Friday, August 30, 2013

August 27 - September 6


What a wonderful first week! It was so nice to get to know all the students in the new second grade class. We spent time practicing routines and procedures during the first week.  We also started some of our core subjects. Each Friday I will post a brief summary of what we did during the week and what we will be doing in the coming week.  

In Math this week we started Chapter 1, Understanding Addition and Subtraction and next week we will continue with this chapter. Part of this Math book requires students to tear out pages in their workbook to complete. At the end of the chapter we will have a quiz and then the students can bring home all the pages from that chapter before we start a new chapter. We will not need the pages back at school once they have been sent home;you may like to keep them in a folder in sequence at home so you review your child's progress over the year.

In Reading each week we will focus on a story that is part of a theme. We will predict what the story is about by looking at the pages, listen to the story, then read it out loud to a partner. After the story we will do various activities such as compare and contrast, comprehension questions, projects, or culminating activities.  This week we read the story "Dragon Gets By" and next week we will read "Julius". 

* I have CD's with the stories we will read in Reading class to loan to students who would like to bring them home to listen to ahead of time. Please let me know if you would like one. 

Next week we will start our English book and look at Unit 1, Grammar, Usage and Mechanics, and The Sentence. 

Next week we will start our first Science lesson, Chapter 1 - Plants are Living Things. We will take a few short field trips around campus and look for living things and the parts of a plant. 

On Monday we will prepare for our first spelling test. Each Monday we will have a quiz and the new words will be given. All students are required to try the spelling words 1-10. I will also give 5 bonus words which will be optional for students. If students are finding spelling words 1-10 too easy they should try the bonus words. 

When we have quizzes or tests in school the students are required to bring them home and have mom or dad sign them and bring then back to school. I will keep all the quizzes and tests in a student portfolio until the end of the year for the students to bring home. 

The students have been responsible with their homework so far. The amount of homework will increase a little once we really get into the school year. I assign homework that reinforces the work we did in class or builds on general skills like journal writing, spelling and comprehension. If your child does not understand how to do the homework please don't worry; just tell them to try their best and we will discuss it in class the following morning. 

Each Friday for homework I will assign a journal writing to be completed over the weekend. There are instructions inside the journal on how to complete the assignment and what to write about. 

If your child has not brought in a picture to use for their biography, their black binder from last year, or the "Getting to Know you" form, please do so by Monday

I am very excited about all the learning and growing that will happen this coming school year (from the students and myself). Please feel free to email me with questions or comments.

Have a wonderful weekend! 












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