Plastic Bags

For our science unit next week, we will be learning about gravity. We need a plastic bag for each student. If you have extras at home, please send a few with your child. Thank you!

A-Z Reading

Your child has been tested for his/her reading level. This level determines which books your child can read independently.

In the homework folder, your child will be bringing home a plastic bag. In it you will find a bookmark with book titles and a book to practice reading. Once the book has been read 3 times, please check it off on the bookmark and send it back in the bag. Your child will then receive a new book to read.

When most of the books have been read, we will test your child to determine if s/he is ready to go on the the next level. Once your child gets to level P, s/he is finished with the A-Z books.

The purpose of the A-Z reading is to provide children with both ficition and non-fiction books to read on their level. Early readers often have difficulty finding books they can read. Once they get into the later letters (N, O, P, Q, R, ect.) there are many books available that they are able to read.

Book Orders

Scholastic Book Clubs has made ordering books available to parents online. This company has affordable books with a variety of levels and genres. I buy our classroom books from them because of the price and because I can search for books on a specific reading ability level.

If you are interested in ordering books:

1. Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and register with your own username and password. Use our class' code: H3ZDB

2. Select the books you'd like.

3. Send your order to me online by Wednesday, November 30.

Please don't feel obligated in any way to buy books! I just want to make this available to parents who are interested.

Fall Festival

For Fall Festival, our class is putting together a chocolate basket. Thank you so much to those of you who have donated to it! We still need more donations, so if you are able to send something with your child, please do so right away.

Also, we still need parents to sign up to help with our class' game booth. We are doing a ring toss and at this point we only have one parent who has signed up to help out. If you're not able to come into the classroom to sign up, feel free to email me and let me know what time you can volunteer at our ring toss booth. The time slots for volunteering are just 20 minutes.

Thanks to those of you who have helped our class with Fall Festival!

Poetry

On Tuesday, October 4 your child will be presenting a poem in class. This should be memorized at home. Please practice it with your child so s/he feels confident reciting it in front of the class.

Choose one of the following poems to memorize:

Swinging
I start my swing very soft and slow,
With just enough push to make it go
Then I hurry it up, till I'm going so fast
That the leaves on the trees go rushing past.

I swoop down low, so close to the ground
That I see the June bugs crawling around,
And then so high, so far, and so free
That even the east wind can't catch me.
~Marchette G. Chute


The Rhinoceros
The Rhino is a homely beast,
For human eyes he's not a feast,
But you and I will never know
Why Nature chose to make him so
Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,
I'll stare at something less prepoceros.
~Ogden Nash


An Autumn Riddle
They are seen on the trees,
They are seen on the ground.
They are seen in the air,
Whirling softly around;
They sing rustling songs
As our footsteps they hear,
And their name is well known,
For they come every year.
~Anonymous

How is my child doing?

There are several ways you can receive feedback about how your child is doing academically. Here are some:

1. Go to http://www.thomased.com/ and click the Parent Access to Student Grades, Contacts, and Attendance. You should have an identification number to access your child's current grades. If you do not have this, please ask Carol Bekker, the school secretary, for this information.

2. Graded work comes home on Tuesday in your child's homework folder. This will include the most recent spelling, phonogram, and math tests. You can look these over to see which concepts your child has mastered or those your child is struggling with.

3. Come visit the class at any time to see how your child is participating, what questions s/he is asking, and how s/he is responding to class content.

4. Email me if you have specific questions or concerns about your child's progress.

Phonograms

The phonograms for October 3-7 are:

wr, j, or, t, ew, p, c, ch, th, s, ie, w, tch, ou, ea, ng, g, igh, ow, ck, k, ui, er, ey, o, d, ei, b, a, sh

These phonograms are taught, practiced, and reviewed during the week and tested on Friday.

*If you are not Spalding trained, please do not attempt to practice these at home with your second grader. Not knowing the exact sounds will end up confusing your child.

Egg Cartons!

Your child should have brought home an egg carton today. This is to be used in creating a personal rock collection. I encouraged them to:

1. Find rocks in more than one place to get a better variety.
2. Find at least six.
3. Find ones that can fit in the egg carton sections.

This is something that can be done over the weekend. We will be using them in class for science on Monday, September 19. Please make sure your child has six rocks by then.

Thanks for your help at home!

Spelling Words

catch, catcher, kitchen, butcher, black, warm, unless, clothing, clothes, cloth, began, begin, beginning, able, gone, go, done, do, suit, track, watch, dash, fell, fight, buy, by, stopping, stop, walk, talk, chalk