Dear Parents,
Welcome to second grade at Crescent Park School! I have been planning all summer for an exciting and successful school year.
It is very important for your child to feel at home in our classroom. This can be achieved by bringing all the children in our class together as a learning community. This community is made up of unique individuals each with his or her own learning style, interest, and goals.
It would be beneficial if you took a moment to write a letter to me, about your child. What is he/she like? What are his/her interests? How do you perceive him/her as a learner? What are the things you, as a parent, would like me to know? Also include any other information that would assist us in forming an awarding partnership. Please send this letter to school with your child within the first few weeks of school. Thank you for sharing your child with me. I look forward to a great year working together. Please feel free to contact me at anytime. My contact info is as follows:
Mrs. Lavoie at school: 824-2839
Mrs. Lavoie at home: 824-2054
Mrs. Lavoie's cell phone: 740-3607
Mrs. Lavoie's e-mail: lavoieg@sad44.org
Mrs. Lavoie's blog: http://mrslavoiesblog.blogspot.com
Below you will find information that you may find helpful about our classroom, academics, procedures etc. Please keep this packet in a safe place so that you may reference it as needed throughout the year.
What is a “
“Bee Book?
B.E.E. is an acronym for Bring Everything Everyday.
The BEE Book is a vinyl notebook that your child will use everyday to develop organizational skills and learn to become responsible for returning items daily. Second grade continues the foundation built during the past two years, and it is important to teach children how to keep up with communications between home and school. This book is a way of helping your child be accountable for those communications. The focus is to eliminate lost notes, newsletters, calendars, and homework as well as keep parents and students informed of important events and academic progress. Want to know what the "buzz" is in second grade? Check out your BEE Book every day!
Money and Notes Pouch | This pencil pouch will house notes “for the teacher” and notes “for parents” - - it is also an ideal place to put money for book orders, lunch, milk, and field trips. | |
Front of Pocket Folder | Weekly homework (due on Friday) and any paper work that needs to be returned to school will go in this folder. Please return the homework packet to this folder each night, after completing, so it does not get lost. | |
Back of Pocket Folder | This pocket will hold any notices or corrected student work that needs to be kept at home. Please check it nightly and remove anything that may be there. | |
First Clear Pocket | This pocket will house the monthly lunch menu on one side and a class schedule, list and contact information on the other side. | |
Second Clear Pocket | This pocket will hold the Sitton Spelling Unit words that we work on in class. I will let you know which unit we are working on in my weekly newsletter. The back side of this pocket is for future resources the students may need to complete homework. | |
Third Clear Pocket | The back of this pocket will hold a sheet that combines the nightly reading log and a behavior chart. I will mark behavior each day and check to see that nightly reading is being completed. Please fill it in and sign it each day so I know that you have seen it. The other side of this pocket will hold the District Calendar for the year. |
Morning Meeting
Morning meeting is a a wonderful way to build classroom community. It helps set the tone for the day and creates a daily routine that provides security and comfort for the students. Morning meeting is the place where the children and the teacher can share news about what's going on at home and at school. The Morning Meeting routine consists of Greeting, News and Announcements, and Sharing.
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Calendar
The morning Calendar is a powerful component of math. We will update it daily and incorporate place value, tally marks, even and odd, counting coins, hundreds board, rounding, computations and more.
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Reading Workshop: Components Include...
Shared Reading Shared reading will focus on teaching the components of "The FACE of a Reader." It is a list of Fluency, Accuracy, Comprehension, and Extended Vocabulary Strategies. |
Independent Reading When students have Independent Reading, students read just right books from their book boxes. Students take their book box and find a book nook around the room. While students are having Independent Reading I will pull flexible reading groups based on reading strategies and skills. |
Guided Reading and Flexible Reading Groups Along with Guided Reading groups in my classroom, I will also do flexible reading groups based on the reading strategies and skills that each child needs to focus on. I will get this information from administering the DRA in September, January, and May, running records and NWEA's. |
Literacy Centers Students will have three rotations during Reading Time: Buddy Reading, Word Study and Writing Station. There will be a computer schedule as well and each child will have a 20 minute block each week to listen to books online and take quizzes using the Raz-Kids website. While students are rotating, I will pick individual students and groups for reading instruction. Buddy Reading: When students buddy read, partners take their book boxes and read just-right books together. Students are carefully taught to check for understanding when partner reading. This helps us improve our comprehension. Word Study: When students work on Word Study, they will be working with their weekly word sort from the Sitton Spelling Program. After they practice sorting their words. They will have several other word study stations they can work with. Writing Station: When students work on Writing, they will have many activities to choose from such as: free write, letter writing, writing calendars and writing workstations. ************************************************************************************** |
Writer's Workshop:
Mini lessons: (10 min.) will consist of teaching about the writing process, the six traits and genres of writing.
