Week of September 8-12

Hello families!

Today was an absolute blast having all the dads come in.  We can't tell you how much we appreciate you spending quality time in school with us.

The CCSD Fitness Festival is tomorrow :)

Volunteers.. We are looking forward to having you start next week.  We will have a confidentiality agreement for you to sign, and can't wait to have you come in!  
 
MAPS Testing- Second grade has been working hard on MAPS Reading and MAPS Math, we hope to conclude this beginning of year testing next week. 

Next week second grade will be completing hearing and vision testing on Thursday. 

 This week we will focus on ....

Math: In second grade math, we will be starting unit 2 on Monday.  Typically your child will have homework Monday through Thursday.  We will be working on higher level thinking activities on Fridays, and will not assign homework over the weekend.  For 3rd grade math students, there will be a test for Unit 1 on Monday, and they will be starting unit 2 on Tuesday.  .  

Please continue to time your child 2 minutes and 15 seconds with their math facts. 

FAST (phonics):  We are working on concept 3 (Short vowel, long spelling) this week. We will be having a test on Friday.  If your child ever forgets their spelling spiral, please check out the spelling tab on the blog.  Please remember that although the lists start off with very easy words, they quickly become much more difficult! 

Reading: We are continuing conferences this week.  Your child will be responding to their book in their journal. They will be working on the strategy: Think about the text.  They will make connections and ask questions about the story they have read.  Any time your child can use a specific example from the text or their own life the better. Your child will most likely meet on Mondays/Wednesdays or Tuesdays/Thursdays unless they have a Friday set up to meet with your child.  Binders are staying at school this year, and are going to be used for a portfolio.  Your child will bringing home a reading pouch containing their book, and response to lot journal to complete their homework. 

Wordly Wise: We are continuing lesson 2 this week, which will continue into next week.  The words we are focusing on this week are: accident, acrobat, alarm, bounce, enormous, gap, scoop, support, tangle, and weigh. If you'd like to practice the words with your child, please check the Wordly Wise 3000 link on the sidebar.
 
Reading: The next week will be focused on Monitoring Comprehension with a focus this week on Non-Fiction text features. 

Writing: We are continuing to work on Personal Chronological Narrative.  This week your child will be writing about "A time you have a had a problem in a friendship".  We are using a template to write into this week to help the students recognize the writing format. There is an opening sentence, three sentences for details, three sentences for extended details and a closing sentence.  We are modeling so many wonderful writing strategies within our lessons based on our rubrics and the student's needs. 

Social Studies:  We are starting Unit 2 "How are Communities Different?", which goes into greater depth with types of communities (rural, urban, suburban).

FOSS:  FOSS science is in full swing.  Your child will get to experience FOSS in their classrooms on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45pm-3:25pm.

Upcoming dates to know:

9/6 CCSD Fitness Festival
9/19 Student Non-Contact Day- No school for students
9/22-9/26 Scholastic Book Fair
9/26 Muffins with Mom