A-Z's of 2nd Grade

A-Zs of Second Grade!

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Absences: Please email me or call the office if your child will not be here.  If you do not call, Mrs. Kaufman will call to follow up on your child's location.  If your child is sick, please keep them home until they are fever free without medicine for 24 hours.

Allergies:  Please remember we are a safe classroom for ALL children.    We have one child who has an intolerance to Lactose.   

Art: We will have art every Monday with Mrs. Warsaw

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Bead Jar:  Students are encouraged to work as a team to earn beads for our bead jar.  When the jar is filled, they make a list, and vote on the reward.   I will post to the blog when we are having a reward day in case you want to confirm your child’s story.  Please always feel free to email me if you have a question/concern about one of our days

Birthday treats: Birthday treats are welcome.  Currently we have 25 children in our room.  

Book Orders:  Flyers will come home most months.  When ordering online use the order code H3JBZ or search my teacher name. 

Behavior: In the classroom, I use a method called 1,2,3 Magic. When a student demonstrates an undesirable behavior (talking out of turn, disrespecting others, etc) the teacher says, “That’s one”. If the behavior continues the teacher tells the student “That’s two.”  At this point the student has had two warnings to stop the behavior. If the behavior continues the student is given a “three”.   The students have been told that if they have a three, it will result in a conference with me to discuss what happened, why it happened, and what they must do differently so it does not happen again.  If the behavior continues beyond that, your student and I will work together to write a note home to you so that you are aware of what is occurring.   In addition, we have a new behavior framework being utilized by all three elementary schools and I have included a link to the chart.

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Computers:  We will utilize our computers for programs like Lexia, iXL, RAZ Reading, Prodigy, Wixie, Google Classroom, and other various learning programs.

Conferences:  The conference window is open from October 9th-November 3rd.  I intend to conference on October 17th, 18th, 19th, 24th and 25th  before school, after school, and each evening.  The sign-up is available tonight  and the link will be on my blog.  If any of the dates do not work, please let me know and I will be happy to arrange another time.    This year our conferences will be student-led so please plan on bringing your child to our conference.

Curriculum:   We follow the Common Core Curriculum which outlines what students need to know in math and language arts.  We use Illustrative Mathematics, Benchmark Literacy, Mystery Science, as well as Maisa for Writing and Social Studies.  In the next few weeks, I will post to the blog a map of the trimester by trimester expectations so that you can see a clear view of what we will learn this year.

is for…Data Notebooks:  You will learn more about data notebooks during conferences. This is a place where your student tracks daily feelings, weekly Lexia progress, weekly book box inventory, Fun Fact Friday progress, and trimester behavior goals.

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E-mail:  My email address is cstarks@sjschools.org please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.   I do check this a few times during the day as well as in the evening.   I also use email to send important class updates so if you have not been receiving emails from me, please let me know as this means I either have the information entered incorrectly or I do not have your email address.

Essential Standards:  These are the standards from Common Core that St. Joseph Public Schools has determined are critical for your child to learn before leaving 2nd grade.   These are also the standards found on the report card.  Each standard is graded on a 1-4 basis where 4 exceeds the expectation, 3 meets the expectation, 2 is working towards the expectation, and 1 is not meeting the expectation. I will keep you informed throughout the year if I feel your child is not meeting these standards.

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Family: You are your child's first and most important teacher!  Please talk to your child daily about school. 

Field Trips: We have a number of field trips listed on the form to be returned by the end of this week.  I will keep you updated on the days and times as they develop.  The school is requesting a $5/child and $10/family donation for field trips.   You may pay via the QR code at the top of the permission slip, through the link on this presentation, or with a check made payable to St. Joseph Public Schools.

Flashcards:  Your student will soon have a set of flashcards in his or her blue take home folder.  These cards are connected with where they are in the 2nd grade essential standard expectation of knowing addition and subtraction facts to 20.  These cards can be used in games like top it, sorting by common features like doubles or add one, as well as general practice.   Your child will turn that set in when they master it and receive the next level until they have mastered the standard.

