Conference Time 8:00-8:45
Lunch 12:15-12:45 Table 10

Welcome to the 2007-2008 school year. We are going to have a great year!
I have been teaching 15 years, 10 of those in second grade. I always tell everyone it is a great place to hang out!
I am married and have four sons, one at Texas A&M, one at Sam Houston, and two in high school. I know from personal experience how busy working parents can be. I hope you will make your child's learning experience a priority. I know I will! I am looking forward to working with all my students and their families this year!

Cooperative Learning
At Pine Ridge Elementary, we believe in cooperative learning in the classroom. Students are placed in mixed ability groups so that they may help each other during the learning process. Research has shown that all students do better when they are allowed to discuss and defend their ideas as they learn. Working in small groups also helps students learn valuable social skills they will need throughout life.

A weekly parent signature page is sent home each Wednesday, and you are asked to sign and return it on Thursday. All graded papers for that week will be attached. Please go over all graded papers with your child, sign the parent signature page, and return to school with your child on the due date (the following day).

Our class will live by the following “Bill of Rights”. We will work on recognizing that we must respect each other’s rights.
1. Be safe.
2. Be kind.
3. Be productive.

Please send at least 1 of the following items for the class:
•Pump-style (ex. Germ-X) hand disinfectant
•Extra large glue sticks (Although they are on the supply list, we run out fast!!)

Because we do not have much extra space for storage in the classroom, I will send home notes with students letting them know when it is their week to provide snacks for the class. Some great ideas for healthy snacks are listed below.
• granola bars
• dry cereal or cereal bars
• cookies or crackers
• chocolate candy (this is the only kind that is allowed by the state)
• anything else your child likes to eat
Juice boxes sent along with snacks are great too! (Snacks need to be quick & easy to eat.)



Learning Center Time

One large aspect of student learning takes place through the use of learning centers in our classroom. During this time, students are allowed to choose from a menu of various hands-on activities which will allow them to practice weekly skills. Many of the activities are required, but some are optional. Students record the results of their activities on a "Center Rotation Page" which will be kept in red folders at school.

A small classroom library is maintained for students to read in our classroom at school. These books remain in our classroom. Students will also be bringing home their own library books each week. Each month students are given the opportunity to order books from Scholastic Book Club. By sending in a book order, we receive free books for our classroom library. (Students also LOVE getting new books to read.)

Homework is necessary for practicing skills that have been learned and for enriching the classroom experience. As a working parent myself, I understand how busy we can all be, but it is important to find time for our kids when they need us. Homework should not take longer than 30 minutes. In some cases, homework may also be class work that was not finished. Ample time is given in class for the completion of most assignments, but some students work more slowly than others and must finish at home.
In order to help students complete homework assignments, students will take home a homework sheet each Monday. Please look carefully at these, as they will list spelling words, vocabulary words, daily homework assignments, as well as additional parent notes and reminders. Parents are expected to check your child’s folder each evening.
All homework and class work needs to be turned in on time. Students will have the opportunity to earn "homework passes" throughout the year. A homework pass can be used in the place of any assignment (except for home projects). Organization is the key to success, so please help train your child to place completed homework in blue folders each evening.

Regular school attendance is critical to the learning process. When your child is absent, he or she misses valuable instructional time. Please send a written note of explanation whenever your child is absent. State law requires us to code each absence as excused or unexcused. Excused absences include illness and doctor’s appointments. Unexcused absences include out-of-town trips, missing the bus, and family vacations. Students are permitted to make up work missed during absences. However, some activities will be difficult or impossible for students to make up (such as experiments and hands-on activities). Therefore, your child may be given an alternate assignment.

Our class participates in physical education or music movement everyday. Students will do exercises, run laps, practice P.E. skills, and play games. Therefore, your child needs to wear appropriate clothing and footwear each day. Students who wear dress shoes should be prepared to change into appropriate tennis shoes before our P.E./music period. (Slick shoes or restrictive clothing can be a hazard during physical education activities.) If you feel your child should not participate in P.E. on a particular day, please write a note stating the reason. All children will be expected to participate unless they have a note excusing them. Notes will be sent to Mrs. Wilson or Mrs. Kennedy, our P.E. and music teachers.

