Dear Families,
Thank you so much for attending our Family Orientation Night on such a hot, humid evening. The strong parent involvement, at May Watts, never ceases to amaze me and makes my job a truly enjoyable experience. I am working with a group of eager to learn students which is directly related to the dedication from their parents. So, I thank YOU in advance for allowing me the privilege of teaching such a hard-working, well-mannered group of 2nd graders!
Blog Hint: If your are more comfortable reading this blog in a different language, just highlight this post and select the language of your choice on the "Language Translator" in the bottom left-hand column of this blog.
Reading
Harcourt-Trophies Text
Just For You - Theme 1: Being Me
On Monday, we will begin our whole group reading in the student's Harcourt-Trophies textbook. Each Friday, the textbook will be sent home for weekend reading. You can check this blog to see which story we are reading and encourage your child to reread the story, review the vocabulary words and focus skill, and go over the "Think and Respond" questions at the end of the story. All of these study skills will help your child now, and later in the year, as we assess comprehension, context clues, vocabulary skills, fluency and reading written response. PLEASE RETURN YOUR CHILD'S TEXT EACH MONDAY. Your child will need his/her book for any open book assessment and the new week's in class lessons.
In the first reading theme of the year, children learn how people discover new things about themselves through experiences and relationships. They find that the differences among people make each person special. For the next five weeks, you may want review the importance of “Being Me” with your child after each story.
Spelling
This week the students will be introduced to their first spelling lesson. The spelling pattern for the week is -id, -ide. Please see the spelling lists on the left column of this blog. Your child will either be on the "pattern" list or the "alternate" list. We will be learning how to do the spelling homework in class this week, therefore, there will not be any homework sent home. Next week, I will send home a sample of how to do the homework, along with the "Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe" homework so that you can see the expectations for each activity. In the meantime, feel free to try out some of the on-line spelling activities using the links in the right hand column of this blog: Spelling City and Puzzlemaker.
Math
At the beginning of each math unit, you will receive a Parent Letter provided by the Every Day Math curriculum. Please save this letter because it contains answers for math Home Links (homework).
Please do not give these answers to your child. They are provided to help you help your child.
If at any time your child is having difficulty with a math concept, you can write your concern down right on your child’s Home Link paper. That way, I will know what to re-teach in a small group setting.
Homework
Your child should be spending 20 minutes per night on his/her homework. If homework is taking significantly longer for your child to complete, please contact me.
Reading at home is not considered part of the 20 minutes. The 2nd grade team recommends that your child read at least 10 minutes per night on a regular basis.