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Get To Know You Form:  Thank you to everyone who has completed this form.  If you have not completed this form, please use the link to do so.  

Google Classroom: This is where I will put the information we need throughout the year.  This will include weekly schedules, important links, and various activities.  Your child is able to access our weekly plan if they are not in school and want to see what we are doing in each subject.

Gym: We will have gym on Tuesdays with Mr. Wilson.

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Homework:  We do not send home paper homework too often.  After school is a great time for sports, activities, outdoor play, and just being a kid.  If you want your child to have homework, I of course believe reading is one of the most important things a child can do for homework every night.  Good readers become good writers and understanding the words of a book opens endless doors of possibility.   I also feel that math facts and a strong number sense are very important.  Opportunities for math games will come home through the year.  Finally, keeping a journal is a terrific way to strengthen writing skills.  Finally on our Lincoln Symbaloo are opportunities for online learning although I don’t advocate the extra screen time.

is for…I PICK Good Fit Books:     I PICK stands for

I choose a book

Purpose-why do I want to read it?

Interest-Does it interest me?

Comprehend-Am I understanding what I am reading?

Know-I know most of the words

iXL math:  We will have access to the iXL math website again this year.  This is a great resource for practicing math facts.  There is a diagnostic area that we will use for helping tailor the problems to your child’s needs.  However there are also problems available by topic like money and time.

is for…Journals:  We will write almost daily in our journals.  Topics will include everyday subjects that are familiar to the children.  This is a wonderful way for them to become comfortable with the writing process and gain confidence in who they are as writers.  We will also use these to respond to reading which is an activity shown to improve reading skills.

is for....Kindness: Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our class as well as others with kindness and respect.

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Laps For Lincoln:  This fundraising event for our school will be held on September 29th at Dickinson Stadium.

Lexia:  This is a wonderful program produced by the same company that created Rosetta Stone.  It has an engaging platform that helps fill in holes and build key reading skills.  My goal for your child is that they complete his or her required units each week.  They should not need to do this at home as plenty of school time is given for accomplishing this goal.  In addition I would ask that you DO NOT help them with this.  I monitor my teacher page very closely and if they are struggling with something I take that opportunity for a small group lesson where we can talk and work with the material together.  Thank you for your cooperation on this.

Lory’s Place:  Lory's Place is a grief healing education center dedicated to serving individuals and families going through a time of pain from the death of someone close to them.  We are fortunate that they come to our school once a month to work with groups of students.  If you want your child to participate in this program, please email Miss VonBehren at mvonbehren@sjschools.org.  

Library: Library will be every Friday.  Students will be able to have two books each week.  These books will be at home, in their backpack, or in their book box between library days.

Lunch: Our lunch is from 12:40-1:10   

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Music: Music class will be on Thursdays with Ms. Mileham

is for…News. Any news about the classroom can be found on our blog which is starks 2023-2024.blogspot.com.  For news about the school please check Mrs. Knuth’s newsletter.

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One hour delay.  Our delays are on most Wednesdays and will be in the Weekly Update each week.

Organized.  Students are encouraged to stay organized with their folders between school and home, with their storage boxes,  and with their work.  We are off to a great start!!!

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Parties: We will have a Fall Party, Winter Party, and Valentine’s/Kindness Day Party.  Sign-up sheets are available tonight.  Thank you in advance for helping make these possible for our classroom.

Picture Day:  We will have picture day on Tuesday, October 17th.  Forms will come home soon.

Positivity Project:  This is a school wide activity where each week a different positive word is practiced through stories, discussions, and small group time.   Our weekly word and the activity that we do can be seen on our weekly agenda in the google classroom.

P.T.O.: Each year this organization works hard to provide activities and essentials for Lincoln Elementary.   Your help with any volunteering time you can give is greatly appreciated. 

