Welcome to the 2011 2012 School Year

Back to School Information

Mrs. Reece

2nd Grade

2011 – 2012

Welcome to the 2011– 2012 school year! I have many exciting things planned for your child this year. I look forward to working with you to help your child grow as a reader, writer, and life-long learner.

The expectations and routines that you establish in your home greatly affect your child’s school success. Some simple things that you can do to support your child are:

1. Read to your child. Enjoy stories, poetry, and informational writing together. Read with expression and discuss the selection. Have your child put the selection in his/her own words. This will build your child’s vocabulary, improve his/her comprehension, and motivate him/her to read.

2. Provide your child with experiences. Trips to the grocery store, zoo, park, skating rink, etc. provide experiences that build vocabulary. A larger vocabulary will strengthen your child’s reading and enrich his/her writing.

3. Encourage your child to read. Children become good readers by reading. Give your child books as gifts. Visit the library often. Whenever possible, allow your child to choose books from book orders, book fairs, and bookstores to add to his/her personal library. Keep a tote bag full of books that’s easy to take for visits to the doctor’s office, on car trips, etc.

4. Encourage your child to write. Children become good writers by writing. Supply your child with paper, pencils, markers, etc. and encourage him/her to write letters, stories, lists, poems, etc. Children are often more motivated to write whey they can illustrate what they’ve written. Writing experiences will help your child improve his/her reading and writing.

5. Establish and maintain a homework routine that supports the child’s learning. Use the class routine for assignments and tests to plan workable homework routine. Provide your child with homework materials caddy (pencils, markers, ruler, paper, crayons, scissors, etc.) and a quiet place to work. Encourage him/her to check his/her work.

6. Provide your child with dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, and other references to support his/her completion of homework. Online homework references including encyclopedias, children’s search engines/directories, etc. are located at

7. Help your child develop as a reader, writer, and learner throughout his/her schooling. The following web sites provide parenting strategies and tools. If you are not currently on the internet, you can probably check these web sites on computers at the library.

KidBibs Reading and Writing Tools for Parenting and Teachers

(

Help Your Child Learn to Read (http:

Help Your Child Learn to Write Well

(

8. Attend your child’s programs at school and parent-teacher conferences. By doing this, you show him/her that you care about his/her education.

Classroom Management

Rules (created by the students):

Help others by setting a good example,inside and at play.

Earn respect by showing respect to others and their belongings.

Always keep your hands, feet, and other objects to yourself.

Remember to listen carefully and follow directions the first time they given.

Take the time to do your very best!

Positive Behavior will result in:

Verbal Praise

Moving clip up on Behavior Chart

Earning golden tickets for class drawing on Friday

Terrific Tickets – to be used as cash at class store (3x per year)

Marbles in jar – when jar is filled class earns a reward of their choice

Music Box Letters – when word is spelled out class earns a reward of their choice (i.e., pizza, ice cream, movie party)

Love notes home to parents

Failure to follow school or classroom rules will result in:

Verbal Warning

Moving clip down on Behavior Chart

Benched at recess – note home

Sent to office – call home

I LOVE to "catch" my students making good choices and doing the right thing.

Discipline Consequences/Behavior Chart

Extraordinary Behavior!Purple
Great on Task Behavior!Green
First Reminder/Warning Verbal Warning
Second Reminder Yellow
Third Reminder Orange Time Out
Fourth Reminder Red Call Home

Your child has a behavior chart inside his/her B.E.E. Binder. Your child will recieve a sticker at the end of each school day which reflects where his/her day ended on classroom's behavior chart. Please do not worry if your child occaisonally comes home with a yellow sticker. We all have off or bad days. If however, you frequently see a yellow sticker, it is probably time to have a discussion with your child about the importance of making good and wise choices. If a student receives 3 yellow stickers within one week's time, I will request a parent/teacher meeting with you so that we can discuss and figure out what is going on.

If a student does not come home with a purple sticker all year -- please do not worry! It is very, very difficult to make it to purple. Green is very good. It is where each student should be everyday.

Curriculum

LanguageArts Houghton Mifflin

MathematicsHoughton Mifflin

Supplemental Math

Social StudiesHoughton Mifflin

ScienceHarcourt Brace

Homework Packet

Beginning the first week in September a homework packet will go home Friday and is due the following Friday.

Generally, homework should not take more than 30 minutes a night. However, there are times that more work or practice will be required. This would be individualized according to how well your child is performing toward the Standards (Report Cards). In addition, there will be some special projects assigned throughout the year.

The purpose of homework is to reinforce the skills being taught daily in the classroom. Your participation in your child’s education is a vital contribution to your child’s academic achievement. I am excited about being your child’s teacher and look forward to partnering with you in help your child achieve his/her potential.

Daily Math Homework

Math homework will be sent home daily. Math homework is due the following day. I check the math homework every morning to ensure it is complete.

Supplemental Math

There will be times throughout the year that you will see different kinds of work sent home other than our District Adopted Math Program. This extra work is to help prepare your child for standard based assessments and for third grade.

Reading Homework (Reading Log)

Reading every night for 15 minutes is a must! This cannot be stressed enough and I need your help in insisting on this activity. Reading every night will help to ensure your child’s school success. Students should log their reading onto the “Readers are Leaders” reading logs. A new reading log will go home every Friday and is due back the following Friday. Your child is welcome to check out a book from our classroom’s library. He/she may check out the book on Friday and it will be due the following Friday.

To improve reading fluency, students will be given a “cold read” of a passage at their instructional level. They will then be given a copy of the passage to practice reading all week. The following Monday they will be given a “hot read.” Please be sure to help your child practice these passages by reading with them and timing them for 1 minute to see reading speed is increasing.

