Welcome to second grade! The 2016-2017 school year promises to be an exciting year with the reception of two sacraments, learning cursive, a challenging math series, more advanced reading skills, and some focused map experiences enhancing our study of social studies, to name but a few things. All in all, your child will be asked to shoulder much more responsibility. As we learn about each other, I’m sure you’ll have questions. I’m always available to speak with you either by phone, or in person. Feel free to contact me with any issues concerning your child. My home phone is 419-784-5602, or you can call the school for an appointment.
Let’s begin with the second grade “Bible”: your child’s Good News Student Planner. Your child is responsible for filling out his/her assignments daily. These assignments are written on a whiteboard displayed in our the room. If the assignments have been completed, they are to be checked off. If the assignments have not been completed, they are to be circled. Circled assignments should be taken home to be completed as homework. The green framed box on the page with the day and date needs to be initialed by you and returned to school. Each day, I will check all the planners and star them if they’ve been initialed. Learning how to do all this is always a process. I’ll remind the children continually for the next three weeks or so, until they are comfortable. Please take some time to examine your child’s student planner. You will find an incredible amount of information within. Prayers are located on the inside both the back and the front covers. There is a liturgical calendar on P. 17. There are pages that include maps, the Seven Sacraments, the books of the Bible, parts of speech and punctuation, as well as many more bits of information. You can also find instructional pages such as “How to Pray the Rosary” and “How to Find a Bible Verse”.
Here are some assignment initials you will encounter in your child’s student planner:
RN Reader's Notebook (Includes Reading, English, and Spelling assignments) HW Handwriting SS Social Studies SSN Social Studies News SC Science SCN Science News LIM The Leader In ME PRO Project SP Student Planner
The most important thing we do at HCCS is teach about Jesus. The second grade focus is on the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. One of our first religion lessons will begin the groundwork for Reconciliation by teaching about Adam and Eve and Original Sin. Beginning in September and for at least the following 10 weeks, about 30 lessons in all, we will concentrate on Reconciliation, leading up to the reception of the sacrament in December 14. All students will receive the sacrament at St. John Parish. Then, in February, we will begin our study of Holy Eucharist. Again, we will dedicate about 30 lessons to the reception of Holy Eucharist which will occur on April 30 for St. Mary parishioners or May 7 for St. John parishioners. We do not follow our religion book page by page. We skip from one unit to another to accommodate church schedules, and we pull focused lessons from other sources as well. My goal is to instill in the children a reverence for and a love of these 2 important sacraments.
Accelerated reading in second grade has different expectations. At the beginning of each quarter, your child will take a “Star Reading Test”. That test will tell me your child’s reading range. Your child’s point goal for that quarter will depend on that test. After the test is taken and the goal has been set, you will find a note from me written in the student planner that will tell you the lowest reading range and your child’s point goal for that quarter. The children can read books both at home and at school, but all quizzes must be taken in school. For example, if you child’s reading range is between 1.9 and 2.4, it would tell me that although he/she can read a book at a 2.4 grade level, a 1.9 level is most comfortable. Of course, it’s o.k. for your child to be challenged by more difficult books, but we also don’t want a to create discouraged readers if he/she must always choose to read books at frustration level. We read AR books at least 20 minutes per day in school. Please read with your child at home as well. When he/she has reached his/her goal, 25 points will be added to his/her reading grade. NOT completing a quarterly AR goal will cause a serious deficiency in points needed to earn a high grade in reading.
Odds and ends
1. If the children bring lunch or milk money, their money should be brought in an envelope labeled with their name and the word"lunch".
2. Any notes, forms, permission slips, or lunch money should be put in the yellow can on top of my desk. These communications are NOT to be put in the homework paper tray.
3. Please label sweaters, sweatshirts, coats, hats, and gloves with your child’s name. Each year these items are “found” in our classroom and never claimed. Also label school supplies individually.
4. Yes, water bottles with lids can be used this year. Please do not put ice in the bottles if they are the type that ”sweat” a lot. It can make a mess on desktops.
5. Spelling tests are on Fridays during a 5-day week. If we should miss 2 or more days of school, there will be no test that week.
