Mr. Ward’s Message:
There is no school on Monday, October 10th in observance of Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples Day. School will resume again on Tuesday, October 11th.
As you have probably heard that we are having a fundraiser called the Fun Run. This is our “BIG” fundraiser for the school year. This week brought the FUN RUN Pep Rally and students have learned the “Grand Land Adventure” Cheer. The students have also been viewing the “Grand Land Adventure” videos at lunch as each video represents a character trait such as stewardship, bravery, and gratitude as they visit the various national parks. The date of the actual Fun Run is Thursday, October 13th.
Fun Run Fun Facts…
Families please go to MyBooster.com to register your child and start to collect pledges.
Our goal is to raise $25,000.00 for student activities. Additionally, if the students achieve this goal several staff members will be participating in a “colored dusting”.
On the Fun Run Day students will be given a Fun Run T-Shirt to wear. The Fun Run T-shirts have been 100% sponsored by local businesses and merchants. On the backside of the t-shirt will be a check-off box for each lap a student completes. Students will complete between 30-35 laps.
Fun Run Date: October 13th...Times are below:
PreK (AM), Kindergarten, Grade 1: 9:40 - 10:40 AM
Grade 2 and Grade 3: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
PreK (PM): 1:00 PM
During the week of October 10-14 FES students will be participating in Fire Safety Week with the Freetown Fire Department. Freetown firefighters will be visiting classrooms to share fire safety prevention ideas and strategies. As always we appreciate our partnership with the Freetown Fire Department and all first responders.
Did you know…
Freetown Elementary School has a partnership with the Community Engagement Program of PACE Child Care Works. With this partnership FES and PACE offer a free weekly parent/child playgroup for 3 and 4 year olds on Friday mornings. The time of the playgroup is from 10:00 - 11:30 AM on Fridays. Registration is required. If you are interested please email Tammy at tdesnoyers@paceccw.org or call Tammy at (508) 999-9930 Ext 129.
Attendance Matters Weekly Update:
The goal that has been established... 94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.
The September average student daily attendance was 95%. Goal achieved. Let’s keep that momentum going into the month of October.
October 3-7: 96%...Goal achieved!
Upcoming events:
October 7: Early Release Day - Students will be dismissed at 12:15 PM. No lunch service.
October 10: No School due to Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples Day
October 17: October PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM
News and Happenings around the classrooms:
Preschool: In preschool this week, we met our quiet tongue dancer, the Lively Letter t. We also began learning about the life cycle of apples. Students tasted different types of apples and we graphed our favorites. We practiced counting with one-to-one correspondence, and numeral recognition through activities such as apple stamping and using Q-tips to put apples on tree tops. The Fun Run Fundraiser began this week and the preschoolers are very excited to participate in this run next Thursday!
Kindergarten: In kindergarten this week, we learned the name, sound and proper letter formation for the letters m and n. We introduced the high frequency word “can” and discussed concepts of print- reading left to right and distinguishing letters vs. words. For math our lesson focused on comparing numbers within 5 and using math vocabulary “more than” and “less than”. For writing, we discussed using pictures to tell a story and during science we continued our Fall unit.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we finished unit 1 in Fundations. We worked on reviewing letters and sounds and the formation of the letters. For comprehension we began the new Wonders program and focused on visualization and characters. In writing we are working on the launching unit. For math this week, the students added and subtracted in word problems. We are continuing to use counting on to help solve word problems. In science, we began talking about what a scientist is and what they do. We also kicked off the Fun Run fundraiser at the beginning of the week.
Grade 2: This week in second grade in math we used place value knowledge to help us compare 2- and 3-digit numbers. In reading we read stories where we focused on determining character traits and how character traits affect the way characters respond to challenges. In Fundations, we worked with glued sounds such as “am”, “an” and “ink”. We worked on narrative writing and we continued to learn about map skills. We kicked off the Fun Run fundraising event, and we are looking forward to the exciting Fun Run next week!
Grade 3: We had a very busy week in grade 3! We started our Wonders reading anthology. We discussed the essential question: How do people from different cultures contribute to a community? And read a narrative nonfiction called Gary the Dreamer. In math, students practiced using the distributive property to solve multiplication equations. In science, we began our objects in motion unit by talking about balanced and unbalanced forces.
Music: This week, students K-3 have started the third week of their unit on being expressive in music. We will learn new songs, games, and movements to be performed with appropriate musicality. In addition, Gradees 2 and 3 have explored mallet instruments and composing.
Art: K students learned and practiced safe and correct cutting techniques. Grade 1 drew a giant loopy line and used their imaginations to draw silly creatures in the shapes they found. Grade 2 learned about the art of Mehndi (Henna tattoo), then traced their hand and added line designs to make a paper mehndi. Grade 3 did some problem solving as they drew 1 continuous line that never touches or crosses over itself and completely fills up their paper. Click here to check out and bookmark the virtual art room, many of the students are asking how to find it.
Physical Education: This week students were introduced to or reviewed throwing skills. The 2nd and 3rd graders reviewed both the overhand and underhand throws and practiced aiming at different Targets. They ended the class by learning the basic rules of a game called Monsterball and playing a lead up to the actual game. Kindergarteners and 1st graders practiced the underhand (tick-tock) throw by throwing at different targets with a variety of throwing items (bean bags, yarn balls, etc)
Library: In library class this week, kindergarten students listened to a read aloud about book care called “How to Treat a Book”. Students sorted picture cards with their groups into pictures that showed how to take care of a book and what not to do around a book. In first grade students practiced their typing skills on Typetastic. They learned about the home row keys. In second and third grade, students explored the library’s Follett Destiny Catalog and how to search for a book on it.