Hi Room 203 families! Welcome to our very first newsletter of the year. Our weekly newsletters will feature our class learning goals, snapshots of learning, and Claxton news. I will send the newsletter directly to your inbox each week, usually on Sunday evening or Monday morning.

This is a photo from our first day of school. The kids were so excited that Momma Echo and I matched with our black and white dots.

• Reading- We are building stamina during Daily 5. Daily 5 provides students with choice and independence during our reading block. They can choose from Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, Listen to Reading, and the Wonder Center. This week we are focusing on Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone. We are also practicing comprehension strategies, including "Check for Understanding: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How" and "Back Up and Reread." Feel free to ask your child about these strategies. We also have hand motions that go along with each one. These are great strategies to practice with your child during his/her nightly reading homework. We will begin our Beginning of the Year mCLASS benchmark this week. Parents will be notified about results when the benchmark window closes. I will also be scheduling conferences to review data and discuss beginning of the year progress.
• Writing- We are working on personal narratives. Students are being introduced to the Writing Process: prewrite, draft, revise, edit, share (publish) and the Six Traits of Writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, fluency, conventions). This week we are focusing on ideas and organization. Students will use bubble maps and storyboards to plan their writing.
• Math- We are diving into Place Value within 1,000. Students will be doing a variety of activities to deepen their understanding of numerals, digits, values, and comparing numbers. Here is an excellent online place value game from abaya.com: http://www.abcya.com/base_ten_fun.htm This offers a great visual for what you may hear your child refer to as Base Ten Blocks. These blocks are used as manipulative for practicing place value in the classroom. If your child has access to a tablet or iPad, I recommend downloading a Base Ten Blocks app (for free) which may assist students with homework or additional practice throughout the year. In class we use an app called Number Pieces: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/number-pieces-by-math-learning/id605433778?mt=8
• FUNdations- We are practicing Closed Syllables. Closed Syllables are syllables with a short vowel, closed in by one or more consonants, such as the words cat and bath. A detailed description of this syllable type and other syllable types is attached to their FUNdations homework packet. For a video tutorial on marking closed syllables, please visit the Fundations page on my blog: http://mswertheim.blogspot.com/p/reading.html
• Science- We will be studying weather! This is such an exciting unit in second grade. Students have the opportunity to track weather data, explore weather-tracking instruments, and conduct experiments. Students are encouraged to read weather books for homework or visit DiscoveryEducation.com to explore more! I will be sending home a sheet with your child's login from last year. If they remember their login, you are welcome to sign in at any time.
• Social Studies- We will be learning about geography. Students will learn important vocabulary terms such as: compass rose, navigation, latitude, longitude, and hemispheres. We will do fun geography lessons on Google Earth, in which students will take "virtual field trips" to other countries. This week we will be doing a virtual field trip with Ms. Henderson's class to Liberia, where Ms. Henderson has traveled. She will share photos from her trip with our students! I highly recommend the Google Earth app, where students can explore different parts of our planet by zooming in and out.

• This Tuesday, September 1- PTO meeting at 6 pm in Claxton Media Center. ALL parents are welcome to attend. This is a wonderful chance to see what is going on in our Claxton community. I will be there and you are welcome to sit with me! :)
• This Thursday, September 3- OPEN HOUSE from 6-7:30 in the Media Center Come out and meet the 2nd grade team and hear about all the exciting things going on in 2nd grade. We will also be discussing our curriculum, The 7 Habits, and assessments.
• Monday, September 9: HOLIDAY- NO SCHOOL

Class Dojo reports can be accessed online. If you need your child's code, please email me. Please remember that Class Dojo tracks positive behavior. Once earned, students' Dojo points are never taken away from them. If a child needs support with his/her behavior, they will fill out a think sheet reflection which is sent home to be signed.

Behavior assessments are filled out each day by your child. I am so proud of their self-reflection skills! They've done an excellent job with their self-assessments so far. Please be sure to discuss their achievements with them and sign the assessment each evening.

Homework this week consists of:

• Read each night for 20 minutes and fill out reading log/Bingo board
• Fundations
• Math packet (due Friday)

We will begin reading responses next week.

Between now and June 11th, Claxton is working with TerraCycle to collect hard to recycle items and trade them in for cash for our school. Plastic lined, color coded boxes will be placed on EACH floor and inside the front door. We strongly encourage bringing in waste from home.

What can I recycle now that I couldn’t previously?

· Plastic writing utensils (markers, mechanical pencils, highlighters pens, etc.)

· Foil lined snack bar wrappers (think Cliff Bar)

· Wine corks (both synthetic and natural)

· Juice bag containers (Honest Kids, Capri Sun)

· Household batteries (All alkaline, such as most flashlight batteries; lithium, such as watch and hearing aid batteries; and nickel and cadmium batteries, such as rechargeable batteries used for power tools.

Where do I recycle my items?

· Plastic lined, color coded boxes will be placed on EACH floor and inside the front door in the main lobby.

· LARGE ORANGE BOXES - Plastic writing utensils, foil lined snack bar wrappers and wine corks (both synthetic and natural)

· SMALL GREEN BOXES - Juice BAG containers ONLY. No boxes or cartons.

· GRAY PLASTIC BUCKETS - Household batteries

Thank you so much for all that you do! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments!

Email: rebecca.wertheim@asheville.k12.nc.us
Website: mswertheim.blogspot.com
Location: Claxton Elementary School of Arts and Humanities, Merrimon Avenue, Asheville, NC, United States
Phone: 828-350-6514