November 9-30, 2012

A Season of Giving 

We are thrilled that the Freeman-Kennedy School and staff are participating in the Santa Foundation, a federally approved charitable organization that provides gifts to families in need during the holiday season.  This year, we are sponsoring 5 families in need this within our community.  There is a bulletin board located near the main office decorated with snowflakes and snowmen with gift items needed.  Currently, we have 8 gift items left ranging from gift cards and clothing for children.  If you would like to participate in the season of giving, please take a snowman or snowflake directly from the bulletin board or contact Ms. Lassey at school for items needed.  Gift items should be brought to school by Monday, December 10, 2012.  Gifts do not need to be wrapped; however, donations of wrapping paper are always welcome.  We thank everyone in advance for helping others in need.

Bucket Fillers Over The Last Few Weeks

Ryan A. (Mrs. McFadden's Class) He let Mrs. McFadden know that I was raising my hand.

Connor R. (Mrs. McFadden's Class) Connor always says thank-you to me when I read to him.

Jack H. (at recess) When I got an interception at recess he said, "Great Catch!"

Carson (Mrs. Pericle's Class) At lunch a friend helped me out!

Maggie D. (Mrs. Pericle's Class) Maggie would play with me on the playground when I was alone, and she knows what to say when I'm down. 

Jamie G. (Mrs. Klassman's Class) She has been a good friend and plays with me at recess.

Mia S. ( Mrs. Pericle's Class) She gave up her chance to be the "speaker" of her group during Social Studies.

Emma G. (Mr. Brogan's class) She always keeps me informed of some things I have missed when I am not in the classroom, and I'm thankful for that.

Nick M. (Mrs. Johnston's Class) While doing really challenging math work Nick high-fived another for getting her problem correct.
Ava C. (Mrs. Johnston's Class) She picked up my folder for me!
Annie D. (Mrs. Johnston's Class) My friends asked me to play with them!

Jack M. (Mrs. Longobardi's Class)  Jack took it upon himself to clean up all the scraps on the floor after class art project.

Jack H. (Mrs. Klassman's Class) He is helpful to the students that sit next to him.

Paige K. (Mr. Murray's Class)  She stuck up for a friend in class.

Catie W. (Mr. Murray's Class) She asked me to play with her out at recess.

Kevin N. (Mr. Murray's Class) He came and sat with another at lunch who was by himself.

Julia M. (Mrs. Longobardi's Class) She helped a student pick up a spilled snack.

Tori C. (Mr. Brogan's Class) She sat with someone on the school bus who didn't have anyone to sit with.

New England Region Division 1 Play-Offs
Jack C., Ethan S., Patrick W., Nolan G., Tim D., Jack W., and Terry M. recently played in a Division I play-off football game! Congrats to all of you on this wonderful accomplishment!

Art Work at Freeman-Kennedy School

Students in grades 5 and 6 created WANTED posters about a positive characteristic or trait!

All Soul's Day

Students in grade 5 created happy skeleton figures!

Tyler C. created a dinosaur bone picture!

Lilia A. created a monarch butterfly picture!

SELF-PORTRAITS CALLED SHATTERED MIRROR!

Students in grades 3 and 4 have created self portraits of themselves using a shattered mirror technique. 

HAT DAY AT FREEMAN-KENNEDY SCHOOL

Supporting all the victims of Hurricane Sandy!!

Students and staff wore their favorite hat to school on Friday, November 30, 2012.  Each student that wore a hat donated $2.00 for the victims affected by Hurricane Sandy.  We collected a total of $720.00.  The money raised will go towards new books for schools, libraries, and homes in the areas destroyed by the hurricane.  In addition, First Book Publishing Partners, a non-profit organization that began this program,will double our donation.  First Book has also partnered with the American Federation for Teachers and the Albert Shanker Institute and they will donate so our total donation will end up being tripled.  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Lisa Altham-Hickey

Principal

October 29 - November 9, 2012

Freeman-Kennedy Students Go To The Voting Polls

Students in grades 3-6 had the opportunity to vote for the next president and senator in Congress on Monday, November 5, 2012.  Voting polls opened at 9:00 a.m. and wrapped up around 2:30 p.m.  As students entered the voting site, they checked in and took their ballot to a voting carrel.  After voting, students checked out and then placed their ballot into the ballot box and anxiously waited to hear the results. At the Freeman-Kennedy School, Mitt Romeny and Paul Ryan won the presidential election with a total of 286 votes.  Barak Obama and Joe Biden came in second with a total of 206 votes.   Senator Brown won by a landslide with a total of 414 votes and Elizabeth Warren came in second with a total of 90 votes.  This was a great experience for everyone!  A HUGE thank-you to Mrs. Whitmore for organizing the presidential election at Freeman-Kennedy School.

 Grade 5 Students Explore Technology and Engineering

The fifth grade students are exploring the engineering process by making paper airplanes.  The children had to form a hypothesis about what design would make for a smooth flying plane and test it.    If it did not fly well, they had to determine why it didn't, and then try a new design.

Grade 5 Teachers 

Attend a Professional Development Workshop on 

Technology and Engineering 

The fifth grade teachers attended a science and technology workshop on the engineering design process at the Christa McAuliffe Center on the Framingham State University campus. Mrs. Grout, Mrs. Horton, and Mrs. O'Toole worked on designs using the steps of the engineering process.  They will be using what they learned in their classrooms as they teach their hands-on science lessons.  

