Room 101 News
Second Grade Important Reminders, Highlights, and Exciting News!
Week of September 28, 2015
Welcome to Second Grade! We are so proud of our amazing Second Grade Teams and their hearts, minds, and applied effort, as they strive to grow each day!
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 grateful for this opportunity to work with all you! Thank you for your interest, support, and enthusiasm for our teaching and learning! This is will be an exciting and magical school year!
Please complete and return with your child as soon as possible any of the Parent Surveys you received. In addition, please complete and return any forms for the office, and we will pass those along to Mrs. Vaccaro. 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.
School Picture Retakes will be held this Thursday, October 1st. Please let your teacher know if your child wishes to have their picture retaken.
This week we are officially launching our Daily Five Literacy Task Learning Cycles. 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.
Author of the Month
The Second Grade is exploring the literary works of Kathryn Otoshi. She is our Author of the Month for September! Kathryn Otoshi is an award winning author and illustrator!! She specializes in character building themed books such as One, Two, and Zero. The students are welcome to look at our local library for any other works by our celebrated Author of The Month! 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 Brand New 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. Please refer to the additional reference information found below for additional specifics and guidelines for presentation ideas. Extra credit will be awarded for mind, heart and effort invested in their special work!
NWEA Testing
This week we will be taking the second half of the NWEA Fall Benchmark. We will take the reading portion of this online computer test this Friday, October 2nd.
This test encompasses scope and sequence from Second Grade until Fifth Grade. Data gathered from these assessments will inform and guide instruction in the classroom and enrichment at home to continue to facilitate our students' growth and progress this school year!
RAZ-KIDS UPDATE- Thank you so much for your interest and support! We finally have the logins and passwords! Thank you for your patience with this tech transition. It was challenging to say the least and many students needed to be reentered.
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-
Time Sensitive Information About Our First Reading Assessment-Tuesday, September 29th. We are completing our first reading selection Because of You written by the author B.G. Hennessy. As our first reading selection, this story accompanies our unit on Kindness! It has been a wonderful unit to begin with this First Quarter as we get to know each other and celebrate random acts of kindness.
****Our First Reading Selection Assessment will be administered on Tuesday, September 29th. This first test will be teacher guided and expectations will be reinforced as we preview and complete the assessment step-by- step.
In preparation for this first reading selection assessment, the students have been busy creating study guide vocabulary cards which will be submitted on Tuesday, September 29th, the date of the test. Students will be required to recognize our five key vocabulary words and their matching definition. In addition, multiple choice comprehension questions, short written response, a constructed response, as well as grammar component will comprise the test. Please refer to the examples below to assist you further, if needed.
Genre-Fiction is a made-up story that entertains readers.
Comprehension Strategy~Making Connections-As you read, make connections between what you know and what you are reading.
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.
feelings
care
share
precious
kind
Vocabulary Strategy
A definition is sometimes provided in the text right next to or near the word it is defining. Use apposition to find the meaning.
Grammar Focus and Emphasis~Common Nouns and Proper Nouns
Common Nouns are names of a person, place, thing, or idea. Common nouns do not begin with a capital letter.
Examples: state, painting, house
Proper Nouns name a specific person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples: Wisconsin, Paris Rainy Day, The White House
We will take time to guide the students as to how to look for key works, important directions and how to include part of your question within your written responses.
This, as well as all future reading assessment tests will be OPEN-BOOK. Students will be required to go back into their selection and look for clues to help them successfully complete the assessment. Hence, the majority of these questions will be text-dependent.
Students should read for at least 15 Minutes a day or longer this week. This week, we have three Reading Response Journal entries due on Thursday, October 1st. 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.
On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, your child will be assigned a Reading Response Journal entry on a book of their choice. Please remember to complete three separate responses. Also, remember to include the title and author of the book your child has read, the date the homework was completed, and the prompt used to write the response. Use the information stapled inside the red spiral notebook to guide you. If you need another RRJ (Reading Response Journal) guide, please let me know and I will get you another one as soon as possible. They will be collected on Thursdays and credit will be given for their effort.
Writing
We will be reinforcing our Daily 5 Literacy Tasks and learning cycles.
Spelling
Students took the pre-test today, Monday, September 28th. A test will be administered on Friday, October 2nd. The pre-test was taken and corrected in your child's red Interactive Language Arts Journal. Word Work practice activities will be modeled there as well. Please refer to the additional practice routines in your Parent Night Information Packet to assist your child's review this week.
This week's spelling words emphasize the Long o sound and o_e. Also, our week's words reinforce the Long u sound and u_e.
menu, nose, most, cure, joke, unit, vote, soda, mule, fuse
Science
We are continuing our first unit Ecosystems and Plants.
Social Studies
We are continuing our unit of study of My Community.
Math
We are continuing Chapter 1 Apply Addition and Subtraction Concepts. 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.
We will be administering a 7 Minute Addition Timed Test Wednesday, October 7th and an 8 Minute Subtraction Timed Test on Thursday, October 8.
Our Summer Math Fluency Goal is to earn 50% accuracy and our First Quarter's goal will be to advance to 60% or higher in the allotted time.
Please remember to visit our school's website and our 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.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at fclyde@cps.edu
Room 101 Contact Information
Email: fclyde@cps.edu
Website: http://edgebrookschool.org/apps/classes/show_class.jsp?classREC_ID=599946
Location: 6525 North Hiawatha Avenue, Chicago, IL, United States
Phone: (773) 534-1194