Back to School Night Packet 2015-2015
HOMEWORK/FRIDAY FOLDERS
Each day a red folder will be sent home with your child’s work. It is your child’s responsibility to return the folder each day. Please be aware that the content of the folder does not reflect all the work for the week. Many items are kept for portfolios, bulletin boards, or assessment purposes. School communication will be sent home electronically.
CONFERENCE DAYS
Conferences this year will take place November 16. A Sign-Up-Genius can be found on your teacher’s website.
PARENT’S ROLE
Parental support of school and classroom activities is very important. We encourage you to read nightly to your child, volunteer in or outside of school, and volunteer for at least one PTC activity or event. Return and/or send money and field trip notes to the teacher in a timely manner. Chaperones may be needed for field trips and to help set up and serve treats at Grandparent’s Day on March 18. Also please let us know of any upsets at home that may affect your child at school.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers in the classroom are truly appreciated. If you are unable to help in the classroom, we could use your help with donations for special activities and at home projects as well.
FIELD TRIPS
We have several field trips we would like to take this school year that enrich our science and social studies curriculum.
BIRTHDAYS
We know your child’s birthday is a very important day. We would like to help recognize your child on this special day. If you would like to send in a special letter to your child to be read aloud please feel free to do so. This will be shared by your child in class. WE also have a Build-a-Library Program. See your teacher for more information. Please remember that at Thomas Jefferson we ask that sugary treats (cupcakes, cakes, cookies) NOT be sent to school and that there are some food restrictions and allergies. Please contact your teacher before sending items in.
SNACKS
During the first recess, children are allowed to eat snacks brought from home. Feel free to send a daily, healthy snack for your child. Remember this is an opportunity to provide your child with some brain-power, so please no “junk” food at this time. Donations of snack foods (pretzels, crackers, granola bars, etc.) are greatly appreciated.
SUPPLIES
To help your child with organization I am asking that each child have a pencil box to hold supplies. Each child will be provided with their own pencils and have access to scissors, rulers, glue, and markers. Your child may keep a pair of scissors, glue sticks, crayons (24 box maximum) and markers in their pencil boxes. You are more than welcome to make donations of supplies from the classroom donation list for the entire class to use.
CURRICULUM
Reading: Open Court, Ready Common Core, SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phoneme Awareness, Phonics Sight Words), and other literature.
Our reading program will consist of instruction in phonics and fluency, reading and responding to literature, and English Language Conventions (grammar). Reading workshop time will provide students with focused instruction on a reading strategy based upon assessment results.
We will also be using the Accelerated Reading Program this year. Students will be assessed to determine their independent reading level. Then they will be reading book in their level and taking quizzes. Students will be graphing their progress towards their personal reading goals each week.
WRITING
Students will be participating in Writer’s Workshop using the Learning Headquarters program. The standards in 2nd grade include writing sentences and paragraphs around a central idea. In addition to the organization of the content, students are expected to use correct English Language Conventions (grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling). Over the course of the year we will be looking at the works of wonderful authors/illustrators so that we can improve our writing.
MATH
Our district-adopted program is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Math homework is assigned and to be returned daily.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Some of the themes we will cover this year include: tracing the history of our families, comparing lives today and long ago, creating time lines of important events in their lives, Map Skills (relative locations of people and places), and how people in the past have made a difference in our everyday lives.
SCIENCE
Our adopted curriculum includes life cycles, balance and motion, and changes over time.