June 17, 2013
Dear Parents,
It is hard to believe that the academic year will end this week. This has been an important year for your children. They have grown in grace and wisdom. Some have received two sacraments; all have made new friends and learned much. It was a pleasure to be a part of this very special year in their young lives. I would like to thank you for all your cooperation and support this year. You are a wonderful group of parents, and your encouragement and assistance were very much appreciated.
Please note that the children are encouraged to participate in a library’s Summer Reading Program. It is very important to maintain and improve reading skills over the summer. Moreover, the local libraries’ Summer Reading Programs are generally a rewarding and enjoyable experience for the children. They get to meet friends and take a break from the sun. The children’s librarian from the Pearl River Library will visit the children this week, and her yearly visit always excites the children because the library system puts a lot of effort into designing a program that is attractive and fun. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the library this summer. The children are encouraged to bring into school in September their summer reading logs.
I firmly believe that the best way to maintain the children’s academic progress over the summer is to encourage them to read as much as possible. It is important to encourage your children to read a variety of different types of literature. They were exposed to wide variety of genres this year, including expository nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and poetry. The children’s librarian should be able to help you to select material that best suits your child’s abilities and interests.
This year the HSA purchased a Scholastic News subscription for each child. Although we read many of the issues throughout the year (especially ones that were time sensitive or particularly topical), I also saved the majority of the Scholastic News issues from throughout the year in order to provide extra, grade-appropriate material for the children to enjoy over the summer. These issues are especially appropriate because they provide nonfiction material for the children to read. Most of the material that the children select to read independently tends to be fiction, so it is good to encourage them to read a variety of materials.
In addition, if you would like your child to practice his/her composition and comprehension skills over the summer, you can ask him/her to read the Scholastic News issues, complete the activities on the final page of each issue and/or write a paragraph summarizing each issue. There is, however, no requirement that they do so. Summaries will not be collected or reviewed by the 3rd grade teacher in the fall. Writing them is merely one option for maintaining your child’s composition skills. It is also good to encourage your child to write creatively over the summer. Some children enjoy writing their own magazines, modeled on the Scholastic News issues, but also including creative fictional prose.
In addition, I encourage you to have your children practice their newly acquired cursive writing skills whenever they are writing this summer. Their handwriting books will provide guidance should they forget how to form some of the letters or connections. They genuinely seemed to enjoy learning cursive writing, and they are doing a wonderful job.
With respect to Math skills, I believe that it is most useful to reinforce basic skills. The children need to know how to add and subtract two-digit and three-digit numbers with and without regrouping. They absolutely need to master their fact families in order to facilitate their ability to add and subtract quickly and accurately. If your child has not mastered fact families, please diligently drill him/her over the summer. Making flash cards and drilling with flash cards provides a great way to master basic addition and subtraction facts. Also, it is very important for the children to practice skip counting (by 2s to 100, by 3s to 36, by 4s to 48, by 5s to 100, and by 10s to 100). Skip counting is very important for multiplication and division readiness. Your children should already know how to skip-count. A good way to sharpen their skills is to challenge them to skip count backwards! Also, try to have your children practice telling time over the summer. Whenever they ask to know the time, encourage them to find the answer themselves. Challenge them to express the same time in different ways (e.g., 11:15 can also be expressed as a quarter past 11:00 or 45 minutes before 12).
Please note the children have covered all required 2nd grade topics mandated by the New York State Core Curriculum for Mathematics. Our Math Program provides a packet of material introducing material that will be covered in 3rd grade. If you would like your children to advance their Math skills over the summer, encourage them to complete the activities in the packet. There is also a section at the end of their Math workbooks that reinforces the 3rd grade material introduced in the packet. This week I will send home the optional Reading and Mathematics summer enrichment materials in the folders that we used during the year for Math review materials.
