January 22th -26th

Second Semester is in Full Swing!

We have a lot to make up since we have missed 6 instructional days due to the snow and ice.​

I want every one of my students to succeed, but I cannot do it without the parent's help. By checking your child's binder daily, requesting their work in their "Still in Progress" folder weekly, going over their graded papers in their Wednesday folders, having them complete the extra credit, and making sure they stay on Zearn, I-Ready, Achieve 3000 and Smarty Ants, you are ensuring and encouraging their successful completion of second grade and preparing them for third. *The children have math homework every night I teach a math lesson, until I see major improvement.*

Extra Credit ~ Extra Credit can fix an undesirable grade. I provide ample of opportunities for extra credit in class and at home. Completed reading fluencies with answered comprehension questions are counted toward English extra credit, so are extra words and sentences on spelling tests. For math, students are able to take home the problem set and complete it along with their homework, I will give extra credit for it being complete and correct. Going above and beyond is always extra credit, I have some students turn in book reports completely on their own, I will always give extra credit for things of that nature. Every week I write a bonus for the children under their spelling words that are posted at the front of the classroom, as well. Please encourage them to take advantage of these opportunities.

Going forward, the use of grade floors are prohibited. All students must receive and keep the original grade they have earned. If a student turns an assignment in late, incomplete, or does not turn in the assignment at all, the student will get the grade that is earned, even if it is a zero. The only exception to this is if they attend Z.A.P. (Zeros are Not Permitted) with Mrs. McNary, to make up work they have missed or would like to redo to make a better grade.

If your child is struggling with lessons or you just want them ahead of the game, I cannot stress Zearn, I-Ready, Achieve 3000, SmartyAnts enough. Zearn literally teaches the entire math lesson, Eureka style! And it allows them ample practice. A lot of parents have said they cannot help with math because they were not taught Eureka way, well Zearn knows all of Eureka and is very successful in helping a child understand through play. I am rewarding the children with the most time spent weekly on these sites.

Please continue the reading fluencies with your child as well, you may access them by clicking on this link: Reading Practice

Week of January 15th - 19th skills are as follows:

Reading Story: Begin EL Curriculum - What is School and Why is School Important?

Vocabulary Skill: -ly and -ful suffixes

~Students will learn when to add ly and ful endings.

Phonics: Long e (y)

~Students will learn that y also makes the long e sound, they will learn to change the y to an i when making their spelling words plural.

Grammar: to be (verb)

~Students will learn the forms of the verb, to be.

Handwriting: Students will practice writing proper responses to informative, narrative, and opinion writing prompts and questions. Preparing for TCAP.

Second Grade TCAP Holistic Writing Rubric

`Responses contains at least four complete sentences.

`No grammar, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation errors.

`Sentences have a variety of sentence structure/patterns.

`Responses to informational pieces must use evidence from the text.

Response fully answers the question with specific details and/or descriptive language.

Math: Eureka Math Module 4, lessons 14-16. Decomposing (un-bundling) 10's and 100's and subtracting two and three digit numbers, Lesson 11-13, assessment Monday.

*You can help your child with these lessons, this is math the "regular" way.

Science:

Social Studies: Continued study of Dr. Martin Luther King's wise words and contributions.

Spelling words: happy, pretty, baby, very, puppy, funny, carry, lucky, only, sunny, penny, city.

January 19 - Skate Night Cordova Skating Rink 5:15-7:15

January 22 - Kindness Week Begins

January 23 - Jump Rope for Heart Begins

January 25 - Terrific Kids Program at 2:45

January 25 - REEF Spaghetti Dinner with the Arts

January 26 - Class Photo and Individual Spring Pictures

As always, Please remember to check your child's binder daily for any school notes or unfinished class work that will be graded. Your child will be held responsible for keeping up with papers, books, folders, notebooks, and unfinished classwork. I expect them to return their homework finished the following day. Everything has a place in our classroom and I announce to them all explicitly where to place items when we are done working with them.

Homework for your 2nd Grader is to:

1. Read "Good Fit Books" for 20 minutes each night. It's always good to spend some quality time listening to your child read. A "Good Fit Book" is one that your child is interested in, knows most of the words, and understands what is happening.

2. Any class work your child has not finished. It is located in your child's folder in his or her binder on the side labeled "Return".

3. Clever online resources and Zearn nightly.

Thank you all so much for all that you do!