Happy Fall                                               Language Arts        We are well into our Reading Workshop. The students have settled into the routines. Each morning begins with a focused mini-lesson on behaviors that strong readers demonstrate.I do lots of modeling during this time. Then students are sent back to their seats to read independently and I circulate conferring with students. Next the students transition into partner reading while I see Guided Reading groups. We are truly a community of readers!! They have been consistently using strategies when reaching difficulty. Some examples of this are rereading, thinking about what makes sense, and looking for "chunks" in words. We are focusing on story structure and comprehension. We are identifying the problem and solution of a story, its main characters and setting. Students have been able to sequence stories and give accurate, detailed retellings. We will continue to work on this throughout the year.  Another reinforced skill in second grade is fluency. We are practicing reading so it sounds like we are talking. I am pleased with their progress. I would like to thank you all for your support at home. The class has an outstanding record for reading their nightly books and completing all homework assignments. I attribute this to you, such supportive and invested parents.           We have a new Spelling program this year. We have been working on short and long vowel patterns, digraphs and blends. Our Spelling units are going well. This program incorporates phonics, word families, editing and dictionary skills. The results of the first few quizzes have been fantastic! Thank you for all your help at home.            We have started our Writing program talking about feelings and how to "show not tell" these in our writing. For example, instead of writing "Sam was angry", we can really describe what angry might look like. "Red -faced Sam stomped to his bedroom and slammed the door."This should help our stories to become more detailed, descriptive and lengthy.  We will continue to work on personal narratives and zooming in on small moments. The children have a real sense of beginning, middle and end. We continue to write each Friday in our Newsbooks. Thank you for responding to the students. It helps give them a purpose for their writing.                                                    Math       We have been working in Math stations this year. We have three groups going at the same time. Mrs. Engengro, Mrs. Franklin and I each have a group for 20 minutes then we rotate. It is a wonderful opportunity to work with a small group and really adjust our teaching to fit the needs of that particular group. We have been building upon many skills from first grade such as: addition/ subtraction, patterning, greater than/ less than, money, time and continued practice with Math Box routines. Math is off to a great start!                                              Social Studies           We will focus on "Communities Past and Present, Near and Far" in the second grade. We will begin with family, classroom, school, neighborhood, town, state, country and world. Incorporated in this unit will be ancestors and immigrants. Around the holidays we will focus on celebrations around the world.                                               Science  We began the year with a unit in the FOSS kits, Pebbles, Sand & Silt. It was a big hit! Other units this year will be Balance and Motion and New Plants.            In closing, a special thanks to all your support at home. We are off to a wonderful start in second grade. Your children are terrific. I look forward to getting to know you better and working as a team to help your child feel successful at school. Thanks again.