Monday, March 19th
Today I sent home some the following new activities/games for your children to work on as practice.
-Polygon and Flat Shape Memory game
The cards will need to be cut out in order to play. Don't use the shape cards that have an X through them. The children learned how to play this game today so they should be familiar and able to play at home.
-Roll and Draw
You will need dice for this activity. The directions and recording sheet are provided. If you want to play more than once I would suggest making copies if you can, or using a page protector and a dry erase marker. This is also a familiar game so the children should be able to teach you at home.
-Geometry packet of worksheets
This a packet for students to demonstrate their newly gained knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes. Please have them try these on their own without help. This is a good assessment of what they've taken away from our work in the classroom.
After April vacation I will send home a new packet of games that will include topics like arrays (intro to multiplication) measurement, and some other place value and subtraction games.
Today I received a few purple home folders. Could everyone please help to increase this number by designating a special spot your your child's folder and sheet so it isn't forgotten weekly? We would greatly appreciate it.
Friday, February 16th
After vacation we will resume our normal homework expectations. I will send home reading and math logs in the yellow folders. We have started our geometry unit, so once we have learned some new games to support these new concepts, I will send home a new packet of game directions for home practice. PLEASE help your child make home practice at home a priority, especially reading. The more they read, the better readers they will become. The more text they are exposed to, the better spellers they will become.
Wednesday, January 10th
Hopefully you saw a new packet of math games, mostly subtraction focused, come home in the yellow home practice folder on Monday. I have heard a few students say that they don't have dice or decks of cards to play the games with so I suggested that they look to see if there are other board games at home with dice that could be used to play the math games. Also, the dollar store has decks of cards, and even grabbing a deck at the grocery store before checkout is an easy way to get some. If these aren't options for your family, please let me know and I will try to find some extras to send home. Extras of these are hard to come by, so please email only if it is really not an option to borrow or buy some. Thanks!
Please continue to help your children with regular reading of good fit books at home. This time of year is typically where we see the most growth in children's reading.
Second graders do a special project for the 100th day of school. This is a project largely done at home, but we will do some preliminary planning at school. Students make a hat with 100 items on it, bring it to school and write a short informational paragraph about it. On the 100th day of school, which is currently scheduled to be Thursday, February 8th, we will hold a hat fashion show. Second grade classes gather in the multi and walk down a, "catwalk" showing off their hats while their informational paragraphs are read out loud. This is a fun tradition that we hope all the children choose to participate in. While it might feel a little uncomfortable being in the spotlight, it is a memorable experience and we encourage all students to give catwalk a try. The letter below describes the project, and I will also send home a hard copy for you to keep and reference as your child embarks on this creative endeavor. Please feel free to ask any questions along the way! We are asking that the hats be at school on or before Monday, February 5th so that we have time to do the writing portion of the project before the fashion show.
Thanks!
Wednesday, December 6th
Just a reminder that homework is assigned on Mondays and should be returned the following Monday, unless we aren't in school, in which case homework would come back on Tuesday. I'm noticing that the return of reading and math logs is inconsistent for some of the children. If completing the reading and/or math log is posing a challenge, please let me know. After vacation I will be sending home another packet of math game directions and ideas that will primarily be subtraction based versus the addition game directions you already have.
Monday, October 9th
I hope this reading tool is proving to be useful for you and your child. Please don't hesitate to ask questions if you any. I will send home another reading log tomorrow (Tuesday), this time with a due date written in the oval at the top. Please remember to initial in the last column on the right each day that your child reads.
Having three busy children of my own, I understand that some days it is more challenging to complete reading, but please do encourage your child to try his or her best to read each day. The only way to become an even better reader is to read often!
Thanks for your help with this!
HOMEWORK PURPOSE & PHILOSOPHY
Today I sent home some the following new activities/games for your children to work on as practice.
-Polygon and Flat Shape Memory game
The cards will need to be cut out in order to play. Don't use the shape cards that have an X through them. The children learned how to play this game today so they should be familiar and able to play at home.
-Roll and Draw
You will need dice for this activity. The directions and recording sheet are provided. If you want to play more than once I would suggest making copies if you can, or using a page protector and a dry erase marker. This is also a familiar game so the children should be able to teach you at home.
-Geometry packet of worksheets
This a packet for students to demonstrate their newly gained knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes. Please have them try these on their own without help. This is a good assessment of what they've taken away from our work in the classroom.
After April vacation I will send home a new packet of games that will include topics like arrays (intro to multiplication) measurement, and some other place value and subtraction games.
Today I received a few purple home folders. Could everyone please help to increase this number by designating a special spot your your child's folder and sheet so it isn't forgotten weekly? We would greatly appreciate it.
