Week of September 28

 

Archway Cicero Second Grade Newsletter

Week of September 28, 2020

 

 

Greetings, parents of second grade!

 

IMPORTANT DATES

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
No School		Addition with renaming quiz

 

 

Announcements:

 

Please note that this week begins the new drop off time of 7:40. Please refer to Mrs. Ghishan’s message at the bottom of this newsletter.

 

Please bring Cricket in Times Square to school if you have not already done so.

 

Please remind your scholar that masks should be worn covering their mouth and nose while at their desks. Breaks are allowed but should be asked for by raising their hands. Many scholars are still requiring constant reminders. Please help us keep all of our scholars safe by reminding your scholar at home of our policy and the importance of wearing their mask. For inquiries regarding the mask policy see information from last week’s PSO newsletter.

 

If you are looking for ways to help your child’s teachers this year, there are a number of things you can do:

·       Check your child’s planner daily

·       Donate to the class wish list Amazon Wishlist

·       Donate to the our TPT Classfund (helps provide remote scholar interactive material as well)  TPT-Classfund

·       Send in your unwanted, gently used kid’s activities for our morning bins – 2C seems to really enjoy anything they can build with (legos, plus plus, k’nex), playdough, scrapbooking/crafting materials, beads and pipe cleaners (for making bracelets, etc), and kid-friendly board games. If your child likes it, other kids probably will too!  

 

Thank you to every parent who has so graciously donated to our scholars with their time and finances. Last week we were able to use our new Giant Magnetic Plant Life Cycle model to discuss the life cycle of a plant. Our scholars are loving all of the fun games and activities that have been purchased for our morning bin. We also have two sponsors for our Butterfly Garden, which will allow the scholars to witness the life cycle and metamorphosis of a butterfly firsthand. You are an amazing community of families. Thank you!

 

 

Academics

Math	We will finish our unit with a quiz on addition with renaming on Wednesday, we will begin subtraction with renaming.
Reading	We will begin reading Cricket in Times Square.
Poetry	This week we will continue to read and discuss Some One, by Walter de la Mare, and “There Was A Little Girl”. There will be no recitations.
Language Arts	The students will begin lessons on verbs.
Spalding	This week we will learn 10 words on Tuesday, 10 words on Wednesday, Review on Thursday and test on Friday.
Science	We will begin learning about the life cycles of plants, chickens, frogs and butterflies.
History & Geography	This week we will continue our China unit by learning about the Great Wall of China and various Chinese Inventions. Students will test on China during the last week of the quarter.

 

Regarding Dropoff:

 

Early Morning Club drop off procedure

If you are dropping your scholar before 7:40am please be sure to reserve a spot for your scholar.

 

https://signup.com/go/vFmMVhA

 

Please make sure you pull into the drop off lane closest to the school and proceed thru the teacher parking lot to the teachers on duty.

 

From Mrs. Ghishan’s Letter to Families last week:

 

In an effort to give teachers more preparation time, we are moving back whole school drop off until 7:40 am. If you would like to drop your scholar off before 7:40 am, we will be opening up a morning club. In order to join the morning club, please use the sign-up below to reserve a spot. This will be good for Sept 29th - October 31st.

 

All scholars will then be taken to the gym for quiet reading until 7:40am. This allows our teachers 20 minutes of their morning to lesson plan, set up for the day, etc.

 

Once you have signed up and reserved a spot for your scholar, drop off anytime between 7:20 and 7:40. If you will need this some days, but not others, please put your name down for the month. Please do not drop off if you have not signed up. This sign-up tells us how many teachers will be needed in the gym. With social distancing, we can only accept so many scholars.

 

Please pull through the drop off lanes and take a left into the teacher parking lot. Teachers will be there just as if you were in the drop off lanes to help scholars and take temperatures.

 

Morning Club Sign-Up

 

 

Best,

The Second Grade Team

Week of September 21

Archway Cicero Second Grade Newsletter

Week of September 21, 2020

 

Greetings, parents of second grade!

 

Remote Families:

As you look at this week’s schedule, please take note of a few key changes. These changes apply to this week only. Please continue to look at the weekly schedule in the newsletter to keep up to date with any and all changes as they occur. 

