Conference Time 8:45-9:30
Lunch 12:10-12:40 Table 6

Dear Parents,
As we all begin a brand new school year, I would first and foremost like to thank you for entrusting me with your most precious possession. This is my ninth year of teaching and my first year at Livingston I.S.D., and I treasure each and every one of them. Because each day brings new challenges and new triumphs, I am very excited about teaching second grade. I am happily married and very blessed to have 2 beautiful children, one daughter and one son. They are my pride and joy! I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to help your child learn, feel successful, and actually be successful this year. It will be a great joy and privilege to watch them grow and blossom into successful third graders. As always, the start of a new school year holds the promise of new discovery and learning, as well as the prospect of personal growth in all areas.
I have put together a classroom handbook with information to help you and your child become familiar with my expectations for the school year. Please read through this information carefully and know it is available for you to refer to it throughout the year. If you need to contact me, please feel free to call the school and leave a message (328-2160) or email me at any time at lferguson@livingstonisd.com. My conference time is 8:45 - 9:30. (You may also call before or after school. I usually arrive very early and stay pretty late.)

We're going to have a great year.

I wholeheartedly believe in cooperative learning in the classroom. I place my students 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.
Parents are sometimes concerned about grades in the cooperative learning classroom. I want to assure parents that all grades come from individual assignments, participation, and tests. No student's grade will be raised or lowered based on the performance of others in the group.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss cooperative learning with anyone who has questions or concerns. I've had great success with this technique in recent years, and I'd love the chance to convince anyone of the benefits of cooperative learning!

I want to inform you of my way of communicating with you each week. I send home a weekly parent signature page each Monday, and I ask that you sign it and return it on Tuesday. I will attach all the graded papers for that week to the form. Please remove the papers, go over all graded papers with your child, sign the parent signature page, and return it 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.)

One large aspect of student learning takes place through the use of learning centers in my 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. (I will take a grade on this page each week.) I plan to start using centers by the end of September.

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

I believe that homework is necessary for practicing skills that have been learned and for enriching the classroom experience. As a working parent myself, I truly understand how busy we can all be, but it is important and easy 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. I try to give ample time 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. I encourage parents to check your child’s folder each evening.
I expect all homework and class work 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). I encourage students to save their homework passes in case they forget an assignment or have a legitimate situation which prevents them from completing their work. 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.

I want to explain a very effective behavior management system that I use in my classroom. The cabinet at the back of the room shows a stoplight with four colors: green, yellow, orange, and red. Numbered pockets surround the stoplight. Each student has a clip with his/her name on it. Everyone begins each day on "green for go”. If a class rule is broken, their clip changes to yellow, or a warning. If another behavior problem occurs that day, their clip will move to orange, the second caution. 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, my favorite way to use the stoplight system is to reward students who behave appropriately. This system may sound a little confusing on paper, but it’s actually quite simple and allows me to devote more time to teaching and less time to handling discipline problems.

Research has shown that the way to become a good reader is to simply READ! With this in mind, I have developed a reading program which allows students to read books, and later novels, in addition to their regular reading textbook. I call this program "Literature Circles" because we have small groups of students reading different reading materials, and each group has a daily "circle meeting" with me 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 (hopefully within the next couple of weeks).

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 lots of 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 Monday, I will send home a “Math Frog Game” for homework. These games must be played at least 2 nights each week (you choose two nights that are best for your family’s schedule). Frog Games must be returned by Thursday. This is the only way I can get them organized and ready for students to take home the following Monday. For lots of 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, I will be dictating 2-3 sentences. A Language grade on capitalization, punctuation, and other parts of speech will be taken from this test as well as a spelling grade. I will also call out all six vocabulary words. For each vocabulary word spelled correctly, students earn 1 bonus point. After earning 100 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, I will not accept any messy homework. It will have to be recopied in study hall.

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. We should learn lots and have lots of fun learning. For lots of 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!