Welcome to 2A

Welcome to an exciting year in grade 2. By now I am sure you all had a chance to read over the newsletter I sent home and have returned your orange student information sheet. It has been a great but busy start to the year.

Class Dojo: We have started using a classroom management tool called ClassDojo. ClassDojo is a web based program which allows teachers to track students’ behaviors easily and efficiently. The program is based on points, and students can be given positive points for things like being on task, being respectful, participating, or working hard. On the other hand, points can be taken away if students are off task, talking out, or unprepared. 

This week you will receive a letter with a parent access code to log on to the website. On the site, you are able to see how many points your child has, which positive behaviors were noted, and which negative behaviors they need to work on. Students will be able to “cash in” their points for different prizes. It also allows me to send parents a “behavior and skills report” by e-mail. All you need to do is use the parent access code to get signed up. Our hope is that this will help you better understand the progress of your student’s behavior on a week-to-week basis. You can access Class Dojo through the site or download the app.

On average, students will earn about 15-20 points a week. 

T-Shirts: Our class t-shirts have been ordered. In art this week, we designed our shirts by drawing our portraits that will be printed on each one. 

Agenda: Now that your child is in grade 2, they have each been given an agenda. Each day your child will be filling out their agenda and I will sign them. Please be sure to read each day's notes and sign them every night. At the end of each week, each child who has gotten their parent signatures every day will be entered in a weekly agenda draw for a prize. 

Home Reading: I will begin sending books home on Thursday. However, this does not mean your child has to wait to start logging home reading minutes in the log book sent home on Wednesday. Let me know if you have any questions about this. 

Math: This week in math we began our addition and subtraction of numbers to 18 unit. The class has been listening carefully to story problems and creating the math sentence that describes the problem. We also played games to practice number recognition and which is larger. 

Language Arts/Daily 5: As a class, we created an I-chart (I for independence) outlining what is expected during read to self time and began practicing building stamina for this center. We also reviewed how to write a proper sentence that includes a capital and a period and made our first writing journal entries.

Spelling: Weekly spelling words won't start until October. Stay tuned. 

Social Studies: This month we have a Social Studies theme in which we are exploring the land of the communities of Devon, Iqaluit, Saskatoon and Meteghan. First however we have started with a quick study of how to read and create our own maps. This week we learned about how to read a map, follow directions, routes and legends.

Art: Next week in art we are going to be using black paint to create Splat the Cat. I would highly suggest sending an old oversized t-shirt for painting to protect all the new back to school clothes. Please write your child's name on it somewhere with a permanent marker and I will store the shirts here in the classroom for you. 

Building Read to Self Stamina