Writing Process | 6 Traits | Genres |
Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Conferring Publishing | Ideas Organization Voice Word Choice Sentence Fluency Conventions | Personal Narrative Fiction Stories Poetry Friendly Letters Nonfiction Paragraphs How-To Paragraph |
Independent Writing Time: (20 min.) After the mini-lesson, students have independent writing time. During this time students are working on their own stories in their Writer's Notebook. Students should be applying the strategies and skills taught during mini lessons. I will be monitoring students during this time and conferring with students who are at that stage in the writing process.
Authors's Chair: (10 min.) After independent writing time, a few students each day will share what he/she has been working on.
The Writing Process in the Writing Workshop:
Students will complete their prewriting and first drafts using a black pen. After three first drafts, students will choose a piece to take through the entire writing process. They will revise their writing with a blue pen. They will edit their writing with a red pen. Then they will sign up for a conference with me. After conferring with the student they can now publish their writing. They can choose to write on stationary or type the final draft.
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Bucket Fillers
This year our class will be Bucket Fillers. This program is based on the book Have You Filled Your Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud. Basically, the book says that we all carry an invisible bucket that contains our feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When our bucket is empty, we feel sad. A bucket filler is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people's buckets and filling their own bucket at the same time. On the other hand, a bucket dipper says or does things to cause other people to feel bad. A bucket dipper empties their bucket when they say and do mean things. In our classroom, each student has a bucket. Everyone is encouraged to fill the buckets by writing kind words and compliments to each other. On Fridays, we empty the buckets and read the nice things our friends left for us when they filled our buckets.
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Scholastic Book Clubs
I have great news... you can participate in the Scholastic Book Clubs online.
will typically send home several months worth of book orders at a time. This increases the selection for those who like to order through me. However you may order books at anytime by visiting www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs and using your credit card. Our class activation Code is GLQFX. The books will be delivered to the school and will be sent home with your child.
lso as a bonus, for every order placed on line, our class receives a free book. A book order letter will be coming home soon to let you know when the first order deadline is.
will typically send home several months worth of book orders at a time. This increases the selection for those who like to order through me. However you may order books at anytime by visiting www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs and using your credit card. Our class activation Code is GLQFX. The books will be delivered to the school and will be sent home with your child.
lso as a bonus, for every order placed on line, our class receives a free book. A book order letter will be coming home soon to let you know when the first order deadline is.
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Assessments
While not many kids love to take tests, assessment is an important part of
what happens at school. Assessment helps me plan meaningful activities and
challenges for students. There are many ways in which I assess your child’s
progress each day. One on one conferencing, work samples, and traditional
tests all work together to help us form a picture of your child’s learning. One form of assessment is the NWEA reading, math, and language tests. The NWEA tests are administered, via computer, each fall and spring, to every student in the district. These are MAP tests, “measures of academic progress”, and can be helpful in goal-setting and tracking individual student progress over time. Your children will be sitting for these soon, and their results will immediately impact my curricular planning for the entire class, small groups and individuals. I will be able to best explain individual student results with you at conferences in November.
The DRA, or Developmental Reading Assessment, is also given at the beginning of the year. It will also be given in January and the beginning of June. Running records are also an ongoing part of my reading assessment.
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Second Grade Math Topics:
• Number Concepts, Addition, Subtraction, and Graphing
• Numbers Through 100
• Geometry and Fractions
• Adding Two-Digit Numbers
• Subtracting Two-Digit Numbers
• Money and Time
• Measurement
• Greater Numbers and Operations, Multiplication, and Division
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Spelling:
Our District has adopted the Sitton Spelling Program. This program emphasizes the learning of words for a lifetime of spelling in the real world and learning to spell correctly in writing. In order to become a lifelong speller students will practice phonics, word origins, spelling rules, spelling patterns, usage, etc. They will engage in this practice daily during the language arts block and assessed after each unit. There will be no weekly spelling lists or Friday spelling tests.
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HOMEWORK:
Students are expected to read a minimum 20 minutes each evening. Other homework will be completed online for reading, spelling and math. Assignments may be accessed through my blog. See the attached homework sheet.
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Water Bottles
Students are allowed to bring a reusable water bottle to school to keep in our water bucket. Please be sure your child's name is on his/her water bottle. I will encourage children to bring home water bottles ever day to be cleaned thoroughly.
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Behavior
Children are expected to follow the classroom and school rules at all times. If an infraction occurs the student will get a verbal warning. A second occurence will result in a check in which the student will owe 5 minutes. A second check will result in 10 minutes owed. I will mark your child's behavior each day on the Behavior Log in his/her B.E.E. Folder.
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Toys
I do not allow toys in my classroom. If a child wishes to bring a toy to use at recess it must be kept in the backpack at all times. If a child is playing with a toy during class time I will take the toy and notify you. I strongly recommend that no toys be brought to school at all. If a toy is broken, stolen, or lost I am not able to take time away from class instruction to handle the situation. Thank you for your understanding.
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Volunteers
I love having volunteers come in to assist in the classroom or in other ways. I will be sending a volunteer info sheet home soon.
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