Roderick Review Week 12 (11/16/15 - 11/20/15)

CONGRATULATIONS STUDENT COUNCIL!


Today, students and staff at Roderick School came adorned in bright hues of pink, orange, and green for the Student Council sponsored Cancer Awareness Color Day!  Grade 4 wore orange for leukemia, Grade 5 wore pink for breast cancer, and Grade 6 wore green for lymphoma.  The Student Council representatives had suggested optional donations and indicated that the funds raised would go to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  I am pleased to announce that the school's efforts resulted in over $600.00 in donations!  A very successful outreach effort!  Way to go, Roderick!

Grade 4 Writers at Work!
Earlier this week, fourth graders in Mrs. Farrell's class were rereading through the collection of small moments in their Writer's Notebooks to select one small moment that had the potential to become a fantastic story.  They took their small, ordinary moment that had actually happened to them and used that as the core idea to create four or five fictional story seeds.

Fifth Grade Historians Share!
Fifth graders in Mrs. McGee's class presented what they had learned about the Aztec empire.  After reading about the Aztec civilization, partners presented as "the experts" for particular topics such as religion, agriculture, warfare, and society, just to name a few.  Classmates listened carefully to the presentations and were able to record some of what they were learning from their peers through the use of guided notes.

Grade 6 Hosts Special Guest Teacher!Ms. Gilligan visited Mrs. Cederbaum's class as a guest teacher as part of our Writer's Workshop professional development focus this year.  First, students read a short story as a reader and then read it as a "writer" noticing what the author actually did to create the effects for the reader.  Students then used some independent writing time to apply some of the same devices to enhance their own writing.

Grade 6 helped to raise awareness about lymphoma by wearing green!

Special Entry - Grade 4 Highlight 11-13-15

Grade 4 Highlight - 11/13/15

This year, the entire fourth grade class is involved in a community outreach project entitled, "Thankful Hearts from Caring Kids" where they will be assembling care packages to send to those serving in the military.  On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the fourth graders will be gathering as a community along with parent volunteers to assemble the care packages and will also be sharing some of what they have been learning with the family members present as well.

If you would also like to send in a small donation to assist them in their efforts, the fourth grade classes will gladly accept the following donations:

Ms. Marazzi- Toothbrushes and Toothpaste

Ms. Farrell- Nail clipper and Chapstick/Vaseline

Ms. Coleman- Small packs of tissues and Qtips

Ms. Kelley- Lotions and Foot Powder

Ms. Thornton- Disposable Razors and travel sized shampoo

Ms. Yelle- Travel sized soap/body wash and floss

Ms. Hall- Stationary, Pens/Pencils, Crossword Puzzles/ Word Searches

Thank you to all of those who have already contributed.  The students are very excited about the new twist on "Thanksgiving" and are looking forward to coming together as a grade 4 community to show how thankful they are to those who are serving.

Roderick Review Week 11 (11/9/15 - 11/13/15)

What a great time to FALL into a good book!

Thank you to everyone who visited Barnes & Noble during this fall's PTO fundraiser!  It is not too late!  You can still submit orders online as well!

The festivities began on Tuesday afternoon and led into the Wednesday event at the Barnes & Noble in Walpole.  Dr. Cameron read a favorite book called The Day the Crayons Quit. 

Ms. Wagstaff shared a favorite Jan Brett book while I joined the flute choir. (In case you can't find me, I am the one wearing glasses!)  

I hope that many of you were able to find a new favorite book or two to take home and enjoy!  Thanks, PTO, for arranging this special fall fundraiser for us with a new community partner!


Multiplication and Arrays!
Earlier this week, fourth graders were exploring different strategies with arrays to complete the array relay!  Some chose to fill in the outside first while others tried to start in one corner and add on from there.  



 Scientists at Work!



This year, we received new sets of snap circuits!  With this new equipment, our fourth grade scientists experimented with countless ways to build a circuit, exploring different connections where some students were able to make an object spin and other students were able to light up the bulb.

Grade 5 Writers are "Flash Drafting"  Fifth Graders are writing as "fast and furious" authors to take a small moment idea that they are passionate about and turn it into a published writing piece.

Grade 6 Tile Installation!

SPECIAL EVENT TONIGHT from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. 
Students in grades 4 and 5 are looking forward to the Hoedown tonight!  Thank you to everyone who donated snacks and to all of the volunteers who gave their time and energy to host this community event at Roderick!

November 11, 2015

In Honor of Veterans Day...

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Wrentham men and women who have served our country in times of conflict and in times of peace.  There are also members of Delaney and Roderick families who have served or are currently serving in all branches of the military.  Thank you for all you have done to protect our freedom.

