November 27, 2013

Greetings Roderick Community:

Thank you to all of the Roderick School families who were able to attend this week's parent/teacher conferences. The lines of communication between home and school must always remain open and strong. If at any point in the school year you feel that there is an area in your child's education that needs to be addressed, please to not hesitate to contact your child's teacher. We strive to do our best to support the academic, social, and emotional development of your child.

Grade 4 - Thanksgiving Feast 

Members of our fourth grade held their annual Thanksgiving assembly and Thanksgiving feast this morning.  Each of the eight classes presented either a song or poem.  Following their presentations, the students enjoyed all the fixings of a traditional Thanksgiving day meal.  A special thanks to all of the families who supplied food for the feast and to the parents who helped serve food.

Ms. Frizzell's fifth grade class dressed as the part of Mayans, Incas, or Aztecs involved in an Ancient Civilization jigsaw puzzle activity!  Terrific work!

 

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referral recipients.  These students were recognized for being compassionate and responsible.  Way to go!

Mrs. Fownes' Grade 6 class has been involved in a seasonal writing activity.  Students were responsible for creating an essay about Thanksgiving from the perspective of a turkey.  The products were unbelievably creative! Awesome job!

Mrs. Moon's Grade 6 students worked on expository writing this week.  Working in teams, students had to use their supplies (2 fudge stripe cookies, 3 caramels, 3 candy corns, and chocolate frosting) to create a turkey.  The culminating activity was to compose a "how to" paragraph using their step by step directions.  Great work! 

Mrs. Kane’s fifth grade class used edible materials to create a soil profile in order to identify the three major layers: bedrock, subsoil, and topsoil.  They also discussed how soil is formed and what factors contribute to the quality of soil – climate, living organisms, parent material, topography, and time.  Nice job!

All Grade 6 parents are asked to start gathering pictures of their child(ren) displaying Wrentham Public Schools memories.  All photos should be in digital format and supplied on a disc or memory stick.  A complete list of requested photos will be sent out through Head Room Parents in the near future.

Thank you all for of your Spirit Wear orders. A pick up schedule will be announced the week of December 9th.

Fall/Winter PTO newsletters will go out in backpacks on Wednesday, December 4th.  Have a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Information regarding our school's After School basketball program was sent home recently.  Please be sure and return the registration form by Friday, December 13, 2013.  Any questions regarding the basketball program should be directed to Mrs. Jodi Fownes, Mrs. Heather Fox, or Mr. Mark Maguire. 

On behalf of all of us here at the Roderick School, best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Have a beautiful day with your family and friends! 

Thank you very much for reading this week's blog and enjoy the time off!

Warm regards, 
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

November 22, 2013

Dear Roderick Families:

This morning our school celebrated its first term Positive Referral recipients.  All Positive Referral recipients were invited to a breakfast to celebrate their accomplishment.  Special thanks to Mrs. Judy White and the Wrentham Public Schools' kitchen staff for providing a delicious breakfast.

Yesterday Miss Yelle's fourth grade class explored the properties of matter by mixing two liquids together, glue and borax, and combining them to make a solid. This experiment had students mixing the two separate substances with a popsicle stick to make a solution. Mrs. Longobardi generously donated the students with all the supplies to have each student explore the properties of matter and learn Science in an engaging way.

Mrs. Fox, the Roderick technology teacher, has been teaching students in grades 4-6 about Internet Safety.  She discusses how the Internet is a wonderful and amazing tool for researching, communicating with family and friends, shopping, playing games, watching videos, etc.  She stresses that along with all this information people have at their fingertips, the Internet also offers negative and dangerous risks.  The negative things about the Internet mentioned were: viruses, hackers, scams, cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate images, as well as other concerns.  Most importantly mentioned are the dangers of online predators and talking to strangers.  It was strongly stressed that students should never enter a public chat room with strangers and that they should never reveal personal information.  Please keep your eyes open for Mrs. Fox’s newsletter next week.  She will provide some educational links for parents to view to help educate you about Internet Safety.

Thank you to Lisa Munn and the PTO who recently applied for and were granted a Big Yellow School Bus grant.  Thank you for working so hard for our school.  The staff and students greatly appreciate your efforts!

 

The Wrentham Lions Club recently announced the winners of this year's Peace Poster contest.  Grade 6 students Isabelle (first place) and Abby (second place) were recognized by the Lions Club.  Congratulations ladies!

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referrals.  This week's referrals were recognized for being kind, compassionate, and responsible.  Thank you for making our school a great place!  We are proud of you! 

As a reminder:

• Term I report cards were sent home today.
• There will be half days of school on Monday, November 25th, Tuesday, November 26th, and Wednesday, November 27th.
• Conference times have been scheduled for Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening.

Thank you for taking the time to read this week's blog

Respectfully,
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal