Welcome to the Room 5 Hive!

A homework packet will be sent home each Monday, to be returned each Friday. Weekly homework will consist of the following:

 a.  spelling:  students will receive a list of 16 words that cover all of our second grade spelling standards. The students will be given a pre-test each Monday and then a final test on Fridays. This should provide you with a shortened list of words your child needs to practice for the final test. We ask that you help your child learn these words and understand the meaning of the "academic vocabulary" words prior to Friday's test. The final test will consist of the 16 words and two short senteces that include a few of the spelling words. This is a new spelling program we're trying out this school year. If your child is struggling and not making sufficient progress, please contact me and we'll make whatever accomodations or modifications are necessary.

 b.  1-2 math worksheets: please go over you child's math worksheet to check for understanding before he/she turns it in.

 c.  a writing assignment:  please help your child to brainstorm some writing ideas prior to doing the writing assignment. When they have finished, help them to proofread their work. I suggest writing misspelled words correctly above your child's writing. Please don't turn in "perfect work". I need to see the students' errors in order to meet their different needs.

 d.  a grammar or reading comprehension worksheet

 In second grade, your child should be reading for at least 15 minutes each evening, either independently or to an adult.  If you need appropriate reading material for their reading level, I do have decodables you can borrow from me.

 Lastly, I want students to be responsible for getting their homework turned in every Friday morning. Students who fail to turn in their homework will sit on the bench for the first recess on Friday. If there is a good reason for why they do not have their homework, please write me a quick note to excuse them from sitting on the bench.

After reading last week's writing homework, it has ocurred to me that many of the students are not sharing their writing with you, the parents. It is essential that you go over your child's writing homework with him/her to go over spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors, because I can't have one-on-one conferences with each of themm each week. Many of you already read through your child's writing and correct the spelling above/below the incorrectly spelled words. Thank you!

I've noticed several students keep misspelling the same words, most of which are sight words. If you would like to know the sight words that second graders should know, check out this site:  http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htm  Miss Ruth is working with a handful of students every Tuesday and Thursday specifically on sight words, but they may need more practice at home. A quick Google search for "sight word activities" will generate tons of resources to help your child learn how to spell sight words.