Mr. Ward’s Message:
Freetown Elementary School had a splendid week last week. Lots of happenings in and around FES…
All FES students participated in a Fire Safety Day with the Freetown Fire Department. Students learned about proper safety tips dealing with fire prevention. They learned about dialing 9-1-1, smoke detectors, what to do in case of a fire, “stop, drop, cover, and roll'' and much more. Students may be asking to speak as a family and discuss your safety plan and meeting spot?
STEM Week also took place this week at Freetown Elementary School. Each classroom learned about bridges, the various types of bridges, the difference between bridges, and they even had the chance to build one.
Upcoming events:
November 2: Picture Retake Day / Preschool Picture Day
November 7: No School for students - PD Day for FLRSD Educators
November 10: No School due to Veterans Day
November 16: Cup Stacking Night from 6:00 - 7:00 PM in the FES Gymnasium
PTO Corner:
PTO meetings will be held in person and virtually. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 13th from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. The meeting will be in person as well as virtual to accommodate for families. Hope you will consider joining the FES PTO.
FES PTO website is...https://freetownelementarypto.weebly.com/
Attendance Matters Weekly Update:
Goal: 94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.
October’s Daily Student Attendance Percentage:
October 2-6: 96%...Goal achieved!
October 9-13: 97%...Goal achieved!
October 16-20: 97%...Goal achieved!
News and Happenings around the classrooms:
Preschool: This week in preschool we learned about fire safety and we listened to a presentation by our local firefighters. We learned how to crawl under smoke and how to “stop, drop, and roll.” Thank you Firefighters! On Friday, we highlighted the color orange by wearing something orange to school. We also participated in our school wide STEM week, which was all about building bridges!
Kindergarten: This week in kindergarten we focused on the name, sound and formation of the letter Aa and its sound in the initial and medial positions in words. Our HFW was “we”. In Math, we counted and learned the letter formation for 6 and 7. The firefighters came to our school! They talked with us about fire safety and we learned so much important information. For STEM week, we participated in the school wide building bridges project.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we focused on words with short i and suffix -s. For comprehension we reviewed visualization, characters, setting, and plot, and retelling a story. In math this week we learned about comparing numbers and using subtraction as a strategy to help solve these types of problems. For writing, we are focusing on responding to text. In science we had so much fun learning about bridges and building our own bridges during STEM Week! We even got to test them out!
Grade 2: This week in second grade we read nonfiction texts while focusing on asking and answering questions about key details from the texts. In phonics we worked with closed syllable exceptions with glued/welded sounds ild, ind, ind, old, olt, and ost as in “child”, “kind”, “bold”, and “most”. In math we used the make 10 strategy to solve math problems. In writing we worked on our How To writing by expanding sentences. We had a visit from the Freetown Fire Department for a fire safety lesson. We participated in STEM week by learning about and engineering bridges and testing them to see if they could hold the weight of 3 chapter books!
Grade 3: This week in third grade, we learned about how multiplication and division are connected. We read word problems and determined the clue words of whether to multiply or divide. We also looked at arrays and wrote both multiplication and division sentences to represent them. In reading, we continued to explore the essential question: what can traditions teach you about cultures? We read great stories to develop an understanding, engage in conversations, and complete text responses about this question. In writing, we started the editing process of our personal narratives. Students did a wonderful job working with partners to help improve their writing!
Physical Education: Kindergarten and First Graders practiced their underhand throw and kicking skills by participating in stations in the gym. Second and Third graders practiced their overhand throws and kicking in outdoor stations.
Music: This week, students K-3 have started the fifth week of their unit on being expressive in music. We will learn new songs, games, and movements to be performed with appropriate musicality. Grades K and 1 will continue moving expressively with an emphasis on keeping a steady beat. Grade 2 will have their first opportunity to try boomwhackers. Grade 3 will practice singing in a round style.
Library: During library class this week, kindergarten students completed activities on the National Fire Protection Association’s website for kids called Sparky.com. Students worked on Chromebook skills related to using the track pad in addition to dragging and dropping. First and second grade students listened to an article about fire safety on Pebble Go. Students wrote about what they learned from the article in Google Slides. Third grade students listened to an article about fire safety from the Gale database. Students wrote about the main idea and supported it with evidence. For book checkout next week, students should bring back their books on the following days: students who have library on day 2 should return their books on 10/23 and 10/27. Students who have library on day 3 should return their library books on 10/24. Students who have library on day 4 should return their books on 10/25. Students who have library on day 1 should return their books on 10/26.