2nd Grade

2nd Grade Newsletter

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

Hello 2nd grade families! We’re so excited to welcome you and your child to an amazing year of learning and growth. This year, our 2nd grade team is ready to guide your children through new challenges, spark their curiosity, and celebrate their accomplishments big and small. In this newsletter, you’ll find important dates, reminders, and updates from our grade level and our campus so you can stay in the loop. We can’t wait to partner with you to make this school year a wonderful adventure for every student!

Upcoming Dates

August 19: 2nd grade Stallion University/Session 1: 5-5:30 Session 2: 5:30-6:00
September 1: No School
September 10: 2nd grade Lunch with a Loved one (11:15-11:45)

Daily Take Home Folder Information

Please look through your child’s take home folder. It has so many amazing helpful things in it that will come in handy throughout the year.

In the folder:

Behavior Log: Please initial in the box for each day letting me know that you saw how their day went. The red paper that went home today explains our classroom management procedures and refers to the behavior log as well.

Homework Log: We will talk more about homework expectations at our Stallion University Night, but the top of the log explains part of our homework in 2nd grade.

Purple Foundational Helpers for Parents: These pages are for you! Just giving you some ideas and information on how we teach and practice reading and spelling words.

White Nonsense word fluency: These are not mandatory to practice, but later on we may ask that you practice these with your child when you can.

Yellow Spelling List Page: We have given you the practice Spelling lists for the whole year for you to use and practice with at home.

Light Blue High Frequency Word List: We gave you the 2nd and first grade HFW lists so you can practice reading and spelling these words at home to support their learning in class.

Math Strategies: We added the different addition and subtraction strategies for you to refer to at home when practicing.

What are we learning?

Math: Data analysis: Bar graphs and pictographs, generating words problems based on graphing situations.

Reading: Central Idea, Setting, and Writing brief comments.

Writing: Personal Narrative: Brainstorming, Grammar: capitalization, punctuation, and nouns.

Social Studies: Citizenship

Science: What is a Scientist? Science Safety, and Science tools.

Foundational Pattern for the Week

Short Vowels

Practice Words:

bag

hot

tablet

basket

velvet

panic

rapid

velvet

shall

such

give

been

which

much

live

You can see a list of the practice words in your student's daily take home folder. Words in italics are high frequency words. On Friday's your student will have a spelling check on different words that follow the same pattern and on high frequency words for that week.

Homework

XtraMath: 3 sessions completed weekly to practice math fact fluency, prodigy, or other type of fact fluency math practice. (Flash cards, worksheets, game, etc.)
Reading: Make sure to be reading 15 minutes 5 days every week.
*Fluency Practice: Practice reading the real and nonsense words in your "Take Home" folder. (white pages: behind the homework log)

Weekly Spiral Review homework (Reading, Writing, and Math) Sent home on Mondays, due the following Monday.

*= Optional practice

Enrichment Schedule

Important Information

Link for list of Student School Supplies for 2nd Grade

Headphones

Each student needs a set of headphones, not earbuds, to use with their Chromebooks during the day. Please label with their name. It is important that students have their own set of headphones so they are not sharing with other students.

Water Bottles

Students are also welcome to bring a flip top water bottle, labeled with their name. Students will have access to a water bottle fill up station to fill their bottles as needed.

PE

For those days your student has PE make sure your student has shoes that have a rubber sole and fit well. No crocs or flip flops.

Lunch

Our lunch time is from 11:15-11:45 daily.

Parents and guardians are welcome to come eat with your student beginning August 18th! First check in at the front office with your ID. There is a designated table at the back of the cafeteria where you may sit with your student.

Here is a link to the cafe breakfast and lunch menus from the district website.

https://mansfieldisd.nutrislice.com/menu/elizabeth-smith

Student Drop Off and Pick Up

Register for Bus Service

Get your bus number, stop time and location without making a call!

Smart Tag Information

Keeping students safe and families informed are the two goals of Mansfield ISD’s use of the Smart Tag system for bus riders. When school starts Aug. 14, all elementary school, intermediate school and special education students who receive bus transportation to and from school will have a SMART tag badge they will scan when getting on and off an MISD school bus. Most students will simply attach the badge to their backpacks. Please keep in mind that punching a hole in the actual tag will damage its ability to transmit a signal, so use the plastic sleeve to attach the tag to a backpack.

The SMART Tag technology keeps track of which students are on a particular bus, when they board, when they exit and where. The system will also alert the driver if a student gets off at the wrong stop. Families are kept in the loop through an app that shows the bus location and sends alerts indicating when and where a student boarded and exited the bus. In the event of a delay or accident, families will be notified through the app.

It is important to know that the only information stored in the badge is the student’s ID number and correct bus stop. MISD plans to issue SMART tags to middle and high school students later this school year. Until that time, secondary school families can follow their student’s bus by downloading the SMART tag app from their phone’s app store.

Additionally, If your child rides the bus, please do not remove their bus tag from their backpack. It will need to stay on all year.

Car Rider Information

iDissmiss

iDismiss is an app that schools use to help manage the flow of traffic as well as the process of how each student boards their respective vehicle efficiently for afterschool pick up.

iDismiss numbers will be handed out on Meet the Teacher night. Please pick up your cards from your student's homeroom teacher.

In order for dismissal to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible with our iDismiss system, we ask all parents/families to:

1) Please write all siblings names on the car tag in LARGE, BOLD print in the name blank prior to the 1st day of school.

2) Hang car tag on rear view mirror so the number is clearly displayed and can be read quickly and easily– please do NOT lay on dash.

3) Refer to the Drop-Off/Pick-Up Map for locations

4) Only remove the car tag once ALL children have been picked up.

5) Parents who choose "Walk up" as a way home for their student to be picked up must also show their car tag to the teacher on duty.

6) For the safety of all of our students, any parent/guardian who does not have their car tag with them, will be directed to the front office to check out their student using their driver’s license.

Parent Walk-Up Information

Parents who walk up to pick up their students after school will no longer be able to park or stand in the front parking lot. Because of congestion and the safety hazard our current procedures are causing, we have to revamp our procedures.

Parents who drive cars to walk up to pick up their students will have to park in the back parking lot and walk around to the front of the school to pick up their students at the designated pick-up locations. This will lessen the congestion in the front parking lot. The front parking lot will be closed for parking after school.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated as we continue to better our systems for the safety of everyone.

Drop off and Pick up

Please follow our drop off and pick up procedures for our students' safety.

All PreK-2nd grade car riders are dropped off at the cafeteria doors in the morning. 3rd and 4th graders are dropped off at the side entrance outside of the 3rd and 4th grade hallways. Only buses, daycare vans, and walker students enter through the front door.

All PreK-2nd grade car riders AND their 3rd/4th grade siblings are picked up at the gym doors in the afternoon. All other 3rd graders are picked up at entrance outside of the 3rd and 4th grade hallways. All other 4th graders are picked up outside of 4th grade hallway.

Thank you for your cooperation!