There is lots of fun and learning going on in second grade! This is such a fun group of kids and they are SO excited to learn. I can already tell that it is going to be an amazing year!

A few notes:

-Just a reminder that there is no school tomorrow, Tuesday, September 20th. Teachers will be involved in professional development.

-We will be heading to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary on October 18th. We are excited to participate in their Butterfly Life Cycle program. Permission slips are coming home today.

-We will be going to the Computer Lab for MAP testing today and next Tuesday. MAP is a standardized math and reading test that is nationally normed. All of our 2nd-4th grade students take three times each year: September, January, and May. Results will be shared with parents at conferences in November. 

-I am excited that so many of you can make it to our first family night, “Hot Dogs and How to Help”, this Thursday! Dinner will be at 5:30, followed by informational sessions for parents at 6:05. Teachers will be taking school-aged kids outside for part of the time and will bring the kids back into the cafeteria for a short video for part of the time. Childcare will be available for younger siblings.

-Through September 25th, New Directions is once again having a back to school clothing order. This year, however, will be a little different. All ordering will be done online through Eagle Graphics. There are some samples in Mrs. Mitchell’s office. See the following link to view the AWESOME options in the new order:

https://eaglegraphics.itemorder.com/
Code:  NDLCSPIRIT

-It is Safety Week in Kaukauna. Throughout the week, we will practice a tornado drill, a fire drill, and a lockdown/evacuation drill. You will receive more information about these drills from the school district.

Curricular Update:

-We were excited to welcome Painted Lady caterpillars to our classroom last Wednesday. We enjoy coming to school each day to see how much they have grown. We've spent lots of time observing and recording our observations in class.

Word Study - Word study will consist of both word sorts and high frequency words this year. The students will have daily practice and application of their word sort words in class. High frequency words will be practiced in class, but will also be sent home every two weeks for practice at home. Work at home can include writing the words or orally spelling them, writing a creative sentence with the words, finding the words in books, etc. Your child will receive 5-10 words every two weeks, beginning today. The test on the words that are coming home tonight will be on Friday, September 30th. Please keep the words in your child's agenda so he/she can practice at both home and at school. Thank you! 

-Math - I have done fact fluency assessments with each of the children to assess where they are with their fact development. Students will receive 4-8 facts to practice. I will be checking for automaticity on a weekly basis and will replace flash cards as facts are mastered.

In addition to math fact work, we have been learning about the different math tools available to us and how they can support our learning. We have been working on place value using cubes, bead racks, 10-frames, hundreds charts, and base 10 blocks.

-Readers Workshop - We are working on monitoring our comprehension.  One way to do this is by pausing during reading and do a retell of the story so far, as well as retelling at the end of the story.  Prompts to help the reader retell are:

Somebody (the character) wanted______, but_________, so____________. 

Have your child try this strategy at home with their nightly reading.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. :)
Have a great week!