Sayler: Second Grade Handbook
Welcome to our second grade classroom! I look forward to working hand in hand with you to meet your child’s needs. Please read this handbook to understand how the classroom works. It would be a good idea to keep this in a safe place for future reference.
COMMUNICATION
It is important to me that we are able to work together as partners in your child’s education. I appreciate the wealth of information that you hold about your child and together we can make this a great year of growth for your child. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.
You can best reach me at , make an appointment for a conference, or call me at school (445-5785) between 8:00-8:20 or 3:00-3:30. Although I check email several times during the day, I may not have time to respond to it until after school. If you need to contact me during the day to make a change in your child’s routine, it is best to call the office. Please call before 2:30 if making a going home routine change.
CLASSROOM NEWSLETTER AND SCHOOL COMMUNICATION
Your child will bring home some school information and a bi-weekly class newsletter in the Monday folder. Please leave the Monday folder in the binder. Please read the newsletter for important dates, news and spelling words.
CLASS EMAIL AND WEBPAGE
I would like to encourage you to sign up to receive school information through Skyward email. In addition to reducing paper waste, it allows me to communicate quickly to all parents in the class. The letters and many other forms/information are also posted on our class webpage (access through the Conway Homepage).
SCHOOL FORMS/NOTES/MONEY
When sending money to school, please seal it in an envelope and label it with your child’s name, amount, and its purpose (i.e. lunch money, field trip, yearbook, photos). Having the money organized in this manner speeds up the morning routines so we can start learning faster. Regular daily notes do not need to be in an envelope. Your child will be responsible for bringing these items to me as one of his/her first tasks each morning.
SCHOOL MEALS
School breakfast, milk, and/or lunch can be purchased daily or by setting up an account (recommended). You can set up an account by sending cash or a check to me in the classroom. I will send it to the office to be credited to your child’s account. It will be applied to your child’s account before lunch that day.
MATH FACTS
Later in the year, I will let you know if your child needs to practice addition and/or subtraction facts at home to supplement class study. The year-end goal is to be able to write 16-20 single fact answers in one minute (i.e. 17-8=, or 13+6=). Some students require extra practice to become quick at fact recall.
MATH AND SPELLING HOMEWORK
Our second grade teaching team has met and decided to no longer require math and spelling homework. We will have daily math practice in class, but we will not assign homework. Although spelling homework will be sent home each Monday, this will be optional. Each week, we will take a spelling test on words practiced daily in class. Although these words are practiced in class, many students would benefit from extra practice at home. You may complete the spelling homework as you feel appropriate for your child. The time spent practicing our weekly spelling words can count towards required reading homework.
READING HOMEWORK
Second grade reading homework requirements are a minimum of 100 minutes per week (split in any way that works for your family routine: 20 minutes per night/5 days…) Please record the name of the books/activities write the
number of minutes read, and sign that your child read for that time o your child’s reading log. Since this is their only homework grade, it is important that it is completed and returned every Monday.
MORNING HOMEWORK HELP
If your child is having difficulty completing reading homework, help is available for drop-in assistance in the cafeteria from 8:00-8:20.
UNFINISHED CLASS WORK
Unfinished work that your child had opportunity to complete in class will come home in the regular homework folder and is due the next day.
CORRECTED CLASSWORK AND PROJECTS
Your child’s graded/completed schoolwork will come home several times each week in the right hand side of the homework folder. Please empty this section weekly. It is a good idea to keep it in a box or bag for the trimester in case we need to find a missing paper.
ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL PROCEDURES
School starts at 8:30 Tuesdays-Friday and 9:45 on most Mondays. Please have your child at school 10 minutes before the official start time so that he/she has time to put away his/her backpack, use the restroom, turn in notes if necessary, and get materials ready for the day. School is dismissed at 3:00 P.M.
CHANGE OF ROUTINE
Conway School requires a written note if there is a change in how your child is going home (for example being picked up by a parent/friend, taking a different bus, or going home with a friend).
WITHOUT A NOTE, YOUR CHILD WILL FOLLOW HIS/HER REGULAR GOING HOME ROUTINE.
If you would like a note template, you will find one in the entrance of our classroom or on our class website. If there is a sudden change of plans, you can call the office at 445-5785 and they will contact me in the classroom. Please check the parking lot procedures in the school handbook for the pick-up and drop-off procedures.
ABSENCES/TARDIES
It is extremely important that children attend school on a regular basis; however, if they have a fever or are sick enough that they are unable to take part in school activities it is best that they stay at home. Please report any communicable diseases.
MAKE-UP WORK
· SHORT-TERM ABSENCES
If your child is absent, I encourage you to call the office in the morning and arrange to pick up the schoolwork after school. This way your child can make up some of the work for the day.
· EXTENDED ABSENCES AND VACATIONS
If your child will be missing school for an extended period, please allow 5-7 days notice for me to put together a work package. Because much of our work is project based (not many worksheets), it may be difficult to make up or replicate some assignments. I encourage you to consider scheduling vacations during regular school vacations. If your trip is 5 days or longer, please request an excused absence in writing from Mrs. Berry.
EXCUSED ABSENCES
The school requires a written excuse explaining the absence of your child upon his/her return to school. It should be dated and signed by the child’s parent or guardian. This note should be turned into me in the morning or taken to the office. It is also possible to excuse your child’s absence via the office phone or on the web.
