Almost Halfway There...

 

Can you believe we are almost halfway through another school year? I can't believe how fast this year is flying by! As we approach the end of the first semester, we are doing mid-year testing in reading to assess student growth. By the end of next week your child should know what their new reading level is, based on the Text Reading Comprehension test. I am excited about seeing so much progress already!

Updates!!!

Due to the very short week we did not have a newsletter this week, but the Take a Peek at our Week section is updated for next week, and the new spelling list is also available at Spelling City. I hope you are all having a wonderful week celebrating the holiday with family and friends!

Scholastic Book Order Opportunity

Parents, I know many of you have asked me about opportunities to find "just-right books" for your children to read at home. I've added a great opportunity right here on our blog- if you click the tab at the top of the page title "Scholastic Book Orders" you can browse the scholastic online catalogs for various grade levels, order books direct from Scholastic, and earn credits for our classroom to earn free books as well! Be sure you use our special classroom activation code LQXCG when you place your order! Happy reading! :)

It's Conference Time!!

Parents, I am so excited to visit with you about your child's successes and growth in this first quarter of 2nd grade! We will be talking about grades and assessment data, but this will also be the perfect time to discuss any questions, concerns, or celebrations about your child's performance and social development in the classroom community and at home. Please take advantage of this opportunity to visit about your kiddo- our communication and team work are critical to helping your child reach his or her fullest potential as a learner! Coming to conferences is one way to help us achieve our Parkway vision, "A pathway to the future!" and our mission, "Empowering all students within a positive learning environment". Thank you for all you do for your children! :)

We're Going LOOPY for Fact Families!

This week we learned about addition and subtraction fact families in 2nd grade math. A fun way to practice manipulating numbers to understand the concept of fact families was to do a math investigation with Fruit Loops! Students were given about a half cup of fruit loops, directed to sort them by color, and then grouped them in color pairs. Students then built fact families using the numbers represented by their Fruit Loops. The best part? Our math project became a yummy snack when we were all done! :)

Writing the 4-Square Way

Today in writers' workshop we used a 4-square organizer to start writing about a topic from our seed lists. Students are learning to write a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a conclusion. This visual organizational tool is a great way to start thinking about the beginning, middle, and end of a piece of writing. Take a look at my modeled writing and a couple great examples of student work, and ask your kiddo about the writing we did this week! 

New Communication Folders

Our communication folders are finally here!! Look for your child to bring home his or her new folder this week! This folder needs to go home and come back to school each day. Put notes or homework in the left pocket if it needs to come back to school. The papers on the right are notes and graded work that can stay home. Please help your child take the full advantage of this great communication tool!

Spelling Study Support

You can now found our Pathways spelling lists for each week on our class page at http://www.spellingcity.com/MsAuxierGr2/

We've played some of the online spelling games at school. This is a great opportunity to make practicing your spelling words a fun home activity! Play away!

Something new!

Check out the new "Class Newsletters" tab at the top of this page! You can click this tab and go directly to my Parkway page where all of the weekly newsletters are at your fingertips. 

Becoming a Super Speller

Our First 4 Weeks of Spelling Lists

Can you believe that your child has already been introduced to forty spelling words just since the beginning of the school year? He or she should be bringing home a list of words on Monday or Tuesday of each week, with each word written out by segmented sounds and then re-written like a "real word". We practice these words throughout the week, learning to use them in context and understand the phonics rules behind them, but the best way for students to really learn spelling words is simply by studying what they look like and sound like. Spelling is all about visual memory! We teach the students to "take a picture in their minds" of what the word looks like. You can help your child study their spelling words at home by making flashcards, writing the words in shaving cream or with sidewalk chalk, or having your kiddo write them on a marker board. We take a spelling test every Friday, so it would help your child feel prepared and confident if you spent a few minutes helping them study at home each night!

Newsletters and More!

Have you been to my page on the Parkway Elementary website? You can go to my newsletters page to view each Friday's newsletter, along with other communication that I may send home like the Classroom Guide. Check it out!

Weekly Newsletter

Click here for the newsletter from Friday, August 31st. 

More Daily 5...

In our second grade class we are continuing to learn the components of the Daily 5 as we implement balanced literacy during Readers' Workshop. This week we introduced "Read to Someone". In this part of the Daily 5, students sit EEKK (Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee) and read together. Students can read one book together or take turns reading a page at a time from their own Just-Right books. We are learning how to coach each other as we read and help our friends by checking for understanding. Here are some pictures of our class practicing "Read to Someone" during Readers' Workshop this week. :)

Launching the Daily 5

At Parkway, we use the Daily 5 during Readers' Workshop as a structure to make sure all students are engaged and actively learning. We are busy in second grade learning strategies for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary as we read, and we are spending time building stamina to be able to read independently for a length of time! This part of the Daily 5 is called "Read to Self", and we are making great progress at this independent skill. Here are some photos of "Read to Self" in action!

Newsletter

You can view this week's newsletter here on Google docs!

Updates!

As we approach the end of our first full week of school, we have some updates to the blog! Check out updates on almost every tab, including Important Dates and Take a Peek at Our Week. We also have a new schedule posted that reflects a modification to our lunch schedule. If you would like to eat lunch with your child, our new lunch time is from 12:30-1:00.

Also, look for the newsletter to come home this Friday! The newsletter will be posted here and on my district web page sometime this weekend. We are off to a fantastic start to the 2012-2013 school year!

The First Day of School

We had a great first day in 2nd grade! I am so excited to see all those seats filled up with eager learners. Today we talked about our three classroom and community rules, "be safe", "be respectful", and "be responsible". Ask your child what those expectations look like in our classroom! We read a funny book, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, and talked about how to check for understanding as we read. We have so much to learn this year in 2nd grade, and we are off to a fantastic start!

Thank you to all the parents who already returned the signature pages you took home on Back to School Night. If you still have those at home, please return them as soon as possible.

It's going to be a wonderful year at Parkway Elementary, where we are all "wild about learning"!

Sharing Resources

Have you ever had one of those moments when you KNOW you just saw that piece of paper, but you just can't find it when you need it? Well, I want to help you out this year, so anything important that I send home for you to reference throughout the year, I will try to also post on here as a Google doc. Misplace our Classroom Guide you will get at back-to-school night? No problem, you can find it on right here on our blog via Google docs. Check back a little bit later for book report forms, newsletters, and other important documents as they come up!

Click on the following links to go to the attached documents: Ms. Auxier's 2nd Grade Classroom Guide
Welcome letter

See you at Back to School Night!

Classroom Pics! :)

 Some of you might be wondering how the new classroom is shaping up, so I thought I would post some pictures! I can't wait to fill those chairs with my new 2nd grade friends!!

 

 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog, just for my second grade friends and their families! This is a brand new blog, so there are many updates to come.  Lots of information will be added over the next few months...keep a look out for important dates and Parkway news! Enjoy your summer!