Letters From Miss Justen
Welcome to Second Grade!
I am looking forward to a fun year of learning with your child. Below you
will find some general information about what to expect this year.
This year those students who are Catholic will be receiving the sacraments
of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. We prepare for this in class
and you will also be receiving information at parent meetings as the time
approaches. For those students who are not Catholic, we warmly invite you
to attend the First Communion Mass in April.
Each morning we take approximately 5 minutes for a snack. Please attempt to
send healthy snacks with your child. Also, please consider the short time
frame and the ease and messiness of the snack you are choosing. In the past
I have had children bring perishable snacks that they hardly begin by the
time snack time is completed. Snacks such as oranges are a wonderful
choice, but the peeling can take the whole time; sending it already peeled
may make it easier.
Homework is meant to take no more than 20 minutes a day and should be
completed with a pencil unless otherwise specified. If you are finding that
the homework is taking a great deal longer than 20 minutes, please let me
know so we can make some modifications. If for any reason your child is not
able to complete the homework, please just jot me a quick note either on
the homework sheet or in his or her planner.
To meet the needs of all students, reading, math and spelling work may vary
based upon the needs of the student. As they did in first grade, the
students will be divided into guided reading groups based on their reading
level. Math and spelling may be modified as well, if the need is there.
You will be receiving a bi-monthly parent letter from me. It usually
contains what we will be working on in each subject in the following weeks,
as well as any reminders or announcements.
At some point during the school year, your child will be bringing home a
‘Star Student’ chart. Each child in the class has a couple of weeks in
which we will display his or her chart. Prior to this I will send the chart
home with the student for you to fill out together. It is entirely up to
you whether you or your child fills it out. Some parents have written the
answers the child gives them while some students have written all their own
responses. It is meant to be a fun activity, so do whatever works best for
you! You will be getting the chart back after we are done displaying it in
class.
Each month I will be sending home a reading calendar. Please attempt to
have your child read at least 15 minutes each day and then record the
amount of time on the date. When the month is over, please sign the
calendar and send back to school with your child.
Attached to this letter you will find two items:
1) A blank envelope. This will be used for the Flat Stanley project. For
those of you who are unfamiliar with this project, it is based upon the
part in the book in which Flat Stanley is placed in an envelope and mailed
to visit a friend. Each child will draw a flat version of himself and mail
it, along with a letter, to someone for a visit. Our hope is that whomever
receives the flat person, will write us about his adventures and then send
the flat person to someone else, so that the adventures may continue.
Please help us with this project by addressing the envelope to a friend or
relative who lives out of state, affix a stamp and send it back to school
with your child as soon as possible. Thank you!
2) A paper lunch bag. This we call our ‘Mystery Bag.’ We use this bag
to choose who is up next for the ‘Star Student’ chart. Please place
three or more small items in the bag (without your child being aware of
what those items are) and send back to me by the end of the second week of
school (please do not mark the bag - we don’t want to know who the owner
is until we’ve opened the bag!). Some parents have closed the bag and
sent it to school with their child, others have dropped it off or sent it
back with an older child in the school. Bags are chosen randomly, and once
we have figured out whose bag it is, that child gets to explain the items.
Keep in mind that these items will be returned, but for some that may not
occur until the end of the school year – don’t send something you
can’t live without!
Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help you.
God Bless,
April Justen