Dear Second Grade Parents,
This year you can expect to receive a newsletter twice a month. This is a collaborative effort that reflects the Anderson School second grade experience! We will fill you in on some of the highlights of our days and we will give suggestions about ways you can support your child’s learning at home. Your child will deliver the newsletter and you can also access it on the school website.
The last seven school days have been full and fun as our communities have begun to get acquainted. You have great children and we have had a good start to the year. We have spent time getting to know one another viewing personality bags! We are finding out our similarities and differences and we are working to write our classroom rules. This is all very important since learning is a social interactive process. We need to know and trust each other and we need to demonstrate behaviors that support learning. Ask your child what they have promised to do as a class member.
In mathematics our year begins with a review of first grade concepts and skills. We note that the children need practice telling time on a clock with hands, experiences counting change to $1.00, and drill on basic facts. By the end of second grade children are expected to know their plus and minus facts to 18. Help your child memorize their facts for speed and accuracy!
In writing workshop we will be asking the students to write personal narratives. These are small stories about an event or experience they have had recently. We will spend many lessons demonstrating (modeling) what a personal narrative looks like. We give opportunities for oral rehearsal, or conversation about their topic and then we ask them to write with an audience and purpose in mind. You can help them be more successful by calling their attention to events they could write about. The lunch box that dropped in the mud at the bus stop, the visit to the bakery, the soccer goal or visit to the park are all good topics. Please jog their minds and help their writing flow!
After morning meeting we dive into writing and reading. We begin with the shared reading of a poem and then go on to a mini lesson. We have been encouraging the choice of appropriate books using the I PICK acronym. This has been stressed in many lessons. The significance is that there are right books for each student based on their purpose, interest, comprehension and knowledge of words. All the children are in different places and that’s okay. They will improve by reading the books that are right for them. Ask your child how they are building stamina and extending their read to self time at school.
Please use the I PICK rule for choosing books at home and at the library!
I choose a book.
Purpose – Why do I want to read it?
Interest-Does it interest me?
Comprehend-Am I understanding what I am reading?
Know – I know most of the words.
Mark your calendar also for Wednesday, September 14, at 6:30 P. M. which will be our Second Grade Back to School night. Second Grade students are invited to attend with their mom and dad. We will speak at 6:50 about the curriculum and the report card. Please leave siblings at home, if possible, so that your second grader and their new school experience can be your single focus.
Thanks for your wonderful support during our fall start. Let us know if you have questions.
The Second Grade Staff