Room 101 News
Important Reminders, Highlights, and Exciting News
Week of January 11, 2016
Happy New Year! Thank you so much for your heartfelt kindness and generosity during this holiday season! They are most appreciated and treasured!
We are so very proud of our Spectacular Second Graders! Each day, they strive to demonstrate our school's Core Values of Mind, Heart, and Effort each school day and in multiple ways. We celebrate and appreciate all of the growth and progress that has been made, to date. We are very excited about our future and educational journey as it unfolds ahead!
Both classrooms 101 and 102 are working hand and hand to ensure that our content, experiences, and resources are parallel. As educators, this is our heartfelt and dedicated commitment to the students and families we are serving this school year and beyond.
We are very grateful for this opportunity to work with all you! Thank you for your interest, support, and enthusiasm for our teaching and learning! We are enjoying a very exciting and magical school year!
If you have not already, please inform us of your child's afternoon schedule if it involves a special group pickup from school or delivery to the Gym for Park District. Please notify us of any changes or additions.
**Progress Reports were distributed on Friday, January 8th. Please sign and detach the bottom portion and return to school by Tuesday, January 12th as confirmation of review and receipt of your child's progress this Second Quarter.
*Field trip forms were sent home today. Please return the signed permission slip (with fee) by Friday, January 15th.
*When snow is falling...
Please send your child with an extra pair of shoes or gym shoes as we are switching out of our boots during the school day.
*Please send in any empty plastic water bottles you have at home (preferably 16oz bottles). We will be using these for an upcoming science experiment.
*There has been a change to the NWEA testing schedule. The second grade will be taking their NWEA test on Tuesday, January 19th (Reading) and Friday, January 22nd (Math).
Special Thanks...
Thank you so much for your continued support and enthusiasm for our teaching and learning! Thank you so much for your generous supply donations and kindness! We were very appreciative of our parent volunteers who lend a patient hand to us throughout our school year.
Parents' Daily Assignment Book Check
Please remember to sign your child's Assignment Book each night as confirmation of review and receipt of these important deadlines as well as dialogue with your child regarding their Sticker Chart for all of the school days they stay at Green or Higher.
If they have not done so, then their day will indicate the descending color they received. Our progressive behavior incentive system begins each day with all students on Green or "Ready to Learn." The colors are arranged as follows from the top down. Pink "Super Student," Purple, "Great Job," Green, "Ready to Learn," Yellow, "Think About it," Orange, "Teacher’s Choice, and Red, "Parent Contact." The last move would result in a Student Behavior Form being completed in school and signed by the teacher as well as the parent at home. This progress informs our citizenship awards as well as our classroom climate and teamwork.
We have a Hall of Fame for those students who collect five days on Pink and earn special gems symbolizing their amazing progress on their clip. The students are very motivated to try to reach Pink each day. Please join us in celebrating encouraging this progress! Thank you for your continued support and partnership!
Daily Five Update
We are enjoying immensely our Daily Five Literacy Task Learning Cycles. The students have latched onto the routines and are immersing themselves in these literacy tasks! Throughout the past few weeks, we have been reinforcing and practicing our routines and expectations for Word Work, Work on Writing, Read to Self, iPads, and teacher-guided group expectations. The students have latched onto the routines and are immersing themselves in these literacy tasks!
Differentiated Math Centers
Our Math Centers have been an exciting addition to our math lessons!
In addition to IXL practice and enrichment, we have been working on MARS Tasks, Problems of the Month, Hands-On Math Games to build our Math Fluency and Scavenger Hunts and Scoot Games. The students love these opportunities to extend and enrich their learning!
Author of the Month
The Second Grade is enjoying our Author of the Month, Chris Van Allsburg!! We are enjoying and exploring his entertaining and award winning literary works! The students are welcome to look at our local library for any other works by our celebrated Author of The Month! His reading selections include: The Polar Express, Jumanji, Just a Dream, Zathura, and many more! If you are able to check any out, then we will share them and return the loaned book to you as soon as possible.
Our Inquiry Project and Investigation Log Journals!!
"Ideas come from curiosity." ~Walt Disney
This school year our students are so very fortunate to have a dedicated journal to record their observations, research as they create inquiry projects as a source for enrichment! The students are very excited and have already been researching student-selected and student-centered topics of their choice. Extra credit will be awarded for mind, heart and effort invested in their special work!
In the past, many Second Grade students have enjoyed preparing an Inquiry Project of their own selection for enrichment and extra credit. They have worked individually or in small groups. Please know that as sources of enrichment, these projects are student-selected and are optional. They will have a chance to share their project with the class, when finished.
In addition, some students have used poster board to showcase their work, and others have opted to purchase the tri-fold version or create dioramas, or models to illustrate their knowledge and understanding. Again, that is purely option. Throughout the school year, we will dedicate some classroom time to collaborate with their peers to aid their research efforts. Upon completion, students will be able to share and present their projects to the class.
