Mrs. Seley’s ABC’s of Second Grade
Welcome to Second Grade! I’m so thrilled to have your child in my class this year. I look forward to getting to know him or her as well as your whole family. We have so much to learn and so much fun ahead of us. I hope this packet will help answer many questions you may have and help you to know more about our classroom routines and procedures. Please keep it as a reference throughout the year but don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
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Accelerated Reader: Accelerated Reader is an excellent program to encourage reading and comprehension skills. Students’ reading skills are assessed and appropriate reading levels are assigned. Second graders may check out 2 library books at a time. Your part at home is the nightly reading: 15 minutes of reading (independently and/or with you) a night or a total of 60 minutes per week. Each Six Weeks, students will receive an AR contract with the point goal and level I have set for them using the STAR Reading Test and the AR Goal Setting chart. Students who meet point goals will be rewarded with many fun surprises as well as reading beads. You will be able to access the list of quizzes available as well as your child’s quiz scores and progress toward their goal on Renaissance Home Connect. Log in information for this site will be coming home for you as soon as it is available.
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Birthdays: You are welcome to bring a birthday treat for the class in honor of your child’s special day. It will be shared in the room during the afternoon. Our school policy is that birthday treats must be store bought, individual servings with the ingredients listed on the container. It is also helpful to be sure it is something that can be easily passed out and eaten. Birthday party invitations may be passed out at school as long as the entire class is being invited.
Behavior Plan: (Please also check under R for “Rules”) We will use a color code system to keep track of behavior and consequences. Daily behavior will be noted on the Behavior Report in your child’s Take Home Folder. A blank square for the day indicates great behavior. Students are first given a verbal warning when a class rule is broken. If negative behavior continues, the student’s color is changed.
Consequences are as follows:
Yellow: Miss ½ recess
Orange: Miss all recess
Red: Contact parent and/or referral to office
C
Communication: Communication between home and school is vitally important! Please check your child’s Take Home Folder each day for updates about homework, assignments and any notes from school. Also, feel free to contact me anytime! I check for notes each morning and also check email throughout the day as well as at home. My school phone number is 761-5720 ext 6215 although I may not be able to come to the phone during the school day. My email address is . Email is the best way to communicate for me during the day!
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Dismissal: You must send a note or an email to school if your child is to go home a different way than his/her normal schedule. We are not allowed to release a child to anyone who is not on the release form that the parent has given to the office.
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Emergencies: Please make sure we have the correct emergency information on file for your child. If phone numbers change, you can call or send a note so your child's file can be updated!
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Free Homework Passes: Free homework passes will be given for special occasions. If your child receives a free homework pass, they can skip homework for the week and turn in the pass instead of their homework packet!
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Grades: Second grade will be using a Standards Based Report Card this year. Your child will not be receiving traditional number or letter grades. Progress toward specific grade level expectations will be reported as either Mastered, Progressing, or Insufficient Progress. Report cards will continue to be sent home every 6 weeks and progress reports will be sent home every 3 weeks.
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Homework: We have tried to organize homework in a way that allows your family to have some flexibility as to which nights you spend on homework! Weekly homework will consist of a packet with one spelling activity, one reading activity, one language arts activity, and one math activity. Students will also be asked to read a total of 60 minutes per week (or 15 minutes per night). This may be with you or independently. The Homework Packet is passed out on Monday and is not due until Friday. Students who do not turn in the completed homework on Friday will miss all of recess. Students will miss ½ of recess if any part of the homework is incomplete.
Handwriting: Second graders are expected to use the traditional handwriting style in class and on homework. (This is a switch from D’Nealian which has been used in the past.) Manuscript is reviewed in the first semester, and cursive is introduced the second semester.
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I love 2nd Grade!!!
iPads: Thanks to our district’s bond election all Midway students will be receiving an iPad to use in the classroom! This will allow us to incorporate many innovative learning strategies into our classroom. Elementary students will not be allowed to take the iPads home.
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Jobs: It takes a lot of work to keep our classroom running smoothly! Students will take turns being the Helper of the Day. When it is their turn, they have the opportunity to be the lunch helper, paper passer, errand runner, and do anything else that needs to be done.
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Kindness: We will learn about being kind to others and ourselves every day. Our class will have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. One way we encourage kindness is through our Rachel’s Challenge program.
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Library Books: Second graders are allowed to check out 2 library books at a time. We will visit the library as a class one day per week but students will be allowed to exchange books as often as they complete AR tests. It is part of their class responsibility plan that they have at both library books at school each day so please help your student remember to keep library books in their backpack. This is so important as we have 20-minutes of silent reading time each day.
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Mystery Reader: This program is so much fun! Each week, a “Mystery Reader” will visit our classroom to read to the children. Anyone can be a mystery reader – parents, grandparents, other family members, teachers, or other school staff. The reader will provide 5 clues to help the class guess who they are. Your own child should not know that you are coming but should be able to guess that it’s you by the last clue. Please be sure to sign up for a day to come in and be the Mystery Reader! If you would like to participate, just let me know and we’ll accommodate your schedule.
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Numbers: Each student will be assigned a class number. This is a simple way to help keep our class organized. You’ll see this number on your child’s papers and materials.
