Welcome to the Second Grade Page

Summer Mathletics Assignments

All students going into grades 1-8 have 2 assignments on www.mathletics.com over the summer: (1)Complete 10 Focus Activities with a score of 80% or higher (you’re allowed to do it over if you don’t get 80% right away); (2)Play Live Mathletics: 50 times for incoming 1st and 2nd graders; 100 times for incoming 3rd and 4th graders; 200 times for incoming 5th–8th graders.

Because this is all done online with each student having his or her own password, there is nothing to bring to school in the fall to show that you’ve done your work. Teachers can access each student’s report online. However, you may want to use the chart from the June 9th Blue Envelope to track your progress. If you lost the chart, it’s okay. Just create a chart of your own. You don’t have to turn the chart in to your teacher. It’s just to help you keep track of your progress throughout the summer.

Even though you may already be familiar with Mathletics, ALL STUDENTS should check out the student guide from the website. Go to www.mathletics.com. Click on “home” at the top of the screen, and then click on “guides” at the bottom of the screen. Then click on “Mathletics for Students.”

If you have trouble accessing the website, call 1-866-727-0840. The Mathletics customer service number is 1-866-387-9139. If you have any questions, or if you lose your username or password, you may contact Miss Patterson at ppatterson@mountcarmel.org. She will check her e-mail every few days over the summer.

For those of you who were so excited about this assignment (yippee!) that you started working on it before Friday, June 11 . . . you may notice that some of your Activity choices have changed, or that some of your results seem to have been erased. Don’t worry; everything’s okay. You’ll still get credit for what you’ve done. Your work will still appear on the online report that your teachers see, even if it’s disappeared from what the students see. On Thursday, June 10, all students were transferred into the next grade, which caused these issues.

One last thing . . . a few students asked if they may do the Test at the end of each Practice Unit and have that count as 2 Activities (since the Activities are 10 questions, but the Tests are usually about 20 questions). YES, you may!

Have a great summer . . . Your teachers can’t wait to see how much you’ll have accomplished by the fall!

Sacramental Program

The sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion are received by the students during their second grade year at Mount Carmel School. This is a parish run program designed to be taught by the parents-the student’s primary educators. As their teacher, I assist in this preparation by assigning chapters to be completed. These are reviewed in class.

The children have completed the chapters in both of their Sacramental books. First Communion was on Saturday, April 24, 2010. Congratulations.

Thank You Parents and Friends!!!

The Second Grade and Mrs. Scherba would like to thank all of the parents who have helped out throughout the year so far:
Thank you, Mrs. Giovannetti, for monitoring our online book orders.
Also, thanks to all the Parent Helpers that have helped with Hot Lunch, the Scherba Store, Halloween, Christmas Secret Santa Shopping, and those parents who drove on our field trips to Sunset Magazine and the creche exhibit.
We are blessed to have talented parents who are willing to give of their time.
Open House went well. Thank you to those of you who assisted in the reception.

The second grade would also like to thank Mrs, Sammons for working on the Second Grade yearbook pictures. She yearbook pages look wonderful!!

A special ongoing thank-you to Mrs. Harper (Ella’s Mother). On Wednesday afternoons Mrs. Harper comes in to work with the children on their writing skills. Thank you so much!!

Another huge thank you goes to Mr. Lim. God sent Mr. Lim to our school this year. Once a week he has been working with the second graders on understanding the church and Jesus better. We love his lessons and have learned a great deal from him.

We appreciate all your help and support!!

Homework

Every Monday the children receive homework for the week. Assignments are listed under the date due. The students practice responsibility by taking home the assigned work, doing the paperwork, studying for tests, reading, and returning their completed work on time. As parents, please check with your child that they have brought home everything they need and that the work your student does is correct. Help your child learn how to study for tests. I spread tests out throughout the week and tell the children days in advance so they can be well prepared. Encourage them to study a little every night so they are learning the information well instead of memorizing for the next day. When children are asked to reread or review material this can be used as their reading for the evening.
Homework should not be a chore. If your child is having trouble with any of the homework please let me know.

Sharing Days

The second graders have sharing days Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Click on the Sharing Schedule to view when your child is scheduled to share. There is also a worksheet that goes home to help the children prepare for their speech when they are sharing. The children need to fill out then entire page with a Topic (broadly what they are going to talk about), one or more Star Idea(s) (specifically the first idea they will address), and transitions (how they will connect the two ideas, specific words: also, next), and a Conclusion (sentence to wrap everything up).

Class Bear-Noel/Noelle

Noel/Noelle is the second grade classroom bear. This stuffed friend goes home on a rotating basis with each child in the class. The bear has a journal to write in while visiting with each student. The children are to write for Noel/Noelle. I encourage them to write a CREATIVE adventure story in the first person. Please help them to use their imagination to write about traveling into space or under the sea.
This stuffed animal can be put into the washing machine and fluffed in the dryer. The clothes in his/her suitcase were all washed this summer (Thank you Mrs. Sochan)

Scherba Store

We have a Second Grade Store. The children earn money during the day that they can then spend in our class store. The store is stocked by donated items such as small toys, party favors, pencils, stickers, etc.. The items are sold by parent volunteers who act as store clerks and help the children count, add, and subtract their money. The more volunteers the more the children get to practice their math skills. Thanks to all those that have offered to help. Please join in the fun – donate and come in to sell!

First and Second grade play

The First and Second grade students performed the play My Town My World in May. They did an excellent job. All their hard work paid off and the show was enjoyed by everyone.

Enrichment

Computers

We have been working on our typing skills in computers. The children have been working hard on keeping their fingers in the proper positions, as well as using the computers websites to practice vocabulary, math, and geography. We have also begun to use Word. The children are learning to set up a Word document as well as write, change the font and size, and manipulate different aspects of the document. This will help children greatly in the coming years.