Mr. Ward’s Message:
This past week brought Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week at Freetown Elementary. All week staff members were recognized by “special days” sponsored by the FES PTO. Also, thank you to all families in sharing in the recognition of our amazing staff members. The FES Community continues to grow because of the continuous family support, our scholars coming prepared to learn each day, and our staff members who come to work each day to meet the diverse needs of our students.
Grade 1 students attended their field trip on Monday, May 8th. They attended a show at the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford as well as having a picnic and fun at the playground. Thank you FES PTO for sponsoring this fun day for grade one students.
PTO Corner:
The next PTO Meeting will take place on Monday, June 12th from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. The meeting will be both in-person and virtual. The meeting invitation will be provided the week prior to the meeting.
FES PTO website is...https://freetownelementarypto.weebly.com/
Memo to Grade 3 Families…
On May 16th and 17th our Grade 3 Scholars will be participating in the computer-based Mathematics MCAS Exam. Like ELA, we believe students will be prepared and ready to shine! Our Grade 3 students' attendance was great for the ELA Exam and we are hoping for the same results for Math. Please understand that time spent on the practice site outside of school hours is in no way a requirement. This site is being provided as a resource for families who want to become familiar with the assessment and/or practice with their children. The link is attached below. Once you click on the link, scroll down to Mathematics Practice Test, and click on view Mathematics Practice Tests, then click Grade 3, from which you will need to select Computer-Based Practice Test.
Attendance Matters Weekly Update:
Goal: 94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.
May student daily attendance rate…
Week of May 1-5: 95%...Goal achieved
Week of May 8-12: 96%...Goal achieved
Upcoming Events:
May 16 & 17: Math MCAS for Grade 3 students
May 17: Grade 3 Spring Chorus Concert beginning at 7:00 PM
May 22-26: “Buy one, Get One” Free Scholastic Book Fair Week
May 24: Family Book Fair Night
May 29: No school in observance of Memorial Day
Annual Art Show will take place on Wednesday, May 31st from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. Each student will have 3 art projects on display and there will be over 1,000 art pieces for all to view.
News and Happenings from the classrooms for the week of May 8-12:
Pre-School: This week in preschool we learned about a new Lively Letter, letter x, which is actually two sounds crashing together! We also continued our farm theme and learned about horses, pigs, and goats. Lastly, we celebrated our mothers and created special gifts for them to enjoy this Mother’s Day!
Kindergarten: This week in kindergarten our Fundations lesson was to decode words and reading for fluency while scooping. In our Wonders curriculum our HF words were- help, too.
For comprehension skills, we asked and answered questions and sequenced events. We discussed and focused on staying on and within the lines when writing. We continued with expository writing. Our math lesson was comparing flat and solid shapes.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we finished up the CVC-e unit in FUNdations. We added suffix -s to our CVC-e words. For comprehension we focused on retelling and understanding key details in a story. In writing we are finishing up the poetry unit. This week in math we are comparing data and looking for more and less than. For science we are learning about plants. We had an amazing time on our field trip to the Playground and the Zeiterion! Thank you to all the chaperones and the PTO!
Grade 2: This week in second grade math we solved word problems involving money. In Fundations we worked on reading and spelling words with consonant -le syllables such as able and bubble. In reading we continued to compare and contrast texts. In writing we began to work on opinion writing and learned about how to state an opinion and supply reasons to support an opinion. In Science we began to learn about what plants need in order to survive.
Music:. This week, students K-3 have started the second week of their unit on performance. Grade 1 and Kindergarten are practicing performing by learning new songs such as Wishy Washy. 2nd grade will expand their musicianship will begin practicing for our Star Spangled Spectacular. 3rd grade will be entering their final week of recorders by performing on their last songs.
Physical Education: This week students worked on their underhand rolls, sportsmanship, and strategy during a game of Bocce. Second and Third grade students played scored games with two bocces per player. First grade played scored games with one bocce per player and a fixed pallino. Kindergarten students played teacher directed games with one bocce per player and a fixed pallino.
Art: Kindergarteners reviewed primary colors and learned about symmetry as they created symmetrical creatures by squeezing tempera paint from bottles and folding the paper. Grade 1 is creating the illusion of distance in adorable farm drawings. Grade 2 created a stylized African landscape, also creating the illusion of distance in their work. Grade 3 creating an etching on styrofoam and made 2 prints from them.