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Questions? Please feel free to inquire about any questions or concerns.  I prefer you use email as this method is the easiest for me to respond.

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Recesses.  The first is from 10:20-10:35, after lunch until 1:30, and from 2:45-3:00.

RevTrak:   Explore the link on the Lincoln School Family Blog to donate to field trip funds, donate to Laps for Lincoln, and more.  

Reading:   Please make sure your child reads or is read to for at least 15-20 minutes each night.  Reading every night increases your child's success with reading.  Reading to your child is also good as this models fluency.  

    

is for…Snack:  We will have a snack at 10:40 everyday. Please pack small portions of finger food that can easily be eaten while we work.  If you send food that needs a spoon, please send a spoon.  Foods like pretzels, snack bars, fruit, vegetables or small crackers would be great for snacks. .  I have pretzels in case someone forgets.

Spelling:  In 2nd grade we use sound spelling during the writing process and then dictionaries during the proofreading process.  Following this approach teaches children to worry about getting the ideas out of their head and then fixing their spelling.  Please encourage your child to sound-spell at home.  If they ask you how to spell something, help them sound it out, and have them tell you what sounds they hear.  Thank you!

Star of the Week:  Each child will be a star for a week.  During their week, they will bring home a letter describing the week.  They will also bring home a poster for them to fill out as well as an estimation jar to fill.  Please keep the amount between 30-100.  They should bring their estimation jar and poster to school on Monday.  During your child's week they may bring sharing everyday and have the option to celebrate their birthday or half birthday.  The schedule is posted on our blog and in our Google Classroom for your reference.

Substitute Teachers:   Please know that I will try to inform you in the blog when I am not going to be in the classroom and we will have a substitute teacher.  It is very important to me that the children’s learning is minimally disrupted and therefore I carefully choose my subs as far ahead as possible and I leave very comprehensive plans so the structure and expectations for learning remain.  That being said, I will be gone for a few days in October for reasons I can not avoid.  Mrs. Clements will be my substitute teacher and she plans to spend a day in the classroom ahead of time getting to know the children and daily routines.    I will be in daily contact with her while I am away, she will be supported by Mrs. Laukus, and I welcome any emails from you at that time as well.

 

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Take Home Folders: Your child has been given a blue “take home” folder.  This folder will provide a link between home and school. We put any papers that need to be returned in the “Return to School” pocket. Other papers that are no longer needed at school are put in the “Keep at Home” pocket. This is a great organizational tool for your child. Please help your child review and clean out their folders each night.   If you ever have a question about a paper, please email me.

is for…Unique: Each student is unique. Children come with a variety of personalities and learning preferences. Some children are strong visual learners and can see a word once or twice and remember it forever. Other children are better auditory learners and can easily hear and blend sounds to figure out many words. Some children need a lot of structure and guidance; other children are very self-directed and learn best when they can choose topics about which they want to read and write. In our classroom, various instructional techniques and methods will be used to help all students be successful and to meet the individual needs of each student.

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Volunteers:  Thank you for your offers to volunteer.  Our classroom parties and through PTO are two ways you can volunteer.  Please remember to fill out the 23/24 volunteer consent form found at this link.

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Websites: This year, Mrs Knuth’s newsletter will be the ideal source for information about Lincoln School. You can find all the newsletters on the Lincoln School website.   For classroom information please check our classroom blog (starks2023-2024.blogspot.com)  

Weekly Update:  This is an update, posted to the blog every week, providing information for the week and month ahead. 

is for…X-periences!  I know that the students will have many fun and interesting learning experiences this year!   Please be sure to contact me any time you are concerned.  I want this to be a great year for your child.

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Year’s Worth:  My goal for your child is a year’s worth of growth (at least).  This means where-ever your child is academically, my goal is to grow them at least one year.

This will be a wonderful year and it will zoom by! I am so happy to have your child in my class and I know we are going to have a fantastic year of learning!! Thank you.