Welcome to
2nd Grade
at
Oakview Elementary
“It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the mind of students with facts…It is to teach them to think for themselves.”
Our Goals
To teach your child the academic and social skills needed to progress at his/her level following the Ohio Academic, Common Core, and Kettering City School Standards.
To become a community of learners who communicate respectfully and responsibly.
To provide a supportive and fun classroom environment.
To help your child make new friends and discover new interests.
Resources Used to Achieve Our Goals
in the Content Areas
Math
In math students will participate in a variety of hands-on and written activities to strengthen their number sense, measurement, geometry, data analysis, and problem solving skills. We will be requiring students to write about their thinking as they solve problems. This will help to develop their critical thinking skills and will help them to truly understand the math they are doing. A resource that will be used is the Math in Focus program, which follows the ideas taught in “Singapore Math”. We also will use items from Catherine Jones Kuhns’ book Number Wonders. She is a Presidential Award Winner for Math and Science and a nationaly known presenter.
Please “talk math” at home for example: (at dinner ask…”If I have 5 beans on my plate and I eat 3 beans, how many beans do I have left?” or when counting your piggy bank, “If I have 7 pennies, how many more do I need to be able to trade for a dime?”) Practice basic addition and subtraction facts to 20 daily! (Start with facts to 5, then 10, then 15, then 20) Firstinmath.com is a great website to use for this!
Reading
The students will be taught various reading strategies (connecting, predicting, visualizing, questioning, inferring, etc.) to help them become fluent readers. In second grade students begin to master the skills of reading, later the focus is more on comprehending what they are reading. Books will be provided to the students on their independent reading level. Students will work in large group and small group settings. Making Meaning by Developmental Studies Center will help support this, along with various trade books.
Writing
The students will write daily. The goal is to further develop and apply the writing process in Writer’s Workshop. The children will learn to use detail and expressive vocabulary in each writing sample. They will learn how to apply the correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling rules. Being a Writer by Developmental Studies Center will be an excellent resource to support our writing philosophy.Fundations is a phonics program that will be used to help with learning and understanding the various spelling rules in the English language. The children will also begin the year writing in manuscript. However, in January we will begin to learn the strokes of cursive handwriting.
Science
Our series Ohio Science, A Closer Look by Mac-Millan/McGraw-Hill.
The Smartboard will allow the children to learn with technology on a daily basis. The children will participate in hands-on experiments to further spark their scientific thinking skills.
Our themes are integrated into our Reading and Writing. They are:
- Earth and Space (The Atmosphere)
- Life Sciences (Interactions Within Habitats)
- Physical Science (Changes in Motion)
- Scientific Inquiry and Thinking
Social Studies
The series is Social Studies Alive! My Community by Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
The students will learn about history, geography, economics, government, and citizenship. All of these topics are integrated into our Reading and Writing throughout the year.
For Your Information…
Homework
Homework is about process NOT the product. Therefore, your child’s homework will be minimal but very important! There will be a weekly spelling rule sent home. The same rule may be carried over for more than one week. The students will need to develop words on their own that follow this rule. There also will be a nightly reading assignment, and occasionally a math assignment. A homework sheet will be sent home at the beginning of each week. Please check this daily. Keep it in the students Take-Home folder so that we may refer to it during class.
Supplies
Please help your child prepare for school by checking his/her supplies periodically. We use school supplies daily and sometimes they need to be replenished. If your child is low on supplies, we will send a reminder slip indicating the needed supplies.
Attendance and Tardiness
It is important that your child has good attendance. School begins at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 2:30p.m. Please be sure your child arrives on time and has a plan for how he/she will go home. It is helpful if you send a note telling us about a change in your child’s dismissal. In the event that your child is ill, please call the office that morning and send a note the day they return.
Lunch Money
The cost of lunch is ______. Each child will receive a debit card to use when purchasing food items. You may add money to the card anytime. Please be respectful to our cafeteria routine when eating lunch with your child. We request a 24 hour notice if you plan to eat lunch with your child at school.
Birthday Treats
Children love to celebrate birthdays. If you wish to send in a birthday treat of some kind you may. However, due to the growing number of children with food allergies, please limit these treats to non-food items, such as erasers, stickers, pencils, small toys, etc.
Yearly Assessments
Students will be assessed throughout the school year using the following benchmark tools:
Aims Web: This tests reading fluency and phonemic awareness skills. This is administered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.
DRA: This monitors reading fluency and comprehension skills. This is administered in the Fall and Spring.
Lexile: This is used to test reading comprehension skills. This is administered in the Fall and Spring.
Fry High Frequency Sight Words: These commonly used words are ranked by frequency. The first 25 make up about 1/3 of all the printed material in English. The first 100 make up about ½, and the first 300 make up about 65% of all written material in English. The best way to learn high frequency words is through practice. Reading daily at school and at home is extremely important!
M-COMP: This is a test given to assess students’ ability to do math computations. This is administered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.
M-CAP: This is a test given to assess students’ ability to apply what they have learned in math to solving word problems and puzzles. This is administered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.
Terra Nova: This standardized test will be given in March to assess student growth in Reading, Math, Social Studies, and science.
Special Class Schedule
Below is a schedule for Art, Music, Gym, Library, Recess, and Lunch.
Recess: 11:10-11:30amLunch: 11:30-11:50am
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / FridayArt
1:10-2:10 / Gym
1:10-2:10 / Music
1:10-2:10 / Library
8:45-9:25 / Book Buddies
1:30-2:00
Mrs. Byrd
1:00-1:30
Every other week
Be Prepared!
It is important that your child is prepared for their special classes.
On gym day, your child needs gym shoes and shorts or sweat pants.
Your child needs to be responsible for returning all library books on the due date.
