Mrs. Heethuis' Second Grade Blog

Hello Families,

I hope you have enjoyed the sunshine today after a crazy couple of days. I wanted to touch base before we begin our 3 week hiatus!

Everything that was sent home is an optional choice for your 2nd grader. I do not want anyone to feel overwhelmed and stressed to get it all in. As news has settled that schools are closing many great resources have come to our attention.

Here are two of my favorites for reading/writing/activities.

The Scholastic Website has preplanned paired reading lessons with activities. I’ve linked the grade 1 and 2 activities. If you do one thing a day, I would pick these! Also, if your child needs a challenge, head the the 3-4 portion of the website!

Also, this is an amazing read aloud site! I found myself listening to a book all by myself in the kitchen today:)

All of this to say, while these next few weeks will be uncharted territory, simply being with your kids is amazing. Play games, read books, bake, take naps and relax.

I look forward to seeing everyone when they return.

Theresa

As February comes to a close, I wanted to touch base with a few updates.

Conferences are in a couple of weeks! The sign-up is live. If you haven’t already, please sign-up here. I look forward to meeting with you.

Our bus tour of Hudsonville is tomorrow! Please be sure to have your 2nd grader to school on time, so they don’t miss the bus.

We are busy learning all about 2 digit subtraction with and without regrouping. This is when the math facts we have been practicing are so important. Keep practicing math facts at home, whenever it pops into your head. Quizzing in the car, at the dentist, and everywhere in between is super helpful.

We have reached our books read goal of 1,300! And, we are approaching the 4,000,000 words read mark toward our 5,200,000 words read goal. The kids are SO PROUD OF THEMSELVES. They are intrinsically motivated to reach their goal. If you could give them a shout out at home, I am certain you would see a smile and confidence come across their face.

Thank you for sharing your kids with me. They are a joy!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out.

Theresa

 

This fabulous class has earned another SOAR party! After a close vote, fort day won the coveted spot. So, this Friday, we will have a fort day. Students may bring ONE blanket in to help build their fort. We will be building open wall forts, so only one blanket is needed.

I hope you all had a restful winter break! We are back at it here at school, and are hopeful for some snow to coat the playground.

Valentine’s Day is coming up. A class list was sent home on Friday. We have 25 students in our class. Please be sure to include a valentine for each student. Our party will be on February 14th from 1-2.

Today is World Read Aloud Day. Check our facebook page all day long for fun read alouds!

We are getting closer to our Reading Goal! We have read 3,307,102 words and 1,266 books! The kids are so proud of themselves. If you think of it ask your child how many points they have.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

I hope everyone had a lovely break with friends and family. We are back at it here at school. Yesterday, we set reading, writing, and math goals for our next units. We did some folder cleaning, as I am sure you could see with all of the papers that went home!

January is one of my favorite months as it is a time to refocus and get back to the basics. The same is true here at school. We are hunkering down and focusing on growing as readers, writers, and mathematicians.

In math we will be working on measurement and graphing. Reading will take us on an exploration of characters, and we will be writing persuasive reviews about our reading.

As always, please reach out with ANY questions or concerns you may have.

Theresa

SPECIALS SCHEDULE
Tuesday: Gym

Wednesday: STEAM

Thursday: Art

Friday: Music

Monday: Gym

Tuesday: STEAM

Wednesday: Art

Thursday: Music

Friday: Gym

Happy Friday!

It was so great to see many of you at the Christmas program on Tuesday. The kids did a fantastic job, and I am officially in the holiday spirit.

There are lots of upcoming events to remember this time of year. Here is what we have coming up.

December 10: Santa’s Secret Shop
December 12: Christmas program DVD order due
December 19: Classroom Christmas party from 1:00-2:00
December 19: Favorite things stocking stuffer swap

*We are looking for 2 more volunteers for our classroom party. If you are able to help, give me a shout. 

Thank you for sharing your kids with me this year! I am thankful.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday with your family.

Theresa Heethuis

Just a few reminders/updates for this snowy Tuesday.

1. The FOOD drive is ON! Peanut butter is in high need this year. If you are able to add a jar to your grocery cart this week, I know it will be appreciated!

2. There is a PTC meeting tomorrow from 7-8! The class with the most parent participation will earn a pizza party.

3. BOOK ORDERs  are going home today. This will be the last order before the holidays. If you would like to purchase a GIFT for your child, just let me know and I will set the books aside. These book orders are due on Monday, November 18th. Class code is RCQZR.

Have a great day!

It’s almost time for conferences! Sign up here to schedule a time to meet.

We have had a fun week this week. Thank you to everyone who came to Literacy Night. It is fun to see families get excited about reading. We also had our first successful social studies day learning all about what a community is. Ask you 2nd grader about our community panel and who was on it.

Halloween is this coming Thursday. Kids may not put their costumes on until after lunch recess at 1 pm. Our party will be from 1:15-2:00 with the parade beginning at 2.

As a part of continuing to build our classroom culture, we have had two restorative circles. The first question asked was, what makes you feel sad at school? The second question we asked was, how to you like others to interact with you when you are sad? The kids did a great job putting their feelings into words and listening to their peers.

We are moving our second social studies day from November 21st to December 6th. Please mark your calendars.

The kids have been doing a remarkable job working toward their 5,200,000 word and 1,300 book reading goal. As of today we have read, 1,028,776 words and 496 books! They are so proud of themselves. Please celebrate this achievement at home. Research shows that reading grows reading!

Specials Next Week:
Monday:Gym
Tuesday:STEAM
Wednesday:Art
Thursday:Music
Friday:Gym