EXCUSED TARDIES
If your child arrives at school after 8:30 (T-F) or 9:45 (M), please send him/her to the office for a tardy slip before coming to the class.
BOOK ORDERS
About once a month, I will send home a book order magazine with Monday folder. The magazine is a just a sampling of the books, e-stories and technology actually available on the Scholastic website. Buying books from these orders is entirely optional. The books are an inexpensive way to keep building your child’s library. If you would like me to keep your order a surprise, please let me know and I will separate your child’s books. They make wonderful presents.
PLACING A BOOK ORDER ONLINE
If you wish to place an order, please go to our class order page on the Scholastic Reading Club Website https://orders.scholastic.com/NLV68 (Our class activation code is NLV68. Just follow the directions to place your order.
I will submit the whole class order on or about the 15th of each month. Book orders usually arrive 7-10 days after I submit it and the books/items will be sent home with your child.
BIRTHDAYS AND OTHER CELEBRATIONS
· We love to celebrate birthdays. We will celebrate birthdays in monthly parties (i.e. all May birthdays on one day in May).
· If your child’s birthday falls in August, we will celebrate it in September.
· Birthdays in June and July will be celebrated in June.
· Dates and times for parties will be sent out in the weekly letters.
· If you would like to bring a treat, drink or napkins for the party, please coordinate with me.
· We celebrate Halloween, Valentine’s Day and the End of the Year with parties.
· We also will have several Readers’ Theater/Tea Parties to celebrate student learning throughout the year.
· There will be at least one cooking party (Stone Soup). Look for information and dates in the classroom newsletters.
FAMILY VOLUNTEERS
Family volunteers make it possible to stretch the different type of activities I can offer in the classroom. I appreciate the time and effort of those of you who are able to volunteer. Several opportunities are listed below, but other events may also arise during the year. Signs ups will be available at Open House.
· Two Room Parents to organize the treats for our monthly birthday parties and treats/games/activities for Halloween, Valentine’s Day and End of Year parties.
· Project Preparation and copying- needed immediately. Some projects can be done at home.
· Volunteers to help with special projects throughout the year.
· In-class volunteering includes: Reading with small groups of students before school and assisting students with writing. In class volunteer opportunities will very likely not start until early November. Please check the newsletters for more information.
“STUFF” FROM HOME
· Please write your child’s name inside his/her coat so that we can help reunite them if the coat goes missing.
· Please have your child wear sneakers (non-marking sole) on PE days. This year, PE will be on Mondays and Wednesday. Your child may not be able to participate in PE without appropriate shoes.
· Our beautiful new classroom comes complete with a water fountain. Water bottles are not necessary unless needed for after school sports.
· Please do not send or allow your child to bring mechanical pencils, pens, toys, jewelry or other distracting items to school. Students will be able to bring and share a personal item on their “Star of the Week” Tuesday only.
A NOTE ABOUT SNACKS
We do have a long morning and the children may become hungry before lunch. If you are interested in supplying occasional snacks for the class, we would welcome items like crackers, cut vegetables or fruit, popcorn, nuts, cheese or cereal. If your child has special nutritional needs, please supply his/her own snacks as needed. Items can be kept in the refrigerator. Please do not send cookies, cakes, or candy for snacks. We enjoy those items at parties.
STAR OF THE WEEK
The class celebrates a Star of the Week on a rotating basis. We move through first names in alphabetical order.
· The Star of the Week may bring two items to share with the class on Tuesday. The item should tell something about who the child is, or what the child likes to do (talents and hobbies).
· The Star of the Week takes our class mascot “Pete the Cat” home on Monday and returns him on the following Monday. This student writes in the Pete the Cat Adventure Journal about the week’s adventures.
CLASSROOM JOBS
Students rotate through weekly jobs. Some examples:
· Pass out papers
· Bring the library tote to the library
· Bring the lunch tote to the lunchroom
· Monitor the cleanliness of the floor
SUPER STAR READING PROGRAM
In second grade, early readers become much more fluent readers and are able to read text of increasing difficulty. A very effective way to build fluency is to read a sentence, paragraph or book several times. This increases your child’s ability to quickly recognize a word, instead of having to sound it out each time. On many weeks, students will have decodable books that go along with the phonetic spelling sound we are studying. When they arrive home:
· Please remove the books from students Monday Folder/Homework Folder.
· Have your child read the book to you at least two more times.
· Write your child’s name at the top.
· Sign the book and send it back into school.
· Your child will earn a star for every book that has been reread twice at home. Rewards are given for every 5 books returned.
· Your child may also fill out a Superstar Reading form and choose his/her own passages/books to read twice. Please complete the form and return it to school. The form is available in the front entrance of the classroom.
HOW DO WE LEARN?
Cooperation, team building, and responsibility are key components of our classroom environment. Children sit in teams of 4-6 and work together to accomplish learning tasks. Team leaders will rotate each week. Children work individually, with partners, and in small groups in order to exchange ideas, form reading, writing, speaking, listening, math, science and technology strategies, learn strong cooperative skills, and enjoy learning. Some of our activities are done through hands-on exploration mixed with discussion, while others are taught through teacher direct instruction. This may not always be a quiet classroom, because the best learning happens when children are active and curious participants. My goal is that students are not only on task and respectful while collaborating, but that they know how to manage their independent learning time as well.