Your child needs an art shirt with his/her name on it. This may be an old shirt with sleeves that can be worn over their school clothes. The shirt will stay in their locker at school.
Reminders
If you did not sign up for a conference at the Open House Event, please contact your teacher about scheduling a date and time. We will send home a reminder of your conference time a week before the scheduled date.
You can visit our websites to view current news, upcoming events, homework, and our kid friendly links.
Please check Progress Book for grade updates and missing assignments. Your family codes are available in the office.
Please return all school forms as quickly as possible.
Communication
Please do not hesitate to call, write notes, schedule a conference, or send an email if you have a question or concern. As per the Student/Handbook, it is requested that all visitors report to the office before proceeding elsewhere in the building. It is requested that visitors confer with the classroom teacher only at the times agreed upon by both parties. Please be respectful of the morning routines. Unscheduled “pop-ins” before or during school cause disruption and stop the learning routine. We would like to ensure a safe environment for all to learn. Please refer to the handbook for further explanations of school policy.
Contact Information
School Phone: 499-1870
Teacher’s voicemail and email address:
499-2977
499-2975
499-2965
499-2965
We are looking forward to having you as a partner in your child’s education! All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and somebody who believes in them! Let’s have a great year!
Needed!!
Your time and talents are needed to enhance and enrich our classroom. Please complete and return the survey if you are interested in participating or contributing in some way.
Your Name ______Child’s Name______
Phone Number:______Email: ______
I can assist in the following areas (Please check all that apply.):
Thank you for completing the survey. I will call you when your help is needed.
Workroom Helpers:___ copying
___ laminating
___ cutting letters/shapes, etc.
___ doing art work
___ Book making
___ assembling folders
____ I am willing to come in on a regular basis. Circle days available:
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. / Class Parties/Provide goods upon request:
___ baked goods
___ games
___ juice
___ snacks
___ paper products
___ organize party
___ Fieldtrip Chaperone: (Specific dates and
times will be sent home throughout the year
with a sign up sheet.)
Guest Speaker:
___ I would be willing to share information about my career or a talent to the class. (The teacher will contact you if your area of expertise fits into the standards being taught in class.)
Topic(s) to be Discussed / Other:
Please Return
the following forms
to school
as soon as possible!
Mrs. Goheen’s Behavior Plan
Contract
I am very excited to be teaching such a wonderful group of second graders this year! In order to have a successful year everyone needs to be willing to show respect to one another. I have developed this behavior plan so that students are aware of what is expected of them this year. I want to build a feeling of community in our classroom so that everyone is able to achieve their fullest potential.
Please review the following guidelines with your child and sign the attached form.
Card system:
We will use a card system this year. Each color represents a particular consequence or reward. If a child chooses to break a rule, they will need to pull a card.
Blue = “Blue Skies” all is well. The child had no behavior issues.
Green = 1/2 recess missed to discuss behavior.
Yellow = miss 1 recess (child must “walk the line”. They will still get some exercise
while walking, but will be excluded from playing with friends for that recess.)
Red = same as yellow, plus they will complete a “Think About It Sheet” during the
second recess or at home that night.
Extreme Cases: Fighting, foul language, etc. = The student will be sent to the principal’s
office.
**If a student is continually pulling cards, a conference will be held with the parents.
Daily Behavior Log:
Each day your child will bring home a behavior sheet that will inform you of their behavior on that particular day. (Please see attached sample.) The students will color in a box that indicates what color their card was for the day. This sheet will need to be signed and returned daily. I do realize that sometimes we get rushed in the evenings and occasionally this will not get signed. Your child is allowed 2 times to “forget” to get it signed. After that, they will need to pull a card for not having it. I am trying to teach them some responsibility, as well as, keep you informed of happenings at school.
Reward System:
Bucket Fillers:
We will be reading a book about how we can “fill each others buckets” by doing kind deeds. I will do my best to catch kids being good. When that happens they will be allowed to put their name in our class bucket. Each Friday, I will draw 5 names out of the bucket. These students will be awarded a prize/reward of some kind. I will also be trying to teach them that the best reward is how doing something kind or good makes us feel inside.
Prizes – The Roll of the Dice
When a child’s name is drawn from the “bucket”, he/she will be able to roll the “prize dice”. They will then get the prize that matches the number rolled. Prizes may vary over the year, but could include...
Child gets to use the rocking chair at his/her desk
Child is able to use the bean bag chairs during silent reading
Homework pass
Water pass
Show and tell
Sit by a friend during snack time
Student reader
Prize box – miscellaneous prizes
Make up the question of the day
Gets to choose indoor recess games first
Team Rewards (Occasionally Used):
At times the students will be sitting in groups of 4-5. A prize will be rewarded to the winning team at the end of the week. They will be able to earn stars toward a weekly team reward by doing some of the following things.
helping another student
showing good teamwork
turning assignments in on time
turning in behavior sheets in on time
participating in class
keeping their areas/desks clean
taking pride in their work
etc.
Team Prizes Could include:
Members get to put their name in the bucket twice. Their team flag will be hung up for all to see. If there is indoor recess, their team gets first pick at the games, etc.
(We will change teams about every 5 weeks.)
Please sign the last page in the packet to show that you have read this. You may keep these pages for your reference
What Does a
Super Second Grader Look Like?
A super second grader is one that...
Comes to school with a positive attitude!
Is willing to try, even if things get tough!
Asks questions when they don’t understand something!
Takes pride in their work by including good details and by using their best handwriting and coloring.
Is kind to their neighbor!
Keeps their desk clean!
Helps others pick up when they are finished cleaning!
Is quiet and respectful when others are working!
Most importantly a super second grader is one that is willing to try their best!
Together we will achieve great things!!!