Mrs. Jones - 2nd
Mrs. Jones - Second Grade Class
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WEEKLY BIBLE VERSE |
SPELLING WORDS
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 1 Pre-K through 3rd Grade Open House, 10 to Noon. Bring your school supplies, organize your desk and locker, greet classmates and check out the 2nd grade classroom!
September 8 First Day of School!
September 9 No School-ACSI Accreditation Day
September 23 FCA Open House
October 11 No School-Columbus Day
November 2-3 No School-Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 4-5 No School-ACSI Convention Days
November 11 No School-Veteran's Day
November 24-26 Thanksgiving Recess
Bible: The second grade Bible curriculum is awesome! Every 3 weeks or so we study about a new Bible hero and highlight a certain positive character quality he/she exemplifies. We talk about specific ways we too can apply these godly traits in our own lives. The first hero we are studying is Moses. Through the Bible stories about this godly man, students will learn the virtues of humility, courage and diligence.
Math: The math program we use is called Saxxon Math and it uses many manipulatives and fun activities to help students understand math concepts. There is a lot of fact practice, continual review of material taught and simple assessments to keep students on track. Most nights students will be doing a guided practice sheet to review concepts taught and a fact sheet to help them stay on top of all the addition and subtraction facts they are learning and reviewing. It is vital that students keep studying these facts at school AND at home as they should memorize and easily answer all addition and subtraction facts up to 18 by the end of the year.
Language Arts (reading, writing, listening, speaking): The language arts program this year is BRAND NEW (copyright 2010) and I have spent much of my summer planning the year’s curriculum. (I’m so excited about finally starting to teach with it!!!) The program is by Houghton Mifflin and includes reading, spelling, grammar and writing components. The reading portion of the program uses large and small groups as well as individual silent reading times to learn and practice concepts such as vocabulary and comprehension strategies, fluency techniques, phonics, and genre. In addition to the program, I will use a variety of other materials including songs, big books, charts, poetry, games and chapter books to make our reading time fun and engaging for the students.
While some students work with me in a reading circle, others are engaged in center work including activities in Bible, reading, writing, listening, spelling, word play, phonics, poetry, math, art, social studies and science. Students usually enjoy center time as it gives them more autonomy and choice as they learn and explore subject areas.
Spelling: Each week students will work on a new spelling lesson including 16 spelling words (2 of which are extra credit challenge words). On Mondays students use their center time to focus on spelling and vocabulary to introduce new words. Their homework for the week will include several pages from the Practice Workbook, including some spelling sheets. I like the spelling program as it is phonetic in nature, concentrating on certain sounds, spellings or word strategy each week and is incorporated into the rest of the language arts program.
Students write words they need to know how to spell in their spelling dictionaries and then refer to the dictionaries during writing time. This assists students in using and applying the spelling knowledge they learn as they write their creative writing pieces.
Social Studies and Science: We will be covering a variety of topics in social studies. We will begin with the unit called “Where we Live” which includes lessons on communities and neighborhoods, as well as our state and country. The students will learn about the different types of maps and how we use them to see where places are and where people live. There is a lot of vocabulary we use and students will receive a study guide for each unit to help them review the words and concepts that will be on the unit tests.
In science there are many different topics as well including Senses, Weather, Plants and Invertebrates (yes, that includes studying about spiders!) The students will have a booklet to use during the unit study to help reinforce concepts, vocabulary and to serve as a test review.
Other Information:
School begins at
If your child is absent, please be sure to send in an excuse note upon the student’s return. I am required to get a note for each absence for our school records and it will be much easier for me if you remember to send one right away.
