image of a bouquet of tulips, a red ribbon and text of Happy Mother's Day, FES updates, May 12, 2024

Mr. Ward’s Message: 

With each passing month it is with great pride at Freetown Elementary School that we continue the deep, embedded tradition of Student of Month ceremonies.  With each month a student from each classroom is nominated by peers and/or their teacher.  Students nominated have put forth their best efforts in their school work, behavior, and efforts.  For the month of April these students best exemplify what it means to be a Freetown Elementary Student.  Congratulations to the April students that were nominated…

Kindergarten: Lydia Bobek, Isla Newall, Dani Wilkinson, Adalyn Tefft, Ella Chmielewski

Grade 1:  Rayansh Patel, Madison Panagopoulos, Ryan Kahler, Adelynn Martin, Melanie Randow

Grade 2: Avalynn Fillion, Braelyn Emery, Lincoln Pichaske, Evangeline Tavares, Nathan DeChambeau

Grade 3: Ryan Richards, Braegha Ellis, Sonia Bobek, Cali Carvalho, Madison Pavao, Paisley Suitte

Specialists:   Carter Esteves


Upcoming events:

May 13:  May PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM

May 14 & 15: Grade 3 Math MCAS

May 15: Grade 3 Spring Choral Concert beginning at 7:00 PM 

May 17: Special Olympics

May 18: FES Spring Kids FUN Day from 2:00 4:00 PM

May 20-24: “Buy One, Get One” Scholastic Book Fair

May 23: Annual Art Show from 5:30 - 6:30 PM

May 23: Family Book Fair Night from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

May 27: No School - Memorial Day


On Saturday, May 18th the FES PTO will be sponsoring a Freetown Elementary School Spring Kids FUN DAY.  Saturday, May 18th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM on the Memorial Drive Playground there will be games, bounce houses, a magic show, and an ice cream truck available to purchase sweet treats.  Please consider joining us for this SPECIAL Spring Kids Fun Day at FES.  All FES families, students, and siblings are welcome to attend.  Rain date is Sunday, May 19th.  


On Thursday, May 23rd Freetown Elementary School will host its annual Art Show. The Art Show will begin at 5:30 PM and conclude at 6:30 PM.  The hallways will be transformed into galleries that feature two works of art  by each student artist and over 50 different art lessons.  At the same time of the Art Show the “Buy One, Get One (BOGO) Book Fair” Family Night will be taking place on Thursday, May 23rd from 5:30 - 7:00 PM in the auditorium.  For both events families will be able to gain access to the building using the Memorial Drive doors.  


PTO Corner:  

PTO meetings will be held in person and virtually.  The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 13th beginning at 6:30 PM.  The meeting invitation is included below.  If you are planning to attend in-person the meeting takes place in the FES library.  You may gain access to the building through the main entrance on Bullock Road.  


Attendance Matters Weekly Update:

Goal:  94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.  

May’s Daily Student Attendance Percentage:

  • May 1 and May 2: 97%...Met goal! 

  • May 6-10: 96%...Met goal!  


Memo to Grade 3 Families...On May 14th and 15th 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.

http://mcas.pearsonsupport.com/tutorial/


Around the Freetown Elementary School Classrooms for the Week of May 6-10:

Pre-School:  This week in preschool we continued our study of insects and learned that they have 6 legs, 3 body parts, antennae, and 0, 1, or 2 sets of wings!  We learned about ants, their nests, and their tunneling system.  We prepared gifts for Mother’s Day.  We also learned about the letter, X, and the sound it makes.


Kindergarten:  In kindergarten this week we focused on the long i sound (i_e.) We also learned about the digraph /ch/.  Our HFW were- has, play.  Our comprehension skill this week was re-reading for information and cause/effect. We identified and produced rhyming words and continue to work on phonemic awareness in the areas of phoneme segmentation and deletion. In writing, we focused again on sentence capitalization and sequencing of events and in math we compared shapes. 


Grade 1:  This week in first grade we worked on r controlled vowel -ar. For comprehension our focus was on character, setting, and major events in a story as well as identifying who is speaking at certain points in a story. In writing, we are finishing up the Poetry Unit. For math this week, we are comparing data in graphs and charts. For science, we are starting our animal research unit. We had a great time on our field trip to the Boston Museum of Science!


Grade 2: This week in second grade reading we worked on identifying text features: bold print and timelines; and understanding character perspective. In phonics we read and spelled multisyllabic words with double vowel syllables “ou”, “ue” and “ew” as in words such as continue, dewdrop and cookbook. In second grade math we continued to work on solving word problems involving money. The students worked on writing fiction stories. In science we continued to learn about plants and plant and animal dependence.


Grade 3:  This week, the third graders focused on geometry and math mania to review all skills in preparation for the MCAS next week!  We are confident that these third grade rockstars will do great! In social studies, students started learning about the geography of Freetown and the natural resources the town offers.  Finally, students had many opportunities to share their appreciation for their special mothers/stepmothers while completing a mother’s day project! 


Physical Education:  This week students played a grade level appropriate version of Bocce. Second and Third graders played a two roll bocce game with a rolled pallino at the beginning of each game and independent scoring. First Graders and Kindergarteners played a one roll bocce game with a fixed pallino. Kindergarten followed a guided lesson and teacher scoring while First graders played and scored independently.


Art:  K students are learning about form as an element of art.  They colored on cardboard to create a base for a sculpture and then they explored 3D centers and design with blocks and other 3D building materials.  Grades 1-3 finished up a myriad of projects and they filled their portfolios with finished work.  


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 and will begin practicing for our Star Spangled Spectacular. 3rd grade will be entering their final week of recorders by performing on their last songs. 


Library: During library class this week, kindergarten and first grade students learned how algorithms work. Algorithms are step-by-step instructions and they are a concept used in coding . Students created an algorithm for how to make a pizza or other recipe and uploaded their pictures in steps to Seesaw. Second and third grade students learned how to use Google Earth to locate Freetown, their home and places throughout the world.