image of a blackboard with school supplies in front and text of FES updates, November 13, 2022

FES Updates, November 13, 2022

Mr. Ward, Principal

November 13, 2022

Mr. Ward’s Message:

This past week brought time for our students to pause and reflect on Veteran’s Day.  Students engaged in conversations with their classmates and teachers.  Teacher read aloud books about Veterans Day.  Some students created cards to be shared with a local Veteran.  Regardless of the activity, Freetown Elementary School appreciates all Veterans across all military units who have served our great Nation!

 

FES News and Happenings:

  • Calling all Speed Stackers! The annual Family Cup Stacking Night will be held next, Thursday, November 17th 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.  

  • Save the Dates:

    • Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, December 7th (evening) and Thursday, December 8th (afternoon).  An on-line sign-up document will be shared on Sunday, November 27th at 6:00 PM.  Conferences will be limited to 10 minutes.  Parents/Guardians may select a conference time on either date that works for your schedule.  Your child’s report card will be sent home on Tuesday, December 6th for you to review and have for your child’s parent/teacher conference.  More information will follow in the upcoming weeks.  

PTO Corner:

Attendance Matters Weekly Update:

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

  • The September average student daily attendance was 95%.  Goal achieved!

  • The October average student daily attendance was 95%.  Goal achieved!  

Let’s keep that momentum going into the month of November.  

  • November 1-4: 94%...Goal Met!  

  • November 8-10: 95%...Goal Met!

Upcoming events:

November 11: No School for students - Veterans Day

November 14: November PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM

November 17:  Cup Stacking Night

November 23: Early Release Day for students - Dismissal at 12:15 PM

November 24 & 25: No School - Thanksgiving Recess

News and Happenings around the classrooms:

Preschool:  This week in preschool we began learning about the Lively Letter, v, a vampire who makes a noisy lip biting sound.  We also began learning about the first Thanksgiving and made  Mayflower projects.  We compared pilgrim living with how we live today.

Kindergarten:  This week in kindergarten our Fundation letters were e and r. Our high frequency word was “a '' and our comprehension skill was headings and topic and details. In math, our focus was making number partners for 8 and 9. We completed a variety of lessons and activities centered around voting and why we celebrate Veterans Day. An enormous thank you to all of our veterans out there. 

Grade 1: This week in first grade we reviewed unit 3 week 2  in FUNdations. We worked on digraphs th, sh, wh, ch, and ck. 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 8 and 9.  In science we finished up the sound unit. 

Grade 2:  This week in second grade we worked on determining story elements including theme. In Fundations we continued to work with multisyllabic words and introduced some new suffixes. In Math we worked with strategies to help us solve 2-step word problems using addition and subtraction. Children have been encouraged to share a variety of strategies in order to solve the same number story or word problem. In writing we worked on developing our Realistic Fiction writing.

Grade 3:   This week in third grade we read an expository text about different traditions that families celebrate. In writing we wrote our events one and two of our personal narratives. In social studies we read and took notes about how the Wampanoags lived in the winter. In math we learned about patterns and wrapped up Unit one with a Unit one assessment.  This week we also took time to learn about Veterans Day and wrote Veterans letters, thanking them for their service to our country. 

Art: Kindergartners learned that organic shapes are made with curved lines and don’t have a regular form.  They took leaf rubbings from a variety of organic leaf shapes.  They are loving  learning about organic and geometric shapes with this song.  Grade 1 created their own version of Paul Klee’s famous painting Castle and Sun.  Click here to learn more about Paul Klee’s abstract art with your child.  Grade 2 is using shapes and radial design to create a paper Mexican mirror.  Grade 3 used teamwork to finish their positive and negative symmetrical shape designs.    

Physical Education: We are on lesson 2 of cup stacking. Second graders are reviewing the stacks from last week and are learning the 363 and introduced to the 1-10-1. Third grade students are learning the 363, and 1-10-1. First Graders are reviewing the easier stacks and are learning the 66 and 363. Kindergarten students are also reviewing what they learned last week and will practice a modified version of the 6 stack.

Family Cup stacking night is on Thursday, November 17th from 6:00-7:00. There is no charge, but in partnership with the Freetown Council on Aging, we will be collecting nonperishable food items to put together Thanksgiving meals for those in need in our town. Some examples of items could be: cranberry sauce, apple sauce, canned corn, green beans & potatoes, instant potatoes, boxes of cornbread and biscuit mixes. 

Music:  This week, students K-3 have started the 2nd week of their unit on improvising. Grade 3 will be improvising movements in Mama Lama, Grade 2 will explore improvising using mallet instruments. Grade 1 and Kindergarten will continue to improvise with arioso type songs.  Kindergarten will be working on their instrument as an introduction to playing percussion instruments and reading music. 

Library:  During library class this week, kindergarten and first grade students used a virtual reality app on the iPad called “Quiver”. Students designed a dot based on the book “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds and took a picture of it on the app and then saw their dot turn into a 3-D dot that could move and change. Second grade students listened to a book called “Veterans Day” by Allan Morey and listened to an article on Veterans Day from the database Britannica School Elementary. Students responded to a writing prompt about what they learned using Google Slides. Third grade students listened to the read aloud “Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots” by Michael Rex and then wrote their own facts and opinions on Google Jamboard.