A-Zs of Second Grade!

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Absences: Please email me or call the office if your child will not be here.  If you do not call, Mrs. Trumbley will call to follow up on your child's location.  If your child is sick, please keep them home until they are fever free without medicine for 24 hours.

Allergies:  Please remember we are a safe classroom for ALL children.    Please only send safe snacks that are peanut free, tree nut free, and egg free.   Visit the blog for more ideas on approved snacks for our classroom.  

Art: We will have art every Tuesday with Mrs. Warsaw

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Bead Jar:  Students are encouraged to work as a team to earn beads for our bead jar.  When the jar is filled, they make a list and vote on the reward.   I will post to the blog when we are having a reward day in case you want to confirm your child’s story.  Please always feel free to email me if you have a question/concern about one of our days

Birthday treats: Birthday treats are welcome.  Due to covid, store bought treats are being encouraged.  Please consult the list or me to ensure that they are safe for our room.   You also might consider non food items like pencils, super balls, etc.  Currently we have 25 children in our room.  

Book Orders:  Flyers will come home most months.  When ordering online use order code H3JBZ or search my teacher name. 

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Computers:  Please make sure that these are charged every night.  We use them everyday and not having a computer or a charged computer causes a delay in our schedule.

Conferences:  I intend to conference on October 19th, 20th, and 21st in the morning, after school, and each evening.  The sign-up sheet is on a table outside the office.  You may choose in person or virtual.  I am very happy to accommodate either one.  If those dates do not work, please let me know and I will be happy to arrange another time.  

Curriculum:   We follow the Common Core Curriculum which outlines what students need to know in math and language arts.  We use Illustrative Mathematics, Benchmark Literacy, Mystery Science, and Maisa for Writing and Social Studies.

is for…Discipline: Our class will be using a method called 1,2,3 Magic. When a student demonstrates an undesirable behavior (talking out of turn, disrespecting others, etc) the teacher says, “That’s one”. If the behavior continues the teacher tells the student “That’s two.”  At this point the student has had two warnings to stop the behavior. If the behavior continues the student is given a “three”.   The students have been told that if they have a three, it will result in a conference with me to discuss what happened, why it happened, and what they must do differently so it does not happen again.  If the behavior continues beyond that, your student and I will work together to write a note home to you so that you are aware of what is occurring.

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E-mail:  My email address is cstarks@sjschools.org please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.   I do check this a few times during the day as well as in the evening. 

Essential Standards:  These are the standards from Common Core that St. Joseph schools has determined are critical for your child to learn before leaving 2nd grade.   These are the standards found on the report card.  I will keep you informed throughout the year if I feel your child is not meeting these standards.

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Family: You are your child's first and most important teacher!  Please talk to your child daily about school.  

Field Trips: We have a number of field trips listed on the form to be returned by the end of this week.  I will keep you updated on the days and times as they develop.  The school is requesting a $5/child and $10/family donation for field trips.    Here is the link to make an online donation.   If you prefer cash or check that is also fine.  Please make the checks payable to SJPS

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Google Classroom: This is where I will put the information we need throughout the year.  This will include links, schedules, and activities.

Gym: We will have gym on Thursdays with Mr. Pfhaler

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Homework:  We will not be sending home paper homework to often this year.  After school is a great time for sports, activities, outdoor play, and just being a kid.  If you want your child to have homework, I of course believe reading is one of the most important things a child can do for homework every night.  Good readers become good writers and understanding the words of a book opens endless doors of possibility.   I also feel that math facts and a strong number sense are very important.  Opportunities for math games will come home through the year.  Finally, keeping a journal is a terrific way to strengthen writing skills.  Finally on our Lincoln Symbaloo are opportunities for online learning although I don’t advocate the extra screen time.

is for…I PICK Good Fit Books:     I PICK stands for

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

iXL math:  We will have access to the iXL math website again this year.  This is a great resource for practicing math facts.  There is a diagnostic area that we will use for helping tailor the problems to your child’s needs.  However there are also problems available by topic like money and time.

is for…Journals:  We will write almost daily in our journals.  Topics will include everyday subjects that are familiar to the children.  This is a wonderful way for them to become comfortable with the writing process and gain confidence in who they are as writers.

is for....Kindness: Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our class as well as others with kindness and respect.

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Laps For Lincoln:  This fundraising event for our school will be held on October 1st at Lincoln Elementary.  Information went home on Friday, September 17th.

Lexia:  This is a wonderful program produced by the same company that created Rosetta Stone.  It has an engaging platform that helps fill in holes and build key reading skills.  My goal for your child is that they complete his or her required units each week.  They should not need to do this at home as plenty of school time is given for accomplishing this goal.  In addition I would ask that you DO NOT help them with this.  I monitor my teacher page very closely and if they are struggling with something I take that opportunity for a small group lesson where we can talk and work with the material together.  Thank you for your cooperation on this.

