Week of August 27th

Wow! What a great first full week of school. We're still practicing rituals and routines as we continue to get to know each other. This foundation is vital as your child grows and takes risks as a learner this year.

Here's a look back on some things last week.
Some students tried "buddy reading" during Reader's Workshop...

Everyone wrote about what they did this summer. 
They sure had a lot to say!

Several of the children were very eager to practice using an app called "Epic" last week. Epic is a subscription based eBook service for kids with thousands of book selections. Students can search books by subject, genre, and age, and some even have an audio or read-to-me option. You enable access Epic for your child at HOME! 

Look for an Epic note in your child's folder today. 

This week's objectives 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER FORMATION PROJECT (CCFP)

We will read from Genesis 3 and discuss the virtue RESPECT as we learn about how Satan convinced Adam and Eve to sin.We define respect as God's power for you to honor him and others. This week's "Big Question" is, How can you respect God and others when faced with temptations to choose your own way?

PHONICS and SPELLING

A paper copy of your child's first spelling list came home on Friday.   

This week's spelling rule is short vowels. 

You can always access your child's list in several places... the paper copy, your child’s planner, Seesaw, or Spelling City.  

The pink homework sheet is due on (or before) Thursday.  

The first spelling test is also on Thursday. 

If you have any questions regarding our "differentiated spelling approach" please ask.

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES
As we build our reading community this week, our reading goals will include understanding the characters feelings, making text- to-self connections, and answering questions to understand the story's details. 

 

We will also start vocabulary this week!

GRAMMAR 

Mentor sentences are the perfect way to teach grammar and author's craft through examples of excellent sentences from our favorite read-aloud books! This week we'll focus on capital letters and punctuation, through a mentor sentence from the book, Officer Buckle and Gloria. 

WRITING

This week we'll be studying from the masters for inspiration and ideas for writing personal narratives, as we generate ideas for writing using our tiny topic notebooks. 

NEWS AND NOTES

• August 28th - Curriculum Night
• September 3rd - NO SCHOOL - Labor Day 
• September 14 - NO SCHOOL - teacher professional development 
• September 21st - Field Trip to Eckert's Apple Farm 
• September 28th and 29th - Carnival @ LHSS
• Did your child complete the "CCLS Summer Reading Challenge?" You will be receiving information about that free dress day soon, but please feel free to send in whatever your child used to track their summer reading at any point. 

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Week of August 20th

Well, we did it! We survived the first week of school! 

I'm absolutely thrilled to begin this journey with you and all of your precious second graders. As a CCLS graduate, I feel extremely blessed to be back in this loving community as an educator. I pray that we live each day knowing "He makes us brave".

Here's what's in store for the week... 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

This week we will read from Genesis 1, and discuss integrity. We define integrity as God's power for you to do the right thing. As we read, we'll ask ourselves, "How does the goodness of creation show God's integrity?" 

READING SKILLS and STRATEGIES 

This week we will continue to review readers workshop expectations, focus a lot on how to choose "just right" books to read independently, and learn a few specific ways to help ourselves comprehend what we are reading.

I hope you found your child's RED folder in his/her backpack. I encourage your child to use what we're learning at school, at home, and find "just right" books to read while reading independently. Reading to your child also counts towards your child's goal and has very positive effects. 

WRITING

This week in writing we will be working on our summer poster stories. Our focus will be brainstorming topic sentences, a body with details about our summers, and a concluding sentence. This first writing piece helps me get to know and assess everyone's various writing talents. I can't wait for our little authors to take off! 

NEWS AND NOTES

• Elementary campus - school picture day 
• Curriculum Night (for parents) August 28th 7:00pm
• No School Labor Day - September 3rd 
• Did your child complete the "CCLS Summer Reading Challenge?" You will be receiving information about that free dress day soon, but please feel free to send in whatever your child used to track their summer reading at any point. 

I'm so excited for this school year!

Please contact me if you have questions or concerns. 

Mrs. Klug 

rklug@ccls-stlouis.org

BLESSINGS ON YOUR WEEK!

Here's a look back on last week... 

Happy Birthday to Annalise!

We read the book How Full is Your Bucket and discussed how to keep our "buckets full" every day.  Each one of us signed our list of classroom expectations.

Here we are during "readers workshop." 

My goal is for each child to view reading as a purposeful and important part of their lives. Part of that is making their own decisions about their reading. Here we are practicing reading independently... They were so excited to "book shop" and start reading!