Academic Newsletter For the Week of June 8th

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam WApril 14: Maxwell HMay 17: Mrs. Foley

June 8: Brooklyn C., JD P. & Keira R.
June 9: Christian K. & Braden S.
Summer Birthdays: Kathryn R., Toby K, Julia S., Joseph A., Alexander S., Mathew C., Jackson H., Dessa M., Ryan L., Radhika V., Aidan S., Adam K., Kaitlin D. & Adyline T.


DATES TO REMEMBER

• June 8: Jester and Pharley reading logs and donations are due
• June 8: Chess Pizza Party
• June 10: Field Day (rain date: June 12)
• June 12: Flag Day Ceremony

FRENCHTOWN NOTES

• Please remember to pick up your child's Reading Fair displays before the last day of school.
• Mrs. Melmed is looking for paper grocery bags with handles to send students' artwork home. Please send your donations in with your child.

IN THE CLASSROOMS
Grade 2

Math:

• Students are reviewing various mathematical skills taught throughout this school year.

E/LA:

• Students will continue to practice looking at literature more analytically. This skill includes describing character traits and noticing how characters may change throughout the story.

Science:

• We all enjoyed setting our butterflies free.
• All of the students did a fantastic job on their Insect reports and projects. Thank you, parents, for all of your assistance. Hopefully, you enjoyed this project as much as your children did.

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 6/1

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam WApril 14: Maxwell HMay 17: Mrs. Foley

June 1: Leah M., Colin W. & Mrs. Hayes
June 3: Ani G.
June 4: Grayson M.
June 5: Olivia P.
June 6: Nicholas P.


DATES TO REMEMBER

• June 1: Grade 2 students visit Eldredge
• June 2: Kindergarten Science presentation
• June 3: PTG Meeting @ 9:30 am
• June 5: Hanaford/Eldredge Orchestra visits; Talent Shot 
• June 8: Jester and Pharley reading logs and donations are due

IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Understanding Addition and Subtraction Newsletter

E/LA:

• Goal: RL.K.2 - With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

Science:

• We are working on Balls & Ramps. We will be discussing force, gravity, bouncing and rolling.

Other:

• Mr. Eric from POW! Science will be in on Tuesday 6/2 to teach us more about balls and ramps.
• Make sure you are using Reading A-Z with your student. If you've lost your login information, please let us know.

Grade 1
Math:

• We are reviewing all of our first grade standards in math and will be working on our "Step Up to Grade 2" worksheets from our enVision math series.

E/LA:

• We are working on our fourth quarter writing prompts.
• We continue with spelling tests.

Science:

• We are wrapping up our science kit on Pebbles, Sand and Silt.
• We have also begun our final unit on Space.

Other:

• We are looking forward t our field trip to the Providence Children's Museum on June 16th. If you wish to chaperone, we need to submit names to the superintendent by Wednesday so please send forms back. You must have a BCI on file.

Grade 2

Math:

• We will be reviewing various mathematical concepts learned earlier in the school year, such as additional and subtraction within 1,000, money and time. 

E/LA:

• We are having a greta time reading "fractured fairy tales"and looking at these stories from different characters' points of view. We are even practicing rewriting some of the original fairy tales from a different perspective.

Science:

• Don't forget the Insect posters are due in school on Wednesday, June 3rd. Please make sure to punch two holes near the to of the poster and put either string or ribbon through these holes in order for your child to wear the poster during the display time. The string must be large enough to fit over our child's head.
• The Insect Museum will be held for parents during the afternoon of Friday, June 5th. Hopefully, your children have all given you the written invitation by now.

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 5/18

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam WApril 14: Maxwell HMay 17: Mrs. Foley

May 18: Sophia R. & Jade W.
May 19: Stella B.
May 21: Anthony D. & Amanda W.
May 23: McKinnon N.


FRENCHTOWN NOTES

• Our last Fun Friday for the year is this Friday, May 22nd. AM K will run from 10:30-11:10 am, and PM K, Grade 1 & Grade 2 will run from 1:00-2:00 pm. Please sign up to volunteer HERE. 
• First and second graders will be doing an outdoor activity and suggestions are welcome! Please contact the class liaisons if you have any ideas (Howard Faunce and Linda Settipane for Grade 1 and Judy Hart, Denise Lopez and Donnah Plante for Grade 2).
• Send a thank you to a teacher you appreciate and Target will donate $25 to Frenchtown! It's easy to do - just click HERE and follow the instructions.
• Thank you for your generous Jump Rope for Heart donations. We raised $1,995!
• Field Day is coming to Frenchtown on Wednesday, June 10th and Ms. Carr needs volunteers to make it a success. Read more and sign up to volunteer HERE. 
• Upcoming events: 
• May 18th: Jester & Pharley Visits
• May 22nd: Fun Friday 

IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Science:

• We are working on Balls & Ramps. We will be discussing force, gravity, bouncing and rolling.

Other:

• Make sure you are using Reading A-Z with your student. If you've lost your login information, please let us know.