Spelling

During the first week of school I will give a spelling inventory test, which will help me to determine where each student is instructionally with their spelling abilities.

Every Friday students will be given a list of words that follow a particular spelling pattern. Based on student needs and abilities, they will be asked to study a certain number of words on the list. At any time, the number of words a student is asked to study may change to suit their needs. Should you feel your child is not being challenged enough you may always have your child study more (or all) words on the given list.

Spelling Tests

Every Thursday your child will take a spelling test. We will correct the spelling test together in class immediately following the spelling test.

Spelling Activity List: To prepare for spelling tests, please help your child choose activities from the Spelling Activity List found in your child’s B.E.E. Binder.

B.E.E. Binders

Bring everything everyday binders. These 3 ring white 1-inch view binder notebooks hold everything the students and parents need to be organized and successful. This notebook will also help students to establish responsibility as a student. Please help to keep your student's B.E.E. Binder free from food spills, old papers, or any other things that might damage the binder. It is critical that you go through your child's binder each night to check for any communication or work. It also communicates a message to your child, that you value what he/sheis doing at school all day.

Volunteering

Volunteering in your child’s classroom has many benefits for both you and your child and the rest of the children.

We need your help for small group instruction during Literacy Centers & Math Centers.

You can become another teacher, which enables me to teach more that what is required. I cannot teach to our full potential without you.

I rely on you daily so volunteering is a big commitment that should be honored for the whole year if possible.

If you are not able to volunteer on your chosen day, please send a note with your child or call me to let me know.

Grandmas and grandpas are very much welcomed to volunteer if your schedule does not allow you to volunteer.

I cannot thank you enough for your help.

Please see the volunteer sign up sheet on the table.

I will have a volunteer orientation after school during the first week of September. We will begin centers the second week of September.

If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom and are unable to volunteer once a week for our literacy centers do not worry! You can still volunteer. I will have a plastic tub on the counter next to the classroom door with work that needs to be done. You can pop your head in the classroom and take the work home. The work will be clearly labeled and the date that I need it by will be listed.

Our class also needs parents who are willing to coordinate classroom parties.

Volunteers/Literacy Centers

Volunteering in your child’s classroom has many benefits both for you and your child and the rest of the children.

We need your help for small group instruction during literacy groups.

You become another teacher, which enables me to teach more than what is required.

I cannot teach to our full potential without you.

I rely on you daily so volunteering is a big commitment that should behonored for the whole year if possible.

If you are not able to volunteer on your chosen day, please send a note with your child or call me to let me know.

Grandmas and grandpas are very much welcomed to volunteer if your schedule does not allow you to volunteer.

I cannot thank you enough for your help.

Volunteers/Misc.

All parents who intend to volunteer or attend class parties must fill out a Megan’s Law Form in the school office.

I will have a sign up sheet available during Back to School Night.

Awards Assemblies

Every other Friday is a Soaring Spirit Assembly held in the quad area. During the assembly students will be recognized for their exmplary citizenship and academics. I will notify in advance when your student is receiving an award. Your student's name will also be listed in the Mails Messenger.

Birthdays

According to district policy all food brought in to class must be store bought. We will have a birthday celebration once a month (usually the last Friday of the month) for all students whose birthday falls in that month. On these days, parents or students may bring store bought treats to share with the class. Please let me know in advance (preferably 1 week ahead) if you will be bringing treats so I can make arrangements for the best time to bring them in. Please avoid sending in treats or snacks that contain peanuts or peanut products.

Class Parties

Our class will be having several parties throughout the year for example: Gingerbread House Making Party in December, A Valentine’s Day Party in February, Mother’s Day Tea in May, and our End of Year Party in June.

All – Star Student

Each week a new student will be chosen to be the STAR of the week. A poster will be sent home the week before they will be STAR. Hopefully this will give your family ample time to complete the poster. The poster will be a very special keepsake of third grade. Itwill be the mission of each and every student to make the STAR feel spectacular!

Occasionally, I will assign a specific topic for share depending on our unit of study in LA, Science, or Social Studies. Please see our share schedule on our class website

Mails Messenger

If you have not done so already, please make sure you sign up for our Lisa J. Mails Mails Messenger which is our school newsletter. It comes out online via email every other Friday. To sign up, simply scroll to the bottom of our school website.

Communication

Communication is the key a successful year for your child, you and me. I will be sending home a Weekly Newsletter every Friday that will include important dates to remember. Please feel free to phone or conference at any time. It is best to clear up confusions, concerns, and questions right away. Your child deserves the very best from us. The best way to reach me is via email. You can reach me at these two emails

School email:

Home email:

You may also reach me at these two phone numbers:

School Phone Number 951–304–1880 ext. 8474

Website: go to click on Select a School located on the top left hand corner of the page, scroll down to Lisa J. Mails & click. Once you are on the Mail’s site, click on Teachers at the top of the page, then find my name and click.

Report Cards

The Report Cards are standards-driven. This means that your child is graded in October on how well he or she is performing toward the California State Standards at the end of the year

The grading is as such:

1 = Below grade level standards

2 = Approaching grade level standards

3 = Proficient - Meets grade level standards

4 = Above grade level standards

5 = Advanced

In conclusion, second grade is a year of incredible growth and change in your child’s academic and personal self. At times, the curriculum may be too hard or too easy. Please allow me the first month of school to assess and make changes to accommodate your child.

Thank you for coming tonight! We will have a great year! Before we know it, we will be saying good-bye and our kids will be headed towards third grade. I look forward to making many new academic strides and memories this year!