August 30, 2026
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Thank you so much for all your support to make the first week of school an awesome one!
Please make sure your child is doing assigned homework each night and returning it the next morning to the classroom. Homework is 10 percent of the grade, and it is an important learning experience of second grade. The graded homework also provides us with valuable insight to inform instructional planning and implementation.
Each night your child is required to read any book for 30 minutes under your guidance. Please assist your child logging the reading information on the Second Grade Reading Log. The log will be due the following Monday and each week thereafter. Math worksheets are assigned each night, except the night after a math Unit Progress Check. Students are also required to write daily in their journals. If you are unsure about daily homework assignments, you can always check our blog by clicking on the homework tab. https://sites.google.com/cps.edu/second-grade/home
Thank you for your support,
Second Grade Team
August 23, 2026
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year. We are looking forward to an exciting year of learning in second grade.
Please be cognizant of the following information about the beginning of the school year:
Every day, your child is expected to line up at 8:45 a.m. near door number 2. This door is in the center of the building, facing the playground. Students will line up behind the 103 (Ms. Woods) and 106 (Ms. Charleston’s class) signs taped/painted on the concrete. We, of course, will be there to greet your child as we line up to enter the building. Instruction will begin promptly.
A free breakfast will be served each day in the classroom from 8:45 to 8:55. Please support your child’s education by arriving on time every day. At the end of the day, students will be dismissed at 3:45 p.m. from door number 2. This is the same door we entered the building in the morning. For safety reasons, please be consistent about who is picking up your child at the end of the school day or inform us if there is a change.
Lunch is free for all students. If your child is bringing lunch to school, he/she must have it upon arrival. Please send a refillable water bottle with your child. The water fountains in school are for refilling bottles only.
If you have any question or comment, please email us at jcwoods4@cps.edu
or kncharleston@cps.edu.
Regards,
Ms. Charleston and Ms. Woods
The Second Grade Team
Jun 4, 2026
Dear Incoming Second Grade Parents and Caregivers,
We look forward to seeing you. This link https://sites.google.com/cps.edu/second-grade/supply-list will enable you to view and print the supply list. This link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VeD694yUinAFjaWah5c3b212Z3nXycvM/view?usp=sharing
will enable you to view and print the summer packet, which provides a view of the essential skills for the first quarter of second grade. Please refer to it over the summer months to help your child practice and maintain skills learned in first grade. Additionally, Raz-Kids and IXL will be available throughout the summer. Please encourage your child to visit the sites frequently. He/she can access the sites utilizing the same username and password from first grade. https://www.raz-kids.com/, https://www.ixl.com/signin.
Reading:
Please refer to the recommended summer reading list at the end of the packet. Students are expected to read a minimum of thirty minutes per day. They should use the included reading logs to document the titles, authors, genres and dates when they finish reading the books. The second grade teachers will collect these logs on the first day of school. In this packet, we have included the first grade (100 words) and second grade (100 words) high frequency word lists. These are the words that occur most often in reading for first and second graders. Students should be able to read and spell the first grade list, as well as be able to recognize and sound out words from the second grade list. During the 2025-2026 school year, students will learn how to spell the second grade list. Lastly, enclosed are the reading paired passages (fiction and non-fiction genres) for students to practice reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills. Please make sure your child returns the completed units on the first day of school.
Writing:
Your child is encouraged to write and illustrate a minimum of one entry per week for eight weeks in the enclosed writing journal. The writing should cover multiple genres such as personal narrative, autobiography, informational (non-fiction), fantasy, and fairy tale passages. This will be a valuable assessment tool to drive the instruction for our units of study in writing for second grade.
Mathematics:
Students are encouraged to review basic math skills with a family member. Research demonstrates that students learn and become proficient by practicing with hands-on, life-like experiences. Please use daily activities to review the following skills:
Find values of coin and bill combinations
Make change
Show penny (P), nickel (N), dime (D) and quarter (Q) for a given amount
Know addition facts sums to 20
Know “harder” subtraction and addition facts
Construct fact families for addition and subtraction
Devise and use strategies for finding sums and differences of two digit numbers
Subtract multiples of ten
Solve simple addition number stories
Complete number sequences and use number patterns to solve problems
Make tallies and give the total
Count by 2s, 5s and 10s
Identify place value for 1s, 10s and 100s
Find equivalent names for numbers
In the packet are several math practice worksheets. Please monitor your child’s work for accuracy. These worksheets are due on the first day of school.
School supply list:
1 ream of copy/printer paper
1 pair of headphones
1 box of crayons (24-count maximum please)
1 package of washable markers (8 count)
1 12-inch/30-centimeter ruler
1 pair of scissors
4 glue sticks
1 set of colored pencils
4 rolls of paper towels
4 boxes of Kleenex
4 large containers of Clorox Wet Wipes
1 container of baby wet wipes
1 box of Quart-sized Ziploc bags
1 box of Gallon-size Ziploc bags
1 12oz bottle of hand sanitizer
1 bottle of hand soap
2 boxes of #2 pencils
2 pocket folders
1 pencil case
1 bookbag
Have a safe and fun summer.
Second Grade Team