Tomorrow is a very VERY exciting day! I have great expectations, and plans for a full, fun, yet flexible day! I know many students are excited/nervous/anxious about starting school tomorrow, new surroundings, new friends, new classroom, and new teachers. With all the unknowns there is one thing you and your child can be certain of - tomorrow my top priority is for every student in my class to leave school feeling loved, accepted, and sure that they absolutely belong in our 2C Arete family!
Much of our day will be procedure review, with some fun activities sprinkled in, as well as a tour of our campus!
Here is a quick list of things to make sure you send with your child tomorrow:
- Snacks (We will typically have 1 snack in the morning, but until all our tummies get used to regimented eating we will take a few snack breaks in the first few days)
- Water bottle
- School supplies (if needed)
- Lunch
- Hugs and kisses :)
Please remember to take your pictures at home before buckling up, and give your goodbye kisses and hugs in the car. Tomorrow morning, teachers will be ready at drop off the assist students out of their cars!(
If you have not already please fill out this form (Parent Child information form from Meet the Teacher Night) so I can learn a little more about your student, and help them be successful (both academically, and at pick up time!).
The best way to communicate with me is via email. The voicemail in my classroom is a little temperamental, and once the school phone switchboards are turned on I do not always have access to my voicemail (meaning I try to check my voicemail outside of school office hours). If you need to speak with me the best way is to email me and I will call you, or email me telling me you left me a voicemail!
Please send a copy of Charlotte's Web in with your child a some point this week. If you have not had the chance to purchase a copy you can order one here or I encourage you to check out the library! We will be reading this book for the next 8 weeks.
One final reminder - we strive at Archway to create a space for the great works of the past. That being said, in keeping with the "good, beautiful, and true" our campus is "pop-culture free". Please make sure all backpacks, lunchboxes, folders, pencil boxes etc. don't contain any "characters". If you have any questions on this topic, please let me know!
Here is a look at what we will be learning this week!
Language arts: Students will begin reading Charlotte's Web on Tuesday. We will learn key vocabulary words from chapters 1-3, be introduced to some leading characters, identify important character traits for Fern, and write a letter to Wilbur from Fern's perspective! If you have a chance to speak with your child about perspective this week, that would be so helpful. Understanding how others feel and think is a skill that we will work on a lot this year! We will begin memorizing our first poem this week! We will work on memorizing the first stanza of Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson. Students will not be assigned spelling words this week, instead we will focus on handwriting and phonogram review. I encourage you to review phonograms at home for five minutes each evening.
Math: Students will take a second grade math assessment this week. The same assessment will be give at the end of the year to measure growth. This assessment will not impact student grades or report cards in anyway. We as a second grade team will use it as an internal tool to help note areas of strength and weakness in our Singapore curriculum. We will also review making 10's, place value, and skip counting, involving quite a few fun activities and games!
History: We are starting our unit on maps and globes! We will begin this week with a review of basic geography concepts of place, region, human and physical characteristics, and relative location. Children will review that maps and symbols have keys and symbols, and that maps show cardinal directions. Students will review the continents and identify all four oceans along with Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America!
Science: Our students will become scientists this week as we learn about the steps of the Scientific Method through exploration of "Mystery Bags" and reading a wonderful book called 11 Experiments that Failed.
Here's to a wonderful first week! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns!