Grade 1
Math:

• We continue to work on strategies for adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers.
• The students have been reading word problems and learning to pick out key words and phrases to help solve the problems.
• They are also learning multiple ways to show how they know their equation to be true, using either words or pictures and symbols.

E/LA:

• We continue to work on spelling and conventions in written language.
• Children should be able to start a sentence with a capital letter and end with proper punctuation.

Science:

• We continue to learn bout rocks in our science kit.
• The children have learned about various ways to sort rocks and will soon sift earth materials to see the various sizes of rocks (large/small rocks, pebbles, gravel, sand, silt).

Grade 2

Math:

• Students are continuing to practice using mental math to add and subtract two one-digit numbers.
• At this point in time, they are aware of different strategies to solve multi-step addition and subtraction word problems.

E/LA:

• The students are continuing to research and take notes on their assigned insect.
• They should be thinking about what supplies to collect in order to start working on the insect poster. Please let your child's teacher know if you are having problems finding supplies.

Science:

• Each class has been observing the larvae stage of the painted lady butterfly. They are all anxiously awaiting what happens next!

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 1/26

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W

January 26: Ryan M, Jayci T. and Mr. Dwyer
January 27: Angelo M.
January 28: Isaac G.
January 29: Brooke F. and Sailor O.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• All Week: Soup/Canned Food Drive
• Help kick hunger by bringing in donations of soup or canned food for a local food pantry. Frenchtown will receive $1.00 per canned good donated from the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation and these funds will also be donated to the food pantry. Students who donate will receive a Junior Scholar Card, providing them with free admission to many popular venues, including Battleship Cove, Providence Children's Museum, Mystic Aquarium and many more!
• January 30: Super Bowl/Super Kids PBIS Celebration
• January 30: Fun Friday

COMING SOON

• February 6: 100th Day 
• The children and staff will dress up like we are 100 years old to celebrate the 100th day of school.
• First Week in February-February 13: Pennies for Patients 
• All classroom teachers will have collection boxes in their rooms and any donation is appreciated. Every little bit adds up!
• East Greenwich Animal Protection League Blanket Drive

REMINDER FROM MRS. CARR
Please remember to send your child with sneakers on P.E. days


IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Counting to 100 and representing qualities to 20.

E/LA:

• Goal: RF.K.4 - With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Theme:

• Elson: Rr, rat, /r/
• Rakovic: Oo, octopus, /o/

Other:

• Fun Friday this week - please volunteer in one of of the Kindergarten classrooms if you can.
• Be on the look out for report cards!

Grade 1
Math:

• The children are learning about place value.
• They are using manipulative blocks that represent tens and ones to build numbers.
• They are working on using those manipulatives to figure out 10 more than or less than a number.
• They are also learning the terms and signs for greater than and less than.
• Parent Newsletter for Math 

E/LA:

• The children continue to work on decoding comprehension skills in theirguided reading groups.
• We continue to work on narrative pieces.
• We will concentrate on expanding ideas and on capitalization and punctuation.

Science:

• The children have planted brassica seeds. These seeds are designed to go through the life cycle of a plant from seed to sprout, bud, plant and seed pods. 
• At the end of the planting cycle, they will harvest the seeds.

Other:

• Thank you for your generous donations of stuffed animals for the childrenAfrica. We got a huge response!
• This week, we are collecting canned soups to donate to the food bank.
• On February 6th, children and staff will dress up like we are 100 years old to celebrate the 100th day of school. Please start thinking of your costumes!

Grade 2
Math:

• Students will be focusing on three-digit addition and subtraction problems. They will also be adding lists of three or four two-digit numbers. Many of these equations will be in the form of word problems.
• We can't stress the importance of practicing the addition and subtraction facts nightly. IXL should be a fun way to practice math skills.

E/LA:

• Students are continuing to write narrative stories and informational text. They all seem to be far more confident with their writing than they were in September!

Science:

• We will be introducing the new Solids and Liquids science unit. The unit will begin with a hands-on exploration of various solid objects. The children will learn to identify the physical properties using all of their senses (except taste!)

Other:

• Thanks to Rishi Gokhale's leadership skills, we will be starting a collection of donated items for our local east Greenwich Animal Protection League. Stay tuned for details to be sent home!

Academic Newsletter for the Week of 1/19

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W
January 20:  Mia B.
January 21:  Daniel B., Matthew B.
January 22:  Sarah A., Charlotte M., Anna P.
January 25:  Savannah H., Mr. Richard
January 26:  Mr. Dwyer


AROUND SCHOOL

Professional learning at Frenchtown! Teams of teachers joined grade level Foundations coaching visit and participated in collaborative discussions about phonics instruction.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS
January 21: Parent Forum on Teaching and Learning: Pilot Literacy Programs and Library Enrichment - 6:00 pm @ Frenchtown

January 22: COA presents FUndaFest


IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Counting to 100 and representing qualities to 20.

E/LA:

• Goal: RF.K.3 - Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

Theme:

• Elson: Ff, Fun, /f/
• Rakovic: Gg, Game, /g/

Other:

• We will begin STAR testing this week.