The primary change you will notice is the live zoom schedule for the week. Monday will run normally, however math will be asynchronous instead of a live zoom. Tuesday and Thursday our scholars are taking the Galileo tests. This is the first time our scholars are taking these tests, so we have devoted the entire live zoom to this assessment. Please consider being available to help your scholar with the digital aspects of logging on and navigating the interface of this new platform. The Wednesday math zoom time has been moved by 10 minutes, as is explained below. Friday is an R&R weekend, with no homework. 

 

Brick and Mortar:

Please note this is a large assessment week. Monday we have a history quiz, and Tuesday and Thursday we have our first Galileo assessment. Please see below for information regarding this.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
NO MATH LIVE ZOOM** asynchronous video   Ancient India Quiz	Live Zoom is Galileo at 8:25   Link is in GC>Zooms>Testing	Math zoom is now at 9:30	Live Zoom is Galileo at 8:25   Link is in GC>Zooms>Testing	R&R Weekend (No Homework)

 

Announcements:

 

Thank you to those who have contributed to our classroom from our amazon wishlist! These items truly make our classroom more fun and enjoyable! We are currently looking for more items to restock our morning activity bins! The link to the wishlist can be found here: Amazon Wishlist

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Please join Mrs. Ghishan and Mrs. Brooks for a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 22^nd at 9:15 AM to discuss quarter 2. If you can’t attend, a recording will be sent out following the Town Hall. 

Zoom link: https://greathearts.zoom.us/j/97113904162?pwd=NTI1cWFhTjYzZlZNTjh3N1d1MkpWQT09

We will then be sending out an email to our remote families on Wednesday, September 23^rd asking what your plan for your scholar(s) is for quarter 2. We ask that all remote families reply to that email by Friday, September 25^th with whether your scholar will remain remote or return to the building.

If you already know, please feel free to email Mrs. Brooks at this time (even if you have already emailed her as some families have changed their minds and we want to get as accurate information as possible).

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Sponsor a Butterfly Garden! - In our upcoming science unit, our scholars will be studying the life cycles of plants, animals and insects. We would like to provide a memorable, hands on experience for them in the form of a live butterfly garden. 

Students will be able to see, first hand, all the stages of a butterfly life cycle from larva, to chrysalis, to butterfly. We are seeking a parent from each section to sponsor a butterfly garden for their class. The habitat and butterflies run the cost of about $35 for each section. 

The sponsor will receive a thank you card from the entire class and an invitation to our butterfly release ceremony when they reach maturation.  If you are interested in sponsoring the butterfly garden for your scholar’s classroom please reach out to your child’s teacher for information on how to purchase the apparatus and insects. 

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This week we will be taking the state Galileo test. The students will complete the Galileo reading test on Tuesday and math test on Thursday. Galileo is an internal computerized test that we use to assess growth throughout the school year and guide us on how to better support our students in their learning. Remote scholars will complete this on these days as well, however this will be done independently at home with instructions given via Zoom. A PDF with log-in instructions for remote scholars will be coming to families shortly.  Please make sure your child eats a complete breakfast to help them sustain focus through this lengthy test. This testing will have an effect on our zoom schedule. To accommodate students who will need ample time to finish this lengthy test - we  will halt all normal academic zooms on those days. On Tuesday and Thursday please use the “testing” zoom link in Google Classroom at 8:25 am. SEE ABOVE

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One on one reading with our brick and mortar scholars began this week. For our remote scholars, a signup will be coming shortly to schedule a specific time for myself or Mrs. Wallani to read with your scholar. All remote scholars have been assigned their leveled reader, to be read daily and once a week with a teacher. You will use the same sign up slot every week. The Zoom link will be added to the signup. These appointments must run back to back, so we will not be able to read with late scholars that day. Please look for this signup in your email within the next week.

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Now that we have been in the swing of teaching scholars both in person and remotely - we have noticed that there is not enough time for our brick and mortar scholars to return from recess and be ready for math instruction by 9:20. To allow the kids in our classroom an opportunity to transition smoothly from recess to learning we will need to push the math live zooms on Wednesdays to 9:30 rather than 9:20. This change is indicated in the schedule below. Thank you for understanding.

