Families,

It is still not looking like there is the chance for a snow day in our future but we will see! Our Valentine’s Day party was a success so thank you to all of the parents who helped to make it possible–it was our final holiday party of the year. Take a peek at what we’re working on and what’s ahead in second grade:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• The 2nd graders will be taking a Hudsonville History Tour on Friday, February 28th. We will spend some time at the Hudsonville Library and taking a quick bus tour of our community. Please have your child at school by 8:45 that day and we will return by 11:30 (hot lunch will still be an option).
• Our next Early Release Day will be Friday, March 6th. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences will be on Monday, March 9th and Wednesday, March 11th. Be on the lookout for conference sign ups coming soon!

Reading: We will continue to look at fluency and how we can make our reading sound and begin to read in partnerships and learn how to talk about the same book with a partner.

Writing: We will continue through our poetry unit and look at word choice, adding repetition to our poems, and how to capture a certain mood through our writing.

Math: We will continue to practice strategies for subtraction (100-64 and 73-49).

Phonics: We will be looking at vowel patterns and words with a long vowel sound.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

It sounds like you all had a wonderful break! While we had a short week, we were able to get back into routines and be productive. We also got to celebrate World Read Aloud Day with lots of good books! Take a peek at what’s coming up:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our Valentine’s Day Party will be Friday, February 14th from 1:00-2:00. If you would like to help us celebrate, please make sure you have a background check completed first! Also, a list of our classmates came home last week to help with valentines. If your child would like to send in valentines, please make sure they have one for each classmate. They can start to bring them in Monday, February 10th.
• Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday, February 14th by 4:00pm. Order online using the class code NNX2P!
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, February 21st. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• XtraMath codes came home last week. Please utilize this program at home to help your child with fact fluency!

Reading: We will continue to learn strategies to help us become fluent readers. We will focus on using meaning to read more fluently, reading at a just right pace, and recognizing literary language.

Writing: We will continue to learn how to write our opinion about books. We will focus on gathering more evidence to support our opinion and noticing when to use a capital letter (character names, book titles).

Math: We will begin unit 4 where we will learn how strategies to subtract from a 2-digit number (ex: 20 – 8 = ___) .

Phonics: We will continue to look at spelling big words by using different strategies and looking at vowel teams.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

We have a short week ahead of us with our mid-winter break! Since our weather has not given us any snow days it will be nice to have a few days off :). Take a peek at what’s ahead!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Don’t forget there is no school Monday, February 3rd-Tuesday, February 4th for mid-winter break!
• Scholastic book orders are coming home today! If you wish to order any books, please do so online using the class code NNX2P and place all orders by Friday, February 14th at 4:00p.m.
• Don’t forget our Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is going on right now!
• A class list is coming home today for valentines! If your child wants to bring in valentines, please make sure they have one for everyone in the class (we have 26 kids total).
• Our Valentine’s Day Party will be on Friday, February 14th from 1:00-2:00. Please come join our celebration but make sure you have a background check completed!
• Our next Early Release Day will be on Friday, February 21st. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• I am sending home a login and password for XtraMath for your child. Please utilize this math resource at home on a computer, tablet, or phone. It is a great way for your child to practice basic math facts and allows them to move up levels to continue to challenge themselves!

Reading: We will look at how we can make our reading more fluent–read longer phrases and talk like our characters (using dialogue tags).

Writing: We will have the chance to take a break from writing our opinion about books and write our opinion about any topic.

Math: We will review story problems and take our unit 4 pretest.

Phonics: We will continue to look at how we can build longer, more complex words by looking at each syllable, checking for vowels in each syllable, and using words we already know to spell tricky words.

Have a great break!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Important Dates:

• Alward will be having a Culver’s Night fundraiser Tuesday, January 21st. It will go from 5:00-8:00 and I will be helping serve food from 6:30-8:00! There is a blue flyer coming home today with more information–I hope to see you there!
• Remember there is not a paper copy of the Scholastic order this month but if you would like to order books you can still do so by viewing the online flyer and order using the class code NNX2P. All orders must be submitted by 4:00 on Friday, January 24th.
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, January 31st. Dismissal will be at 12:15. This will also be an ORANGE spirit day to help us celebrate reaching our next school wide Reading Counts goal!
• Please remember to send your child with the appropriate winter gear! We have some cold and snowy days ahead and will still be going outside for recess!

