November Newsletter

Dear Parents,

        Hello! Hope all is well with you. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you again on Conference Day later this month. Parent – Teacher Conference Day is Monday, November 24^th from 1:00p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Attached you should find a conference schedule. I have also included your scheduled conference time on your child’s report card.  If you need a translator for your conference please let me know and I will gladly look into finding one for you. Please let me know as soon as possible as it may take time to find and schedule one.

        This Friday your child will bring home their first report card of the school year.  You will find a copy of your child’s report card and a blue insert inside the report card envelope.  The REPORT CARD ENVELOPE AND BLUE INSERT labeled “2^nd Grade Expectations” must be signed and returned to school. Please leave the actual report card at home. This is your copy to keep at home. Also, the folder given at Open House includes a copy of our grading scale. You may want to refer to that as you look over your child’s report card.

        If you look at the “important dates” section of this newsletter you will find that we have many days off this month. The week of November 12^th – 15^th we will NOT have any of our weekly tests. The week is too short for a complete unit. Also, you may want to keep in mind that the monthly projects are due on November 21^st as this is the last day of the month in which we will be in school.

        I have attached a book order this month. This will be the last book order before winter break. If you wanted to order some books for Christmas gifts from Scholastic you should use this order form. They will be back in time to give as gifts for the holidays.

         I look forward to seeing all of you again in a few weeks. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to stop by, give me a call, or write a note/email. My email address is slazich@pennoyerschool.org

Take Care,

Ms. Lazich

November: Important Dates

November 7 –       REPORT CARD DAY

                             Picture Retakes

November 10 –      No School

November 11 -       No School (Veterans’ Day)

November 14 –     Scholastic Book Orders Due

November 21 –     Monthly Projects Due

November 24 –     Parent-Teacher Conferences

November 25 –     No School (Teacher Institute Day)

November 26 –     No School

November 27 –     No School

November 28 –     No School

November Sight Words

1. this
2. under
3. want
4. was
5. well
6. went
7. what
8. white
9. who
10. will
11. with
12. yes
13. after
14. again
15. an
16. as
17. any
18. by
19. could

October Important Dates

Columbus Day – No School         10/13

Scholastic Orders Due                 10/15

Early Dismissal at 11:30a.m.       10/24

Monthly Projects Due                  10/31

End of 1^st Quarter                       10/31

Halloween Party                         10/31

Terra Nova Testing: October 6 - October 9

Next week your child will take the Terra Nova Tests. These tests will begin on Monday, October 6^th and end on Thursday, October 10^th. These standardized tests will be a new experience for the children. Below you will find a list of suggestions and accommodations for your child to help make this testing process as best as it can be.

·        Your child may bring in a healthy treat and a small bottle of water. Suggestions for a healthy treat include fruits, vegetables, or granola bar. Please no candy.  Remember this is only a snack, not a full meal.

·        There will not be a reading, grammar, or spelling unit this week. Therefore no weekly tests to prepare for.

·        The only homework for the week will be to get plenty of rest!

·        A good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast will ensure a successful testing experience for your child.

·        The testing will begin promptly at 8:10a.m. Please make sure your child arrives to school on time.

·        The entire school will follow “Quiet Hours” for most of the morning. 

If you have any questions or concerns about the Terra Nova Tests, please feel free to contact one of us. This will be a new experience but we are confident that the kids will do just fine. We will take a practice test and will review the testing procedures at length.  Thank you in advance for your support at home!

October Sight Words

1. must
2. new
3. no
4. now
5. on
6. our
7. out
8. please
9. pretty
10. ran
11. ride
12. saw
13. say
14. she
15. so
16. soon
17. that
18. there
19. they
20. too

October News

    Hello! Hope all is well with everyone. I can’t believe that we have already finished our first full month of school. We have had some rough patches with our behavior but I am happy to report that we are making progress. I am confident that we will continue to improve and have a great year in 2^nd grade. Please take some time to review the importance of listening and following directions in school as well as being kind to others. I would like to thank you in advance for your support at home of my policies here at school. Your help is very much appreciated and very helpful to your student’s progress at school.

          Next week, October 6 – October 10, the 2^ND graders will be taking the Terra Nova tests. Attached to this packet you will find a handout describing the testing procedures in greater detail. These tests will be a new experience for the students. The best thing to do at home in preparation for these tests is to ensure that your child has a good night’s sleep and has a  healthy breakfast each morning.   Please note that due to testing there will NOT be a spelling, reading, or grammar test next week.

