Welcome to 2nd Grade
Welcome to Second Grade!
Yeah! I will be your child’s teacher this year. I am looking forward to a terrific year. I am very anxious to get to know you and your child. Your involvement in your child’s education is critical to his/her success. I am looking forward to working with you this year to help your child get the best education possible.
School Hours: Students are allowed in classrooms at 8:20 a.m. Prior to 8:20, your child should report to the gym where a supervising teacher will be on duty. School is dismissed at 3:12 p.m. You may wait outside the east door (by the 2nd grade room) if you are coming to pick up your child.
Lunch/Breakfast: Students may eat a school lunch or bring lunch from home. Prices this year will be $1.75 for lunch, $1.50 for breakfast, and $0.25 for extra milk. Information on the free and reduced lunch program will be sent home during the first week.
Behavior Expectations: Be respectful and responsible, be organized, and follow directions.
Discipline Policy: In order for everyone to have an educational and productive year, we must enforce rules in our classroom. In our classroom, we use a card system to monitor behavior, which is shown below:
Green Card - No misbehavior
Yellow Card – Verbal warning of Inappropriate Behavior
Blue Card – Loss of a Privilege (recess, time out, etc)
Red Card – Removal from Group and Note/Phone call to Parent
All students start each day with their green card displayed. If a student is not following classroom expectations, I will ask them to “turn a Card.” If at the end of the day, a student has turned no cards, a sticker is placed on an incentive chart. When an incentive chart is filled, the student receives a good behavior reward. There will also be periodic rewards for days/weeks when the entire class turns no cards!
Some examples of rewards for our class are: * sit by a friend for the day, * choosing your place in line for the day, *Choosing a classroom job, * Eat breakfast or lunch with the teacher, *select a prize out of the treasure box, etc.
Homework: I will take most grades from work we complete during the school day. Your child will have adequate time to complete the work, but if it is not completed your child will complete it at recess. In addition to daily assignments, your child will also be given reinforcement assignments to complete at home. Homework is due in the morning. If homework is not handed in, your child will complete it at recess. I will keep track of late assignments and notify you if things get serious.
Reading Counts: Reading Counts is a reading motivation and management program. We use it to encourage students to read and to monitor their independent reading. Your child is responsible for READING. They will select a book within their personal reading range (assessed by myself or Mrs. Yelton). They will read at their own pace and take a short quiz on the book to make sure they understood what they read. If they achieve 80% or better on the book quiz, then AWESOME! They will put a sticker next to their name on the reading chart in our classroom. If they are unable to pass the book quiz, then they will need to reread the same book and test again. Your child will have three chances to pass the quiz on the same book. They must pass the quiz on the book before moving on to another book. If your child tries three times to pass the quiz and is unable to do so, then they will meet with Mrs. Monnig before moving on to another book. She will give you a book report form to use to write a few sentences about the book you were unable to pass.
Saxon Math: In the Saxon Math program parents are expected to check homework and help their child correct errors, practice number facts with their child, and monitor their child’s performance on tests. Each lesson has 2 sides. Side A will be completed in class with my assistance. Side B is done independently at home. Children are encouraged to ask parents to read the problems, check their work, and provide help when needed. I will give time at the end of each day to work on Side B. Please look over their page even if it is already completed.
Tests: I will evaluate student learning in many ways: observation, checklist, projects, and written tests. Your child will know test dates ahead of time.
Book Orders: I will send home book orders each month. These are an inexpensive way to expand your home library. Please return the filled out order forms and a check made out to Scholastic by the date due.
Absent: If your child is absent from school, please send a note giving the date absent, reason, and your signature. Students will have one day for each day absent to complete work missed. If you know your child will be gone and you give me a few days notice, I will be happy to get assignments ready ahead of time.
Class Parties: We have four major parties during the year: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Room Mothers/Fathers help organize these parties. All families will be asked to contribute supplies for one party. More details will be sent home closer to the date of each party!
Birthday Celebrations: Students may bring in one of the following items to “share” with the class as we celebrate their special day. Examples are: One prepackaged snack per child that follows nutrition guidelines, one book to be permanently placed on our book shelf, or one board or card game to be permanently placed on our game shelf.
Questions: Please feel free to contact me at the school with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your student. I can speak with you before school from 8:00-8:20 or after school from 3:12-3:30.
I am very excited about teaching your child. I want this year to go as smoothly as possible. Don’t hesitate to call me or visit our classroom at any time.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Willhite
