Welcome to Parent Information Night! Thursday, September19 th

Welcome to Parent Information Night!

Thursday, September19th

Agenda

• Curriculum Overview

• Differentiation and My Philosophy

• Homework

• Routines and Procedures

• Field Trips

• Building a Positive Classroom Environment Star Student

• Field Trips

• Communication

A Little Bit About Me

• Undergraduate: Western Michigan University o Major: Elementary Educationo Minor: English, Math/Science,

Early Childhood

• Graduate: Western Michigan Universityo Literacy Studies

• Previous Teaching: o Kalamazoo Public Schoolso Western Michigan University

A Little Bit About Me

Our Daily Schedule• Morning Work

• Morning Meeting

• Literacy Block

• Recess 10:15-10:30

• Writer’s Workshop

• Lunch 11:25-12:15

• Read Aloud

• Math Workshop

• Spanish 1:40-2:00

• Recess 2:00-2:15

• Science/ Social Studies

• Dismissal 3:25

Our Daily Schedule…Extras

• Specials on Monday afternoonsP.E. (Mr. DeWildt), Art (Mrs. Centa), Music (Mrs. Killian-Boyd)

• Spanish

(T, W,Th, F) 1:40-2:00

• Reading Buddies with Mr. Pullen Every other Friday 11:05-11:25

• Computer Lab Friday 2:20-3:10

• Learning Commons (Library) Tuesday 2:15-2:45

My Philosophy

• I strive to meet the needs of ALL learners!

Reader’s Workshop• Combination of whole group, small group, and individual instruction.

Whole Group Instruction• Focus on comprehension, word study, fluency, and

vocabulary. Small Group Instruction

• Guided Reading – groups of 3-6 students reading, discussing, and responding to texts at their instructional levels

Independent Practice• Independent Reading• Partner Reading• Responding to Reading• Word Work• Listen to Reading• Personal Inquiry

Reader’s Workshop Continued

• Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Continuum – Thinking About Text– Thinking Within Text– Thinking Beyond Text

• Use Assessment to Drive Instruction

• My goal is to give students tools and strategies they might use to help them understand and comprehend the text. Choice = Motivation Build on student strengths Reading is about making meaning!

Reader’s Workshop Continued

• Guided Reading, Shared Reading, Buddy Reading, Independent Reading, and Read Aloud

• Genres – poetry, fantasy, legends, drama, how-to texts, nonfiction including kids’ magazines

• Reading “Just Right Books” http://home.comcast.net/%7Engiansante/ Book Wizard on www.scholastic.com

Writer’s Workshop

•Lucy Calkin’s Unit’s of Study•Structure

•Mini Lesson•Independent Writing (conferring), •Share Writing

•Genres•Narrative- “Lessons from the Masters”•Informational- “Lab Reports and Science Books”•Opinion- “Writing About Reading”•Poetry- “Big Thoughts in Small Packages”

•“Tiny Topic Notebooks”•Keep an eye open for writing celebrations!

Word Study• Students held accountable for K-2 High

Frequency Words within daily writing

• Weekly practice with word principles, word wall, making words

• Differentiated practice to extend learning

Math

• Numbers to 1,000

• Graphing

• Geometry

• Fractions

• Time

• Money

• Measurement

• Adding and Subtracting with regrouping

• Multiplication

Math

• Differentiating in Math: pre-test to assess students’ needs and provide

appropriate material for varied abilities post tests at the end of each unit games sent home cover skills within that unit in a

fun, engaging way. These are for you to keep at home and do not need to be sent back.

Math centers in leveled math groups!

Math-Digging Deeper

• The Standards for Mathematical Practice

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

• Model with mathematics.

• Use appropriate tools strategically.

• Attend to precision. 

• Look for and make use of structure.

• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. 

Science Plants

• Life cycle• Characteristics• Plants’ needs to grow and reproduce

Measurement• Classifying objects according to characteristics• Metric measurement of length, distance, volume and

mass• Single substances vs. mixtures

Earth’s Land and Water• Surface features of the land• Water cycle• Sources and uses of water

Social Studies

Communities Mapping Rules and Laws Economics Grand Rapids History

Technology• PowerPoint

• Microsoft Word

• Keyboarding Practice

• Web Research

• Learning Games

• Lap top carts

• Classroom Webpage http://teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/ASeverns

• Chrome Carts ~ Thank you PTO!

Differentiation

• Recognition of and commitment to plan for student differences

• Provides different avenues to acquire content, to process, and to develop products

• Maximizes student growth

• Promotes individual student success

Homework

It is the goal of the second grade team to provide meaningful, engaging, learning opportunities for all students.

• Reading Log- 20-25 minutes of reading a night Reading incentive-building a reader’s toolbox.

• Long term homework assignments- Monthly or weekly. Homework will always come home on Monday and a due date will be indicated.

• Study guides for tests

Routines in Room 7

• Homework Folders- come home each night and need to be returned each morning to school. On Fridays they will include their work from that week, special notes and reminders, etc.

• Birthday Celebrations- Welcome to bring in enough treats for our class only (23). Will celebrate at the end of the day. If your child has a summer birthday, consider

celebrating on their “Star Student week, or their half birthday.

Please email me to set up a day that will work best in both of our schedules.

Building a Positive Classroom Climate

• My philosophy on education is that if children are explicitly taught what is expected of them, they will make the right choices.

• Because of this, I spend a great deal of time modeling and explaining my expectations for students

• I use positive reinforcement in my classroom and rely on practiced routines to ensure correct behavior.

• Individual Verbal Praise ~ I always strive to communicate to students all the good choices I see them making and kindness they show towards one another. I try my best to notice and name good choices

Building a Positive Classroom Climate

• Class meetings ~ problem solve concerns as a class, “compliments, celebrations, apologies,”

• Bug and a Wish

• Class Expectations ~ SOAR Safe Organized Attentive Respectful

• Marble Jar Celebrations ~ whole group praise ~ when the marble jar is full we have a “celebration of learning” – ex: extra recess, treat, game, etc.

“All About Me” Week

• Letter sent home with a poster to be filled out and hung on the bulletin board

• Students bring in one to three special items

• Favorite book to share with the class

• 5-10 Pictures to hang on the bulletin board

Tentative Field Trips

• Art Prize ~ Friday, September 20th 8:30-11:25

• Calvin College Plants Tour ~ Thursday, October 10th ~ 8:45-10:50 AM

• EGR public safety tour / Meet with the Mayor

• Play ~ to be determined

• Farmer’s Market – (economics) – May

• VanAndel Museum (GR History) – May

• End of Year Celebration- Manhattan Park

• Individual student magazines will be included in field trip fee (Scholastic News, Time for Kids, National Geo)

Parent – Teacher Communication

• General Class or Child Concerns or questions Email is often the best way to reach me. I will do

everything in my power to return communication within 24 hours.

• Weekly Newsletter Check out our website (or your child’s blue folder on

Friday) to see the current edition of our classroom newsletter. This will be updated weekly.

• Daily Changes Please contact the office. (snack or lunch drop off, end of

day pick-up changes, or any detail that needs immediate attention) Please avoid any changes at the end of the when possible Thank you!

From all of us at Second Grade

Mrs. Michelle Day

Mrs. Andrea Severns

Miss. Whitney Mudge

Feel free to stick around if you have personal questions