using her iPad. The children really enjoyed hearing their voices and performances of some of their songs. Lastly, we finished the month with watching the ballet, “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky. It was a really productive month!

Third Grade: The month of December has been preparing us for our recorder unit. We completed our pre-assessment to see how much learning has occurred since September. I was so impressed! Every single student made big gains in reading and understanding musical notation. It takes a long time to master, but they seem to have a good foundation! Recorders were delivered and passed out this week. I would like each student to find a folder to designate for music class. It can be any folder (old or new). They will put all of their music in their folder and bring it to music class every week. Students are focusing on three things. The first is how to hold the recorder. Students pick up the recorder with their left hand and balance the recorder with their right hand. Their right hand should be free and wiggly like a “turkey feather”. We also learned how to play three notes; B, A, and G. Finally, we talked about being responsible musicians. We agreed that their recorder and recorder folder belongs in their backpack. Each student was given a helpful hint paper with tips on how to play the recorder. Also, we began to learn two songs, “Hot Cross Buns” and “Merrily We Roll Along”. Students and I are very excited to continue with recorders and begin the Recorder Karate Program after break. 

MCAS Information Update

                                                                    

As you may know, students begin taking the MCAS starting in Grade 3 in Mathematics and English Language Arts.  Once the tests have been corrected, the state releases individual student scores to the parents and to the school.  In addition, scores are reported in the aggregate, as well as by subgroup, to the public. To assist schools and parents in interpreting MCAS results, we have just received word that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education just released two new applications.

First, the school report card overview provides a useful summary of a school’s accountability data and also compares the school to other schools serving similar grades in the district and in the state. The application compares schools using measures such as MCAS achievement and growth, teachers and classrooms, attendance, discipline, and high school completion. The school report card overview (or the complete report card) can be accessed by using the new search tool on the Department’s Profiles homepage: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/.

Second, on the statewide MCAS Achievement/Growth Report, you can now view school-level MCAS results by school type (elementary, elementary–middle, middle, high, and middle–high/K–12) for the years 2010–2013. You can access the report at http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/mcas.aspx 

On behalf of entire Wrentham staff, I would like to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays and a wonderful New Year!

Dr. Martes, Dr. Peterson and Mr. Grenham served breakfast to the Delaney and Roderick School staffs on Thursday morning.  An enormous thank you to Lisa Luce, Maura Crowley, Angela Harrington and Judy White for cooking and preparing all of the breakfast treats.

Congratulations to Ms. White, Ms. Walsh and Ms. Zardeskas for winning first, second and third prize in the "Ugly Sweater" contest!

Thank you for reading.

Enjoy the Winter break.

We'll see you in 2014!

Sincerely,

Melissa D. Peterson, Principal