2nd Grade News - Week 5

  Wow!  What an amazing group of 2^nd graders I have.  Every day they come to school ready to work hard and get down to learning.  I’m very very proud of all the effort they have been putting in.  Make sure to take a few minutes this weekend to praise them for all of their hard work.  They deserve it!

  There are just a few updates that I want to let you know about.  In addition to going to library on Tuesdays for our library lesson, we will be going on Thursdays for 20 minutes to check out books.  If your child chooses to bring their library book home on Thursday, it needs to be returned by the following Wednesday for check in.  We will also be going to four Kinderkonzerts at Woodstock school this year!  These concerts are put on by the Oregon Symphony and are very kid friendly.  I have included a permission slip in your child’s homework folder.  You will need to sign the permission slip 4 times, once for each trip.  No chaperones are needed for these field trips.

  Our field trip to the Hoyt Arboretum is Wednesday, Oct. 2^nd.  Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for this trip.  We will be outside the whole time.  If there is any chance of rain I would recommend having your child wear a rain coat and rain boots (or shoes that can get dirty). 

Academic Areas of Focus for Next Week:

Literacy:        Lucy Calkin’s Reader’s Workshop

                                    -Reading strategies for figuring out tricky words

                                    -Reading strategies for figuring out brand new words

                                    -Checking our reading/Self Monitoring

                        Lucy Calkin’s Writer’s Workshop

                                    -Setting goals for ourselves as writers

                                    -Learning writing moves from a text

Mathematics:  Copying and extending a growing pattern

                          Counting by 2’s and 5’s

                          Reading a clock face

Science:  Plant Adventures

Upcoming Events: 

            *Substitute Teacher/MTSS Training – Monday, Sept. 30 – Tuesday, Oct. 1^st

            *Hoyt Arboretum Field Trip – Wednesday, Oct. 2^nd 

            *Bike and Walk to School Day – Wednesday, Oct. 2^nd

            *No School – Teacher Inservice – Friday, Oct. 11^th

            *Kinderkonzert Field Trip – Tuesday, Oct. 15^th

            *Dine Out at Hopworks – Monday, Oct. 21^st

            *October Birthday Celebration/T-Shirt Day – Friday, Oct. 25^th

            *Fall Festival – Friday, Oct. 25^th

            *Halloween Parade – Thursday, Oct. 31^st

Have a Great Weekend!

Mrs. Hawksford (ahawksford@pps.net)

2nd Grade News - Week 4

Classroom Dojo:  A couple weeks ago I sent home a sign up sheet for Class Dojo on-line, but I realized I really haven’t told you much about it or how it works in our room. Class Dojo is a computer-based program where students can earn points for positive classroom behaviors such as staying on task, being kind, being persistent, or being helpful.  At the end of the week students are rewarded for the number of points they receive.  They can earn lunch bunch, a trip to the prize box, or 10 minutes of free class time.  On an average day students should be earning between 3-6 dojo points.  If they earn more than this they had an exceptional day!  Although, this is a positive reinforcement program, point may also be taken away in extreme circumstances such as talking back, being unkind to classmates, or being reminded multiple times to follow a direction.  I will refrain from taking points away unless absolutely necessary.  The students are very excited about this program.  Get on line and check it out! (If you lost your sign up sheet let me know.  I’ll print you out a new one.)

Classroom Blog:  I have a classroom blog where I post newsletters, important information, and photos.  If you would like to follow my blog you can find it at ahawksford.blogspot.com.  Once you are on my blog simply click the blue follow icon on the right hand side of the page.  If you do not want your child’s photograph posted on my blog please let me know.

I also wanted to give a big shout out to Lucy’s mom, Sue, for volunteering to help keep our room healthy and for stuffing our weekly homework folders!  She will be using Clorox wipes on Thursdays to wipe away a weeks worth of germs.  Let me know if you’d like to help her out or sign up for another day!

Academic Areas of Focus for Next Week:

Literacy:        Lucy Calkin’s Reader’s Workshop

                                    -Keeping tabs on comprehension

                                    -Working hard to solve tricky words

                                    -Using multiple reading strategies to read

                                    -Recognizing prefixes and suffixes in a snap

                        Lucy Calkin’s Writer’s Workshop

                                    -Crafting powerful beginnings and endings

                                    -Making sure writing makes sense and sounds right

                                    -Setting goals and making plans for writing time

                                    -Making sure our writing makes sense and sounds right

Mathematics:  Counting by 5’s, 2’s and 1’s to 100

                          Recognizing coins and their worth

                          Mental arithmetic – adding and comparing quantities to 25

                          Reading a clock face

                          Making, describing, and extending growing patterns

Upcoming Events: 

            *Picture Day – Wednesday, September 25^th

            *August/September birthday celebration – Friday, Sept. 27^th (more info to come…)

            *Grout t-shirt day – Friday, Sept. 27^th 

            *Hoyt Arboretum Field Trip – Wednesday, Oct. 2^nd 

            *Bike and Walk to School Day – Wednesday, Oct. 2^nd

            *No School – Teacher Inservice – Friday, Oct. 11^th

            *Dine Out at Hopworks – Monday, Oct. 21^st

            *October Birthday Celebration/T-Shirt Day – Friday, Oct. 25^th

            *Fall Festival – Friday, Oct. 25^th

            *Halloween Parade – Thursday, Oct. 31^st

Have a Great Weekend!

Mrs. Hawksford (ahawksford@pps.net)

2nd Grade News - Week 3

What a fun back to school picnic and open house!  Thank you to all of the families that were able to make it.  Don’t worry!  If you weren’t able to make it your child has brought home our guided tour instructions and can tell you all about what they have been learning the first few weeks of school.

Volunteer Opportunities:  Over the course of the year there will be many opportunities to volunteer in the classroom and on field trips.  In order to be eligible to volunteer you must fill out an Application to Volunteer form on line.  This form can be found at inside.pps.k12.or.us.  Once you are on PPS home page click on departments, security services, volunteer background check and follow the instructions. 

Breakfast:  Breakfast is served in the cafeteria every morning from 7:30 – 7:50 am.  If your child eats breakfast at school please have them do so in the cafeteria during this time.  All food that is brought back to class will need to be disposed of when the bell rings at 8:00 am. (Exceptions will be made for bus riders.)

Classroom Blog:  I have a classroom blog where I post newsletters and important information.  If you would like to follow my blog you can find it at ahawksford.blogspot.com.  Once you are on my blog simply click the blue follow icon on the right hand side of the page.  If you do not want your child’s photograph posted on my blog please let me know.

Academic Areas of Focus for Next Week:

Literacy:        Lucy Calkin’s Reader’s Workshop – Taking sneak peaks

                                                                                    Getting stronger by reading more

                                                                                    Reading in long phrases

                                                                                    Keeping tabs on comprehension

                        Lucy Calkin’s Writer’s Workshop – Writing about small moments

                                                         - Stretching our stories across the pages

Mathematics:  Recognizing, describing, reproducing, and extending growing patterns

                          Mental math

                          Counting by 2’s

Upcoming Events:

            *PTA Meeting – Wednesday, Sept. 18^th 6:30 – 8:00

            *Popcorn Friday – Friday, Sept. 20^th

            *PTA Movie Night – Friday, Sept. 20^th

            *Picture Day – Wednesday, September 25^th

            *August/September birthday celebration – Friday, Sept. 27^th (more info to come…)

            *Grout t-shirt day – Friday, Sept. 27^th  

Have a Great Weekend!

Mrs. Hawksford (ahawksford@pps.net)