          Those of you who have ordered Scholastic books this month there was a problem with the order. Please don’t worry but they will be on their way shortly.

          During the month of September the weekly reading tests were read out loud to the kids. This was done to help ease the students into the tests. This month the kids will be required to read the tests on their own. We started preparing for this last week, in that I read the questions and the students were asked to read the answer choices on their own. If you were surprised by your child’s grade this past week, this may be the reason.  The students need to work on taking their time and reading each answer choice carefully and if they are unsure they should read it again. I plan on working on this test taking skill this week in preparation for the reading test. Please encourage this at home. Thank You!

          At the end of the month we will have our first classroom party to celebrate Halloween. Students are welcome to dress up and bring in treats for this party. However, there must be enough for all students and they must be individually wrapped. The kids will have the opportunity to “trick or treat” around the classroom. These treats will be passed out and sent home. The room moms will provide treats for the classroom party. More information about the party will be given closer to the date. Please note that we have a total of 23 students who will be participating in our classroom party.

          That is it for now. Please continue to sign and check your child’s take home notebook for announcements as many of them do come up throughout the month. Also, please clean out your child’s folder every night. This will be very helpful to their organizational skills. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great month!

September Dates to Remember

September 11 – Open House at 7:00 p.m.

September 16 – Scholastic Book Order Due

September 17 – Picture Day

September 26 – 1^st Quarter Progress Reports

                      - Walk-a-Thon

September 30 – All Monthly Project DUE!

September Sight Word List

1. all
2. am
3. are
4. at
5. ate
6. be
7. black
8. brown
9. but
10. come
11. did
12. do
13. eat
14. four
15. get
16. good
17. have
18. he
19. into
20. like

September Newsletter

I am happy to report that we are off to a fantastic start in 2^nd Grade. We spent the past week getting acquainted with the 2^nd grade routine. The children picked up on the routine very quickly!  We also have been busy testing. Yep – Tests during the first week of school. Can you believe it? Anyhow, each child has been tested this week in the area of Reading. I will then use these results to determine what areas your child will need to strengthen over the course of the school year. I do share these results with you at conference time. However, since parent – teacher conferences are not until November, the results are available at any time. If you are interested you may stop in after school or before school and I can share those results with you. All I ask is that you send me a quick note letting me know what day you will stop in. That way I can have all of the paperwork ready for when you stop by. 

          Attached to this newsletter you will find several IMPORTANT papers. At the beginning of every month your child will bring home a “monthly packet.” Included in this packet are: (1) Sight Word List – the children will be required to pass this unannounced test with 100% accuracy (2) Math Facts Test (0 and 1) – the children will be required to pass this test with 100% accuracy. Please do not return this paper to school. This is for you to keep at home using as a study guide. (3) Reading Log – Each child is required to read at least 15 books at home each month. Each book they read must be recorded on the reading log. After each book has been read and recorded on the reading log, a parent must initial it. (4) Book Report - This should be completed at home and returned to school anytime before the end of the month. (5) Checklist – I have included a checklist to keep at home. This is to keep track of all of the monthly assignments at home and does not have to be returned to school.  All of these monthly assignments must be returned to school by: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008.  I understand that this may be confusing. I will discuss this in greater detail at Open House. However, if you have any questions regarding this please contact me.

          Hopefully, your child has informed you of our football program. Again, I will discuss the details of this program at Open House. Until then, I just wanted to let you know that you should be expecting a “Score Card” at the end of each week. On this “Score Card”, you will find if your child has scored a “touchdown” that week. Basically, everyday your child comes to school and follows the routines and rules of 2^nd grade they will “gain a yard.”  If your child earns a yard every day they will then score a touchdown on Friday!  At the end of the week, your child will bring home a Score Card informing you if they scored a touchdown. If they didn’t score a touchdown, they will bring home a score card informing you of how many yards they earned during the week.  Please sign this and return to school on Monday. I will explain this in detail at Open House.  Until then, the children have all been great! Lots of touchdowns already!!!!

          I know this a lengthy newsletter, but since we have a while until Open House I wanted to make sure that you are fully aware of some of the policies of 2^nd grade. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have a question or concern about anything. I look forward to working with you this year!