Reading: We will take a deeper look at our characters and talk about character traits and how/if our characters change.

Writing: We will continue through our unit of how to write our opinion about books. We will look at retelling important parts, keeping our audience in mind, and using a checklist to set writing goals.

Math: We will begin measuring shapes using inches and learn how to read and draw line plots.

Phonics: We will play some games to help us master our troublemaker words and practice writing out full sentences (focus on spelling these words correctly, starting with a capital letter, and adding punctuation).

Looking forward to a great week!

Miss Reisdorff

Happy Monday!

I apologize for the late blog post! We settled back into our routines and academics last week and these second graders have been doing a great job! Take a peek at what is ahead:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• There is not a book order that is being sent home this month; however, if you want to check out the website and view the catalog electronically (there are some great new books!) you can still order that way. Don’t forget to use the class code NNX2P and order by Friday, January 24th at 4:00p.m.
• Culver’s Night is Tuesday, January 21st. I will be serving food there from 6:30-8:00! I hope to see you there :).
• Our next Early Release day is Friday, January 31st. Dismissal is at 12:15.

Reading: This week we will be focusing on characters and what we know about them/what’s happening in our story to make predictions.

Writing: We have started our new unit that involves letter writing and opinions….this week we will focus on writing a letter to someone based on our opinion about books we’ve read!

Math: We will continue to measure shapes (in centimeters), identify shapes (hexagon, pentagon, quadrilateral), and will also learn how to read graphs.

Phonics: We are playing a series of games to help us master our snap words and troublemaker words!

Here’s to a great week!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

We are approaching our final week together before Christmas break! I can’t believe we are already this far into our school year and can’t wait to return in January for the rest of our year! Take a look at what’s ahead:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Next week we have a spirit week–check out the Alward Action for more details (Monday: Baby It’s Cold Outside, Tuesday: Candy Cane Lane, Wednesday: Happy Holidays, Thursday: Deck the Halls, Friday: Long Winter’s Nap).
• Please continue to send in goodies for our stocking bags! This will take the place of a class gift exchange this year. Please bring in a small item for each student (25 total)–these can be homemade or store bought but please keep in mind we are a peanut free classroom!
• Our Christmas Party will be on Thursday, December 19th from 1:00-2:00. We have some parents working hard to plan an awesome party for us! If you would like to attend, you must have a background check completed.
• There will be no school December 21st – January 5th for winter break. Have a warm, safe, relaxing, and fun time with family and friends!
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, January 31st

Reading: We will listen to a holiday read aloud and complete an activity on that character (elf, Santa, gingerbread man, and reindeer).

Writing: We will continue with our “Holidays Around the World” celebration. We will “travel” to countries like Mexico, Brazil, Russia, and England to learn how they celebrate holidays.

Phonics: We will learn about -ies, -ied, -tion, and -ly endings.

Math: We will continue to practice math concepts we have learned so far by playing some fun math games!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

It was an exciting week with snow on the playground! It looks like our cold weather is here to stay. There are lots of events coming up in the month of November (including our first holiday break). Take a look at what’s ahead!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Today we kicked off our “2R Kindness Jar.” We are going to spend the month of November focusing on random acts of kindness for others. Each day, kids will have the opportunity to pull out a random act of kindness from our jar (ex: ask someone different to sit with you at lunch, tell someone a joke to make them smile, give someone a compliment, etc.). As kids continue to do random acts of kindness throughout the month, they can add their own ideas to our jar to encourage others to do their kind acts!
• Scholastic book orders are due Friday, November 15th by 12:00p.m. If you want to order please use the class code NNX2P and place your order online!
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, November 15th. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• Don’t forget to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences if you have not already done so! They will take place on Monday, November 18th and Wednesday, November 20th.
• There will be no school Wednesday, November 27th – Friday, November 29th for Thanksgiving break. Enjoy this time with friends and family!
• A reminder that we still go outside for recess in the snow and cold so please send your child dressed appropriately. Now that there is snow kids will need hats, gloves, coats, boots, snow pants, scarves, etc. to stay warm!
• A few of you have asked if we are in need of any donations or how you can help support our classroom…we do have an Amazon wishlist with some books and soft start materials that would benefit our classroom if you are interested! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3RXDD6Y0JHLDJ?ref_=wl_share

Reading: We are now reading nonfiction books on the same topic! We will learn how to add to our current knowledge base on a topic, think about how information is connected, and compare what is the same and what is different between books.

Writing: We will learn how to edit our writing for our audience, write different types of nonfiction books, and learn from nonfiction authors.

Math: We will learn strategies for 2-digit addition and how to add numbers where the sum is over 100.

Phonics: We will learn strategies for how to read words with a soft c and g and silent e at the end, words that end in ge, and the sounds/silence of gh.

Enjoy your weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Well, we survived out first holiday party and the month of October! We have a busy month ahead in November with conferences and Thanksgiving break. Take a look at what is ahead in 2nd grade!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Because our Halloween parade ran a little late, we did not make it to library yesterday. We will be going to library on Monday, November 4th AND Thursday, November 7th to try and help us stay on schedule.
• Scholastic book orders are coming home today. If you would like to place an order, please do so online using the class code NNX2P. Orders need to be submitted by Friday, November 15th at 4:00p.m.!
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, November 15th. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• Conferences will be on Monday, November 18th and Wednesday, November 20th. Stay tuned for conference sign ups.
• There will be no school Wednesday, November 27th-Friday, November 29th due to Thanksgiving.
• Please make sure your child brings appropriate cold weather accessories for recess. We will always go outside as long as it isn’t raining and we have some cold days ahead!

Reading: We will learn how to reread like experts, use topic lingo to teach others, and grow knowledge across a topic.

Writing: We will learn how to edit confusing parts, set writing goals, and fix up spelling mistakes for our readers.

Math: We will learn how to combine hundreds, tens, and ones, compare numbers within 200, and more strategies to help us solve 2-digit addition.

Phonics: We will learn about the hard and soft sounds of C and G.

Stay warm this weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Hi Families!

We have an exciting week ahead with another SOAR Celebration and Halloween on Thursday. Take a look at what is ahead for us in 2nd grade!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Monday will be our “hibernation day.” Students are invited to wear pajamas and bring in a blanket for the day (no stuffed animals please :))
• We will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, October 31st. Our party will be from 1:15-2:00 and the school parade will be at 2:00. If you would like to attend our Halloween festivities, please make sure you have a background check completed prior to Thursday! *please do not send your child to school in their costume–they will have time to change*
• Our next Early Release Day is on Friday, November 15th.

Reading: We will continue reading nonfiction and learning how to use context to figure out unknown words, how to solve unknown words, and reread like experts.

Writing: We will continue writing nonfiction and learning how to help our audience picture information, grab an audience’s interest right from the start, and how to keep the audience in mind.

Phonics: We will continue to learn strategies to break apart long and challenging words!

Math: We will learn how to draw tens and hundreds, represent numbers in different ways, and how to combine ones, tens, and hundreds.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

It is hard to believe we are already nearing the end of October! We have enjoyed celebrating our learning so far and diving into our new nonfiction units in reading and writing! These kiddos are continuing to grow into amazing readers and authors!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our Book Fair will be open next week! Our “look day” will be on Monday and our “buy day” will be on Wednesday.
• Alward’s Annual Literacy Night will be on Wednesday, October 23rd from 6:00-7:30! Our book fair will be open and we have many fun activities for you to enjoy! Please RSVP if you are able to attend and we hope to see you there!
• Our Halloween Party will take place on Thursday, October 31st from 1:15-2:00. More details to come! If you would like to attend please make sure you have your background check complete.
• A few of you have asked if we are in need of any donations or how you can help support our classroom…we do have an Amazon wishlist with some books and soft start materials that would benefit our classroom if you are interested! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3RXDD6Y0JHLDJ?ref_=wl_share

Reading: We will learn how to understand, use, and look out for keywords in our nonfiction books.

Writing: We will set goals and make plans as writers and think about our audience and what they might want to learn from our nonfiction writing.

Math: We will wrap up unit 1 with a review and test and then take our chapter 2 pre-test.

Phonics: We will look at multisyllabic words and how we can break them apart by part and syllable to become better readers and writers!

Social Studies: A reminder that Friday is our first social studies day! We will be learning about communities and even hear from a panel of community members.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff