It is the last week of September! Time is flying by as your children get into the groove of second grade! We are in full swing academically and our class is doing very well with the set expectations for behavior and responsibilities! Way to go!
Reading
We are almost done introducing our Daily 5 program! This is the last week of introductions before our program is in full swing. This week we will introduce Listen to Reading. Listen to reading is often a favorite of the students, because they get to use CD players and netbooks to listen to stories. We listen to many books on CD, and we also listen to stories on the computers on sites like "Tumble Books” and "BookFlix." The kids find this exciting and at the same time it is great for them to hear fluent reading on books of their choice. We will continue practicing the other 4 parts of the daily 5 each day, too. Soon we will be doing all the different parts of the daily 5 each day at different times. We will also meet with our reading groups on our guided reading level during this time. Our reading groups are all set now that our district reading assessments are done. Our reading program is well underway, and your children are doing very well with the system.
Writing
We are still working on our "Dream Boards" this week. We have completed the boards, and we are almost done with our stories. Our stories should be done and out in the hallway before the end of "Education, Go Get It Week!"
Math
We have completed place value and ordering numbers. We will now be moving on to addition and addition strategies. We will use strategies like adding doubles, near doubles and making a ten to add. We will use hands on materials like cubes, dice and white boards. We will also play games like adding dice rolls and "Doubles Simon Says." This is a week were we review a basic skill, but in a fun and engaging way that will help each child learn a basic that they can apply to much harder numbers.
Spelling
This week’s words will focus on the short i spelling pattern. Your child's list will come home on Monday, and they will have a spelling test on Friday. Feel free to look up other short i words so that you can point out the pattern to your child.
Science
We have a lot of science experiments this next week as we continue to introduce the process of an investigation. We will discuss classifying items and introduce states of matter to the class. We will have some time to explore liquid, solid and gas and how matter can move from one category to another. This is an exciting week in science, so feel free to ask your child what they do in science each day!
"Education, Go Get It" week is this week. Encourage your child to dress the part each day. We will be discussing colleges and college careers each day next week.
What to wear each day:
MONDAY: “Give a Hoot/College Bound” Students and teachers wear Kathy Caraway t-shirts.
TUESDAY: “Dress for Success” Students dress up in career outfits or as if they are going for an interview.
WEDNESDAY: “Step up for Education” Students and teachers wear sneakers or tennis shoes.
THURSDAY: “Hats off to College” Students and teachers wear favorite collegiate hat.
FRIDAY: “Show Your College Spirit” Students and teachers wear their favorite collegiate t-shirt.
Box Tops for Education!
Keep sending in those box tops! The class in second grade that gets the most box tops gets extra recess, and the school wide winners get a trophy and extra PE time with choice of activity! Also, if your child sends in 10 Box Tops, then they can get a coupon. Just have them write their name on a baggie or envelope to keep their Box Tops together. We will be collecting box tops through October 14th.
CONFERENCES
Fall conferences are right around the corner! Please sign up for a time, using the password of "GW" on the website http://www.signupgenius.com/go/fall2170. If you have any questions, please let me know.
CHARACTER EDUCATION LUNCH
Congratulations to Nathan and Abbey for earning the monthly character education luncheon with our school counselor, Ms. Vrazel. Abbey earned the award for respect, and Nathan earned the award for cooperation.
Reminders and Dates:
Box Tops for Education ends- October 14th
Tuesday Folder Basket- Valerie Armstrong
Principal's Pride- Nathan P.
Library Day- Wednesday