Also, it is useful to challenge your children to use “mental math” rather than paper and pencil to solve computational problems. Many of the children enjoyed using “mental math” in class. They seemed to enjoy the challenge of adding or subtracting increasingly larger numbers without using paper and pencil. For instance, last week, during our analysis of our seasonal observation logs in Science class, we calculated the average temperatures of each of the three weeks for which we recorded this information. I was very impressed that several of the students successfully added the temperatures for five days using mental math. Finally, try to show your children how to use math in their daily lives. You can do so in a myriad of ways. For instance, ask them to make change, tell time and have them compare fractions (e.g., If you are hungry, would you rather have 1/8 of a pizza or1/4 of the pie?) Research shows that children do better in Mathematics when they see a clear connection between their instruction and the ways Math helps them in their daily lives.
Finally, please be on the lookout for your child’s composition portfolio highlights which will be sent home during the week once your child gets to “celebrate” it with the class during this week. Although the portfolio does not include all of the writings your child composed throughout the year, it provides a representative sampling of work that was displayed in the SMS hallway and Principal’s Gallery this year. I think you will enjoy reading the selections that your child composed throughout the year!
Of course, the children very much need to relax over the summer. They need to play, enjoy themselves, and exercise their imaginations. It is important not to put too much pressure on the children. The suggestions in this letter merely provide some guidance as to the kind of material that will help your child prepare for 3rd grade and suggestions for ways to challenge children who enjoy stretching their abilities.
Once again, thank you for all you have done this year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Schiavone for all of her hard work and assistance in helping us prepare for the reception of the sacraments and assisting the students in working with our crayfish. Our class was so lucky to benefit from her considerable talents this year. She enriched the children’s lives in immeasurable ways. I would also like to express special gratitude to our fantastic class mothers, Mrs. O’Loughlin and Mrs. Powers, and all the parents (and patient younger siblings!) who assisted us throughout the year.
I also look forward to working with Mrs. Brennan on some joint activities next year with our newly minted third grade students! I hope you all have a happy and healthy summer!
Fondly,
Mrs. McNulty
June 10th, 2013
Dear Parents,
The children are excited by the prospect of going to the school’s Graduation Mass at 10:00 on Monday. We will bid a fond farewell to this graduating class. They are a wonderful group, and they have served as terrific role models for your children. The 2nd graders are also looking forward to watching the school’s annual slide show that features the graduating class, and they are looking forward to cheering for the 8th graders during the school’s traditional “Long Bell” celebration on Thursday.
Please note that Monday I will be sending home with the children the portraits of the Blessed Mother that the children created in their Art classes. Please make sure that you retrieve your child’s portrait from his/her book bag today. These portraits graced the display case in the front of the school during the month of May. Our children have gotten many compliments on their portraits, and I believe that Mrs. Amato and Ms. Babcock did a fantastic job in teaching the children how to produce these works of art and devotion.
Also, please be aware of the fact that the children will be bringing home workbooks and notebooks that they have completed. If children have uncompleted pages, those pages will be noted in the front of the book, and the children should complete those pages and return the books for me for a final review when they have completed the work. Once the books are completed, the children may save these books or dispose of them according to your preference. I do, however, strongly suggest that you keep the Handwriting workbooks so that the children can have guidance in case they get a chance to practice their cursive script over the summer. Last week, the children brought home their completed Spelling notebooks. The notebooks provide a nice “snap-shot” of their progress with respect to sentence composition over the course of the year. Most of the children also brought home their completed Spelling workbooks. A few students have unfinished pages in their Spelling workbooks, and they need to complete those pages and return the books to me for a final review.
There will be a variety of assessments this week. Since we have completed our Spelling instruction, there will be no Spelling test this week. On Wednesday there will be a Grammar test covering proper use of commas and capitalization rules. We have been working on these areas throughout Unit 6. Students should study their ELA notes on commas and capitalization. Please note that there is a supplemental extra practice section in our Grammar workbooks that students may complete should they want extra practice in any of the Grammar topics we have covered this year. If your student had trouble with the Grammar/Dictation section of the weekly Spelling test throughout the year, you might encourage him/her to complete the extra practice pages in the Grammar workbook now or during the summer vacation. If students complete the extra practice material and would like me to review their work, I will be happy to do so.
