Mrs. Lubell

Falling into Fall, Ya'll!

Fall is such a fun time! I love the change of weather, the fun fall activities outdoors, Halloween, and my birthday;) It's definitely my favorite time of year. I hope everyone had a great time at the Fall Carnival! I'm so sorry I missed it - it's one of my family's favorite Timber Ridge events.I received a glowing report from Mrs. Miller, our trusty substitute. She said she had a blast with our students and would love to come back any time! I will be out again this week for Rosh Hashana, but will make sure to send out the Thursday Report and work packets on Thursday.

What's in a name?

 Sight Words, High Frequency Words, Trick Words, Rule Breaker Words - they are different names for the same thing, which are words that are most often used in grade level reading and writing. Many of these words do not follow a spelling pattern or rule, which is why students have to simply memorize them - they can't rely on tapping them out in order to be able to read or spell them. Rote memorization of these words allows students to quickly recognize them when reading and quickly recall them when writing. In the Fundations Program, they are referred to as "Trick Words," since many of them are very tricky!

Some of you have asked for a list of sight words for 2nd grade; please refer to the handout that was distributed at Curriculum Night in Mrs. Graska's room for the words that are focused on in 2nd grade. These are high frequency words that are most often used in 2nd grade writing. We will also be teaching a list of Trick Words through Fundations (if your child is in small group reading). You can see that list here:   Download Fundations Trick Word List These words will be taught in the units we will work on through January. We will then begin a new section of Fundations with a new group of Trick Words.

September 2011

 

There are so many exciting things happening in

our school and our classroom!

• We are working with Fundations to help improve decoding and encoding skills, and already I am seeing kids utilize the skills. If you see your student "tapping out" a word while reading or writing, they are using their Fundations skills! We have learned all of the letter/keyword/sound correlations (ex: "A - apple - /a/") for our 26 letters, and will begin learning digraphs in the next few weeks (ch, sh, th, wh).  

 

• We have just begun a new writing piece on our favorite places. Mrs. Graska read a personal narrative to the class about a child whose favorite place to be was reading in her bed. We talked about all the different senses the author used to help paint a picture in our minds. We've brainstormed a list of places that we love, and will begin our graphic organizers tomorrow or Thursday. If I was writing about my favorite place, I think it would have to be at the beach, in a lounge chair right at the edge of the water so my toes are buried in the sand and cooled by the ocean, enjoying a great book. Ahhhh....

• Don't forget about your book bags - they will go home every Thursday and need to come back to school on MONDAYS. I won't be able to send home any new books until your student returns the ones that went home over the weekend. Don't forget that repeated read-alouds of familiar, on or slightly-below level books builds fluency, an essential skill that boosts comprehension! Please encourage your child to read and re-read their books to whomever will listen:)

• Ask your student about his or her punch card - they love getting their "punches" every day for great behavior, and love even more digging into our candy and treasure box for rewards! Remember, we'd love to have any items you'd be willing to donate to our treasure box!

• Friday, September 16 is a very special day - 2nd grade will be going on a field trip to Safety Village! We will not have class that day.

• Don't forget about the Fall Carnival on Friday, September 23 - it's a great family event, and the highlight is always the Power Shower! Come on our and see if you can hit the target and soak Dr. Doe and Mr. Hill!