Roderick Review Week 10 (11/2/15 - 11/6/15)

Next week, we have a very special opportunity thanks to the PTO.  This year, the fall book fair will be held at Barnes & Noble in Walpole on November 10th AND November 11th.  As you peruse the collection, there are a few things that you can be thinking about as you and your child(ren) browse for a new favorite read!                                                                There are many ways to select a book.  For some of us, we may, quite literally, judge a book by its cover.  On the other hand, we may enjoy a specific time in history and enjoy both non-fiction and historical fiction where the story is set in a particular time period.  It may be helpful to talk with your child(ren) about the following:

1.  What characters have you enjoyed reading in the past?

2.  If your child likes a particular series, looking for the next book in the series or another title by the same author might be a great place to begin.

3.  What are their friends reading?  

4.  What books would their teacher recommend?  

5.  What are the newest award-winning books?

6.  Is there a new sequel to a book you've read?

7.  What genre have you loved in the past?  Are you a fan of mysteries, fantasies, or sports-related stories?  Are you a fact fanatic who loves science?

Also, be thinking about the times that your children have stopped reading a book.  You can help them to reflect on what got in the way:

1.  Was it boring and moved at a slow pace?  

2.  Was it too hard to read?

3.  Were the characters hard to relate to?

4.  Was it confusing?

5.  Was it just different than expected and s/he lost interest?

Once students think they have found a book, they can assess if a book is "just right" by using the "five finger rule:

Dr. Cameron, Mrs. Wagstaff, and I will be at Barnes & Noble during a portion of the event as well and hope to see you there!

Happy Reading!

Dr. Beauchaine 

A few community announcements: 

Please consider donating non-perishables to the Wrentham Food Pantry. Rolling bins are in the lobbies of each school.

Barnes and Noble Book Fair, Walpole, MA

Tuesday and Wednesday November 10^th and 11^th

Mrs. Wagstaff will be reading a book in the 6:00 hour on Tuesday evening.

Roderick Review Week 9 (10/26/15 - 10/30/15)


Extra!  Extra!  Read All About it!
Our 5th/6th Grade Student Council officially met for the first time this year on Wednesday, October 28, 2015.  Thanks to the leadership of our representatives and the guidance of our Student Council advisors, Ms. DeTrolio and Ms. Downing, we held our first Student Council Sponsored Spirit Day on Thursday, October 29, 2015.  Roderick School community members were invited to wear their favorite Patriots gear or red, white, and blue, to support our local NFL team yesterday, and MANY joined in the fun!  Stay tuned for more information from our Student Council in the weeks to come!

Roderick School Moments

On Sunday, many students, families, and WPS community members came out to participate in one of the three runs as part of the Halloween Hustle and others came to cheer on the runners. All proceeds from the Halloween Hustle will go towards the new Delaney playground!  Thank you to everyone who came to support this special event!

Fourth graders are starting their
landmark research projects and are using Google drive to work collaboratively with a peer.











Fourth graders here are presenting their mystery book reports and interviewing classmates about the characters, setting, problem, and solution in the stories.  (They are also eager to tell you what their favorite part of the book was as well and how they knew it was a mystery.)










Fifth graders are reviewing all they know about combining numbers with decimals.


















While other fifth grade scientists are working as a group to put their posters together as expert geologists ready to share what they know about igneous and metamorphic samples or the rock cycle,












 Some sixth graders are keeping up with current events, providing a summary of what they learned from a current article, reflecting upon its importance, and then presenting it on the "news."

Ms. Lopez has been introducing how the Library is organized and introduced "The Big Ten" categories of the Dewey Decimal System so that students know where to find the areas of non-fiction they are looking for.





On Friday afternoon, 4th graders shared their original creations during the annual Pumpkin Parade!

Don't forget!  It is time to "FALL BACK" and turn your clocks back one hour this weekend!  (Daylight Savings Time officially ends at 2:00 a.m. on November 1, 2015)

Roderick Review Week 8 (10/19/15 - 10/23/15)

What do you know about Instagram?

Instagram is a social network service similar to Facebook and Twitter.  What makes Instagram different is that it is used to simply share pictures with others easily.  It is easy to set up an account and there are options to have a public or private account.

The posted minimum age for Instagram users is thirteen.  When children in grades 4-6 have access to Instagram and other social media without supervision and education about how to use the app responsibly, it can make students vulnerable.  Pictures can be uploaded and shared instantly and they can be searched easily if others know the user name.

If you and your child have an Instagram account together, here are some helpful guidelines you can use to protect your child:

*Create a private account.
*Select a pseudonym and discourage your child from using his or her real first or last name.
*Select a password that contains a mixture of letter, numbers, and symbols and be sure that it does not contain a real word.
*Do not use a photo of your child for the profile and instead choose an icon depicting a favorite interest or hobby such as a picture of a soccer ball or a treble clef if she is a musician.
*Turn off the photo map so that those that view the pictures do not know possible locations.

For more information visit:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/instagram

 Watercolors, watercolors everywhere! (Sixth graders in art!)


Under the direction of Ms. Lovely, students study a photograph carefully and create their own watercolor shades.  By concentrating on the variations in color and texture in the photograph and experimenting with color mixing and different techniques with the paintbrushes, students are recreating works of art with watercolors.  Take a look at what some sixth graders worked on this week!