Friday, February 16th
After vacation we will resume our normal homework expectations. I will send home reading and math logs in the yellow folders. We have started our geometry unit, so once we have learned some new games to support these new concepts, I will send home a new packet of game directions for home practice. PLEASE help your child make home practice at home a priority, especially reading. The more they read, the better readers they will become. The more text they are exposed to, the better spellers they will become.
Wednesday, January 10th
Hopefully you saw a new packet of math games, mostly subtraction focused, come home in the yellow home practice folder on Monday. I have heard a few students say that they don't have dice or decks of cards to play the games with so I suggested that they look to see if there are other board games at home with dice that could be used to play the math games. Also, the dollar store has decks of cards, and even grabbing a deck at the grocery store before checkout is an easy way to get some. If these aren't options for your family, please let me know and I will try to find some extras to send home. Extras of these are hard to come by, so please email only if it is really not an option to borrow or buy some. Thanks!
Please continue to help your children with regular reading of good fit books at home. This time of year is typically where we see the most growth in children's reading.
Second graders do a special project for the 100th day of school. This is a project largely done at home, but we will do some preliminary planning at school. Students make a hat with 100 items on it, bring it to school and write a short informational paragraph about it. On the 100th day of school, which is currently scheduled to be Thursday, February 8th, we will hold a hat fashion show. Second grade classes gather in the multi and walk down a, "catwalk" showing off their hats while their informational paragraphs are read out loud. This is a fun tradition that we hope all the children choose to participate in. While it might feel a little uncomfortable being in the spotlight, it is a memorable experience and we encourage all students to give catwalk a try. The letter below describes the project, and I will also send home a hard copy for you to keep and reference as your child embarks on this creative endeavor. Please feel free to ask any questions along the way! We are asking that the hats be at school on or before Monday, February 5th so that we have time to do the writing portion of the project before the fashion show.
Thanks!
Wednesday, December 6th
Just a reminder that homework is assigned on Mondays and should be returned the following Monday, unless we aren't in school, in which case homework would come back on Tuesday. I'm noticing that the return of reading and math logs is inconsistent for some of the children. If completing the reading and/or math log is posing a challenge, please let me know. After vacation I will be sending home another packet of math game directions and ideas that will primarily be subtraction based versus the addition game directions you already have.
Monday, October 9th
Having three busy children of my own, I understand that some days it is more challenging to complete reading, but please do encourage your child to try his or her best to read each day. The only way to become an even better reader is to read often!
Thanks for your help with this!
HOMEWORK PURPOSE & PHILOSOPHY
The main purposes of homework in 2nd grade are to:
- Build reading stamina
- Increase fact fluency in addition and subtraction
- Gain INDEPENDENCE in learning
This year your second grader will start out by being asked to read 15-20 minutes a day. This can look a variety of ways (to self, out loud to someone or a stuffy, or a parent reading to them). I will send home a weekly calendar for your child to keep track of his or her reading. They will go home on Mondays should be returned on Mondays.
Also, we will be learning and playing a variety of math games to develop addition and subtraction fluency. I will send home several games with directions, that you can play with your child. I will also try to send home a list of questions you can ask as you're playing together to further enhance the experience.
I understand that for many second graders, homework can cause feelings of anxiety, because it's an unknown. Conversely, many second graders are chomping at the bit to receive homework, and lots of it. I will provide, for those students and parents who are interested and request it, additional reading, writing, spelling, math, and science activities. This optional work is in the form of a menu with different categories and choices. None of the work that students choose to do from the menu needs to be returned to school.
Here is a little more information about what our reading and library focus will be over the next few weeks:
GOOD FIT BOOKS
These are books that students should be reading in school and at home independently, which help develop their fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. If a child struggles to read or understand more than 2-3 words on a page, this is too hard for independent reading, but would be a great fit for partner reading, or parent read out loud. It is often challenging for second graders to find books that have length, are interesting, have a good plot and action, and are at their independent level. We will be working on this ALL the time. Here is a strategy that the kids will be learning about soon, which will help them to determine if a book is a good fit or not.
I pick a book.
P urpose. Why do I want to read it?
I nterest. Does the topic interest me?
C omprehend. Do I understand what I'm reading?
K now. I know almost all of the words.
To help with the KNOW part of the IPICK strategy, students use the 5 finger rule. When they read a page from anywhere in the book they put up one finger for each word they come across that they don't know or can't read.
4 or 5 fingers up at the end of the page = TOO CHALLENGING RIGHT NOW
2 or 3 fingers up at the end of the page = A GOOD FIT BOOK
0 or 1 fingers up at the end of the page = TOO EASY FOR READ TO SELF
As mentioned before, there will be more information coming regarding math games to play at home. Once our second grade team of teachers has met to discuss and plan our Parent Information Night/Open House, we will have a better sense of how we will approach this subject with you on that night. Stay tuned for more!
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