Dear Family and Friends of 2-1,
This is our big day! All the children are ready to explain their projects to you and welcome you to 2-1's Butterfly House.
There is no reading this weekend and there will be no homework next week or reading during the holidays. There will be reading folders sent home on Monday and Tuesday.
My wish for all is to have a safe and happy holiday with your families.

My Best,
Mrs. Goodyear

December News

Hi Everyone,
It was great to meet with everyone and discuss your child's progress. This month we are studying about Mexico, volcanoes, and finishing our butterfly projects. Please send in a large piece of poster board for your child to construct their 3-D butterfly. We will do as much as we can in school but I may need to ask for a little help from home. Other items that may be useful are paper towel and toilet paper tubes, pipe cleaners, styro-foam ball for head and colored tissue paper. For some reason I can't access my g-mail account so if you look at this, please let other parents know! As we get closer to the holiday, I try to ease up on the homework a little to give everyone time with family activities. Thanks for all your help. Mrs. Goodyear

Thanksgiving

This week there will not be a spelling list or homework for the kids. I prefer that you spend time discussing your families traditions and taking a break. We have been working very hard in second grade. This afternoon we will be taking the science unit assessment. Their science notebooks will also be coming home. Please take a few minutes to look at them and review with your child. Tomorrow will be the last practice for the musical on Wednesday. Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving to all. Mrs. Goodyear

This week and next we are practicing for the second grade musical Thanksgiving and studying about the Pilgrims and their voyage on the Mayflower. Our musical is on Wednesday, November 24, 2009 at 9:30 am. The children are asked to wear a white top and black pants. Thank you for your cooperation!
All our work is themed around Thanksgiving. We are researching the Mayflower and the Pilgrims for a report.
In Science we will be finishing our insect unit with a Butterfly show on December 18th at 1:45-2:30 pm. Please join us! The children are looking for information both at home and at school in the library and computer lab. We will be writing and constructing our butterflies in school. We hope to see you at our spectacular show!

Language Arts

Guide for Observing Reading Behaviors

Behaviors to Notice -

Behaviors indicating independence:

§ gets started quickly

§ works continuously

§ makes attempt before requesting help

§ actively searches to solve problems

­Behaviors indicating processing:

§ rereads to confirm

§ rereads to search and self-correct

§ makes several attempts

§ uses information from pictures

§ uses language structure to predict and check

§ uses visual information

§ checks one cue against another

§ self-corrects most errors

§ notices mismatches

§ recognized many frequently encountered words quickly

§ makes predictions using more than one cue

§ reads with phrasing and fluency

Behaviors indicating a positive response to reading:

§ participates actively during story introduction and discussion

§ discovers connections between personal experience and story

§ participates with confidence and enthusiasm

Basic Outline of the Literacy Model of Instruction

Guided Reading – building comprehension and fluency with reading; exposing students to a wide range of literature daily:

§ vocabulary building

§ literature circle

§ oral/silent reading

§ application of pre-reading, reading and post reading strategies

Self-selected reading – building fluency and confidence in students as readers at their independent levels.

Spelling for writers - developing numerous strategies; develop ability to look at, listen to, and think about words and extend that learning into becoming fluent writers.

§ study words from inside out

§ understand where words come from and why they are spelled the way they are

§ transfer knowledge of word patterns into their writing

§ learn proofreading techniques that are applicable to all writing

Writing-The 6 Traits - designed to support the writing process by giving students a language for thinking about writing and by breaking the writing, revising and editing into small chunks using;

§ ideas

§ organization

§ voice

§ word choice

§ sentence fluency

§ conventions