To start the year off, we will compose a classroom book. The pages will be given the first week of school. The children will work on them independently. Parents can view it at Get Acquainted Night. If I had any of your other children, theirs will be available as well. Every morning, a warm up paper will be on your child's desk to be completed. It may be a fun sheet, color sheet, or a review sheet of a certain skill. Technology is used throughout the year. We use the Odyssey program. A schedule will be used on a weekly basis, so every student will have an assigned day. A pretest and post test will be given to monitor your child's progress throughout the year. Enrichment activities will be given as well. Scholastic Book Club - Fliers will be sent home every month. If you are interested in purchasing the discounted books that are offered, please fill out the form and return it with a check made out to Scholastic Books. If you have multiple orders you can send the forms together with one check. Cash is also another option. Behavior Chart - I use a behavior chart throughout the year. Children are striving to get Wyoming Area colors. "Green" shows that your child is cooperating and doing well. "Yellow/Gold" shows a warning, so try harder. "Orange" shows a consequence, such as a time out. "Red" shows an action will be taken, such as seeing the principal or building coordinator. If your child reaches the orange or red color, I will notify you through their planner or a phone call. A planner is a great teaching tool that starts in second grade. The PTO supplies them to each child. Your child will be responsible to write down their homework every day. I will initial it at the end of the school day. After your child does their homework, please sign or initial it. Tests/Quizzes - I will be sending home tests and quizzes for you to review. Please sign them and return them with your child. I want you to know how your child is doing. Progress Reports - A progress report reflecting your child's progress will be sent home during the first semester. It will give you a briefing as to how your child is doing. Please review, sign, and return it. Reading Logs - A monthly log will be sent home to promote reading 15 minutes a day. When your child has completed the log they can return it to receive a prize. I will give them a new one to work on. There is no set date so they can read at their own pace. Reading Incentive Charts - Independent reading is encouraged. Each child has a chart in the back of their reading journal. When they read a book they write down the title in the back of their journal. They will keep track of all the books they read throughout the year. I will meet with the children two times a week to ask them about the books they read. They will receive a sticker for each one they tell me about. A prize will be given for reading so many books. When the chart is filled, another one will be started. Math - Every day there is a Problem of the Day. Children have all morning to answer the problem. A different child will be picked daily. Their answer must be correct. The child will pick from the sticker box. Spelling - A list of words will be given for each story and reading/writing workshop throughout our reading series. A 5 day outline will be followed. Exceptions will occur when there are shorten weeks due to days off. Please check your child's planner daily. In order to encourage and make reading fun, your child should make a word box to store spelling cards, high frequency cards, and vocabulary cards. A shoe box or some sort of container can be used and decorated by your child. These words will be used throughout our language arts units all through the year. A set of these words will be sent home during each of our stories. Practicing these as often as you can will increase your child's sight word capacity, spelling, and vocabulary.