Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. Responsive Classroom - What is it?
2. What books should my second grader be reading?
3. What is your HOMEWORK policy for second grade?
4. Why is it so important to read every night for 15-20 minutes?

Responsive Classroom - What is it?

There are seven basic principles underlying this approach:*

1.  The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum. 

2.  How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and 
content go hand in hand. 

3.  The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction. 

4.  There is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful 
academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, 
and self-control. 

5.  Knowing the children we teachindividually, culturally, and 
developmentally is as important as knowing the content we teach. 

6.  Knowing the families of the children we teach and inviting their 
participation is essential to children's education. 

7.  How the adults at school work together is as important as individual 
competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community. 


The Responsive Classroom approach includes the following main teaching 
strategies and elements:*

Morning Meeting: A daily routine that builds community, creates a positive 
climate for learning, and reinforces academic and social skills. 

Rules and Logical Consequences: A clear and consistent approach to 
discipline that fosters responsibility and self-control. 

Guided Discovery: A format for introducing materials that encourages 
inquiry, heightens interest, and teaches care of the school environment. 

Academic Choice: An approach to giving children choices in their learning 
that helps them become invested, self-motivated learners. 

Classroom Organization: Strategies for arranging materials, furniture, and 
displays to encourage independence, promote caring, and maximize learning. 

Family Communication Strategies: Ideas for involving families as true 
partners in their children's education. 


Through high expectations and a strong academic program, students will 
begin and maintain the lifelong learning process which will prepare them for 
the challenges ahead and the importance of becoming a contributor to their 
community. 
 
                             What can you do at home?

1. Family meetings for relationship building, problem solving, and planning 

2. Positive common language: I notice, show me, remind me 

3. Family-generated rules and logical consequences - You break it, you fix 
it, misuse it, lose it, loss of privilege, thinking time 





*From the book itself :  The Responsive Classroom

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What books should my second grader be reading?

Recommended Read Alouds


	Magic Tree House series
	Beverly Cleary books
	Flat Stanley series
	The Chocolate Touch
	Chocolate Fever
	Charlotte's Web
	A to Z Mysteries series
	Snot Stew (sounds gross, but its about two puppies and the children 
love it!!!)
	Junie B. Jones books
	Ramona Series
	Boxcar Children
	Flat Stanley

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What is your HOMEWORK policy for second grade?

Mrs. Michelle Brooks Homework Policy

As per district policy and in the parent handbook, 10 minutes per grade 
level, plus reading.   For second grade it will be 20 minutes plus reading 
every night.  

Homework is ALWAYS reinforcement of skills covered in class.

Spelling:  

	Spelling packet which will be due on every Friday.   This teaches 
responsibility of due dates, flexibility with schedules at home as well as 
providing a choice in completing a task.  After the first marking period, if 
need be, differentiated (challenge) spelling words will be assigned. 

Math:

	A math sheet will be assigned.  This math sheet is reinforcement of 
the skill taught in class.  The math assignments are differentiated according 
to the childs needs. 
R- reteach 
P-practice
E-enrichment
PS problem solving

Reading:

To become a better reader, is to practice!  This can include
	Practicing sight words on flash cards
	Re-reading poems for fluency
	Re-reading stories for a better understanding. 
	Enjoyment of their own free choice reading 

Having your child read to you at bed-time is a great way to settle down and 
to spend quality time together before bed.  

I strongly encourage 15-20 minutes of reading and would like children to keep 
track of their reading time on a reading log.  This will be provided on the 
backside of the homework sheet.  These will be due on MONDAY!!!

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Why is it so important to read every night for 15-20 minutes?

Why Should Your Student Read 

Twenty Minutes Every Night? 

 



 

LET'S FIGURE IT OUT --- MATHEMATICALLY! 

Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week; 

Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all! 

Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.
Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 minutes/week
Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes 

Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month. 
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month. 

Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year.
Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year.
Student B reads 720 min. in a school year. 

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year.
Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.
By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same 
reading habits, 

Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days.
Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.
One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened 
considerably and so
undoubtedly, will school performance. 

How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student? 



Think about these things:

 Which student would you expect to read better?
Which student would you expect to know more? 
Which student would you expect to write better? 
Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary? 
Which student would you expect to be more successful in school....and in 
life?

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