Second Grade Update

Dear Second Grade Families, 

It was lovely to see so many of you at the Chalk Walk! I hope you enjoyed it as well! Below are the updates for our coming week.

Packet sent home at the Chalk Walk included:

• Morning Meeting Notebook (brightly colored blank notebook)
• Envelope and four pages that your child will need for their “What’s New Letter” writing assignment this week.
• Draft paper for writing assignments (students should keep this in their purple folder)
• Family Pride worksheet (rainbow paper) which is assigned on Thursday and fits with the start of our social studies unit and our discussion about community

If you were not able to come to the Chalk Walk, this packet can be picked up at the front office. 🙂

New additions this week:

• Reading Groups – There were a few updates to the schedule, so please review the groups to make sure your child knows what time to come. Reading groups will be a time for us to practice fluent reading, think about the different types of text we are reading, and continue developing skills that will support comprehension. We will start with our SUPER Magazine, and groups will stay with the same teacher through the magazine. Then teachers will switch groups for Book Club. Mrs. Serles and I have our own unique personalities and ways of teaching, but we will use similar instructional strategies and focus on the same key elements for each lesson. Students will benefit from the variety of experiences. 🙂
• Social Studies – We will start our unit on communities and thinking about how things have changed over time.

Other updates:

• SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) – 
  • What is this? – This is your child’s opportunity to do independent reading, and it is important that they do this for 20 minutes each day. Students may read aloud if that helps them.
  • Reading Ranges – I will be sending out your child’s reading range in an email this week, and that range will help them know what books to pick in Epic. If their range is 2.2-3.4, they will start with books at 2.2 and then work their way up. 
  • AR Quizzes – Each time they read a book, they will take an AR quiz in Renaissance Learning. If they pass the quiz for their 2.2 book (80% or above correct), they will move to 2.3, and so forth. 
  • Searching for Books – In Epic, students can search by AR level. NOTE: If a book is an “Epic Original”, it will not be found in Renaissance Learning. So students may read them, but they will not be able to take quizzes on them. Students should aim to take at least one AR quiz each week. 
  • Music – Here is a note from Mr. Q:
    • “Hello friends, there are two separate activities I have set up for you to do while I’m on leave: One is a Brainpop unit, which you will see on your Brainpop (or Brainpop Jr.) DASHBOARD PAGE; and the other is an info sheet that I would like you to check out and read (or have a parent read it with you) so we can talk about it when I see you next month. The info sheet is on my Clever Page as “Classical Music Info Page”. Have a great September, see you in October!”
  • Dates to remember:
    • September 23: Wacky Wednesday Spirit Day – students may dress as wacky as they want! 🙂
    • September 25: No School – Virtual Elementary Staff Day
    • September 26: Virtual Fun Fair – To go dinners + raffle; flier in newsletter
    • October 5: Feast of St. Francis – Live-stream All School Mass

Key Documents/Links (master file also attached for printing):

• Schedule – Please note that there is no school on Friday. This is a professional development day for teachers and staff.
• Weekly Assignment Matrix – Please review this with your child. All assignments should be completed by Friday end-of-day. If something comes up, please reach out to let me know. I will continue sending Heads-Up emails on Friday if your child is missing any assignments. This is just part of staying connected and supporting your child. Thank you! 
• Interactive Notebook worksheets – There are 2 worksheets (1 about asking questions, 1 about problem solving with odd/even numbers).
• Writing worksheets – There are 4 worksheets for this week’s letter writing assignment. These were also included in the Chalk Walk packet, but I wanted to include here for anyone who was not able to make it to the Chalk Walk.

Thank you all for your continued partnership! I wish you a wonderful week ahead!

All the best,
Catherine