December Update

IMPORTANT DATES: 

•  December 13th: Recycle Material Due for Force and Motion toy project
• December 18th: Wrapped book for Book Exchange Due 
• December 19th: Holiday Party 
• December 20th : NO SCHOOL
• December 22nd: Progress Reports available for viewing
• December 20th-January 6th: WINTER BREAK!
• Students return to school on Tuesday, January 7th. Have a wonderful winter break! 

THANK YOU!
Thank you for your generous contribution to our classroom library through the purchase of a new book at the Scholastic Book Fair. The books you purchased have added more great books for our students to enjoy! Thank you!

HOLIDAY PARTY
We will have our class holiday party on Thursday, December 19th. We will be having a simple celebration and a book exchange. A letter regarding our holiday party will be sent home in your child’s Homework Folder.

ELEMENTARY PROGRESS REPORTS-FIRST SEMESTER

Progress reports are available for parent viewing on Saturday, December 22rd. Log on to your parent portal to view your child’s progress report. You will also find a first semester wrap up of your child’s academic learning in second grade. Please take the time to read all the learning, growth and success we have had thus far in second grade. The following rating system is used to determine your child's level of performance:

Exceeds
Indicates a high level of achievement. It indicates a student has a strong understanding of the content/concepts/skills taught and it implies a student can demonstrate understanding independently and with very few errors.

Meets
Indicates that a student demonstrates an understanding of content/concepts/skills most of the time and with limited support. Students who are meeting standards make few major errors or omissions when demonstrating a concepts or skill.

Approaching
Indicates that a student requires moderate support to demonstrate an understanding of concepts/skills. Students' ability to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or skill is inconsistent or infrequent, which indicates a partial understanding of the content, concept or skill. Students demonstrate more frequent errors or omissions.

Does Not Meet
Students who do not meet standards seldom demonstrate an understanding of concepts and skills taught. The student requires considerable support to demonstrate learning and makes frequent major errors when demonstrating his/her understanding.

CURRICULUM UPDATE:

READING
During Reader’s Workshop we are entering the last part of our non-fiction unit, centered around reading across a topic. We are going to dig deeply into a self-selected topic where we are excited to grow our schema by reading and researching multiple sources across a topic. In addition to our non-fiction reading skills we continue to work on reading fluency, building stamina as a reader, and making sure that we are working with a book that we can read with 98% accuracy.

                                    

WRITING:
We are continuing our work with writing scientifically, writing lab reports and ending with “how to” writing. Below are important parts of writing that we are working on:

• Writing as scientists do
• Procedural writing
• Designing and writing about an experiment(s)
• Constructing question(s), writing a hypothesis, writing explicit procedures, sharing results and writing a conclusion that refers back to our hypothesis.
• Plan informational books
• Integrating scientific information into our writing
• Using checklist/rubrics to self assess and plan for next parts

MATH:

We are continuing with our work in Math Topic 4, focusing on addition strategies to fluently add within 100. During these units students will be focusing on the following:

• Using place value (tens and ones) to add and subtract 
• Using an open number line to add tens and ones within 100
• Adding 2 digit numbers using models
• Adding and breaking apart numbers using mental math and partial sums
• Modeling one and two step problems 
• Selecting the most efficient strategy to solve a math problem

                       

We have also started our Friday Flex Math groups! On Fridays, we are now grouping the students across the second grade classrooms for math instruction and enrichment at their level. We are excited for this opportunity to reteach and extend our math content in a different way. These groups are flexible; the groupings may change as our math focus areas shift during the year. We had a lot of fun trying this out today, and we believe this will be a beneficial opportunity for all of our mathematicians!

HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH MATH:

• Helping your child with math:Click Here
• Math Words and Ideas: Click Here
• Investigations Game Center:Math Games

WORD WORK/SPELLING:

It is so exciting to see the progress students are making in their spelling! Spelling groups are formed based on their understanding and application of spelling patterns on weekly assessments, comprehensive assessments, and use in their authentic writing In addition to our weekly test, students were given a comprehensive spelling inventory the last week in November. For most students, our assessments showed that they are progressing at the appropriate pace with their current spelling group. For some students, after Winter Break you may notice they will be repeating sorts or moving to a new sort level if our assessments showed the need for an instructional shift. Please continue to support your child by making sure that their word sorts are practiced daily along with the 5 “No Excuse Words” and challenge word of the week. Using the sorts throughout the week helps your child develop, concretely, the spelling pattern they are working on for the week. The last week in December we will have a “no excuse word” quiz, but there will be no word sorts that week.

SCIENCE:
In science, we are continuing our work with Force and Motion. We have been conducting some experiments and building our background knowledge about friction, gravity, force and motion. We will also be working with Mrs. Fleet on lego building and how force, motion, pushes and pulls all affect the way objects move. To wrap up our understanding of force and motion, students will be creating their own toy that moves. Please see the donation list for ways you can help us gather supplies for this fun, creative science project!

November Update

Upcoming Dates:

• November 8 - Veteran’s Day Assembly (9:00-9:30)
• November 11- No school, Professional Learning for Teachers
• November 18th - 22nd Book Fair (you can also shop online)
• November 20th - Celebrations of Learning/Thanksgiving Feast 

• November 25-29 - No school, Thanksgiving break

Curriculum Update:

WORD WORK/SPELLING:
Your child has had several weeks of getting into our routine of Word Work and Spelling. Please continue to do the daily practice activities with your child. The important thing is that your child learns to identify the pattern (through sorting) and transfer the pattern into their daily writing.

MATH:
We will be wrapping up our Envision topic on measurement. In Topic 12, students are estimating, measuring precisely with inches, centimeters, yards, and meters, and comparing units. This unit aligns with our work as scientists studying force and motion.

After finishing Topic 12, we will begin Topic 4. In Topic 4 we will build upon previously taught addition strategies to fluently add within 100.
During these units students will be focusing on the following:

• Using place value (tens and ones) to add and subtract 
• Using an open number line to add tens and ones within 100
• Adding 2 digit numbers using models
• Adding and breaking apart numbers using mental math and partial sums
• Modeling one and two step problems 
• Selecting the most efficient strategy to solve a math problem

Resources to help your child with math:

• Helping your child with math: Click Here
• Math Words and Ideas: Click Here
• Investigations Game Center: Math Games

READING:

Children are growing knowledge as they read non-fiction text. The following are skills that students are learning and practicing in this unit of study:

   


WRITING & SCIENCE:

Students are learning to write like a scientist as we learn about FORCE AND MOTION:

• Question
• Hypothesize
• Experiment (writing procedures and steps to test the hypothesis)
• Collect data
• Make conclusions

We are conducting some experiments and building our background knowledge about friction, gravity, force and motion.

October Updates

Upcoming Dates:

• Thursday, October 3rd & Wednesday October 9th - Parent Teacher Conferences
• October 7th or 8th- Vision & Hearing Screening (Please be sure to send glasses if your child wears them)
• October 14-18th- Fall Break
• October 31st- Halloween Parties and Costume Parade

Curriculum Update:

READING:
We wrapped up our first Lucy Calkins Reading Unit, Growth Spurt, last week and are currently doing a small Mini Unit Called: Readers Get to Know the Characters. We are studying characters closely and using what we notice to become the characters through Reader’s Theater! After fall break, we will begin a new unit called Becoming Experts. This unit is devoted to reading Nonfiction. During Reader’s Workshop students will be working on the following:

• We continue to build our stamina to be able to independently read for longer periods of time
• Notice and learn about the difference between fiction and nonfiction
• Notice, learn and question
• Identify “What is this book teaching me?”
• Characteristics of Nonfiction (text features)
• Building knowledge of unknown words
• Strategies for solving unknown words
• Adding info across books
• Retell topics not just books
• Lifting your level of thinking

WRITING:
We will be wrapping up our Opinion Writing Unit this month as well. Students have written several letters stating an opinion with reasons and examples. They have enjoyed choosing their favorite books and characters to write opinion letters to family, friends and classmates. We will conclude the unit by connecting our opinion writing skills with our civics unit by writing about a classmate who we think is our “MVC,” or Most Valuable Citizen. In our opinion writing unit students have focused on:

• Collaborating with a partner to plan writing
• Writing to a specific audience
• Using evidence to support our opinions
• Using precise words to describe a character
• Using transition and linking words to strengthen our writing
• Writing conventions including punctuation, capitalization and spelling
• Editing and revising using a checklist

Our next unit (informational writing) will be connected to our science standards and students will write science lab reports and other procedural texts describing our science experiments on Force and Motion.

