It was wonderful to have had the opportunity to meet and speak with so many of you on Parent Night last week. Thanks for spending part of your busy evening with us, and thank you also for your kind words of support. The children loved the notes that you wrote to them in their journals. If you have any questions or concerns that were not addressed, please feel free to contact me.

Today your child is bringing home Everyday Mathematics: My Reference Book. This book is meant to be kept at home and used as a companion guide. It gives examples of terminology that is sometimes specific to the Everyday Math program. It offers strategies to help children with their homework, and also provides the directions for many of the math games that we play here at school. Each copy of the book is numbered so we can keep track of who has which book. You will want to keep the book in a safe place at home until May at which time we will ask for it to be returned.

Since so much of our information is now being conveyed electronically, I have created a Class Homepage on the Scholastic Web site. A link is provided on the SJC Web site, right under “Room 105 Newsletter.” This homepage will never take the place of my weekly newsletter. However, it will display some reminders as well as provide easy links to online activities I have personally selected which correlate with our units of study and are suitable for second graders. I will update this page often. I hope you find it helpful.

One item that will always be posted on our Class Homepage is a list of the spelling words we are working on during the week, as well as a cumulative list of words we have studied in recent weeks. I have also offered a few practical suggestions on how these words may be practiced at home.

Some important announcements and reminders:

§         The second graders were given a vision and hearing screening during the first week of school. If any problems are detected through this screening, Mrs. Kittler, our school nurse, will contact you to recommend follow-up action.

§         On Wednesday morning we are planning to participate in our annual bus evacuation drill. It is important to know and practice safety rules for all those students who regularly ride the bus, and also for the rest of the children, since any field trips will involve bus transportation.

§         Check the SJC Web site frequently since the calendar and other pertinent information are updated daily.

This week, among other things, we will be: talking about life in a big city; using a number grid to determine place value; using a calculator to discover skip-counting patterns; spelling will each about how up; sharing favorite stories about Jesus; reviewing telephone etiquette; categorizing nouns as people, places and things; writing a paragraph about something we did this summer for the first time; brainstorming ideas about safety concerns in our home and in our school and coming up with possible solutions; making a pig art project and reading “Julius,” a funny story about a pig who teaches her owner about sharing.

Have a wonderful week.

Email: oczkowski@sjc.pvt.k12.il.us              School Web site www.sjcpsinfo.org

                          Voicemail: 708-246-4454, #305