There is lots of fun and learning going on in second grade! This is such a fun group of kids and they are SO excited to learn. I can already tell that it is going to be an amazing year!

A few notes:

-Just a reminder that there is no school this Friday, September 22nd. Teachers will be involved in professional development.

-We will be heading to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary on October 13th. We are excited to participate in their Butterfly Life Cycle program. Permission slips came home last week.

-I am excited that so many of you can make it to our first family night, “Hot Dogs and How to Help”, this Tuesday! Dinner will be at 5:30, followed by informational sessions for parents at 6:05. Teachers will be taking school-aged kids outside. Childcare will be available for younger siblings.

-It is Safety Week in Kaukauna. Throughout the week, we will practice a tornado drill, a fire drill, and a lockdown/evacuation drill. You will receive more information about these drills from the school district on Monday.

Book orders are due this Wednesday. Book orders are optional, but are a great way to get books into your child's hands!

Important Dates:

Tuesday, September 19 - Family Night (5:30-7:00)

Tuesday, September 19 - Fire Drill

Wednesday, September 20 - Picture Day
Wednesday, September 20 - Book Orders Due

Wednesday, September 20 - Evacuation Drill

Thursday, September 21 - Tornado DrillFriday, September 22 - No School for Students
Friday, September 22 - Fox Cities Kids Fun Run - Click Here to Register (be sure to specify New Directions in the drop-down when you register)
September 27, 4:30 (4:00 line-up): Homecoming Parade (I;ll let you know the location after I receive it.)

October 8, 10:00-1:00: Ride to Read bike event (pamphlets with registration information came home last Thursday)

Curricular Update:

-We were excited to welcome Painted Lady caterpillars to our classroom last Wednesday. We enjoyed coming to school each day to see how much they have grown. We've spent lots of time observing and recording our observations in class.

Word Study - We will be using a new program called Fundations this year. This program focuses on phonics, grammar, and fluency. Look for more information to come home soon!

-Math - I have done fact fluency assessments with each of the children to assess where they are with their fact development. Students will receive 4-8 facts to practice. I will be checking for automaticity on a weekly basis and will replace flash cards as facts are mastered.

In addition to math fact work, we have been learning about the different math tools available to us and how they can support our learning. We have been working on place value using cubes, bead racks, 10-frames, hundreds charts, and base 10 blocks.

-Readers Workshop - We are working on monitoring our comprehension.  One way to do this is by pausing during reading and do a retell of the story so far, as well as retelling at the end of the story.  Prompts to help the reader retell are:

Somebody (the character) wanted______, but_________, so____________. Have your child try this strategy at home with their nightly reading.

We are also working on using strategies to decode tricky words. In second grade, we roll up our sleeves when we get to tricky parts and dig right in!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. :)
Have a great week!

Lisa