MATH:
We will be wrapping up our third Envision topic right before Fall Break. In Topic 3, students are learning various strategies to add within 100.

After Fall Break, we will jump to topic 12, which is a short measurement unit and will align with our work as scientists studying force and motion. Students will explore precise measuring with different standard and nonstandard units including inches, centimeters, yards, and meters. They will estimate, measure precisely, and compare units.

HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH MATH:

• Review the in class worksheets with your student 
• Practice fact fluency using flash cards

SOCIAL STUDIES:
We are completing our unit on Civics this week. Students identified what our Roles, Rights and Responsibilities are in various parts of the school and playground. During our Technology Time with Mrs. Fleet we learned about an App called Adobe Spark. Students then collaborated with a partner to create a video describing one pace in our school. Please look at your child’s Seesaw account for the video.

WORD WORK/SPELLING:
Your child has had several weeks of getting into our routine of Word Work and Spelling. Please continue to practice these words with your child (see yellow word study page in homework folder). The idea is that your child learns to identify the pattern (through sorting) but is also able to accurately spell the words as well. So far, the children are making good progress!                              

September Updates

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, September 2 - No School (Labor Day)
• Friday, September 20st- No School (Professional Learning for Teachers)
• Thursday, September 27th- Digger Dash
• October 3rd- Parent Teacher Conferences
• October 9th- Parent Teacher Conferences
• October 14-18th- Fall Break

Curriculum Update:

READING:
During Reader’s Workshop students are working on the following:

• Learning the routines and rituals that will make Reader’s Workshop successful
• Choosing Just Right Books- Books that we can read most of the words without difficulty or can use strategies to figure out the hard words
• Building our stamina to be able to independently read for longer periods of time
• Recording our thinking while reading
• Stopping, thinking, and retelling a story to check for comprehension
• Reading more and more to continue growing
• Strategies to use when words are tricky

WRITING:
Our writing unit is Opinion Writing. During this unit students will be writing letters to share ideas about books (opinions). By the end of the unit students will be able to: 

• Write about an opinion (likes or dislikes) and give reasons why
• Have a good beginning in which you state your opinion and set the reader up to expect the writing to convince them
• Connect parts
• Have different parts, a lot of lines about each part
• Have at least two reasons
• Have an ending that reminds our reader of your opinion
• Chose words that would make your reader agree with your opinion

Conventions are a big emphasis in second grade as well:

• Capital at the beginning of each sentence
• Punctuation at the end of each sentence

MATH:
We are wrapping up Topic 1: Fluently Add and Subtract Within 20
During this unit students focused on the following:

• Math Tools and classroom routines-using manipulatives, number lines, and tens frames
• Understand if order matters when adding two or more numbers together (commutative property)
• Adding and subtracting within 20 using a variety of strategies
• Making 10
• Doubles or near doubles facts
• Fact families
• Counting on
• Using a number line to count on or count back
• Bar diagrams
• Beginning to develop fact fluency within 20
• Understanding the connection between addition and subtraction
• Solving addition and subtraction story problems, sharing strategies for solving, and ways to record

During Topic 2: Work With Equal Groups, students will focus on:

• Even and odd numbers
• Using arrays to find totals
• Making arrays to solve addition problems
• Modeling problems with equations, drawings, and arrays

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Civics- Roles, Rights and Responsibilities of responsible community members.

During this unit we described important characteristics of a responsible community member. We learned that people can express their ideas respectfully within a community. We also explored the idea that responsible community members influence the rules, policies, and laws in their communities (including classrooms).

