Pioneer Elementary

Second Grade
Mrs. Greene Rm. S-1

Dear parents and families, Welcome to your childs second grade year at Pioneer Elementary School! I am confident that this year will be filled with lots of learning and fun. Being a teacher isnt a one person job. Ill need your support at home to really make this year successful. I will be working to provide each student with a sense of community, success, and a meaningful curriculum. Your child will benefit from an arts approach to learning that incorporates the eight different intelligences. This enables students to build meaningful connections and learning experiences. This makes the process of learning more meaningful and relevant, while providing a positive community and learning environment for students. I look forward to working closely with you to ensure a successful year for your child. Please feel free to contact me anytime by calling me at the school or emailing me. Respectfully,

Kimberly Greene
855-4100 greene.kimberly@meridianschools.org

Behavior Plan and Expectations 1. Be a good friend

Use kind words Share and take turns Everyone is included Raise your hand to talk/ do not call out Use your manners, please and thank you Keep you hands to yourself Everyone follows directions Help each other Be Flexible In class, students behavior and choices will be monitored by a color card system. The colors I use are green, yellow, red and black. Green= Awesome behavior and excellent choices. Yellow= Warning given for poor choice or behavior. Red= Poor choices or behaviors continue, loss of recess and written apology. Black= Poor choices or behavior continue, loss of recess and call to the parent. ***I try to prevent misbehavior by setting clear expectations, praising students who are behaving appropriately, and being fair and consistent. ***If you ever have any questions or concerns about your child in the classroom, please feel free to contact me.

2. Be Respectful

3. Work as a Team

Why I assign homework:

Homework Policy

I believe homework is important because it is a valuable aid in helping students to make the most of their experience in school. I give homework because it is useful in reinforcing what has been learned in class, prepares students for upcoming lessons, teaches responsibility, and helps students develop positive study habits. When homework will be assigned: Homework will be assigned Monday through Friday nights. The homework information for the following week will be posted to the class web page. The weekly news letter will have the spelling and vocabulary words and reading log will be posted separately. You will also see a link to Spelling City on the web page, find the list that matches the story of the week to practice our spelling words. Students homework responsibilities 1. Read aloud to an adult 15 min. M-F. 2. Practice spelling words and vocabulary definitions. 3. Math practice (choose a fun web site or print our activities posted to our class web site) *** Second graders should not spend more that 20-25 min. a night on homework. 4

Reading Aloud: I am confident that every parent wants their child to become a lifelong reader. Research shows that the single most important factor in determining a childs success in reading is the actual amount of time the child spends reading books. For our weekly homework, students will be able to print out a weekly reading log to fill in each night for the reading homework. Students should spend a minimum of 15 minutes reading to an adult each night. Fill in the amount of time read and the book title with parent initials. This reading log program is designed to encourage many parent-child interactions with books during the school year, and to instill a lifelong love of reading in our children.

Spelling Words: Your child should practice the weekly spelling words. Spelling tests are given on Friday, or the last day of the week. The spelling words for each week can be found in our weekly news letter along with the spelling pattern and vocabulary words.

Math Practice: Students may visit one of the math web sites or print out math activities posted to our web page. 5

Special Projects: Occasionally, your child may have a special project to complete at home. It will be important that you are supportive and assist your child. It is also important

that each child completes homework and other assignments with integrity on his or her own merits.
With your support your child will gain pride and empowerment with his or her accomplishments and capabilities.

Absences: If your child is absent, please call the office at 855-4100 and state your childs name, your childs teacher, and why your child is absent. If they are late or tardy please have them check in at the office before coming to class.

Birthdays: If you are planning a birthday party for your child and are going to invite the whole class, you are welcome to pass out invitations at school. If you are unable to invite the whole class, please do not send invitations or thank you cards to school. Too many tears are shed when someone feels left out. If you are planning to send treats (pencils, stickers or a healthy snackfruit, pretzels, graham crackers) for your childs birthday just call ahead or send a note to let me know when. We will serve birthday treats at lunch in the cafeteria or pass them out at the end of the day. You may either bring them by at lunch time or send them to school with your child. ***In compliance with district policy regulations

for birthday treats, we are unable to serve cookies or cupcakes to the class.

Book Orders: You will have the opportunity of ordering books a few times during the year from Scholastic. Often the prices are significantly reduced. This is a great way to get inexpensive books for your child. Directions for placing your order on-line will come home with the book order flyers. Orders usually take two or three weeks to arrive. Friday Folders: Your child will bring their homework folder home each night. On Friday the folder will have your childs school papers, graded assessments and notes/ flyers from the school or PTA. Review your childs papers, and help your child correct any mistakes. Set aside time each night for homework. Please read the classroom and school newsletters. Then return the folder the following school day.

Health Concerns: Please tell me if your child has allergies, asthma, or other medical concerns. We will spend some time reviewing healthy habits at school, like hand washing, bathroom and eating habits.

Nutrition:

Many children at this age still need a morning snack.

If your child complains about being hungry between breakfast and lunch, you are welcome to send a healthy snack to school. Your child can eat it in the classroom before or after morning and afternoon recess. Veggies, fruit, a slice of cheese with crackers, or a small yogurt are some examples of healthy snacks. Please dont send cookies, soda pop, candy, or other items with sugar or corn syrup listed in the first three ingredients for a snack.

School lunches: Our school cafeteria offers two meals a day. There is a breakfast and lunch service. At lunch time the students will have two choices. Check the lunch menu daily so you and your child can prepare for school lunches. If your

child does not like either choice please send a cold lunch that day. If a parent or other adult would like to join a

student for lunch, they will need to order their hot lunch or salad early that morning from the cafeteria. For the first week of school there will only be one choice at lunch, this will make things easier for our cafeteria staff. ***Also please stay informed with your childs lunch

account. If they are overdrawn your child may be asked to call you before they are able to eat. I will do my best to make sure the lunch money notes from the cafeteria come home the day they are received.

Water bottles: Students are encouraged to bring water bottles from home. They will be able to keep their water bottle in their cubby and bring it to P.E. if they wish. 10

Classroom Volunteers
There are many volunteer opportunities available in our classroom. I look forward to working with you to support your children. Confidentiality of what goes on

in our classroom is a key to making school a safe place to learn and make mistakes. Please understand that
just as I would not speak about your child to another parent, I cannot discuss other children with you.

Another key element to volunteering is dependability. Please give advance notice if you are going to be late or are unable to come. I am grateful for all the time and support donated to our class. Your time and efforts are truly appreciated.

Transportation: Please let your childs teacher know if you make other arrangements for transporting your child to or from school. This helps us keep your child safe.

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Box Tops: Pioneer PTA sponsors the collection of box tops for our school. Throughout the year each class has the opportunity to collect as many box tops as they can. The class with the most box tops collected wins a class party. The PTA redeems the collected box tops to earn money for our school.

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