Newsletter: You will receive a Second Grade newsletter and calendar at the beginning of each month. This will help keep you posted on all the important dates and information for the month. The calendar and newsletter will also be posted on my website.
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Open House: Plan to join us for Open House in the fall and spring! Be watching for those dates to come soon.
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Poetry: Poetry is a special part of the Second Grade experience! Second graders will be required to memorize a poem periodically (about once a month). This requirement will help foster good speaking and listening skills and helps us prepare for the Second Grade Poetry Recital which will happen in the spring.
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Quick and Quiet Hellos: As you volunteer in our classroom or our building, I will urge your child to acknowledge you with a "quick and quiet" wave hello. It is important for them to greet you, but remain involved in class activities.
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Responsibility Plan: In 2nd grade, students work hard to become more responsible for their own assignments and homework. The students will be given chances or “Oops” passes for forgotten Take Home Folder, lack of Behavior Report signature, or failure to bring library books to school daily. They have 2 “Oops” passes for each six week grading period but once they have used these 2 free chances, they will miss half of recess for forgotten Take Home Folder, unsigned Behavior Report, or forgotten library books.
Rules: Our school and classroom rules are as follows (please also check under “B” for Behavior Plan)…
- Respect Yourself
- Respect Adults
- Respect Other Students
- Respect South Bosque Elementary School
Rachel’s Challenge: Each school in Midway will be practicing a wonderful program called Rachel’s Challenge. This is a way to encourage students to start a chain reaction of random acts of kindness and to develop good character. We will celebrate with a Rachel’s Challenge Rally and the end of the school year.
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Spelling: A pre-test will be given weekly. Students who score a 100 on the pre-test will be given a Challenge List to study for the test on Friday. The Challenge List will consist of words that follow the same spelling pattern but are more difficult.
Schedule:
7:45-8:20 Arrival, Announcements
8:20-9:20 Specials: PE/Art/Music/Computer
9:20-9:30 Restroom Break
9:30-10:30 Math Workshop
*Guided Math Groups, Math Stations
10:30-11:30 Panther Time
11:40-12:05 Lunch
12:05-12:25 Recess
12:25-12:30 Restroom Break
12:30-1:15 Writing Workshop
* Writing, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar
1:15-2:30 Reading Workshop
*Guided Reading Groups, Literacy Stations
2:30-3:00 Social Studies (M,T) and Science (W,Th,F)
3:00-3:15 Stack and Pack
3:15 Bus Riders Dismissed
3:20 Car Riders Dismissed
Safety and Security: The safety and security of your children is very important to us. We have fire and emergency drills on a regular basis. You can help us keep your children secure by going by the office, signing in, and getting a visitor badge when you come to eat lunch with your child or visit other areas of the school. We have a computer system in place to do this. You will need to use your driver’s license the first time you check in. After that, your name and information will be automatically stored. You also need to sign out when you leave. Another way you can help is to send a note or email when your child is going home a different way than they normally do. *We will not be allowed to send children home a different way or to anyone not listed on the release form without written notification from the parent.
Star of the Week: Each child will be given the opportunity to be the Star of the Week sometime during the school year. The week before your child’s turn, they will bring home a packet to complete and return for our Star board. They may also bring 4-8 pictures of themselves and their family to display on the board. I won’t use staples or damage them in any way. The star student will also be asked to bring some special items from home to show the class (like a favorite toy or collection).
Snack: Our class will take a snack break in the afternoon. Please send a healthy snack for your child each day such as crackers, fruit, goldfish, dry cereal, popcorn, or pretzels. Please do not send sweets such as cookies and candy.
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Tardies, Attendance and Make Up Work: The tardy bell rings at 8:00. Excessive tardies and early departures are referred to the attendance committee for review. Please send me a note if your child is leaving early so I can have them ready to go when you come. Please call 761-5720 and press 1 to report your child’s absence. No make-up work will be sent home for a 1-2 day absence; work will be given when child returns to class. On the morning of the third day out, call the office by 9:00 so that I will have my conference period or lunch to get it ready to leave in the office for pick-up. If you know your child is going to be out for several days, please let me know in advance so I can get their makeup work ready for them.
Take Home Folder: Please check folders daily for homework, graded class work, and important notes. This is also where the Behavior Report will be located. It will stay in the folder for the entire 6 week grading period and must be initialed every day. The monthly poem will be placed in the clear plastic sleeve in this folder and it will stay in the folder for the month.
Twitter: Please be sure to follow class happenings @SeleySBE2 and #southbosque2!
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U!: You make all the difference! Thank you for all you do for the kids and our classroom.
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Volunteer Opportunities: We LOVE to have helpers in our room! Please be sure to sign up for times with me. All volunteers are required to submit an application and background check form before volunteering. Please go to the Midway website to fill this out as soon as possible.
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Website: My class webpage as well as the South Bosque Calendar can be found on the Midway ISD website at To find the calendar, go to “Select a School,” “South Bosque” then “South Bosque Calendar”. The calendar is updated monthly, and is a good way for you to know what is going on at school. In looking for my webpage, click on the “Staff” tab and then click on my name.
X, Y, and Z
I am eXcited to work with You and Your child this year! Make sure he/she gets plenty of Zzzz's each night as we have exciting days planned for this year!