Today in class we watched a short film about the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. If your student was absent and would like to watch this film , they can watch it here. Or if they need a review before they fill out this weeks science worksheet , they can watch this video again.

Here is a list of questions we focused on while we watched this film:

• How many stages does a monarch butterfly go through before it becomes an adult?
• Do the male and female adult butterflies look the same?
• What colors are monarch butterflies?
• What kind of food does a butterfly eat during each of the stages it goes through?
  

MONARCH BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE MOVIE

Homework Schedule & Policy

MONDAY : Math & Reading
TUESDAY: Science & Reading
WEDNESDAY: Language Arts & Reading
THURSDAY: Math & Reading
FRIDAY: Yellow Homework Folder Should Be Returned

All homework assignments for the week will be sent home with the students on Monday. These homework assignments will be located in the student’s yellow homework folder. This folder is to be returned on Friday with all of the homework assignments completed. The schedule I listed above is to help the students complete their homework in a timely manner. If your child happens to misplace their homework, extra copies can be found on the side panel of this blog. The homework is listed by subject and it will be updated each week with the new assignment.

HOMEWORK POLICY

Expections for Family Involvement:

• Establish a quiet, well lit study area.
• Help your student work to find the answer to the problem, don' t just give them the answer.
• Be supportive when the student gets frustrated with hard assignments.
• Contact the teacher if you have and questions.

Expecations for Students:

• Show parents yellow homework folder.
• Find a quiet, well-lit spot to study
• Produce quality work.
• Ask questions when you need help and work independently when possible
• Turn in homework on time. Consistent late work will result in a call home.

Homework is important because it teaches responsibility and helps students develop good study habits. In addition, homework helps to reinforce lessons that have been learned in class, and helps prepar students for upcoming lessons and tests.

Classroom Rules and Procedures

The first day of class was a success. Everyone seemed to have tons of fun. Today was also a very important day, because we created our classroom rules and learned the classroom procedures. As a class we collectively came up with our list of 5 classroom rules. I have the rules listed below, as well as on the side panel of the blog. These rules are established to help make our classroom a safe and happy learning environment for all students.

1. We listen to each other and take turns talking

2. We take care of the classroom

3. We are prepared learners

4. We are friends who help each other

5. We have calm bodies and make safe choices

Today we also practiced our daily classroom procedures, which we will continue to practice throughout the week. Those classroom procedures consisted of learning how to raise our hands, how to do daily jobs, and a number of other important classroom tasks. Students are given a new job every day. Those jobs include but are not limited to : pencil sharpening, watering the plants, line checker, homework collector, and others. I believe giving children daily jobs will help them to feel more apart of the classroom environment. Not only does it give them some responsibility , but the daily jobs also make the class day run smoothly.

Bonus Activity : Families can help their child to understand these rules by asking them to explain and show how they are suppsed to act in the classroom setting. You can ask your child to demonstrate certain rules or classroom procedures for you.

Fun at Home Activity: Work on developing your own daily jobs at home. Make them short tasks that children would not dread doing.

Welcome to Second Grade

Welcome to our classroom’s blog. This blog will contain information for both the parents and the students. I will update this blog periodically, so it would be wonderful if you could find time to check it at least once a week. I will be placing lots of information on this blog, from weekly homework assignments to special upcoming events. From past experience blogs have been a wonderful way to communicate with parents. When I send home newsletters and updates with the children their is always a chance that they could be forgotten on the bus or at school. This blog allows me to keep parents informed about daily classroom happenings, without having to only rely on a paper i sent home . Learning how to navigate a blog can be confusing for new users, so if you ever have any questions about how a blog works feel free to ask and i will try my best to give you an answer. My contact information can be found on the right panel. I look forward to an exciting year and meeting all of you on the first day of school.