Welcome to Second/Third Grade back to school night 2012-2013 Mrs. Morel Room F-101

Combo Class In a combination class two grade levels with a variety of interests and experiences are drawn together, making for a rich educational environment. This type of classroom offers many opportunities for students to develop academic knowledge and to extend learning. To ensure mastery of standards, instruction will be in both small and large groups, according to both the grade level, and your child’s learning need. Your child’s educational progress will be monitored and measured by classroom and district assessments based on the standards.

Daily Schedule 8:20 School Begins (M – 2nd grade library) 8:20-8:40 Morning Meeting 8:40-9:55 Language Arts (Daily 5/CAFÉ) 9:55-10:15 Writing 10:15-10:35 SNACK RECESS 10:35-11:35 Houghton Mifflin Language Arts 11:35-12:15 2nd grade lunch; 3rd grade math starts 12:00-12:40 – 3rd grade lunch 12:15 – 1:00 2nd grade Read Aloud; Math 1:00 – 1:30 M – PE; T-TH -3rd grade RTI/2nd Math Centers 1:30 – 2:00 T/W – 3rd grade art rotations/ Science/Social Studies 2:00-2:30 Science/SS; W- 2nd art rotations/3rd library; F – Friday fun *MONDAY- every Monday is an early release day-students are out at 1:35

Classroom rules and behavioral expectations In order to guarantee your child, and all of the other students in the classroom the excellent learning climate they deserve, the following discipline plan will be utilized in the classroom. All students can behave appropriately in the classroom if they know exactly what the class standards are and how their chosen behavior results in consequences, both positive and negative. Applied consistently, this discipline program will help create an optimal learning environment and encourage the positive and educational development of the students.

Rules & CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Classroom Rules 1. Listen when the teacher is talking. 2. Follow directions quickly. 3. Respect others, respect yourself, and respect your school. 4. Raise your hand to speak or stand. 5. Be safe, be kind, and be honest. Behavior Cubes./Money Yellow – Great day! Green – Warning Orange – Note home Blue – Miss recess Red – Principal Students will be given $0.02 everyday that they remain on yellow. $0.01 when they are on green. They can use their money to buy things from our Monarch Mall on Fridays. Please look at their Star Behavior chart daily.

BEHAVIORAL CONSEQUENCES POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT At this age, most children have a desire to do the right thing and please the adults around them. Mistakes do happen (to all of us!), but I try to acknowledge and reinforce only the desired behaviors. The following are a list of some of the rewards I use: 1. Praise! Praise! Praise! 2. Stickers 3. Pennies 4. Positive Notes / Phone Call Home 5. Table Points 6. Warm Fuzzies . NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES 1.The LOOK! 2. Verbal Warning. This is just a reminder-we all make mistakes sometimes.  3. Turn in a cube. 4. *Severe Disruption: this involves breaking the school’s rules (i.e. destroying school property, fighting, inappropriate language, and possession of weapons or drugs). The student will immediately go to the principal’s office

Homework Generally, homework should not take more than 30 minutes a night. However, there are times that more work or practice will be required. This would be individualized according to how well your child is performing toward the Standards. In addition, there will be some special projects assigned throughout the year. The purpose of homework is to reinforce the skills being taught daily in the classroom. Your participation in your child’s education is a vital contributor to your child’s academic achievement.

Nightly Homework Homework will be Monday-Thursday and will consist of: Reading: 10 minutes Math: Nightly review of the day’s lesson Spelling Practice and writing Please make sure your child’s homework is reviewed, corrected by you nightly and returned the next day in your child’s Homework Folder. 

Folders, birthdays, and communication Your child will be assigned a BLACK Homework Folder that is to be used daily. Please make sure this folder is brought to school everyday. Birthdays are SPECIAL! I would love to celebrate your child’s birthday. Please let me know in advance if you would like to bring in a treat on their magical day. We will celebrate at the end of the day during the last 15 minutes. All items must be store bought please.  To avoid hurt feelings, I kindly ask that if you choose to have a party AND the invitations are distributed at school, there must be for every child in the class. Communication is the key to a successful year. A great parent/teacher partnership leads to a successful child. Email is the most effective way to communicate with me. My email address is tmorel@murrieta.k12.ca.us.

v. A. P. A. Visual and performing arts Arts integration in all subject matters Drama, Music, PE, Singing, and Dance (movement) Rotations - 30 minutes, 1 time a week (2nd grade) 30 minutes, twice a week for 3rd grade Students will have instruction in unit based lessons that connect to the VAPA standards. School wide showcases will take place in the Fall and Spring. They will showcase their themed pieces.

volunteers Parent volunteers are a very important and integral part of the our program. This is an important job and it is very much appreciated. If you are interested in working with the students, assisting at center time, running the sight word program, preparing materials, attending field trips or even donating items to the classroom, please fill out the parent volunteer cards that are on the back table. I will be notifying you soon about coming in to help!

The H.e.a.r.t. of mails Harmony Empathy Achievement Reflection Transformation