Communities - We are exploring how communities change, reasons for living in a specific community, and the different types of communities.

WORD WORK/SPELLING: Each student was given a spelling inventory to identify areas of strength and areas to work on. Students were then divided into groups based on their unique needs. Each week your child will come home with a list of words based on a spelling pattern. Please practice these words with your child (see yellow word study page in homework folder). The idea is that your child learns to identify the pattern (through sorting) but is also able to accurately spell the words as well.

Welcome to 2nd Grade

Dear 2nd Grade Parents,

Welcome to Gold Rush Elementary! My name is Catherine Graham and I will be your child’s 2nd Grade Teacher. My goal as your child’s teacher is to foster a love of learning while valuing individuality and striving to meet the needs of each student. I am committed to ensuring a quality of instruction that is both developmentally appropriate and challenging for each student. I am very excited to meet you and your child.

This will be my 19th year teaching in Douglas County. I graduated from the University of Montana with a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and an emphasis in Exercise Physiology. I then went on to complete my Master’s Degree through the University of Colorado (Denver) in Curriculum and Instruction and obtain my teaching license.

This August I will have been married to my husband Kelly for 21 years. We have three beautiful daughters McKenna, Kendall and Delaney. McKenna is 16 years old and is a Junior at Legend High School. Kendall is 14 years old and is a Freshman at Legend High School. Delaney is 8 years old and is a 3rd Grader here at Gold Rush. We also have a 3 year old Gold Retriever Puppy named Dakota! Our family enjoys outdoors activities such as camping, hiking, swimming and skiing. All three of my girls are soccer players so we spend a great deal of time on the soccer field! In my spare time I enjoy running, attending classes at Orange Theory Fitness and one of my favorite hobbies is to scrapbook. We are also HUGE Bronco fans!

I am so excited to meet you and your child on Tuesday, August 6th. Please bring the following with you on August 6th:

• Emergency Dismissal Form (found online in Express Check-in)
• Gold Rush School Directory Form (found online in Express Check-in)
• School supplies - if you ordered a supply kit from school the kit will be delivered to the classroom and there for you at the Meet Your Teacher day.

I am already beginning to plan and get ready for a fun and successful year. Please let me know if your child has a nick name (or other name) that you would like them to be called and written on their name tags.

Please mark your calendar for the following important dates:

• Online Express Check-in July 17-July 31st- Parent Portal You will use Online Express Check-In to update your contact information, pay school fees, and sign up for volunteer opportunities. 
• Families are welcome to come visit our classroom, meet me and drop off your labeled school supplies on Tuesday, August 6th. Please sign up for a time slot by clicking here for the On Line Scheduler use the password digger and then use the student look up tab.
• Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 7th- We will meet outside on the front blacktop for our traditional opening flag ceremony. Click here for a map of our classroom location. All teachers will have a sign with their name on it. 
• Back to School Night for Parents Only is Wednesday, August 21st. We will offer 2 sessions 6:05-6:35 & 6:40-7:10. The principal will share school celebrations and upcoming goals for the year in the gym from 5:45-6:00 PM. We hope you will join us for these informative sessions. 
• We will not have class on Tuesday, August 27th. Each student will come to school for one hour to complete reading and math assessments. Please sign up for a day and time between July 17th and July 31st by clicking On Line Scheduler. Because we value the information we are obtaining on these days, it is mandatory that all children complete the assessments on this day. Please bring your child to the gym and teachers will bring students to their testing locations. Students will conclude their assessment day by having you accompany them to take their school picture. Our Before and Afterschool Enrichment program (B.A.S.E.) will be available on August 27th. Please contact B.A.S.E. as soon as possible as spaces are limited. 

Please let me know if you have another email that you would like me to use and if I did not include someone that you would like to have on this list please let me know that as well.

I also believe that in order for success to occur the student, parents, teacher and the school must collaborate to provide an optimum learning experience. I look forward to forming a partnership with you that is positive and supportive. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to contact me via email Catherine.graham@dcsdk12.org.

Thank you and I look forward to an exciting year!

See you soon!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Catherine Graham