Mr. Ward’s Message:
Attendance Matters...As you know Freetown Elementary School shares the weekly student attendance data. It is vital and essential that our students attend school daily. When students attend school each day, research has shown that students are more inclined to be successful. “Attend today, Achieve Tomorrow”. When your child is absent from school for 5 or more days FES will be sending home a letter to inform you of the absences regardless if absences are excused or unexcused. Our goal is to keep you updated with your child’s attendance. After the letter is sent home, on the 8th absence, it is the principal’s discretion to call home to have a conversation about the absences. The reason for that is to have a conversation about the absences and to discuss if the school can be of any assistance. We are maintaining our goal of 94% of students attending daily. Which is great news! However, we have several students who have missed over 10% of the school year thus far. Let’s work together to ensure our scholars, “Attend today so they can achieve tomorrow.”
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!
October 23-27: 96%...Goal achieved!
October 30 & 31: 94%...Goal achieved!
For the month of October the daily student attendance percentage was 96%. Outstanding attendance for our Freetown Foxes. Let’s keep it going into November.
News and happenings around FES…
There will be no school on Tuesday, November 7th for our students as it is a Professional Development Day for Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District. School will resume again on Wednesday, November 8th.
There will be no school on Friday, November 10th in observance of Veterans’ Day. School will resume again on Monday, November 13th.
Calling all Speed Stackers! The annual Cup-Stacking Night will be held tonight, Thursday, November 16th from 6-7 pm. There is no cost for this event and no need to register. We will be collecting non-perishable food for the FES Food Drive that night.
Upcoming events:
November 7: No School for students - PD Day for FLRSD Educators
November 10: No School due to Veterans Day
November 13: November PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM
November 16: Cup-Stacking Night in the Gymnasium
November 22: Early Release Day. Students dismissed at 12:15 PM. No lunch served
November 23 & 24: No School - Thanksgiving Recess
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!
October 23-27: 96%...Goal achieved!
October 30 & 31: 94%...Goal achieved!
For the month of October the daily student attendance percentage was 96%. Outstanding attendance for our Freetown Foxes. Let’s keep going into November.
News and Happenings around the classrooms:
Preschool: This week in preschool we enjoyed celebrating Halloween. The children wore their costumes to school and played games such as “pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern” and “ghost bowling.” The children made predictions about what is inside a pumpkin. Then we opened the pumpkin and observed the seeds, pulp, and flesh. We also learned about bats, owls, and foxes, and how they are nocturnal.
Kindergarten: This week in kindergarten we learned about the letter Pp. We learned to identify Pp, its sound, formation and where we could hear it(First, last…or even in the middle) in a variety of words. Our HFW was “a”. We continue to discuss topic and details in our nonfiction texts. We completed Veteran’s Day projects to send to a group of veterans thanking them for their service. In math, we identified, learned its proper formation and counted the numbers 8 and 9.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we worked on short vowel o and alphabetical order. We continued to review digraphs th, sh, wh, ch, and ck along with l-consonant blends.. For comprehension we reviewed retelling stories and asking and answering questions in a text along with visualization. In writing we are working on responding to a text. In math we worked on number partners for 6 and 7. In science, we finished the pumpkin unit.
Grade 2: This week in second grade we learned how to find the main topic of an expository text. In phonics we continued to study base words & suffixes and we learn the sounds of the suffix “-ed” (id, d, t). Examples are camped, blasted and helped. In Math we worked with strategies to help us solve 1-step word problems using addition and subtraction. Children were encouraged to share a variety of strategies in order to solve the same number story or word problem. Our second writing unit began with a focus on expository text. Students will be researching to write an informational essay. In science and social studies we learned about forms of water on earth.
Grade 3: This week in third grade, students explored the essential question: how do landmarks help us understand our country’s story? Students started to read a variety of stories that explore this question. Students also used the RACES graphic organizer to answer specific comprehension questions and citing text evidence. In math, students reviewed place value skills. They also learned how to round two and three digit numbers to the nearest ten. In writing, students have finished typing and sharing their personal narratives.
Physical Education: On Monday and Tuesday the last two days of classes played the game Skeleton Run.
Let the cup stacking begin! Starting on Wednesday, classes started the much loved cup stacking unit. This unit works on hand-eye coordination in a sport where children are faster than adults. I add a fitness element to the unit with sit-up, planks, and sprints. This week all classes learned how to upstack and downstack the basic 3-3-3 stack while second and third graders also learned the 6 stack.
Save the date! Our annual Family Cup Stacking night is scheduled for Thursday, November 16th from 6-7 pm in the gymnasium. Come by and let your student teach you how to speed stack. There is no cost to attend.
Music: This week, students K-3 have started the 1st week of their unit on improvising. Grade 3 will begin improvising movements in Mama Lama, Grade 2 will explore improvising using mallet instruments. Grade 1 and Kindergarten will improvise with arioso type songs.
Library: During library class this week, kindergarten students were introduced to the typing website Typetastic. First grade students are learning how to use Google Classroom and Google Slides. Students worked on an activity identifying narrative and expository images and designed a book cover. Second and third grade students learned about how the media messages they create may be interpreted differently by other people.