Math Chapter Five
In Math, our emphasis is Place Value to 1,000. Our Essential Question is "How can I use place value?" We will be utilizing hands-on manipulatives such as counters, unifix cubes, playing cards, and IXL to enhance our knowledge and understanding mathematical problem-solving strategies! Our Chapter 5 Test will be on Friday, January 15th.
Please study your math facts each day for at least 15 minutes. Please utilize the addition and subtraction timed test contained in the Summer Learning Packet sent home on the last day of school. Our Summer Math Fluency Goal was to earn 50% accuracy, and our Second Quarter's goal will be to advance to 70% or higher in the allotted time. Additional Master Copies of these were contained in your Parent Night Curriculum Packet.
Science
In Science, we are exploring Air and Weather this Second Quarter!!
Social Studies
My Community is our focus for this Quarter in Social Studies. We are enjoying discussing and analyzing this exciting unit in our community of learners! We drafted Classroom Promises and aligned them to our school's Core Values of Mind, Heart, and Effort. In addition, using a supplemental and informative Social Studies Weekly Publication, the students were able to apply a close reading strategy entitled Three Reads to enhance and enrich of key vocabulary, main ideas and supporting details related to this unit.
Please remember...
The Classroom/Homework page will be updated weekly or as needed to inform our students and families of upcoming important reminders, announcements and our anticipated homework for the week.
Visit our school's website at and select this Classes/Homework page regularly in order to facilitate our Home-School partnership as well as your child's progress this school year. Please also note that you child has a personal Assignment Book that will contain "Real Time" updates regarding daily Homework assignments and expectations. Please check your child's assignment book each night to monitor any additions or revisions to our schedule. We will utilize their performances to inform and shape the pace of our lessons.
Language Arts
RAZ-KIDS
Please encourage your child to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays at least each school week. Keep in mind the desired benchmarks and your child's progress to guide the time that will be needed to keep progressing in this content area.
Our year end goal is for each child to be reading at the End of Second Grade Level-P or higher. Please remember that you will be able to access your accounts throughout the summer and should utilize that time to make sure you have attained the goal.
Language Arts Reading-
Students should read for at least 15 Minutes a day or longer this week. We are suggesting that the students Read Out Loud to an Adult for at least fifteen minutes for homework on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, complete at least one Raz-Kids reading selection and test.
In Second Grade, they will have daily Read to Self opportunities as part of our Daily Five Literacy Tasks. They each have an individualized book bin with "Good Fit" books. They may check out a classroom library book to assist with these journal entries.
Reading Response Journal (RRJ)
On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, your child will be assigned a Reading Response Journal entry on a book of their choice. Please use the classroom modeled example to guide you. They will be collected on Thursdays and credit will be given for their effort. This week's entries are due on Thursday, January 14th.
Please refer to the copy of the Reading Response Journal Prompts stapled to the inside cover of your child's Interactive Language Arts Journal (red spiral notebook). An additional copy is also contained in the Parent Night Information Packet for Reference. We recognize that Active Readers use Thinking Stems. These will deepen our students' interaction and response to their given texts and reading selections.
Spelling
A Pretest was administered on Monday, January 11th. A Test will be administered this Friday, January 15th.
Our week's words emphasize the /n/ spelled kn; /r/ spelled wr_; /f/ spelled ph.
wren, knot, knife, write, phone, graph, wrap, wrist, phase, knit
Reading
Our next reading selection is Corduroy written by Don Freeman.
Genre
Fantasy is a story that could not happen in the real world.
Vocabulary cards
Vocabulary cards will be completed and submitted for credit on the day of the test. Please help your child to make sure these are completed and can be used as a study tool in anticipation of the upcoming test. Vocabulary cards will be attached at the time of test collection for credit.
Comprehension Skill- Making Inferences
As you read, use the information in the text and your own knowledge to make inferences about the characters or events in the story.
Vocabulary -
A vocabulary study card will be completed for each of these key vocabulary words. Our procedure will be modeled and time will be given in class to complete these. They will be submitted for credit on the day of the assessment.
dashing, fastened, escalator, palace, yanked
Vocabulary Strategy-Context Clues
Context Clues in the text help you find the meanings of words.
Grammar Focus and Emphasis~Capitalization: First Word of a Sentence
Capital letters are used in many places. This lesson will emphasize its use at beginning of each sentence.
*A sentence always begins with a capital letter.
Example: I like when we play basketball. Basketball is fun!
Signed Tests
Thank you for taking time to sign your child's assessments and return them to school. As shared at Parent Night and in our Second Grade Informational Packets distributed at the beginning of our school year, these returned assessments are compiled into Student Portfolios and will be returned to you and your child at the end of our school year. They serve as a confirmation of your receipt of this important feedback and reinforce the Home-School Correspondence. This practice is part of your child's daily assignments. Thank you for your continued support!
We feel so honored to be with you all on our educational journey this school year! Your children have inspired us and touched our hearts with their kindness and enthusiasm for learning!