Library: Library will be every Monday.  Students will be able to have two books each week.  These books will be at home, in their backpack, or in their book box between library days.

Lunch: Our lunch is from 1:00-1:25   You can preorder your child’s lunch via Meal Magic.  Here is the video to describe how this works 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1Yz4ShX40&feature=youtu.be

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Music: Music class will be on Fridays with Ms. Mcelroy

Math Center: We will have math center each week. The 2nd grade expectation is to complete Wizard Levels A, B, C, & D by the end of May.   I will talk about my expectations for your child at our conference in October.  Math facts are very important to me and I will be a very big advocate to your child being fluent with his or her addition & subtraction facts.  

is for…News. Any news about the classroom can be found on our blog which is starks 2021-2022.blogspot.com.  For news about the school please check Mr. Hubble’s blog which is sjlincolnschool.blogspot.com.  

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One hour delay.  Our delays are on most Wednesdays and will be in the Weekly Update each week.

Organized.  Students are encouraged to stay organized with their folders between school and home, with their storage boxes,  and with their work.  We are off to a great start!!!

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Parties: We will have a Halloween Party, Winter Party, and Valentine’s Day Party.  Sign-ups will take place through Sign-Up Genius.  I will send out a sign up before each party.

Picture Day:  We will have picture day on Thursday, September 23rd.  Forms went home last week.

Positivity Project:  This is a school wide activity where each week a different positive word is practiced through stories, discussions, and small group time.   Our weekly word and the activity that we do can be seen on our weekly agenda in the google classroom.

P.T.O.: Each year this organization works hard to provide activities and essentials for Lincoln Elementary.   Your help with any volunteering time you can give is greatly appreciated.  

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Questions? Please feel free to inquire about any questions or concerns.  I prefer you use email as this method is the easiest for me to respond.

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Recesses.  The first is from 11:20-11:35, after lunch until 1:50 and from 3:05-3:20.

Reading: Please make sure your child reads or is read to for at least 15-20 minutes each night.  Reading every night increases your child's success with reading.  Reading to your child is also good as this models fluency.  

    

     

is for…Snack:  We have snack at 11:00 everyday. Please pack small portions of finger food that can easily be eaten while we work.  If you send food that needs a spoon, please send a spoon as I don’t have those.  Foods like pretzels, snack bars, fruit, vegetables or small crackers would be great for snacks.  Please also remember the snack should be peanut free, tree nut free, and egg free.  I have pretzels in case someone forgets.

Star of the Week:  Each child will be a star for a week.  During their week, they will bring home a letter describing the week.  They will also bring home a poster for them to fill out as well as an estimation jar to fill.  They should bring their estimation jar and poster to school on Monday.  During your child's week they may bring sharing everyday and have the option to celebrate their birthday or half birthday.  The schedule will be posted on our blog and in our Google Classroom for your reference.

Spelling:  In 2nd grade we use sound spelling during the writing process and then dictionaries during the proofreading process.  Following this approach teaches children to worry about getting the ideas out of their head and then fixing their spelling.  Please encourage your child to sound-spell at home.  If they ask you how to spell something, help them sound it out, and have them tell you what sounds they hear.  Thank you!

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Take Home Folders: Your child has been given a blue “take home” folder.  This folder will provide a link between home and school. We put any papers that need to be returned in the “Return to School” pocket. Other papers that are no longer needed at school are put in the “Keep at Home” pocket. This is a great organizational tool for your child. Please help your child review and clean out their folders each night.   If you ever have a question about a paper, please email me.

is for…Unique: Each student is unique. Children come with a variety of personalities and learning preferences. Some children are strong visual learners and can see a word once or twice and remember it forever. Other children are better auditory learners and can easily hear and blend sounds to figure out many words. Some children need a lot of structure and guidance; other children are very self-directed and learn best when they can choose topics about which they want to read and write. In our classroom, various instructional techniques and methods will be used to help all students be successful and to meet the individual needs of each student.

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Visitors:  We are happy to welcome visitors in our building again this year.  Please remember you will need to wear a mask.

Volunteers:  We are happy to welcome back volunteers.  Our classroom parties and through PTO are two ways you can volunteer.

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Websites: This year, Mr Hubble’s blog (sjlincolnschool.blogspot.com) will be the ideal website for information about Lincoln School.  For classroom information please either check our classroom blog (starks2021-2022.blogspot.com)  

Weekly Update:  This is an update, posted to the blog every week, providing information for the week and month ahead. 

is for…X-periences!  I know that the students will have many fun and interesting learning experiences this year!   Please be sure to contact me at any time you are concerned.  I want this to be a great year for your child.

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Year’s Worth:  My goal for your child is a year’s worth of growth (at least).  This means where-ever your child is academically, my goal is to grow them at least one year.

This will be a wonderful year and it will zoom by! I am so happy to have your child in my class and I know we are going to have a fantastic year of learning!! Thank you.