Grade 1
Math:

• We are learning math facts from 10 to 20.
• We are focusing on subtraction sentences to 12 and working on solving various word problems.
• Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts at home.
• Parent Newsletter for Math 

E/LA:

• We continue to work on various decoding and comprehension skills in reading groups.  
• We are focusing on refining our narrative writing pieces.

Science:

• We will be beginning the New Plants kit. Our first lesson will concentrate not he life cycle of a plant.

Other:

• We will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month.

Grade 2
Math:

• Second graders continue to practice measuring accurately to the nearest ½ inch.
• Please remind your children to practice addition and subtraction facts every night.

E/LA:

• Students are working on improving their narrative writing skills by adding a little bit of dialog and lots of strong adjectives.

Science:

• Second grade students will continue researching penguins and other Arctic mammals.

Academic Newsletter for the Week of 12/8

From Mrs. Vaughn:

Happening This Week
COA presents Oliver Twist for our students 

Happy Birthday to Colin F, Ella M and Sara S!


Kindergarten
Math: 

• Counting to 20
• Representing numbers to 10

E/LA:

• Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

Theme:

• Elson- D dog (d) 
• Rakovic- H hat (h)

Instructional Focus:

• W.K.5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

Grade 1
Math:

• We are continuing our studies of subtraction, using 10 frames and other methods.
• Please continue to use flashcards at home for basic addition/subtraction facts.
• Parent Newsletter

E/LA:

• We are working on instruction of narrative writing.  We will be focusing on writing about small moments in their lives.  
• We are also beginning a unit on the folk tale “The Gingerbread Man”. Please send in any variations on this folk tale that your child may have at home.  We love to share!

Other:

• We are meeting with the room mothers this week to plan out our gingerbread house making activity.  It will be held on Monday Dec. 22 from 8:45-10:00. We would love to have you join us.  Please note that to attend you need to have a current BCI on file in the office. 

• Gingerbread House supplies and volunteers needed!  Sign up here

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Academic Newsletter for the Week of 12/1

From Mrs. Vaughn:

Happening This Week
December 1st: Chess and Book Fair begin
December 3: Breakfast with Books 7:30-8:10 a.m.

Celebrating birthdays this week:
Nathan D., Zachary D., Skylar F., Jordan R., and Mrs. Kasparian!

Grade 1:

	Instructional Focus
Math	We are working on collecting data, measuring and telling time to the hour.
E/LA	We will begin working on instruction of narrative writing.  We will be focusing on writing about small moments in their lives.  We will also begin a unit on the folk tale “The Gingerbread Man”.
Science/Social Studies	The children enjoyed their visit from Smith’s Castle to reinforce our colonial studies.
Other:	We are meeting with the room mothers this week to plan out our gingerbread house making activity.  It will be held on Monday Dec. 22 from 8:45-10:00.  We would love to have you join us.  Please note that to attend you need to have a current BCI on file in the office.  Look for an e-mail to sign up to donate goodies to help us to build the houses.

Grade 2:

	Instructional Focus
Math	Students will continue to add and subtract two and three digit numbers. Please remind your children to practice basic math facts nightly.
E/LA	Students will continue to explore writing narratives by incorporating writing techniques of various mentor authors.
Social Studies	We will be discussing various holiday traditions and celebrations amongst different cultures around the world.  We welcome your children to share their family traditions with their classes.

Other News:

1. In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, Frenchtown will once again be accepting donations of gift cards to support our families in need.  With recent economic conditions, there are several families at Frenchtown that could use our support to provide some very basic needs this holiday season.  If you are able to contribute, please send a gift card in an envelope to our office, marked “Holiday Donation”.   In addition, we will once again be accepting gifts for families in need.  We will be collecting new toys and other gifts as well as wrapping paper and bows.  We will be inviting parents in to select items from the collection to wrap and present to their children.  Would you please consider "adopting" a family in need this season?  Please feel free to send your gift in with your child or drop it off at the office. Thank you for your support!


2. As we focus on our vision of all that we would like our school to be, I would like to extend the invitation for parental involvement in exploring current practices and participating in meaningful, two way communication and problem solving. 

          Vision Statement:
          Frenchtown School will be known as a school where:

• Students develop independence and cooperation through active participation in inquiry-based, hands-on activities.  Students are confident, successful learners who engage in diverse learning experiences. 
• The faculty uses varied, research based instructional strategies.  Through collaboration and shared responsibility, faculty and staff ensure that instruction is focused on the needs of each child and that equitable opportunities exist for all academic and enrichment programs.
• Administration facilitates a collaborative, supportive environment that prioritizes learning through trust, mutual respect and open communication.  Administration provides for professional development and resources necessary for teaching and learning. 
• Families and the community are partners who support and expand learning within and beyond the classroom. 

          To that end, I will be creating regular Parent Forum on Teaching and Learning events. Please join me for a brief presentation and discussion on Thursday, December 18th at 6:00 p.m. Our agenda will be an overview of student learning at Frenchtown.  We will review baseline student learning data.  I hope to see you there!