Curriculum night

1. Curriculum night September 18, 2014Please read your child’s letter and write them a response…this will be a surprise for your child in the morning.

2. Game plan for life HES is a special place where the EXTRAORDINARY happens! A place where every individual is COMMITTED to SUCCESS and WINNING AT THE GAME OF LIFE! We are blazing a path for the future by removing any obstacle that would hinder the greatness of our students. A path that will allow our students to become whatever they DREAM or ASPIRE to be!

3. FIVE Strategic pLAYS: Play One: BE POSITIVE! Always say I can, not I can’t! Play Two: BE A LEADER! Always be an example of greatness! Play Three: BE TEACHABLE! Keep learning every day, every day, EVERY day! Play Four: BE A TEAM PLAYER! Working together is ALWAYS better! Play Five: BE TECHNOLOGY LITERATE! Use technology to be more productive not destructive!

4. Tomahawk Rule book Rule 1: Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do! Rule Two: Be safe! Rule Three: Be respectful and responsible! Rule Four: Be ready to learn!

5. Balanced Literacy Because reading is a vital skill to be successful in today’s society, we believe that as educators, our responsibility is to design a reading program that will reach ALL levels of students and will be relevant, successful, and fun! Balanced literacy is a program that was developed on the principal that ALL children can read and write! It follows the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to students. It incorporates all elements of literacy and integrates other content areas into reading and writing as well.

6. Daily Five Approach Read to Self Read to Someone Word Work Writer’s Workshop Teacher Led Guided Reading Groups

7. Literacy program that implements Common Core State Standards and allows for implementation of the Daily Five rotations and Writing Workshop • Literacy By Design builds strong: • Reading Strategies • Making Connections, Visualizing, Cause/Effect, Predicting… • Phonemic Awareness • Knowing how letters work together to make sounds and form words • Fluency • How you sound when you read • Comprehension • Understanding what you read • Lifelong love of reading Literacy By Design

8. Word Study program that assesses your child at the beginning, middle, and end of the year Allows for differentiation based on your child’s needs Progresses through different phases of phonemic and phonetic awareness to increase your child’s knowledge and retention of spelling patterns Word Their Way for Parents Words their way

9. My Math supports and utilizes Common Core State Standards to teach: • Addition/Subtraction fluency • Place Value • Measurement (time, money, standard measurement) • Shape Attributes (angles, sides, shape names) • Second graders should memorize all sums of one-digit numbers (0-9) “My math” Center Based Learning

10. Units of study include: • Scientific Process/Inquiry • Animals • Animal Research Paper, Embryology Project • Weather • Weather Research Poster • Matter • Magnetism • STEM (Science Lab) activities with Mrs. Nusz to support science units of study Inquiry based approach to science

11. Focus on communities locally and in surrounding areas, students will: • Determine how geography impacts a community and its contributions to the local and surrounding communities • Identify origins, structures, and functions of local, state, and national government • The role of goods and services and supply and demand in communities • How different cultures contribute to local and surrounding communities Social studies

12. Math: • Practice addition and subtraction facts • Play games online • Writing: • Encourage your child to write notes, thank you letters, make lists, and help keep records • Science/Social Studies: • Check out nonfiction books from the library • Do whole family experiments • Read about current events What can you do at home?

13. Reading: • Make reading enjoyable…read a variety of genres! • Think about your child’s interests, experiences, and reading level. • Introduce the book in a relaxed conversation... Be familiar with the book! • Encourage with specific praise. • Help maintain the meaning of the story by asking questions. • Read together on a regular, consistent basis! WHAT CAN YOU DO AT HOME (cont.)?

14. Threltlpgs Oncpn a tm, thrwrthreltlpgs who lvd in the forst. They al hd to bld a hse. The frstpg mad hshse out of strw. The bgbdwlfhffd and pffd and blwhshsedwn. The scndpgblthshse out of stcks. The bgbdwlfhffd and pffd and blwhshsedwn. The thrdltlpgblthshse out of brks. The bgbdwlfcld not blw it dwn. READ THROUGH YOUR CHILD’s EYES:

15. “Sound It Out” Try “sounding out” the words gym, said, and above.

16. The story shows us that you do not have to “sound out” every letter in every word in order to be able to read it successfully. • How were you able to read and understand the story? • It was a familiar story. • You used the beginning and ending sounds to figure out the words. • You made the story make sense to you. Going Beyond “Sounding Out”

17. Look at the picture and the first sound of the unknown word. Look for chunks within the word (“at”, “ing”, “and”). Use what you know! Think about what you’re reading. Ask, “What makes sense?” Reread the sentence and think about what you’re reading. Skip the word, read on, and then come back to it. Reading Strategies that Work!

18. Please write any questions on your post-it note and hand it off to your child’s teacher before leaving. We would love for you to take a field trip through the second grade classrooms to explore your child’s instructional materials. What’s Next?