Mr. Ward’s Message:
Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place on Thursday, December 7th at two separate times. All conferences are scheduled. The first time block is from 1:00 - 3:25 PM. The second opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher is from 5:15 - 7:15 PM on December 7th as well. If you have not signed up for a parent/teacher conference just yet, you can still do so! Please check your email from Sunday, November 26th as the sign-up document was shared at 6:00 PM. If you cannot find the email, simply, email your child’s teacher and they will be happy to assist you.
Some Parent/Teacher Conference TIPS as you prepare for your conference with your child’s teacher.
Review your child’s school work and report card. Report cards will be sent home on December 6th.
Look for special talents as well as areas of challenge.
Talk to your child – find out if there is anything he/she would like you to discuss with the teacher.
Note anything that might be affecting your child’s behavior – a change in routine, the passing of a close relative or pet.
Make a list of questions or concerns you want to bring up. Talk with your child every day about their school experiences, successes, and worries.
Review homework assignments each day and help your children organize time and work.
Conference time will be limited, so go well-prepared.
News and happenings around FES…
Once again this year FES is participating in the Christmas Stockings for Veterans & Troops. Freetown Elementary School is assisting the Tuesday Club of Assonet in collecting items to make stockings for our local Veterans. The suggested items for donations are outlined in the link above.
Our Grade 3 Choral members along with Mr. Moreira and Mrs. Cunha will be performing at the North Dartmouth Mall on Saturday, December 9th from 11:30 - 12:00 outside of Macy’s. As part of the fun FES is participating in the Toys for Tots Drive taking place. If you are interested in donating an unwrapped item please send it to school by December 8th and we will be delivering the unwrapped items on the Saturday morning when the choral members perform.
Kindergarten Gingerbread Night will be taking place for Kindergarten students and their families this Friday, December 1st beginning at 5:30 PM. Families may gain access to the Gingerbread Night by the main entrance on Bullock Road.
The Hour of Code Week will take place next week December 4-8 within the Freetown Elementary School Library with Mrs. Lipovsky. The Hour of Code is an opportunity to introduce computer science to our students. Take a moment to talk to your child about the Hour of Code after going to the library with Mrs. Lipovsky.
Upcoming events:
12/1: Kindergarten Gingerbread Night
12/7: Early Release Day for students. Students will be dismissed at 12:15 PM.
12/7: Parent/Teacher Conferences
Session 1: 1:00 - 3:25 PM Session 2: 5:15 - 7:15 PM
12/13: Grade 3 Choral Concert beginning at 7:00 PM
12/14: Grade 1 Holiday Storybook Night from 5:30 - 7:00 PM
12/22: Early Release Day for students. Students will be dismissed at 12:15 PM.
12/22 - 1/1: At the close of school on 12/22 Winter Recess will begin. School will resume again
on Tuesday, January 2nd.
Holiday Spirit Week will take place during the week of December 18-22.
Monday, December 18: Holiday Accessory Day - Students are invited to wear their best and most festive holiday accessory such as headbands, hats, socks, necklaces, earrings, ties, etc.
Tuesday, December 19: Polar Express Day - Children can wear their pajamas to school. Staff is welcome to read the Polar Express and participate in some Polar Express activities.
Wednesday, December 20: Holiday Sock Day - Students can wear their favorite holiday socks!
Thursday, December 21: Holiday Sweater Day - Students can wear their festive holiday sweaters/shirts to school.
Friday, December 22: Red & Green Day - Students are invited to wear red and green or holiday colors to school. Come dressed festive for Holiday celebrations.
PTO Corner:
PTO meetings will be held in person and virtually. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2024 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.
November’s Daily Student Attendance Percentage:
November 1-3: 94%...Goal achieved!
November 6, 8, & 9: 94%...Goal achieved!
November 13-17: 93%...Did not quite achieve the goal!
November 21, 22, & 23: 92%...Did not achieve our goal!
November 27-30: 93%...Did not quite achieve the goal!
For the month of November our daily student attendance was 93.2%. We did not reach our goal! Let’s make every attempt to get our students to school each day for December. December is a short month due to the Winter Break beginning on December 22nd at the close of school.
News and Happenings around the classrooms:
Preschool: This week in preschool we learned about the letter G and the sound it makes. We discussed the season of giving and began collecting donations for a local food pantry. We began learning about Hanukkah traditions, such as playing Dreidel and we learned the song “Dreidel.”
Kindergarten: This week in kindergarten our letter/sound/writing was Ii. Our HFW was “to” and our comprehension skill was characters in a story. In phonemic awareness we practiced initial and medial sounds and blending sounds to make words. In writing, we discussed and practiced how sentences are made up of words and how we use descriptive words in our writing. In math we compared numbers within ten. We focused on the vocabulary more/less in both arrays and where they fall on the number bar. Our week was full of gingerbread stories/activities with our culminating activity being our annual Family Gingerbread Night on Friday evening. A night enjoyed by all!
Grade 1: This week in first grade we started Unit 2 in Wonders. We learned about the vowel sound -ea that makes the short e sound like in “bread” and “head”. For writing we are continuing to work on writing complete sentences and responding to a text. The students are learning to use evidence from the text to support their answer. For math this week we began learning about the equal sign. In social studies we are beginning to learn about holidays around the world.
**Save the Date**: Our Holiday Story Hour will be held Thursday, December 14th from 5:00-6:30.
Grade 2: This week in second grade reading we asked and answered questions about stories in order to determine plot, problem and solution. In phonics, we learned about vowel-consonant-e syllables where the first vowel makes a long sound and the e is silent. We also learned about soft c and g. In math, we began to learn strategies for adding 2-digit numbers with regrouping. In writing we worked on our informational writing about animals. In science we talked about the effects of wind and water and observed changes to land.
Grade 3: This week in third grade, we focused on multiplying by tens and using the distributive property to break apart numbers and equations. In reading, students completed an MCAS practice story called, Claude Monet. They used the RACES to help organize the information to type an open- ended response. We also introduced a new essential question: why do people immigrate to new places? We have started exploring this question with a variety of stories. In writing, students have continued with their realistic fiction stories. In science, we started a new unit: Force and Motion. We learned what force is through a variety of articles and videos.
Physical Education: Students participated in fitness stations. The focus was on flexibility. Students also participated in cardiorespiratory, muscular endurance, and muscular strength activities.
Art: Kindergarteners stamped large geometric shapes to reinforce names and features. Grade 1 is creating adorable symmetrical cut paper monsters. Grade 2 is creating cut paper African styled masks. Grade 3 started their cut paper carolers in their likeness.
Music: This week, students K-3 have started the 3rd 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. In addition, we have begun singing holiday songs chosen by the students.
Library: During library class this week, students were introduced to coding. Kindergarten and first grade students worked on the website Kodable and helped their Kodable character make their way through a maze. Students also designed their own mazes. Second and third grade students learned about coding concepts including sequences, conditions and loops. Students used these concepts to help their character on Kodable move through mazes and pick up trash in the Beach Clean Up activity.