Transcript Ms. Decker’s Third

Welcome to Second Grade!
About Us
Mrs. Zdolshek
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Live in Chagrin Falls with husband and two sons
20+ years teaching experience
Preschool thru grade 3
Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction
3 school districts
Miss Hunter
 Graduate of Kenston High School in 2009
 Studied early childhood education and early childhood
intervention at Ashland University
 3 field experiences in other classrooms
 Kindergarten and 1st grade
My Beliefs
My teaching philosophy is influenced greatly by the Responsive
Classroom approach where social and academic learning go hand-in-hand.
My goal is to create a community within our classroom that values each
person, their ideas, strengths and differences. My intention is to create
an inclusive, warm and safe environment where children feel free to take
risks and be themselves.
What is the Responsive Classroom approach?
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A way of teaching that creates a safe, challenging, and happy
classroom and school-wide climate for all children.
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Maintains that all of children’s needs—academic, social, emotional, and
physical—are important.
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Focuses on teaching all the skills needed for academic excellence—
from reading, writing, and math skills to turn-taking, listening
respectfully, and working effectively with a partner or group.
How Does Responsive Classroom
Look and Sound?
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Daily Morning Meetings set a positive tone for the day and build a sense
of belonging while giving students practice in key academic and social
skills
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Teaching children the specific skills they need to participate
successfully, from how to respond to a signal for quiet to how to
respectfully disagree with a classmate.
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Treating mistakes as part of the learning process
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Providing clear expectations for behavior and stopping misbehavior
quickly so that students can focus on learning
How Does Responsive Classroom
Look and Sound? cont.
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Using positive language–- encouraging children to work hard and enjoy
learning
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Using the 3 R’s: Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting
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Teaching in ways that build excitement about learning—giving students
choices, working in partnerships and small groups, and discussions
where students share ideas, information, and questions
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Giving children opportunities to reflect on their learning.
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Communicating often with parents and welcoming them as partners in
their child’s education.
Reader’s Workshop
Reading is at the core of everything we do in school. Our
reading program is literature-based and incorporates fiction
and non-fiction texts. It focuses on decoding and comprehension
strategies, vocabulary instruction and application, and thinking
skills on a variety of levels.
Here are the components of Reader’s Workshop:
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Whole group mini-lessons
Guided Reading
Daily Five
Independent Reading
Daily Five
The Daily Five is a literacy structure that teaches independence and
gives children the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and
writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When
introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds like,
and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the children work
on building their stamina until they are successful at being independent.
Here are the components of the Daily Five:
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Read to someone
Listen to reading
Work on writing
Word work
Fluency/comprehension
Writer’s Workshop
We will use a workshop format to learn about writing. After a mini-lesson
students will explore a skill using their own topic. This year the students
will write narrative, persuasive, and expository writing.
We will focus on:
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Writing complete sentences using correct punctuation and capitalization
Using the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and
publishing) to arrive at a finished writing piece
Adding detail to our writing
Word Study
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A developmental, student-centered approach to phonics, spelling and
vocabulary instruction where children learn how words work instead of
memorizing the spelling of individual words.
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Students work through two-week cycles ending with an assessment. New
features will be introduced on a Monday and the assessment will be given
on the following second Friday.
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Assessments include practiced and new words that follow the features
studied.
How Can Parents Help with
Word Study at Home?
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Look for your child’s words at the beginning of each cycle
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Help your child practice by doing the activities listed online
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Remember – the focus of the Word Study approach is NOT
memorizing a list of spelling words. The focus is to learn how to
apply the spelling feature to any word that includes that feature,
both while writing and reading!
Math
This year we will be using Envision Math as our math program.
Our areas of focus will be adding and subtracting small and large numbers,
place value, measurement, time, money, fractions, geometry, multiplication
and division.
Watch for a student sheet to come home with your child each day. This
sheet will indicate which Common Core State Standards were addressed in
the lesson. Please refer to “A Parent’s Guide to the Standards for
Mathematical Practice” as you go over the student sheet with your child at
home. These standards describe practices and abilities of good
mathematical thinkers.
Social Studies and Science
We will continue to reinforce and practice reading and writing skills as
we study a variety of social studies and science topics. The following
are included in our units of study this year:
Social Studies
 Citizenship rights and responsibilities
 Mapping skills
 Landforms
 Economics
 Culture and Heritage
 Famous Americans
Science
 Forces and Motion
 Weather
 Plants and Animals
Snacks and Birthdays
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Please help your child pack a healthy snack to eat during the morning.
The students may bring a water bottle (with a sports top, please!) to
keep at school.
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Birthday treats are welcome and fun! We usually celebrate birthdays
during morning snack. If your schedule permits it, you are welcome to
join our class as we celebrate your child’s birthday. Please send
individual treats, not a birthday cake. We have 22 students in our
class this year.
Homework
Each child in second grade will receive a homework packet on Mondays,
and it will be due on the following Monday.
Homework will include:
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Reading at least 100 minutes each week
Math fact fluency practice and worksheets
Word study
Math homework
What You Can Do at Home
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READ, READ, READ!!! Spend time reading to and with your child
and have your child read to you. Showing your child that you value
reading by enjoying your own books, magazines, and newspapers in front
of him/her will also model the importance of reading and the enjoyment
that comes from it!
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Practice math facts and concepts by playing card, dice, and computer
games with your child.
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Encourage writing by having students write thank-you notes, letters to
grandparents, poems, shopping lists, etc. Children are more likely to
want to write when it is meaningful for them.
We’re ready for a great year!
Thank you for coming!