September 25-October 8

Hello Families! We have had a wonderful couple weeks at school. I think we are finally settling into the routine and feeling more comfortable as second graders. Here are some of the highlights (hopefully you will read about some of these in your child's TGIF journal):

Math: We took our Unit 1 test yesterday! Look for the corrected tests in your child's daily folder on Monday! We finally started home links this week. Please be sure that your child only completes the assigned link every night and that the home links packet stays in your child's daily folder everyday. I will be checking for completion everyday. As a reminder, please be sure to check your child's answers using the answer key in the unit parent letter in the front of the homelinks packet.

Reading: Our Readers Workshop has gotten off to a great start! The kids are reading independently and learning to be a good reading partner who talks about books and supports their buddy. We just finished our first read aloud: High Tide in Hawaii. Ask your child who Jack and Annie met in Hawaii, what happened while they were in Hawaii and what kind of ship Jack and Annie built.

Spelling: I will continue to send a list of word home every week. The list is meant to provide examples of the word family or pattern of the week. It can be daunting to practice the whole list. Try having your child highlight the pattern or choose a couple to practice. There is a list of suggestions for studying spelling words in the Welcome to Second Grade packet given out at PIN. The 5 high frequency words should be practiced the most- these are the "No Excuse" words that are place don teh word wall.

Science: We started our first unit this year: Balance and Motion. Ask your scientist what kind of balance experiment they conducted. Ask him/her how to get an object to balance.

Thank You:

Thank you to Ms. Doane and Mrs, Armitage for volunteering on our field tip. Although we got rained on, we still learned a lot! Thank you to Mr. Loyd for being our first Surprise Reader. Thank you also to our room parents- Mrs. Coakley and Ms. Garvens. We just met to schedule our volunteers for this year. Thank you in advance to everyone who volunteers their time to our classroom! I truly appreciate anything and everything you do for our classroom!

Reminders:

Please sign your child's assignment notebook everyday

Please help your child return the book and bookbag everyday

Please help your child return the math home links every morning.

Welcome Back to School

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

We have had a great start to the year! It has been wonderful getting to know everyone and beginning to build our classroom community. Here are the highlights from our first two weeks:

Reading: We have begun to pave the way for Reader's Workshop. We are talking about who we are as readers, what types of books we like to read, what types of books we like to read, how our reader's workshop should look like and sound like, how to pick out just right books... The kids also received their very own book box for the classroom and a home book bag so that they all may take a book home every night. It is important to help your child make sure the book and bag are brought back to school everyday (even you did not get a chance to read the book). We are so excited to dive into reading this year!

Math: We jumped right into math. Families should have all received the Unit 1 Family Letter that contains to the answers to the home links for the unit. It is expected that you are checking your child's homework to make sure the answers are correct. The home links are always a review of what we learned that day in class. At school, I am simply checking for completion. We have not had a home link for this unit yet; however they will start next week and continue to be a daily feature (except on Fridays- no math homework on the weekends). We will begin addition facts tests in a couple weeks. These tests will be given twice a week. It would be wonderful if you would help increase your child's fluency by practicing at home with flashcards or online facts games (check the blog).

Spelling: Spelling words and the weekly pattern will be posted on the blog and also in your child's assignment notebook on Mondays. Since this was a short week, we will have our 1st spelling test next Friday. Please continue to encourage your child to practice his/her words veery night. Look in your child's folder for a list of possible words that follow the /r/ blend pattern on Monday (Remember, this a list of possible words that will appear on the test- your child will not know which ones will for sure be on the test)

Writing: On Tuesday, your child brought home a letter and assignment to create a personal collage to help generate ideas for writing topics. Please help your child turn this assignment in by Friday September 18- we will be sharing our collages on this day.

Class News:

Reminders:

• We have a field trip coming up on September 22. Please turn in your child's permission slip and fee.
• Scholastic Book Orders were due Thursday, but I am extending the due date to Monday. Remember you can order online with thee Username: Dahms and Password: AllStars (Click on the Scholastic link on the right side bar)

I want to thank all families for accommodating your schedules to allow our assessment day this Friday. We are excited to be able to start our Readers' Workshop earlier in the year!

Mrs. Dahms