September Happenings

It was so wonderful meeting with you all on Thursday night!  I hope that you found the information presented to be helpful.  If you were unable to attend curriculum night, please look over the yellow packet your child brought home and let me know what questions you have or what clarification you need.

I can't believe that today is already the first day of September!  It's been so much fun getting to know my new students over the past couple of weeks.  We are slowly settling into our normal routine, and many students are coming to school ready to work hard and to learn!  Please read on for information about upcoming curriculum and events.  

Reading:
This week, we are working on finishing MAP and Aimsweb testing.  These results will be used as we start putting together our guided reading groups (hopefully in the next couple of weeks).  Next week, we are hoping to start diving into the new Reading Street program that our district has adopted.  The first unit is called "The Twin Club".  During the first week, we will be reading about and exploring different communities.  I will send information home about spelling/vocabulary lists, as well as any other at-home connections that may be helpful to you, as soon as I can.  Thanks in advance for your patience with me as I learn the new program and figure out how to best implement it in our classroom.  

Writing: 
I would like to begin the narrative unit of our Units of Study program the week of September 14.  This week, students are working on composing written responses to books by Kevin Henkes.  We've been using his books about friendship and feelings to lead discussions about class expectations in the way we treat other people.  Students are also showing me their writing abilities in their daily morning journals, as well as in written responses to a variety of curriculum-based questions throughout the day.  

Math:
We are a few days into Unit 1 in math.  During this unit, students will look at many different strategies for solving addition, subtraction, and missing partner problems.  We will also get into a variety of types of word problems.  As I tell the class frequently...my job right now is to expose them to a variety of math problem solving strategies.  Their job is to practice the different strategies but, ultimately, to pick the strategies that make the most sense to them.  As you see math homework pages coming home (on Wednesdays...our first one will be tomorrow), feel free to work with your child on additional strategies that you believe may be helpful to them.  We pretested Unit 1 earlier this week, and should be ready to start our first round of leveled math groups next week.  

Science/Social Studies:
We have been using this block of our schedule for team building exercises.  We've also been working with our health textbook to learn about feelings and good citizenship.  Students did an excellent job today practicing reading a passage and then responding to comprehension questions in writing.  

Additional Items:
* The schedule you were originally given listed Mondays as our library checkout days.  Due to a scheduling problem, we have switched times with another class and will now be checking out books on Thursdays.  
* Thank you for continuing to talk with your 2nd grade student about appropriate behavior at school.  We continue to discuss respectful listening and personal responsibility in our classroom.  I really appreciate your support with these conversations at home.  
* Please check the newsletter that was e-mailed by the office last week.  Attached, there is a flier with information about Grandparent's Day on the 11th.  Please print this off and send it back to me if your child is planning on bringing a guest.  
* Thank you to everyone who has helped our class out with Clorox wipes, baggies, and mechanical pencils!  
* I'll be sending out information about opportunities for volunteering in our classroom soon.  Thanks for your patience!

As always, thank you for your support!  I look forward to working with all of you this school year.  Have a GREAT evening!