6. I try to grade papers nightly. However, sometimes it just isn’t possible. Know that I will get papers back to you in a timely manner whenever I am able. When I grade papers, I use both letter grades A-F, initials, and symbols. You can find some of these symbols below.
(check mark) Incorrect answer
(check mark with OK written on it) This answer was incorrect, but was corrected.
(circle around an answer space) The answer is missing
S.M. See me before you take this home or before you correct it.
D.O. Do this over.
Inc. Incomplete work - It must be completed
? I don’t understand.
THE TOP 11 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
1. Your child has a standing homework assignment every school night. He/She needs to read TO somebody at least 15 minutes every night either in his/her reading book, or another book. It is important that at least one of those nights involve reading the main selection of that week’s reading lesson. Also, practice addition and subtraction facts at least 15 minutes each school night. These are parent participation activities. If you or another adult cannot participate, other children will benefit more than your child.
2. Keep all graded assignments that come home in a container for each quarter until grade cards come out. Many times during the quarter I audit grades. If I find that I am missing a grade and you have that paper at home, the situation is an easy one to correct. If you don’t have the paper and I don’t have the paper, your child might not have turned it in.
3. ANY book in your child’s desk can come home ANY night.
4. Many people I know have gotten out of the habit of attending Mass on the weekends. I’ve heard people comment that they don’t go because they “don’t get anything out of it”. Could I ask you to try again, with your child? Could I ask you to try again with a little different mindset? Instead of “ What can I get out of it?”, how about “What can I put into it?” Parents who receive the sacraments and attend Mass with a positive attitude, raise children who know the importance of Jesus in their lives.
5. When the second graders are responsible for planning Wednesday’s school Mass, I try to make sure that as many second graders as possible are involved. If your child has a reading, it will be passed out the week before the Mass. That will give you time to practice with him/her. Other parts, such as gift carriers and ushers, will be assigned later that week. During our Mass, the children will sit together as a class. When a child has finished his/her part, that child will be able to sit with family members for the remainder of the Mass.
6. Let’s talk restroom! We’re in school about 6½ hours each day. The children have 5 scheduled restroom/drink breaks. We also have restroom passes that can be used once during the morning and once during the afternoon, but always during work time. If your child becomes suddenly ill, the rules no longer apply. A child can exit the room WITHOUT asking permission in order to reach the restroom quickly.
7. When winter arrives, we will have outside recess as long as the temperature and wind chill are above 25 degrees. If your child has been ill, or seems to be “coming down with something”, and has a parental or doctor’s note, he/she is able to sit in the office during recess. An unsupervised child is not allowed to be in a classroom. Also, if we have wet or snowy weather, your child should wear boots but bring school shoes AND an extra pair of socks for wet feet. THANKS!
8. If there is anything happening in you child’s life that could affect your child’s ability to learn or interact in school, please drop me a note, stop in, or call me. We can work together to alleviate any anxiety your child might be feeling.
9. If I have behavioral challenges with your child, it is my policy to talk first with the child. We will talk about what is wrong and why it is not acceptable behavior. If the offense occurs again, normally, I will take away a recess. If the offense occurs yet again, you will be notified via phone, note, or student planner. Of course, if a very serious offense occurs, you will be notified the same day.
10. If you see that your child is having difficulties mastering a concept or is having challenges socially, please, call me. Let’s work together to make this a really successful year!
11. If your child is absent, please make arrangements to pick up homework for that day. If that isn't possible, I will fill out an assignment sheet and include needed papers and books to send home the next day. Please know that it is your child's responsibility to complete and hand in those assignments. For each day your child is absent, a day is given to complete and hand in the papers. Make sure you check MSP to check your child's missing papers.
In closing, you should know that I LOVE teaching! There’s not one day that I’m not excited about coming to school. There’s not one day that some child doesn’t amaze me by what he/she says or does. There’s not one day that I don’t feel humbled by the trust and love I’ve been given. Most of all, there’s not one day that I don’t feel blessed by God to be doing exactly what I want to do!
QUESTIONS?????
I’m looking forward to meeting each and every one of you as the year progresses!
Sincerely, Chris Long
Please cut out, sign, and return to school by Friday, August 28th. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have read the August 26th parent letter “Second Grade 101”.