 Zoom Schedule starting 9/21/2020

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	½ Day
8:10 Spalding 8:50 Writing  10:10 Math	8:10 Spalding 10:10 Math 12:30 Science   ***See Galileo information for 9/22	9:30 Math 10:30 Spalding	8:10 Spalding 8:50 Grammar 10:10 Math 12:40 History   ***See Galileo information for 9/23	8:10 Spalding 10:10 Math	9:45 Math 10:30 Spalding

 

 

 

Academics

Math	We will begin addition and subtraction with renaming.
Reading	We will finish Boxcar Children and begin reading Cricket in Times Square.
Poetry	This week we will read and discuss Some One, by Walter de la Mare, and “There Was A Little Girl”.
Language Arts	The students will review what we have studied thus far in grammar including common and proper nouns.
Spalding	This week we learn 3o new words - 10 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with a review on Thursday and a test on Friday.
Science	We will be starting our unit on life cycles.
History & Geography	This week we will finish our unit on India with a quiz on Monday. We will begin our unit on Ancient China.

 

Best,

The Second Grade Team

 

Week of September 14

 

Archway Cicero Second Grade Newsletter

Week of September 14, 2020

 

 

Greetings, parents of second grade!

 

IMPORTANT DATES

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		Library	Science quiz	Spelling Test Addition without renaming quiz

 

 

Announcements:

 

-Make sure any overdue library books are turned in so your scholar is eligible to check a new one out! If you have lost a book, please replace it and donate it back to the library. Gently used copies are enthusiastically accepted.

 

-Next week we will begin reading The Cricket in Times Square. Please send the book with your student if you have not already.

 

-Leveled reading practice starts this week, and students should be reading out loud with parents 15-20 minutes every night. Please send books back to school on Mondays and Thursdays.

 

-Thank you to the many parents who have asked if there is anything you can do to help us during the time of hybrid learning.  One simple way to help us is to drop off your child later than 7:45.  Historically the morning hours were allocated for teacher prep time, but due to covid we currently host children in the classroom. As we are all trying to balance the things on our plates, the extra time in the morning would help us greatly.  We understand that this is not possible for all families, but if it is possible for yours we ask you to consider it.

 

-Please look for Mrs. Ghishan’s updates  and information regarding the mask policy on Sunday in the PSO newsletter!

 

We have rescheduled our Love and Logic event. We would like to invite you all to join our Love and Logic Parent Night next Thursday, September 17th from 6PM-7PM. Larry Kirby will be going into detail what Love and Logic is and how we can implement it at home. Love and Logic is the discipline philosophy we use here at the school. Whether you are a brand new parent or a returning parent, we would like to invite you to hear and see some of the techniques we use at school to handle those situations where scholars are off task, not following directions, etc. This will be held via zoom and it will be recorded for those who are unable to attend it live. Please use this link to get a sneak peak of what you will learn!

https://vimeo.com/457021494/8818e8903a

 The zoom link is below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

 -Zoom link for Love and Logic Parent Night: https://greathearts.zoom.us/j/9716948021?pwd=aFZ3Vy9jbVpZVXkxQmkaxMUZybysrUT09

 

 

-We do have school this Monday! An old version of the calendar stated otherwise. Please see the Archway Cicero family calendar if there is any confusion.

 

-Please use the following link and see the flyer below if you are interested in volunteering for the GH telethon! https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/187032039720130055/false#/invitation

 

Academics

Math	We will add 2 and 3 digit numbers with renaming. Please continue to practice math facts at home.
Reading	We will continue reading The Boxcar Children.
Poetry	We will continue memorizing “The Year” by Sara Coleridge.  Early recitations will begin Thursday with all recitations due Friday.
Language Arts	The students will review common nouns and continue identifying them. We will do a narration exercise, copywork, and dictation.
Spalding	This week we will continue  learning new words in Spalding.  We will learn 10 new words on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  We will review on Thursday and test on Friday.
Science	This week we will learn more about the water cycle. We will talk about the states of matter, stages of the water cycle and the types of clouds.
History & Geography	This week we will finish our unit on Ancient India and have a quiz on Thursday.

 

 

Best,

The Second Grade Team