BUCKET FILLERS OF THE WEEK

Tori C. (Mr. Brogan's class) for helping a classmate pick up her pencils that had fallen.

Sam B. (Mr. Brogan's class) for helping a classmate pick up an entire box of colored pencils that fell out of his desk and scattered all over the floor without even being asked. 

Ryan C. (Mrs. McFadden's class) for helping another student get after he had fallen and hurt himself.

Michael M. (Mrs. Trombert's class) for including another student in the football game at recess and letting him be quarterback. 

Zachary N. (Mrs. Trombert's class) for helping another student pick up his papers when he dropped them.

Molly P. (Mrs. Trombert's class) for encouraging another student to try and the wiggle bars on the playground. 

Markus P. (Mrs. Trombert's class) for helping another student with her word search.

Caroline L. (Mrs. Klassman's class) for making another student feel welcome in class after being out for a while. 

Patrick H. (Mrs. Teague's class) waited for another student to walk back to class with from band, Tyler C. (Mr. Brogan's class) closed another student's locker door for him when he had his hands full, Lorenzo M. (Mrs. Klassman's class) showed an act of kindness by helping a fellow classmate pick up a container of pencils, Patrick B. (Mrs. Klassman's class) also helped pick up a container of colored pencils that another student knocked over without even being asked, Emma M. (Mrs. Moore's class) played with another student at recess who had no one else to play with and Annabelle T. (Mrs. Moore's class) said "yes" when another student in class asked her to play with her because she didn't have anyone else to play with that day.

GRADE 3 STUDENTS VISIT PLYMOUTH PLANTATION

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Have a wonderful weekend with family and friends!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Altham-Hickey

Principal

October 15-26, 2012

BEN FRANKLIN 

Grade 3 students had a visit from Benjamin Franklin.  His life was reenacted from a small boy until adulthood.  Students saw the timeline of his life unfold before their eyes.  As a young boy Ben Franklin was an apprentice printer helping his brother start the first "newspaper" in Boston.  He then fled to Philadelphia to find work as a printer.  Benjamin's life in Philadelphia soared.  He bought a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Gazette.  Benjamin became very interested in science, experiments, and electricity.  This led to many exciting things that we are thankful to have in our own homes today.  Benjamin Franklin is a famous American who all third grade students learn about when studying the state of Massachusetts.  

BUCKET FILLING

Ms. Lassey, the School Adjustment Counselor at Freeman-Kennedy School visits Mrs. Trombert's grade 3 classroom.  She read the book "How Full is your Bucket?"by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer.  This book explains how each person in your life that you encounter has an effect on you.  Ms. Lassey's teaches students to recognize others for the kind things they may do or say to peers/adults. The lesson concluded with half the class receiving buckets and the rest of the class filling their peers buckets with  positive comments. The groups then switched so every student had a chance to practice filling each other buckets. Students in grades 3 and 4 will have the chance to recognize one another for kind acts towards one another with our Bucket Filler of the Week program starting next week.

 

Norfolk's Bicentennial Quilt

We are delighted to have the Norfolk Bicentennial quilt displayed in the new Freeman-Kennedy School.  The quilt and case have been preserved and it looks amazing next to the library media center.  There is a lot of history imbedded in this quilt for students to learn.

 

Grade 5 Field Trip

Boston Freedom Trails -Walking Tours

Each grade 5 classroom walked along the Freedom Trail which led them to 16 historical sites.  They were able to discover the American Revolution by seeing, listening, and walking to famous sites.

Mrs. O'Toole's class in in front of Paul Revere. 

It looks like they are dressed for the occasion!

Grade 3 Students Get An Overview of the Presidential
 Election Process
by: Shawn Dooley, Town Clerk 

Mr. Dooley gave an overview of the electoral process and how our president is elected. He also talked about the US Senate campaign and other local elections. The 3rd graders are quite excited that they will have the oppurtunity to form campaigns in order to choose a new Norfolk dog license for 2013.

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RESPECT Week

 All students at Freeman-Kennedy School partipated in Open Circle lessons which were framed around the respect for "Characater Counts!" week. Our week ended with all students wearing the color yellow which is a symbol of the golden rule and respect.  We announced the results of the RESPECT acrostic poem on Friday.

 Students from Miss Binette's wearing yellow for respect.

 Sixth grade students wearing yellow to represent the Golden Rule during RESPECT week.

Mrs. Lavallee with students from Mrs. Johnston's class during library showing off their yellow.

 Jane is showing off her school spirit with her yellow attire.

 Students from Mrs. Klassman's class completed drawings about different forms of respect throughout school.

Camp Bournedale

October 15-19, 2012

The entire sixth grade class traveled down to Plymouth, MA for a week long trip at Camp Bournedale.  Students participated in many hands on learning activities correlated to the curriculum they are taught at school.  Beyond the classroom activities, students made new friends, sang at Karaoke, lined danced, slept in cabins, and had the opportunity to play floor hockey, soccer, etc...  This trip would not be made possible without the help of our teachers, parents, grandparents, and colleagues at Camp Bournedale.  I thank everyone for making this trip possible.  The students will talk about this trip for the rest of their lives!  Below you will find a slide show of the many activities students participated in throughout the week.