READING
Second graders should be reading for 15 - 20 min. each night. Each month they will keep a record
of the books they read at home. If a child fills up his/her "Free Choice Reading Record," parents can
print out another from my "Handouts" page.
It's important to continue to read aloud to your child often, as well as to have him/her read aloud to
you. Especially for children who are struggling with decoding, listening to stories that they are
unable to read themselves helps them to maintain a love of reading and to continue to develop their
understanding of text structure. Many emerging readers enjoy a bedtime routine of reading one
story aloud to their parents and then having the parent read one to them. Another possibility is to
share the reading.
WORD STUDY
Each Monday, children will bring home a new word sort. They should practice sorting the words into
the highlighted categories a few times before they glue down their word cards. Children will match
up rhyming words and think of other rhyming words. If there are any homonyms, they should review
the differences. They will complete their review pages and practice the words for their spelling
review quiz on Friday. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE PURPOSE OF THIS WORD STUDY IS NOT JUST TO
LEARN HOW TO SPELL THESE WORDS, BUT TO IMPROVE THEIR PHONICS SKILLS SO THAT THEIR
SPELLING WILL IMPROVE IN DAILY WRITING. Word Study also improves children's decoding skills in
reading.
WRITING
Beginning with Sort 9, second graders will write at least four sentences each week using at least
eight of their spelling words from Word Study. Please remind your child before he/she starts to put
forth his/her best effort, to write thoughtful sentences, and to use neat handwriting. All homework
should be completed in pencil. When your child finishes, please remind him/her to check his/her
own work with the checklist at the top of the page. Parents often ask if they should correct their
children's spelling. No. Encourage your child to stretch out the sounds and to spell words
thoughtfully. Encourage him/her to refer to the yellow word card to correct the spelling of high
frequency words. If necessary, you can print out a new "Writing Sentences" homework sheet from my
"Handouts" page.
MATH
Each Wednesday, second graders get homework pages or a game to play. Math homework is meant
to reinforce concepts children are learning in school or to provide extra practice in skills they are
developing. Math homework is due on Friday. CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS EXPECTED TO SHOW THEIR
MATHEMATICAL THINKING WITH PICTURES, NUMBERS, OR WORDS, and all homework should be
completed in pencil. When solving story problems, they should get into the habit of referring back to
the question and writing their answer in a complete sentence (borrowing words from the question).
Optional weekly math challenges are NOT based on what we are doing in school. These are meant to
provide extra challenge for students who complete the regular homework relatively quickly/easily.
These challenges are meant to stretch children's problem solving skills. Parents should please resist
the temptation to show your child how you would solve the problem using algebra, division,
traditional algorithms, etc. You can help your child best by making sure they understand the
question before they begin. Then ask your child how she/he might solve the problem. Let them try
various strategies to find a solution. Their strategies will reflect their own mathematical
understanding. Children benefit from the opportunity to expand their problem solving skills,
increase their flexibility of thinking, and develop perseverence skills when answers are not
immediately apparent. They also need to learn to check their answers to see if they make sense.
