Ms. Zelenock's 2nd Grade

Your children were Superstars on Friday.  It was by far the craziest day I’ve ever experienced in education.  Please give them a hug and tell them how proud I am of their patience, kindness, and zest for life.   We talked in class about expectations for this time of learning at home.  My hope is that students continue to practice reading, writing, and math so they come back to school without a huge “summer slide” and are ready to finish the year strong and ready for third grade.  Each week I will offer lessons and an opportunity to connect. I hope you and your student take advantage. If you have any questions please contact me via email at ezelenock@stjoebears.com or my cell phone at 269-757-3123.  I told students to call or text me anytime.  If I don’t answer please leave a message and I will call you back as soon as possible.    Take care, Ms. Zelenock     Celebration for your aweso...

Conferences and Report Cards Conferences and Report Cards are approaching.  Conferences are primarily scheduled on an "as needed" basis for this second round for students needing academic, behavioral, social, and/or emotional support.  Please look for notes to come home this week to indicate if I am requesting a conference.  I am happy to meet with everyone though...  If you receive a note indicating that there isn't a need to meet and would still like to meet please DO sign up.  I am happy to discuss your child's progress with you.   Here is the link for conference sign up.    Winter Conferences Math Look for Unit 4 math packets to come home this week.  Our focus will be on understanding place value, using place value to add and subtract, comparing numbers, composing and decomposing numbers.   Reading Students will be listening to fables and folktales from around the world to determine their central m...

Ice Skating In the morning of the 14th our class will go ice skating.  We leave promptly at 8:40 and return around 10:00.  This is a great trip.  Students really enjoy their time- even those who have never been skating before.     Valentine Party Our valentine party will take place on February 14th from 2:30-3:30.  Students are welcome to bring in valentines for THE WHOLE CLASS.  They may not bring valentines for only a few students.  We have 26 students in class.  I recommend that your child refrain from filling out the "To" portion of the note and just fill out the "From" portion.  It makes filling them out much easier. :)    Here are some items that we need for our party:  2 adult helpers snack for 26 drinks for 26 600 Hershey kisses 6 large bags of hard heart candy Conferences and Report Cards Conferences and Report Cards are approaching.  Conferences are primarily ...

Handwriting Students are so excited to begin cursive.  This week we are practicing basic strokes- undercurve, overcurve, and downcurve. Our students will learn all about why SJPS still teaches cursive.  The International Dyslexia Association and John Hopkins University all agree that there are neurological benefits to learning cursive.  Students practicing will combine tactile, visual, and fine motor skills; similar to learning a musical instrument.  If you want to read more about this please check out these articles- https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-case-for-cursive-why-its-about-more-than-writing_3054078.html https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/memory-medic/201303/why-writing-hand-could-make-you-smarter Math Our primary focus this week will be to use our understanding of place value and properties of operations to add and subtract.  Students will use Frames and Arrows, Number Charts, and Open Number Lines as possible tools as they strategize...

January 13, 2020 Ms. Zelenock 2nd Grade Read!  Read! Read!    Are you still reading at home with your child?  Are they reading independently? Please keep up the habit of having your child read each day.  Need books? Let me know and I will make sure your child has a book to read. In class we are starting to investigate informational writing and reading.  Our students are looking over text, checking out the layout of informational writing, discovering the importance of text features, and discussing the author's purpose.               NWEA Testing starts this week and runs through the rest of the month.  For 2nd graders this is a pretty quick assessment for both math and reading.  Tests run about 30-45 minutes each. Please encourage your student to read each question, think about each question, and not to worry or get stressed out.    ...

I sure could feel your students’ energy as they arrived this morning.  It sounds like families had a wonderful break. I’m so happy to be back with your child, teaching full time.  We could use some extra help in the classroom. If you would like to come in from 8:45-10:00 any morning to work with students please let me know.  Also, if you would like to donate a snack or your time to our New Year New You celebration this Friday, January 10th from 2:30-3:30 please email me.  There is room for another helper.     Tuesday, January 7 Art Wednesday, January 8 Computer lab Thursday, January 9 Social and Emotional Learning, Art, Music  Friday, January 10 Music, New Year Celebration Monday, January 13 Gym, Music, Library NWEA Testing starts next week and runs through the rest of the month.  For 2nd graders this is a pretty quick assessment for both math and reading.  Tests run about 30-45 minute...

Wow! Sun, snow, mud...  It seems like I could say something about our crazy weather every day in Michigan:)  Please make sure your child is dressed in layers and will be comfortable outside for recess.  It is always a good idea to have extra socks (or an extra outfit) in their school bag. Ms. Hall will continue as the lead teacher this week.  She is doing an excellent job engaging and interacting with students.  Report cards are scheduled to come home late this week.  Please contact the office if you are in need of additional copies for multiple households.  Keep in mind that all scores are based on end of year goals for second graders.  It is common for students to have a score of 1 or 2 this first marking period as they may need a lot of assistance at this time.  A score of 3 indicates that your student is independently and consistently meeting a standard.  If you have any questions please contact me to set up a time to address y...