September 12th

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Happy Friday, Grade 2 Families!

It was so wonderful to connect with many of you at the open house. The beginning of the school year always brings lots of questions and excitement, and I truly value our conversations. Please remember, you are always welcome to reach out to me by email or in person. Together, we make up the village that supports your children, and I am so grateful to share that role with you.

This week, we had a few special highlights:

🌟 The Terry Fox Run
Our class did an incredible job participating in the Terry Fox Run! The students gave their best effort, showed determination, and pushed themselves to beat their personal goals. What a wonderful way to celebrate resilience and community spirit.

🌟 Grade 3 Buddy Time
On Friday, we teamed up with Mrs. Kruger’s Grade 3 students. The older buddies were eager to step into leadership roles while the Grade 2s brought their creativity and energy. Working in pairs, they created beautiful seasonal art using only natural materials, with no glue or tape. We talked about how this type of art can be made anywhere, outside with a friend or even on your own, and then “captured” in a photo or a memory, leaving the materials behind for the birds and critters to enjoy.

🌟 Zones of Regulation: Getting to Green
This project tied in beautifully with our ongoing focus on the Zones of Regulation. We have been learning that green is the “magic zone,” where our bodies and minds are calm, focused, and ready for learning. We have also discussed what it feels like to be in the other zones (blue, yellow, or red) and how to use strategies from our personal toolboxes to help us return to green. These conversations will be a big part of our classroom culture this year as we explore questions like:

  • How can we live well together as a community?

  • How do our thoughts, words, and actions create a caring community?

Home Reading Program:

We are excited to begin our home reading program! Each Monday, students will choose two books to bring home in their red reading folder. These home reading books are specifically selected for students to practice and strengthen their reading skills. We ask that students read each book at least twice during the week, as repeated reading is an excellent way to build fluency, confidence, and understanding.
Please ensure that the red reading folder travels to and from school every day so books are available both at home and in the classroom. All books need to be returned by Friday so that every child has access to our collection and can select new books the following week. Books must be returned before new ones can be chosen.
In addition to the home reading books, library books will also come home on Thursdays. These books may sometimes be a bit more challenging for students to read independently and can be enjoyed as a read-aloud with your child. Listening to stories is a wonderful way to build vocabulary, comprehension, and a love for literature.
A ROLL & READ page will come home every Monday in the red home reading folder. I will choose ten of these words (in addition to the 'heart words') for the Friday spelling test. The focus each week should be on learning the rule that pertains to that particular phoneme. From time to time, your child may also bring home games or decodable passages. 
Thank you for your support in helping your child develop a love of reading and strong literacy skills. Your partnership at home makes a big difference!
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PE will be outside all next week because we have a dance residency in the gym. 

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Personalizing our Visual Journals: 
We are collecting items to personalize the cover of our visual journals with all of the things we love! To help with this, 
Please send in items such as stickers, magazine cut-outs, printed pictures of favourite things (superheroes, characters, hobbies, etc.), family photos, the first letter of your child’s name, or pictures of pets/favorite animals. 
All items will need to be flat so that the covers can be taped or laminated and stored easily. Please send these items to school in a Ziploc bag labeled with your child’s name. All items should be brought in by Thursday, September 25th. These personal touches will help make each student’s journal meaningful and unique. Thank you for supporting this creative project!

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From the Calgary Public Library... It is a great time to remind students and their families that the Calgary Public Library has an unlimited subscription to TumbleBookLibrary which includes access for your district.

Here is your user info. Please share it with all your staff and students!

www.TumbleBookLibrary.com
Username: calgarypl
Password: sd19

Direct Link: https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/auto_login.aspx?u=calgarypl&p=sd19


It has been an inspiring start to the year, and I am excited to see where our learning journey takes us next!

 

Enjoy your weekend,


Ms. Thomson























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