Ms. Russell
Second Grade Newsletter
Chaparral School

September 14, 2009
Dear Room 6 Families,
Our first week of school was a delight and I am already very fond of this class. Last week I started math and reading assessments and this week I will be administering the district benchmark assessments in math, reading fluency, and sight words.

I look forward to meeting parents in Room 6 at Back To School Night, Wednesday, September 16 from 7:15 to 8:00. There will be a PFA meeting and short principal’s message in the Multi Purpose Room from 6:45 to 7:15. During our classroom meeting, you will hear about our curriculum, my behavior expectations for the class, and volunteer opportunities. Please remember that this is an evening for parents only.

MOTOR SKILLS: This will be our first week of Motor Skills. Please make sure you child wears tennis shoes on Mondays and Wednesdays to ensure a safe and comfortable time outdoors. Today we will be learning about stamina and the human heart. Your child will be able to find their own heart rate, at rest and after exercise.

SPELLING: I am using CORE SKILLS spelling instruction. This is a research-based, standards-linked program which is based on three critical goals:
* to learn to spell common spelling patterns, as well as troublesome words
* to learn strategies related to sounds and spelling patterns
* to link spelling and meaning
Challenge sections will present opportunities to enrich vocabulary and extend spelling skills. Spelling tests will be given on Thursday of each week. Please give a practice test at home as part of each Wednesday night’s homework.

POEM: Have the poem Thirty Days Hath September memorized for recitation on Friday. The students will be memorizing a poem every week or two. They will learn how to speak (recite) in front of a group, as well as develop a love for poetry. This week, only those students who want to will be asked to come before the class and recite the poem. This will be the first poem of our poetry book. Each poem will be illustrated and acted out. At the end of the year, your child will have a lovely collection of poems, both in hand and in their memory, to share with friends and family. You may access these poems on our web site.

LANGUAGE ARTS: We begin Theme 1: SILLY STORIES. These are stories and characters that make us laugh. In our first story, Dragon Gets By, by Dav Pilky, we will read about what happens when a dragon who has no food in his cupboard goes shopping and buys more food than can fit in his car. How will he solve the problem? My instructional goals will be: Reading- Phonics (short vowels “a’ and “i”, base words with “s”, “ed”, and “ing” endings), High Frequency Words (bought, front, kitchen, roll, until), Strategy Focus (Summarize), Comprehension Skill (story structure), Informational Skill (reading a chart).Word Work- Spelling (short “a” and “i” sounds ), Vocabulary (homophones). Writing and Language- Grammar (what is a sentence?), Writing (a character sketch- adding details).

MATHEMATICS: In your child’s homework folder, you will find a FAMILY LETTER which introduces you to our new math curriculum, Everyday Mathematics. Attached to this FAMILY LETTER, you will find a game called Number-Line Squeeze. The students will be learning this math game in the classroom and you may want to play it at home, as well. We will be talking more about our new math curriculum at Back-To-School Night.
MUSIC: This week we study our first composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Please see the Room 6 web site for more (much more) information on this remarkable man. The children will be introduced to many books about Bach and two favorites will be: Bach’s Big Adventure, by Sallie Ketcham, and Getting to Know The World’s Greatest Composers- Johann Sebastian Bach.

ART: The work of Norman Rockwell will kick off our first art lesson. This lesson is in conjunction with our writing lesson on ‘settings’ and ‘detail’. One look at a Rockwell painting, such as Practice or Going and Coming, and the class will be off and running with descriptive phrases of time and location, as well as pictorial detail. The book we are reading to accompany the study of this marvelous artist is Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists: Norman Rockwell, by Mike Venezia. The lesson was inspired by my trip this summer to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts. It is a marvel of a place.

This morning, Mrs. Kerns will have her “classroom chat” with all the second graders about Chaparral rules and behavior expectations. I am sure the children will listen attentively and demonstrated how beautifully behaved they already are.

On Tuesday, each student will take the AR (Accelerated Reader) placement test in the computer lab. Once I have their STAR ranges (the general reading ranges for each student), the children will start taking AR quizzes during DEAR time each day. By the way, during our computer lab time, Mrs. Rivasplata will soon begin to work with the children on typing skills. She is encouraging all students to practice these typing skills at home, as well. They will be using a site produced by the BBC. It is highly motivating and has no advertising. You can access this web based typing program at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing.

On Wednesday, we will be visiting the Chaparral Library for the first time. Our librarian, Mrs. Hammil, has set up a beautiful environment and a motivating program for our students. Each student may check out two books; one AR book and one free-reading book. Please make sure the books are returned each Wednesday.
Please be sure to read the HEALTH ALERT letter in this homework folder. The information in this letter is of vital importance to the well being some of our students

in Room 6.

Finally, thank you for returning all your signed papers last week. You must have had writers cramp by Thursday night! That should be it for a while. When you have a moment, I would greatly appreciate it if you would fill out the Parent Survey and Student Motivation form. They provide very helpful information.
We are ready to start a terrific year.