WE had a great first week of school! Your students are all "smart cookies!" We made clay cookies to demonstrate our determination to meet our goals this year. They should be done by Friday.
   Thanks for all of the support at Back-to-School Night. It was fun for me to meet the family that goes with your child. I understand here are a lot of other commitments too, so the information went home in their Friday Folders. Here is a recap:
     1. We use the planners to write messages on the left side (you can write on the right) Spelling words will be written in it on Monday. (They can also be found in the Homework section of this blog...short vowels this week) Please jot down your child's reading minutes on the calendar page. right now we are on page 11.
     2. Math Packet is the homework for the month. Do a page or 2 every day to review math facts. This one is due by October 1st.
     3. I am glad to see so many students kept reading over the summer. 20 minutes a day is our goal.
     4. If you are available to be a parent helper, we need you from 9:55-10:55. Monday is full, but there are openings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It won't be for a few weeks, just let me know if you are available.Thanks!
   I am looking forward to another great week! You'll see a spelling pretest tomorrow.

Second Grade Weekly Study Skills

Unit 1, Week 1 (The Twin Club)

Below are the skills and vocabulary we will be working on for the next 5 days.  (*Please note: our literacy lessons are based on 5-day plans that may or may not align with a M-F schedule. In an effort to teach the entire grade level core, we will send home the “weekly study skills” on the day that we begin a new 5-day instructional sequence.)  You can support your child’s literacy skills by reviewing, discussing, and practicing the skills and concepts below:

Big Idea/Big Question (This is the theme of our unit in class.)	Question of the Week (This is the theme/question for this week’s instruction in class.)
Exploration:  What can we learn from exploring new places and things?	What can we learn by exploring different communities?
Phonics Skills (These are the letters and sounds we are learning in class.)	Spelling Patterns and associated Words (These patterns connect to our phonics skills we are learning this week.)
Short vowels and consonants	Short vowels and consonants: rock   list   desk   job   sad   chop  sack  tag  rib   mess   dust   drum
High Frequency Words (These reading words should be practiced and memorized.)	Story Words (These reading words are words from this week’s main selection.)
beautiful   country   friend   front   someone   somewhere	cousins   meadow   parents   promise
Oral Vocabulary (Try using these words in your conversations at home.)	Handwriting Practice (Students can practice the writing of these letters in manuscript this week.)
downy  founders  investigate  muttered  perch  rural  unanimous  urban	Aa, Dd, Oo,