Although we will complete our last Reading selection, Jingle Dancer, this week, there will not be a separate test on this selection. Instead, the children will complete various End of the Year Benchmark Tests that will assess their cumulative progress in Reading and English Language Arts. The children do not need to study for these tests except for reviewing their high frequency words. They are responsible for accurately and promptly identifying all of this year’s high frequency words. For your convenience, I have included in their folders a list of all of this year’s high frequency words. Also, please make sure your child brings into school this week the book about which your child will write his/her book report. The children will complete this final book report project throughout the week.
The children have been enjoying learning about plants in Science class. After completing primarily hands-on observations and activities when we learned about the needs and anatomy of animals through our study of crayfish, as we complete our study of plants, we will review use of a textbook to learn more about this topic. The students have been meeting in small groups to reread the text book material after it is covered in class, and they have been working together to outline the material. On Friday, there will be a Science assessment of their mastery of the material on plants. The students should review the material in the packet on plants that is in their purple folders in order to study for this assessment. This week we will also compare the information we recorded during different seasons throughout the year and make connections about the natural world based on the information.
On Monday we will complete Topic 16 {Time, Graphs and Data} in Mathematics. The Topic 16 assessment will be on Tuesday. The children should review the material in their Math folders as well as their Topic 16 notes. With the completion of Topic 16, we will have covered all of the material in the New York State Second Grade Mathematics Core Curriculum.
In Religion last week we completed Chapter 25, which is a review of Unit V. The children will complete a homework assignment that will assess their mastery of Chapter 25. The children will receive the chapter 25 review assignment on Monday. It should be completed and returned on Wednesday. The children will also complete a group project in class that will assess their mastery of the material covered in Religion this year.
Please contact me should you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mrs. McNulty
June 3rd, 2013
Dear Parents,
The children did a fabulous job last week at the school’s annual Spring Concert! It was a wonderful show, and I believe everybody enjoyed the opportunity to get together afterward to share delicious food and convivial conversation. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the feast. Mrs. Slattery has asked that the second graders bring into school on Tuesday their green concert shirts so that a photograph can be taken of them wearing their concert shirts over their regular uniforms.
The children bid a fond adieu to our crayfish last week. They really enjoyed all the hands-on activities related to their study of crayfish. Their detailed study of crayfish provided a framework for their understanding of the needs of animals, animal habitats, and the functions of various parts of animals’ bodies. I would like to thank Mrs. Cathy Schiavone for her invaluable assistance. I would also like to thank the families who agreed to adopt the hardy survivors of our many rigorous activities!
There will be a variety of assessments this week. We will complete our Spelling instruction this week. The Spelling test will be on Thursday. There will be a Grammar/Dictation section on the Spelling test this week. In addition to the children’s Grammar notes, please note that there is a supplemental extra practice section in our Grammar workbooks that students may complete should they want extra practice in any of the Grammar topics we have covered this year. If your student had trouble with the Grammar/Dictation section of the weekly Spelling test throughout the year, you might encourage him/her to complete the extra practice pages in the Grammar workbook now or during the summer vacation. If students complete the extra practice material and would like me to review their work, I will be happy to do so.
This week in Science we will return to our study of plants. As we continue our study of plants, students will begin to compare and contrast plants and animals as they deepen their understanding of living organisms. We also will complete our seasonal weather observations by predicting and recording data this week for the spring into summer period. Next week, we will analyze the data we collected throughout the year and draw conclusions about the natural world based on our data.
In Mathematics, we will continue Topic 16, which covers time and data. Most of the children did well with respect to their introduction to time; however, some children did have difficulty. If you check your child’s Topic 16.1 and 16.2 pages in his/her Math workbook tonight, you will have a good idea as to whether your child is having difficulty with telling time and time-related concepts. Last Friday, I distributed to each child a packet of reinforcement/practice materials related to time. If your child seems to have any difficulty, I suggest he/she complete the reinforcement packet prior to next week’s test. Also, the children have been enjoying a game called “Stop the Clock” on our smartboard. It allows the children to hone their time telling ability. The game can also be played on home computers.
This week, we will read a nonfiction selection entitled Cowboys, and the selection test will be on Friday. Like Red, White, and Blue, Cowboys complements our Social Studies curriculum, and selected questions on Friday’s test will constitute a Social Studies assessment. In Social Studies, we will complete our study of map skills, and there will be a map skills assessment on Thursday. The children should review workbook pages 6, 8, 9, 15, 30, 45, 53, and the map skills section of their notes.
