This newsletter provides an update on the activities and learning in Mrs. Ealy's 2nd grade class. It discusses the class's progress with routines and behavior, as well as what topics they are focusing on in different subjects like math, reading, writing, health, and more. It also shares announcements about upcoming events and a new student joining the class.

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2 Grade News
Mrs. Ealy’s Class
October 5, 2012
Letter from Mrs. Ealy Next Week’s Specials
Dear Parents,
Students are doing a great job with routines and procedures. Monday – P.E. (Wear Sneakers)
Everything seems to be falling into place, however, this is definitely a Tuesday – Art and Computers
social class; at this point the children are still requiring many reminders Wednesday – Music and P.E. (Wear Sneakers)
to focus on work and/or listening instead of chit-chatting. Many students Thursday – Library and Music
have had to move their name to yellow or orange this week. Most of this Friday – Wellness
has been from not following directions, doing their work, or worrying
about others instead of themselves. If it is ever something more serious
I will let you know  We also started to use the second part of our
What We’re Learning About!
behavior system. If your child comes home with a blue or purple that is Math – This week we continued to work on addition facts. The
a GREAT thing! Students who are making smart choices and being students learned about a variety of “tricks” to help them with their
model second graders have a chance to move up to these colors. Blue facts. We learned about doubles facts, turn around facts, +0, +1, and
is for being a great role model and purple is the highest for being an +9 tricks, and fact families. Be sure to ask your child about these new
excellent student. strategies! Students were also introduced to an addition facts chart in
Thank you for all of the support with math homework this their math journals. Each student also cut out their first set of fact
triangles to help them practice in class!
week. I know the first full week of homework can feel a little
overwhelming, but the students have been doing a great job!
Reading – During reading this week we added a new strategy to our
Thank you to everyone who sent back their conference note.
café wall. We now have check for understanding to help with our
If you have not sent the bottom portion of the note to school to let me comprehension and cross checking to help with our accuracy. Cross
know if you will be attending, I sent another one home today. Please checking is when a student comes to a word they aren’t sure of and
look for it in your child’s binder. they ask themselves: “Does the word look right, does it sound right,
This week we had to say good bye to our friend Heather as and does it make sense?” We have also increased our reading stamina
she moved to a new school in Livonia. We wish her the best and it was to 27 minutes!
sad to see her go! However, we are very excited to announce that we
have a new student in our class! Her name is Shelby and she came Writing – Independence is a key component of Writer's Workshop
from Holly. Everyone has been very supportive and has helped her with because it's what allows the children to get the most out of their
all of our routines that are in place. Welcome to our class Shelby! practice time; it also affords time for individualized instruction. It is for
Thank you to everyone who donated to our Fun Run! As of this reason that we've focused heavily on achieving independence
this morning we were at $9,500! Donations will still be trickling in within the writing process this week. To do this we learned about how
throughout the day. We hope to reach our goal of $10,000! Please we can solve some of our own problems such as, "My pencil broke." or
look for the final count in next week’s newsletter. "I have to go to the bathroom" without involving the teacher. We also
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. spent some time learning about the Revision step. We learned how to
Remember you can reach me by our folder, by email, or by phone. make 'revision decisions' when we finish a story. Revision means 'to see
again' and we strive to get the students into the habit of always taking
Sincerely, a second look their writing - there is always something that we can
Mrs. Ealy improve upon.
Health – This week we finished our health unit on feelings. Students
• Please remember to return library books every Thursday!
learned about the WIN strategy to use when they have a disagreement
• Please practice tying shoesDates to Remember
Upcoming Events and at home! with another student. W is for What Happened, I is for ideas on what
to do, and N stands for Now Act! We took an assessment on the unit
Oct. 8 OPC Meeting which will come home next week. We did a mini lesson on germs and
how to prevent them from spreading. We also started out first lesson
Oct. 15 Market Day Pick-Up on nutrition 
Oct. 17 Parent Teacher Conferences
Oct. 23-26 Book Fair
Oct. 25 Parent Teacher Conferences