Welcome to Second Grade!

Welcome!  I would like to welcome you, as well as your child to second grade because this year will truly be a joint venture between parent, child, and teacher.  This year will be a busy one of learning and growing.  Please take a few minutes to read over this handbook with your child.  It contains information about homework, communication, and school polices.  Thank you!

Methods of Communication…
 -You may email me at jbishop@wcpss.net and I will respond within 24-48 hours (often sooner).  Please do not send emails regarding changes in your child’s transportation.  I cannot guarantee that I will receive the email before the end of the day. 
-Please check our classroom blog http://bishopbres.blogspot.com/
My goal is to update our classroom blog at least once a week.  I will send out an email to let you know when our classroom blog is updated.  Please make sure I have your correct email address.  If you have not received an email from me by the end of the first full school week, please let me know so that we can make sure I have your correct email address. 
-You may call and leave a message at Banks Road.  I will return your phone call within 24-48 hours of receiving the message.  The phone number is 919-890-7333. 
  -You may send in a note with your child.  Please make sure the note is attached to your child's daily folder.  Please do not put any note in your child's book bag.  We do not check book bags.  I will respond to written notes within 1-2 school days. 

  - Report cards will go home at the end of the first, second, third, and fourth quarter.  Please sign and return the report card envelope.  If you would like to schedule a conference, please indicate on the envelope.  We will have two scheduled conferences throughout the year.  We will discuss your child’s progress and assessment data during these times.  If you would like to schedule any additional conferences, just let me know!

Attendance

Students are allowed to enter the classroom at the 8:45 bell.  We begin our instructional day at 9:15.  Your child’s progress is greatly influenced by their daily participation.  Regular attendance without tardiness is very important.  Please send a note regarding your child’s absence unless you have sent an email explaining the absence.  Absences without any parental contact are documented as unexcused. 

Classroom Management

During the first week of school we will discuss our classroom rules.  Our classroom rules will be the same as our school wide rules (Be Responsible, Be Respectful, and Be Safe).  After discussing our rules, we will establish appropriate rewards and consequences.  Your child will have a clothespin labeled with their name and the students will move their clip to the appropriate color based on the daily choices they make. Please refer to the behavior calendar in your child's daily folder for additional information.  Your child's daily folder will be sent home on the first day of school.  In that folder they will color a calendar reflecting their behavior for the day.  Please initial it and return the folder each day.  If your child completed a thinking plan, that will also be in their daily folder.  Please review it with your child, sign it, and return it to school the following day. 

Rewards- On Friday if your child has been on green (or above) each day that week, they will earn a lollipop to eat in class (often during writing time).  Students will also earn Blazer Bucks (school wide) that they can save and use for various rewards (ex. treasure box, lunch with a friend or the teacher, sit in the teachers chair for a lesson, no homework pass, etc.)

STARS (Students Take Active Responsibility Successfully) Friday – The entire 2^nd grade team will participate in STARS Friday.  If your child has stayed on green or above the whole week, they will be able to participate.  They must also have ALL work completed.  There will be a rotating schedule of activities (curriculum related crafts and movies, games, extra recess, etc.)  If students move their clip to yellow (twice in one week) or orange/red (once in one week), they will not attend STARS.  Instead, they will attend our grade level study hall. 

Homework and Daily Folder

Homework will come home on Monday in your child’s daily folder.  Students should complete homework each night for at least 20 minutes.  This time is separate from the 20 minutes of reading each night.  All homework should be returned on Friday. Homework will include the following items each week: written responses after independent reading, math worksheets, and Letterland assignments. Your child should be able to complete this homework independently since it is a review of concepts learned in class.  As your child completes his/her assignments, please initial in the box to the right each night.   

Your child will be expected to be responsible for their homework, making sure they keep track of it, and turning it in on Friday.  If your child does not turn in their homework, they will not be able to attend STARS on Friday.

Daily Folder- Your child will bring their folder home each day.  On Monday, their homework will be in the folder.  It will also contain a written reading response log to document nightly reading and their behavior calendar. Each Friday, your child will bring home work from that week in their daily folder.  The folder will also contain important school information (pictures, PTA filers, etc.)  Please make sure to clean out this folder each weekend and return it on Monday. 

Birthdays

County and school polices seek to make the school a healthy environment.  Some ideas to celebrate your child’s birthday at school besides a special snack are to send in a special book to read, eat with your child at lunch, or donate a book to the library.  If you wish to celebrate your child’s birthday at school with a snack you may bring in a store bought/store prepared snack.  This can be shared with the children at lunch or during recess.  Please let me know at least one week in advance of when you plan on bringing in the snack.  Toys treat bags, and balloons are not allowed.  Please do not send in birthday invitations, unless you have one for each child in our class.  This eliminates feelings getting hurt. 

Bathroom

We do not have a bathroom in our classroom.  Your child can go to the bathroom before the bell rings in the morning and during our scheduled bathroom trips.  They will not be able to go to the bathroom during instructional times unless it is an emergency.  If your child has a medical condition that requires additional bathroom trips, please let me know. 

Toys

Toys (electronics, silly bands, necklaces, etc.) are not allowed.  If I see your child playing with toys in the classroom, I will keep them until the end of the day.  If I see them again, I will keep them until a parent comes to get them from school.  I want our classroom to be an environment with as little distractions as possible. 

Snack and Lunch

If your child buys their lunch, you can send in a check (made out to Banks Road Elementary Cafeteria) or cash to add to their lunch account.  Pre-paying for lunches eliminates confusion and lost lunch money.  If their lunch account is low, a notice will be sent home from the cafeteria.  We will have snack every day during recess.  Please send a healthy small snack (fruit, vegetables, crackers, etc NO soda or candy please!) each day.

Volunteering

Our classroom is always open to volunteers!  Please fill out the volunteer information sheet if you are interested in volunteering in our classroom this year.  You must register to be a volunteer in the front office.  Even if you were a volunteer last year you must do this again. 

Transportation

Please make sure to let me know how your child will get home from school each day on the information sheet in the first day packet.  If your child will be going home a different way, please call the school or send in a note in your child’s daily folder.  If I do not hear different from you your child will go home the same way each day. 

Literacy and the Daily Five

The Daily Five is a way of structuring the reading block so that every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks.  These research-based tasks are fun, engaging, and have big impacts on student reading and writing achievement.  During this time, I will provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.  Here are the Daily 5 components:

·         Read to Self: Research continually shows that the very best way to become a better reader is to practice, practice, practice! Your child will read books at his or her “just right” level each day.

·         Read to Someone: Reading to someone helps develop reading fluency and comprehension.

·         Listen to Reading: Listening to reading helps children develop reading fluency.  It also allows them to access texts that they can’t read independently yet. 

·         Word Work: Working with words helps children become better spellers and writers.  Your child will learn about word families, practice high frequency words using an assortment of engaging activities. 

·         Work on Writing: Just like it takes practice to become a better reader, it takes practice to become a better writer.  During this center, your child will work on writing of their own choices.  We have also have a separate Writer’s Workshop time to work on specific forms of writing.