A Trip to the Moon & Geometry!

Thank you for the supplies you sent in to help make these lessons more meaningful for the class. I'm pretty sure most of them won't be asking for astronaut's ice cream for a special treat!

This week is all about Dr. Seuss, field trips and picture day! We will have a special edition newsletter coming home today. Please read over it carefully. Our spelling pattern for the week is -ss. We will also focus on author's purpose, antonyms, singular nouns and plural nouns.

Here's to a great week!

Accelerated Reader Folder & Challenge

Dear Parents,

The children are really excited about taking accelerated reading tests in the classroom. In order to help them keep track of what they are reading and to keep you informed of their progress, each child will have their own AR Folder. In their folder, you will find their latest Star Reading Report. This report lets you know their current reading level and their range. Please encourage them to read books within their range. This will help ensure that books are not too challenging for independent reading. In addition, reading books at the top of their range will encourage them to continue to grow as a reader. To help your child find books within their range, you can use the website www.arbookfind.com. You can type in the title of a book and it will provide you with the book level and AR test number. In their folder, you will also see a book log. Please encourage them to write down the title and author of the books they read. In addition, help them find the test number and book level on the website provided. I will record the percentage they get correct after they take their test in class. Their AR Folder should remain in their backpack, so they will always have it with them at home and school.

Hopefully, this will make more sense when you see the folder tomorrow:)

Mrs. Smith sent home a letter recently about a reading challenge. The goal is for each first grader to read at least 10 books and pass at least 10 AR tests with a score of 80% or higher. For the students who meet this goal, they will get to watch a movie in the library on March 4th.  Please encourage your child to read at least 1 book every night.

Thank you for all you do at home to help instill a love of reading in your children!

I'm so GLAD!!

Dear Parents,

I'm so glad to return to Campus School to teach your sweet children. As many of you know, I was privileged to spend 6 of my 10 years of teaching at Campus School. My last two years I even had the honor of teaching some of your children.

For those of you who are just getting to know me, I am a proud mother of 3 amazing boys. My oldest, Quintin, is in 2nd grade at Campus School, and Emmitt and Walter both attend St. Luke's on Highland. My wonderful husband, Mr. Miller, leads the after school art program at Campus. This May we will celebrate 11 years of marriage. In my personal time, I enjoy being with my family, reading, running and laughing.

Communication is very important to foster the home/school connection. Email is the best way for us to connect, so I will send emails often to keep you informed of what is going on in the classroom. The class blog is also very important, so please check it often. You can follow by email on the left side of the page. This will ensure you never miss a post. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

I know we are all sad to see Mrs. Puckett go, but we are going to work together this week to make it a smooth transition. I am looking forward to getting to know you and your families. Here's to a great rest of the school year!

                                                                                                      Mrs. Miller

Letter from Dr. Copeland

April 28, 2014

Dear 1^st and 2^nd Grade Parents,

Next week, your child will be taking the Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition (SAT 10).

The SAT 10 is a norm-referenced standardized test.  This means that your child’s scores provide a comparison of his or her performance to that of thousands of other children in the same grade who took SAT 10 at the same time of year.  The results help show what your child has learned and what your child has not yet mastered.  It is important to understand that no one “passes” or “fails” the SAT 10.

The SAT 10 includes many of the subjects that your child is taught in school.   It is a multiple choice test requiring the student to select and mark the best answer.  The teachers have been reviewing subject matter and sample questions to ensure that your child has knowledge of the test-taking skills needed to demonstrate their best understanding of the material that is tested.

You should also have received another letter today that provides information on all the testing that is taking place at Campus School over the next two weeks.  We are confident, that, with your support, our students will do their “personal best”.

Sincerely,

Susan Copeland

Director

SAT-10

Dear Parents,

         As you are aware, the second grade students will be administered the Stanford 10 Achievement Test the week of May 6 – May 9. The test uses multiple choice questions that provide a measure of knowledge and application skills in reading, language arts, mathematics, word analysis, vocabulary, language mechanics, math computation, and spelling.  The testing will begin daily at 8:30 and end around 11:00. Please make sure your child is here on time each day.

         Research indicates students perform better on standardized tests when they are hydrated and are not working on an empty stomach.  Each day, during the testing week, we will take a break in the morning for the students to have a healthy snack. I would greatly appreciate parents helping to provide individual packaged items for 18 students. Please visit our wiki to sign-up: http://lpmiller0521.wikispaces.com/SAT-10+Snacks  It would be helpful to have the snacks a few days before testing begins. Also, please send a bottle of water with your child everyday during achievement test week.

         They will not have homework the week of the SAT-10. Instead, please encourage them to go to bed early each night and eat breakfast each morning. The homework for next week will also be different. They will still have spelling words, but they will not have the math and language arts sheets. A SAT-10 preparation book will take the place of the math and language arts. They should work in their booklet a little each night. This will give you an idea of the kind of questions they will be asked on the test.

Thanks so much for all you do, and do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Lisa Miller 

Book Fair

Dear Parents,

The Scholastic Book Fair is in full swing this week! Our class will get to shop on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:15-2:45. Feel free to come and shop with them. If your child is going to shop by themselves on Tuesday or Thursday, please send their money in a ziplock bag with the amount they are allowed to spend written on the outside. Also, please fill out the order form that came home last week if you have specific items you would like them to purchase. There will be some adult volunteers that can help them shop.

During Book Fair week, we will be collecting change in a milk jug to help connect more kids with books. Please consider sending in some change to help this great cause! Family night at the Book Fair will be this Thursday night from 6-8. Students are encouraged to dress like their favorite book character and join in the parade. Make sure to stop by and check out our class wish list as well. We look forward to seeing you and whole family!

Here's to a wonderful week of celebrating reading and books!

Family Gathering and More

Dear Parents,

The class has been working so hard on their family gathering. Their hard work at home and at school has really paid off. They are so excited!! Thank you so much for all you are doing to help them prepare.  Please have them at school tomorrow between 7:30-7:45 am. They can hang their stuff up in the booth. Then they should come to the playroom where I will be waiting for them. Make sure they come dressed like what they want to be when they grow up. After family gathering is over,  we will change into our uniforms.

We still need a few things for our Valentine's Day party. You can visit the wiki here: http://lpmiller0521.wikispaces.com/Valentine%27s+Day+Party Please make sure they bring their decorated boxes to school by February 12th.

For the first time, addition and subtraction fluency will receive a grade on the progress report. We have been working on fluency since October. By the end of this 9 weeks, they are expected to be fluent with their facts in order to receive an MS on their progress report. Please make sure they are practicing their facts every night at home. You should continue using the sheet I gave you at our conference in October to guide you on what facts they should be studying.

Picture day is February 13th. Students may dress out of uniform that day. We will be taking our group picture, so everyone will participate.A flyer came home in your child's binder with more information.

Thanks so much for all you do! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning!