Heading into our last week of August...

Dear 2B Families,

Happy Friday! I hope you all enjoyed this third week of school and are settling in nicely to all of the new routines. Please see my separate e-mail for a link to our Curriculum Night presentation and a few more important notes 😀.

Our first Sign-Up Genius is ready...Friday Volunteers: Miss Monk and I could use your help with Friday Folders and copying. Thank you in advance for signing up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ea8af2e5-2bfriday

Scholar Shout-Outs: This was great teamwork to "Save Fred" (a STEM activity from week 1)!

Here is a glimpse into what is happening next week:

MAP Testing on Monday 8/27: Your child will use a school laptop on Monday for MAP testing. This is so exciting for them because they keep asking when they'll get to use their ear buds! This test is designed to help the children get acquainted with computer based assessments, learn typing skills, and understand how to use a mouse (drag and drop can be tricky). Your child will need their ear buds for Monday. Please make sure they get lots of rest on Sunday evening and a good breakfast Monday morning to help them do their best on their test.

DIBELS Testing: Our DIBELS reading assessment will also take place next week. We are excited to have this one on one time with each of your children. We will be testing nonsense word fluency (looking for phonemic awareness), oral reading fluency (three passages timed for one minute), and comprehension (how many details they can retell from the story, in a sequential order, for 1 minute). We are looking forward to seeing how we can best meet your child's reading needs this school year. We will use this data to inform how we send home our leveled readers.

Poetry: The students will recite Bed in Summer in front of the class this week. As you can tell from this audio clip, they are doing great! I can't wait to hear the recitations again this week. Please make sure to look at their recitation rubric. On Monday, in your child's red folder, you will receive our next poem: Something Told by the Wild Geese by Rachel Field. Please start to work on memorizing stanza 1 with your child.

Literature: We will continue to read Charlotte's Web chapters 10-12. We will talk about what character traits make a good friend, and identify friendships in our lives that have virtuous character traits. We will create a "class web" by throwing a ball of yarn to a classmate while telling them why they are such a great friend!

Spalding: Please continue to practice phonograms and handwriting at home with your child (3-5 minutes of phonogram practice each evening is a great goal). Thank you for your diligent support with handwriting.

Spelling words for next week...

Monday: better, water, round, cost, price, become, class, horse, care, try
Tuesday: move, delay, pound, behind, around, burn, camp, bear, bare, clear
Wednesday: clean, spell, poor, finish, hurt, maybe, across, tonight, tenth, sir

Writing & Grammar: We will work on central ideas of a narrative passage, commands, and questions. We will also learn and review the rules of punctuation and capitalization.

Here are links to the Grammar Jingles we've been learning in class:

Sentence Jingle
Noun Jingle
Verb Jingle

Math: We are heading right into our math facts! Addition, subtraction, and looking at word problems. What are some word problems you and your child can create from everyday activities like grocery shopping, or cooking?

History: We will continue our study of the geography of the Americas this week. Your child will learn about the West Indies, specifically the island of Puerto Rico. We will also study the countries in South America. Ask your child to tell you who Simon Bolivar is and where the Andes Mountains are.

Science: We will finish up our unit on the seasons. The last season we will talk about is summer! Ask your child about how the Earth's tilt affects the seasons.

Love,

Mrs. Dombrowski & Miss Monk