The completed May reading log is due this week. Please help your child complete the log and sign the May log. There will be no June log. The children will begin their final book report project this week. As noted at the end of April, the children were directed to read a chapter book of their choice in May and be prepared to write a report based on that book during the first week in June. On Monday, I will distribute a packet of book report formats from which they will be able to choose a format for their May book report projects. Although the report will be done entirely in school, feel free to peruse the booklet and help your children decide which format will be best for the books they will begin to write about in class this week. Please sign the cover sheet of the packet. The children should not begin the project at home. It will be done entirely in class. Also, please make sure that your child brings to school on Thursday a copy of the book he/she read independently in May about which he/she will write.
The children have completed their cursive handwriting instruction. I have been meeting individually with students to help them with respect to any difficulties they may have. This week I will assess the children with respect to their mastery of cursive skills. I do not expect perfection! They are just beginning to master this lifelong skill. The assessment will help me to target the areas in which they need additional instruction prior to the summer vacation. Last week, I distributed individual practice sheets for each individual’s name so that the children could practice their names with a model. They have been doing a good job learning to write their names in cursive script.
In Religion, the children completed their First Holy Communion reflection last week. The reflections will be displayed in the hallway this week. It is nice to display a picture of the author with the reflection. Please feel free to send in a photo of your child for display if you would like to do so. We will also begin Chapter 25, which is a review of material presented in Unit 5. When we conclude the chapter, the children will complete a group project assessing their ability to work together to use their notes and workbooks to answer questions about important concepts covered in Unit 5.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. There will be an 11:00 dismissal on Friday.
Sincerely,
Mrs. McNulty
May 28th, 2013
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone had a nice weekend and that everyone got a chance to pray for all of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I tried to make sure that the children were aware of the significance of Memorial Day. I was happy to see that several school children attended or marched in the town’s Memorial Day Parade on Monday. I commend those parents who encouraged their children to honor those who, as President Lincoln so eloquently stated, gave to our country “the last full measure of devotion.” This week we will continue to especially pray for all of our servicemen and servicewomen.
Our Spring Concert will take place this Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Children should arrive in the classrooms at 6:30. Boys should wear their school pants, school shoes, and a golf shirt. They will wear school-issued concert tee-shirts over their shirts. I have borrowed Irish caps for all the boys who indicated that they needed one. Girls should wear solid-colored pants or skirts, school or dress shoes, and a blouse. As with the boys, it doesn’t matter what kind of blouse they wear because they will also wear a school-issued tee-shirt over their blouses. So, their school blouse would also be fine. Our four Irish step dancers will wear dancing outfits. Please remember that each family is asked to bring an appetizer, entrée, or dessert and one six-pack of water to share at the reception that will follow the concert. Please drop your contribution off in the cafeteria before the concert or send it to school with your child on Wednesday. It promises to be a wonderful event! All are welcome.
Due to the shortened week and concert, the Spelling test will be on Friday this week, and there will be no Grammar/Dictation section. We will finish reading our realistic reading selection, A Birthday Basket for Tia, and the selection test will also be on Friday. In Grammar, we will continue to learn how to use commas properly.
This week we will complete Topic 15 {Measuring Length} in Mathematics. We completed most of this topic earlier in the year and the children completed a written assessment at that time. Accordingly, there will be no written Topic 15 test, but I will individually assess each child with respect to their performance on a series of measurement tasks. We will also begin our final topic in Mathematics this week when we begin to learn how to tell time.
The children have been having a wonderful time learning about the needs of living creatures by studying our class crayfish! They have learned so much and have made amazing connections. We have been conducting formal experiments during which the children used the scientific method to design and conduct experiments designed to answer a specific problem, and they have also had opportunities to conduct some less formal experiments with their crayfish. We will complete our study of crayfish this week, and begin our exploration of plants. Several families have already returned the tear-off portion of last week’s letter and indicated their agreement to adopt a crayfish on this Friday. If you have not already done so, and wish to adopt a crayfish, please submit the tear-off portion from the letter sent home last week and I will send you detailed instructions to help you prepare a home habitat for the crayfish. The number of crayfish available may change according to the survival rate of the animals. If more children request custody than the number of available crayfish, I will have a lottery.
The completed May reading log will be due next week. Please help your child complete the log and sign the log. Next week, they will complete in school a report about a book they read independently in May. Please make sure that your child brings to school next week a copy of the book he/she read independently in May about which he/she will write next week.
Also, this week we will work on our First Communion or Special Day reflections. Please feel free to send in a picture of your child to accompany the reflections. Finally, the HSA will treat the second graders to an ice-cream sundae party on Thursday as a reward for collecting the most box-tops in the school this year. Please let me know if, for any reason, your child may not have an ice-cream sundae.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to seeing many of you at the concert!
Sincerely,
Mrs. McNulty
May 20, 2013
Dear Parents,
Last week was a science-themed one for the second graders! They enjoyed a fantastic day at the Liberty Science Center. The museum provided an exciting educational experience that was perfect for second and third grade students. I would like to thank Mrs. Brennan for coordinating the trip and all the parents who agreed to chaperone the trip. The children also enjoyed spending a lot of time in small groups observing our class crayfish, drawing conclusions about the functions of various body parts of the crayfish and comparing the crayfish to other living things.
This week also promises to be a busy time for the second graders. The children are certainly looking forward to the May Crowning on Monday. I hope that the lovely ceremony will help them to try to use Mary’s example in order to emulate her love, faith, and compassion. On Friday they will get a chance to meet an award-winning author, Mary Beth Keane, a graduate of St. Margaret School who will be discussing her career with the students. They will also be preparing for our Spring Concert.
The Spring Concert will take place on next Wednesday, May 29th at 7:00 in the gym. Girls should wear a dark colored skirt or pants with a blouse and school shoes or dress shoes. Boys should wear their school pants, a golf shirt and school shoes. The children should not wear jeans or sneakers. We would like the boys to wear an Irish-style woolen cap. If you have one for your son, please let me know. If not, DO NOT BUY ONE! I will borrow a cap for any boy in the class who needs one. Please write a note in your son’s assignment pad letting me know if he has a cap or whether he needs one for the performance.
This week we will revisit Topic 15 {Measurement} in Mathematics. We began Topic 15 out of sequence in October because we needed to learn how to measure for our Science instruction, but we didn’t cover the concluding sections in Topic 15 at that time because they require proficiency in two-digit addition and subtraction, a skill set that the children had not mastered in October. Now that the children are proficient in this regard, we will complete Topic 15 this week. We will review the first half of Topic 15 on Monday, and then complete the sections that we didn’t cover in October throughout the balance of the week.
Last week, our Social Studies, English Language Arts, and Reading instruction dove-tailed when the children read the narrative nonfiction selection Red, White and Blue: The Story of the American Flag. This story provided interesting material about our country’s history and development. We also learned a lot about our flag in various assignments in our Practice Book. This week the children will revisit Red, White and Blue: The Story of the American Flag because the story is the most complicated story they will read this year, and the selection test will be on Tuesday. Portions of the selection test will count as a Social Studies grade. We will also continue to learn about national holidays, timelines and our flag this week in Social Studies.
On Friday there will be an open-book test about the flag and national holidays. The children will be able to use the information in their Readers, Social Studies textbook and Reading Practice Book to locate answers to the questions on the test. Although we will cover a new realistic selection in Reading this week called A Birthday Basket for Tia, there will be no selection test this week since the test on national holidays and flags is also a reading test because it is an open-book test that assesses the students’ ability to process and access information from texts. This is a skill that is emphasized in the new Core Curriculu and we have been honing this skill throughout the year. Information for the test will be taken from the Reader (pages 323 to 343), Practice Book (pages 114, 115, 117, and 120), and Social Studies textbook pages (256 to 259).
This week we will follow our normal Spelling routine as we learn about the endings –tion and –ture. The Spelling test will be on Thursday, and it will include a Grammar Dictation section requiring the children to punctuate the sentences properly and correctly identify nouns and adjectives. There is a supplemental section of the children’s Grammar workbooks that provides extra practice pages for students who are having difficulty with any of the Grammar topics we have covered. If your child has been having difficulty with the Grammar section of the weekly test, he/she may complete these pages at your discretion. If your child has any trouble with the material or wants to go over it with me, just let me know.
The children have been enjoying their study of crayfish in Science class! This week they will continue to observe our class crayfish and perform an experiment. The students will reinforce their understanding of the scientific method as they learn more about living organisms. In addition, they will hone their observation skills and cooperation skills as they work together in small groups. They will begin to draw conclusions about the similarities and differences with respect to the needs of different living organisms.
Last week, we completed Chapter 24 in our Religion workbooks. Chapter 24 provided instruction about our Blessed Mother. We temporarily skipped Chapter 23 in order to learn more about Mary as we prepared for the May Crowning. This week we will return to Chapter 23 in our Religion workbooks and the Chapter 23 test will be on Friday or next week, depending on when we complete the course work associated with the chapter.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. There will be no school next Monday. Please think about taking your children to a Memorial Day observance. We have been discussing the importance of appreciating the sacrifices that have been made to secure our freedom.
Sincerely,
Mrs. McNulty
May 13, 2013
Dear Parents,
I hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Mothers’ Day. I would like to remind you that the school’s May Crowning will be next Monday, May 20th, at 1:15 in the church. The second grade students will host the May Crowning. It is a school tradition for 2nd grade students to wear their Communion attire to school for the ceremony, and we request that they do so this year. However, there is no requirement that they do so. The children who did not receive First Communion with the class are welcome to wear “dress-up” clothes. As always, all are welcome to attend our school liturgies. Please keep in mind you child’s attire when you are ordering or preparing lunch for that day!
An exciting event in last week’s busy schedule was the arrival of our class crayfish! The children were delighted to begin Unit III’s study of living things by preparing the habitat for the crayfish and beginning preliminary observations of our aquatic guests! Small groups of children collaborated to observe different crayfish and compare and contrast those creatures with other crayfish observed by their classmates. This week the children will continue to observe our class crayfish and perform an experiment about the eating habits of crayfish. The students will reinforce their understanding of the scientific method. In addition, they will hone their observation skills and cooperation skills as they work together in small groups. They will begin to draw conclusions about the similarities and differences with respect to the needs of different living organisms.
Please note that we will also be going on our class trip with the 3rd graders this Friday, May 17th. The trip will be to the Liberty Science Center. We will leave at approximately 9:00 on Friday and expect to return by 2:30. The children should wear their gym uniforms to school. Please remember to pack a brown-bag lunch, and write your child’s first and last name prominently on the bag. The lunch should include a beverage, but it should not include any glass beverage containers. Please consider when you pack your child’s lunch that the parent chaperones will be transporting the lunches. So, please do not send an excessive amount of food! We will not be visiting the souvenir shop. So your child will not need to bring any money to school.
Due to our class trip on Friday, we will modify our Spelling/ELA schedule. We will read a new narrative nonfiction selection entitled Red, White, and Blue: The Story of the American Flag, but the selection test will be deferred until next week. I will be dedicating extra time to this selection because it is the most challenging selection the children will read this year, and it covers material that is an important part of our Social Studies curriculum. As usual, the Spelling test will be on Thursday, but, due to the Math test on Thursday, there will be no Grammar/Dictation section on the Spelling test this week.
2nd Grade Supply List 2013-2014
SAINT MARGARET SCHOOL
2nd Grade Supply List - 2013-2014
1- 1" 3 ring binder
3- Two pocket folders
1 - Box of crayons - 16 count
2 - Glue sticks
1 - Bottle of liquid glue
1 - 12 inch ruler
2 - Box of tissues
- # 2 pencils ( 3 per day for the year)
1 - Pair of safety scissors
2 - Packages of copy paper
1- Box of colored pencils (12 count)
1- Pencil Case
NAME OR INITIALS ON EVERYTHING (Don't forget clothing)
The Home School Association will purchase the following items:
SMS Folder - $2.00
Assignment Pad- $5.00
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