Hello Second Grade Families,

It was a pleasure to meet so many of you at Back-to-School Night. I look forward to a great year together.

In class, we continue to gain stamina and momentum every day, making our way toward full speed. This week we will get our first homework assignment: a reading log. Each week we will add on a little more.

Below you will find a general overview of our plans for the week:

Religion: We will begin the week with our unit on Family Life. This is a supplementary component to our religion text book, largely focusing on the concept that family is a person’s first community. In addition, we will continue to learn the Act of Contrition as early preparation for the sacrament of Reconciliation. A copy will be send home so that you may practice it there as well.

Math: We continue Unit 1: Numbers & Routines with lessons on telling time, counting money and working with patterns on a number grid. Be ready: Next week we will begin IXL math homework.

Word Work: The students continue to be assessed in order to find the best fit group for each. In the mean time, we are learning exactly how to “do” Word Work. So far we have learned the planner routine (again, this week’s words are just for in-class learning), how to do an Open Sort as well as some free choice practice options. This week we will build on those foundational skills as we learn the basics of a Closed Sort as well more practice activities.

Reader’s Workshop: We begin the year with Unit 1: Second Grade Reading Growth Spurt. This week is all about deciding how to read a book and determining how a book wants to be read: in a sing-song way, in a creepy scary way, maybe in a news reporter voice… We will also begin to build stamina as readers.

For homework, students are expected to read a book of your choice for a total of 100 minutes per week and record that time in the Reading Log. Since this is over the course of several days, families can decide how they would like to best budget their time. If you’re really into a good book, keep reading past the daily 20 minute goal. If you’re just not feeling it or are very busy one afternoon, plan for the next day. Completed reading logs will be due every TUESDAY in the Homework folder. We will spend time this week in class discussing how to fill it out, too.

All the best,

Ms. Espinosa