Weekly Update

We had a big week! It was only four days, but we did A LOT!

Mrs Stefanich read to our class, we started math and SEL curriculum - lots of team and community building - and we met our high school football players!

Here's the breakdown:

Writing:

We have been practiced sentence writing last week.  The second graders know to use capital letters at the beginning of sentences, but don’t always remember to do it. It’s a habit we will work to build all year long. Everyone knows to use punctuation as well, but again it’s a habit we will continue to build. Last week the second graders chose their very best sentence to turn in. I scored them on a 5-point rubric that we will refer back to often this year. Those sentences will come home next week and you can review them with your child.

Next week we launch our personal narrative unit and shift from sentences to ideas. In second grade our focus is on writing small moments, focusing in on one small moment, rather than writing a many-moments story.

Phonics:

The second graders took a spelling assessment last week, and I have to say I am impressed with what they all learned last year and hung on to through the summer.  This assessment will help me to differentiate instruction, and target skills the students need for spelling.

Math:

This math curriculum is really hands on and I hope your second grader said they had fun when you ask them about math last week. We solved math mysteries using clues, played games  and explored work stations. The students made bugs, categorized and sorted them and often I think they didn’t realize it was math. In second grader we spend far more time doing math than writing math.

Reading:

Our current focus is building reading stamina during independent reading along with making sure everyone has chosen 'just right' books.  We talked about how we want to make sure that the books are interesting to us, and also not too hard (if there are five or more unknown words on a single page then it's too hard), but we also don't want books that are too easy.  The second graders have also been trying out different flexible seating around the room, trying to find a comfortable spot away from distractions.

SEL:

As a class we made a classroom charter. We thought of words that we want to make sure we feel every single day when we are in the classroom, and came up with happy, safe, and calm & relaxed. Ask your child what they said will help them stay happy, safe, and calm when they are in our classroom. We also played an "I Have, Who Has?" game with our whole class's names and pictures, and worked in teams to keep a gummy worm from falling in the ocean. This is a great group and we are going to have a great year!

Homework:

Have a WONDERFUL Labor Day weekend!  If you are traveling, please stay safe. I’d love it if you would encourage your child to read at least 20 minutes a day.

Extra Information:

August 29- No School

September 1- No school- Labor Day

September 5 - Bike Bus is starting!

September 24- School Picture Day

September 26 - Early Release Day

October 3- Color the Park (sign-up links below)

Click here to Register

Click here to Volunteer