Mr. Ward’s Message:
This upcoming week will bring the 100th Day of School. The anticipated date for the 100th Day of School for students in grades 1-3 is Wednesday, February 7th. Our Kindergarten students join the school year a couple days later thus they will be participating in 100th Day activities on Friday, February 9th. Please be on the lookout from your child’s teacher about any 100th Day of School activities.
Additionally this week will bring World Read Aloud Day on Wednesday, February 7th. On this day many children’s book authors will celebrate this day by reading their books through virtual visits with classrooms around the world. It will be no different for Freetown Elementary School. Mrs. Lipovsky, FES Librarian/Media Specialist, was able to sign-up for four virtual author visits. Some classrooms will have the opportunity to listen to a children’s book author read their book aloud. The authors who are scheduled for virtual visits are Sonju Ma Daemicke, Meera Sriram, June Sobel and Debra Shumaker.
Upcoming events:
February 2: Early Release Day for students. Breakfast will be provided. Lunch will not be served.
February 12: February PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM.
February 15: FES PTO Bingo Night (Registration is full!)
February 19-23: February Vacation Week
February Vacation Week will take place the week of February 19-23. School will resume again on Monday, February 26th.
FES News and Happenings…
Grade 3 News...Students in grade 3 across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts participate in their first MCAS exam. Students will be tested in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The MCAS exam is a computer based exam in which students will take the exam on the computer. MCAS dates for students in Grade 3 at FES will be:
April 8 & 9 for English Language Arts
May 14 & 15 for Mathematics
PTO Corner:
PTO meetings will be held in person and virtually. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 12th, 2024 from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. The meeting invitation will be shared out the week prior to the February PTO Meeting. 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.
January’s Daily Student Attendance Percentage:
Week of January 1-5: 96%...YEAH! We are back on track!
Week of January 8-12: 94%...Still on track, way to go!
Week of January 15-19: 93%...Not quite there!
Week of January 22-26: 93%...Still not quite there!
Week of January 26-February 2: 88%...Did not achieve our goal!
Grade Level Happenings from the Week of 1/26-2/2:
Pre-School: This week in preschool we continued our study of weather, with a specific focus on the sun. We discussed and drew pictures about things we like to do on a sunny day. In preparation for Groundhog Day, the preschoolers learned about shadows. They made some of their own shadow puppets using our classroom projector. We also made predictions about whether or not the groundhog will see his shadow, and we graphed our predictions. We learned about the letter M and its sound this week.
Kindergarten: This week in kindergarten our letter for phonics, PA and letter formation was Ee. Our HFW was “are”. We continue to focus on left/right, top/bottom tracking, return sweep and parts of a book. In PA we continue to work on blending onset/rime and segmenting sounds. In comprehension our focus was rereading for information and topic/details. We focused on return sweep and words that connect ideas in our opinion writing this week. In math our lesson was subtraction within 10.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we focused on i-e (long i-consonant-silent e). We have been discussing the Magic E syllable type as well. For comprehension our focus was on how plants change as they grow. We read a few selections about plants and talked about the characters in the stories. For writing this week, we finished up our how to unit. In math, we began our tens and ones unit. For science, we are working on light and communication.
Grade 2: This week in second grade in reading we worked to determine point of view and plot of a story. In phonics we worked on reading and spelling multisyllabic words with the letter patterns “er”, “ir”, and “ur” for the r-controlled vowel sound /er/. In math we solved word problems involving adding and subtracting with regrouping. In writing we worked on our narrative writing. In science we learned about properties and states of matter.
Grade 3: In math this week, students learned how to compare fractions with like and unlike denominators using pictures and a number line. In reading, students read a folktale that explored how characters felt from different perspectives. Students analyzed this story and wrote about it from one of the character’s perspectives. In writing, students practiced an MCAS story and comprehension questions while using the important strategies they learned in class. In science, students started a new unit about magnets and how they work!
Art: Kindergarteners explored symmetry while they designed color patterned mittens. Grade 1 learned about complementary colors and explored the process of printmaking. Grade 2 is making aztec sun and moon paintings while learning to mix analogous colors to make tertiary colors. Grade 3 learned about Georgia O’keefe and drew flowers from observation.
Physical Education: Students worked on teamwork, communication skills, and good sportsmanship while working together playing the game “The Floor is Lava”. Towards the end of the week students participated in fitness activities.
Library: In the library we are getting ready for World Read Aloud Day which is on February 7, 2024. We are reading aloud books by authors who will be virtually visiting with us on that day. The authors who are scheduled for virtual visits are Sonju Ma Daemicke, Meera Sriram, June Sobel and Debra Shumaker.