A very effective behavior management system that is used in our classroom is the stoplight system. The cabinet at the back of the room shows a stoplight with three colors: green, yellow, and red. Each student has a clip with his/her name on it. Furthermore, the student may have to complete a “Time-Out” worksheet explaining their inappropriate behavior and how they plan to correct the problem. These “Time-Out” forms will be sent home to parents to be signed and returned. The color red is reserved for very severe discipline problems. Such behavior will usually result in a phone call home or a trip to the office. However, the best part of using the stoplight system is to reward students who behave appropriately.

Research has shown that the way to become a good reader is to simply READ! We call this "Literature Circles" because small groups of students reading different reading materials, and each group has a daily "circle meeting" to discuss their book. This is an exciting approach to reading, and one that second graders enjoy.
We will start Literature Circles as soon as possible.

We will be using a basal reader, supplementary readers, and different leveled books. Reading grades will be taken from vocabulary, comprehension, and daily exercises, as well as from oral reading. I also make anecdotal notes during Literacy Center times. Please read with your child EVERY night. This is the best way you can ensure that your child will become a better reader. For extra fun activities to do at home, just click on the "Links Page" button under the "Make a Selection" menu. Then, simply click on "Language Arts Links" beside the Language Arts chalkboard. Have fun!

The Accelerated Reader program is a reading incentive program. Students read books from a selected list and then take short computer quizzes to test comprehension. Students earn points based on the difficulty of the book and their performance on the quiz. Incentives are offered to students for meeting designated goals (usually 6-12 points every four weeks.) Second grade students will not begin A.R. until some time during the 2nd six weeks grading period. Students will be tested at the beginning of the year to find out their approximate reading level. This will allow them to choose books in their reading range.

In my experience, students cannot move on to higher level reasoning in mathematics until they master their basic math facts. During math class, students will be performing daily drills beginning with basic addition facts. To demonstrate mastery (memorization), students must correctly perform 25 addition problems in 1 minute or less. We will also drill subtraction facts for memory after Christmas. You can help your child prepare for our “Mad Minute” drills by studying with flashcards or using a homemade drill worksheet. You can even call out math facts to your child while driving in the car or waiting in the doctor’s office!
After students master a set of math facts, they are excused from repeating that particular drill. Instead, they may use this time to memorize the next set of math facts or complete other assignments. Students who do not attain mastery after several weeks should be doing extra math drills at home each evening (with parent supervision).
Some other concepts we will cover include regrouping, place value, word problems, measurement, estimation, fractions, telling time, geometry, multiplication, division, rounding, etc. Please go over all math worksheets (usually Excel Math worksheets) with your child to make sure all concepts are completely understood. If these pages are not complete, they are to be finished for homework and returned the following day.
Weekly Math Homework
Each Wednesday, a “Math Frog Game” will be sent home for homework. These games may be played more than once. Frog Games need to be returned by Thursday, Friday at the latest. This is the only way I can get them organized and ready for students to take home the following week. For extra fun activities to do at home, just click on the "Links Page" button under the "Make a Selection" menu. Then, simply click on "Math Links" beside the Math chalkboard. Have fun!

Throughout the week, we will introduce spelling words, practice words in centers, and find patterns with our words. On Friday, we will have a test over the list of words. (Lists can be found on homework sheets each week.) In addition to the word test, students will have 2-3 dictation sentences called out. A Language grade on capitalization, punctuation, and other parts of speech will be taken from this test as well as a spelling grade. All six vocabulary words will also be called out. For each vocabulary word spelled correctly, students earn 1 bonus point. After earning 50 points, students earn a free homework week!!!

The D’Nealian method of writing is used in second grade. We will review letter formation and work on neatness as much as possible during the week. Handwriting grades will be given on spelling tests and some daily papers. If your child is receiving unsatisfactory grades, please see that your child practices at home as much as possible. Because we learn that anything worth doing is worth doing right, all work needs to be completed neatly.

Many of our Science and Social Studies lessons are integrated into our Reading lessons. Students will also be involved in various exciting Science and Social Studies activities and experiments throughout the year. For extra fun activities to do at home, just click on the "Links Page" button under the "Make a Selection" menu. Then, simply click on "Science Links" beside the Science chalkboard or "Social Studies Links" beside the Social Studies chalkboard. Have fun!