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Keys for success in 2nd grade
Dear Parents,
I am so excited to get to work as part of
a team with you this year in your child's educational success. At school, I
will be there to facilitate their learning, but when they come home, you have
many opportunites to extend their learning as well.
Some things you can do at home to ensure
your child continues their success in school are:
~Read, read, read!
~Ask questions! Just so you know, we never
do "nothing" in school... your child should always be able to tell you
something we learned during the school day!
~Check your child's HORSE nightly. This
will keep you up to date on their homework assignments, and on Friday it will
give you an opportunity to look at all of the wonderful things your child has
been working on in class.
~Help your child get a good night's sleep
so they are alert and ready to learn in the mornings.
~Arrive on time. In the first hour of
school, we do a short block of independant work time that helps me monitor
student growth and progress. We also begin shared reading, where you child
will learn many skills to help them become a better reader. Missing a few
minutes a few times a week really adds up to a lot of lost instructional time.
2nd grade grading scale
In
2nd grade, your child will receive grades of:
S+ (exceeds expectations)
S (meets expectations)
S- (below expectations)
U (unsatisfactory)
Usually, your child
can receive an S+ on a test by scoring above a 94%.
An S is usually given
for test scoes between 93%-75%.
An S- is usually
awarded for test scores between 74%-60%
A score below a 60% will be awarded a U.
The percentage based grading scale does
not apply to classwork or writing assignments. Because the grading criteria
differs from assignment to assignment, I cannot give a set criteria that I
will always be looking at when grading classwork or writing assignments.
The scale will also differ by the number
of problems being graded. For example, a student who misses 1 question out of
20 math problems, will be awarded an S+. A student who misses 1 out of 4,
would receive an S.
This scale is subject to change
and is based on the teacher's discretion.
Last, I would like to share with you some
thoughts on nightly reading. Thank you Mrs.
Taylor for sharing the idea.
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Wondering why nightly reading practice at
home is so vital to your child's reading success?
Consider this...
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
minutes 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 5th grade
if Student A and Student B maintain
these same reading
habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 50 whole school days.
Student B will have read the equivalent of only 10 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?
Some questions to ponder:
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?
Turn off the TV for 20 minutes a night and
read....it's worth it!
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