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 Click here for this week's class news in PDF format.

First day of school. Second graders eating carrots they dug from the LCS garden.

Below is a link to the 9.1.2010 Welcome to Second Grade letter & Parent checklist I sent home.

Every year at this time, I work with excitement, eagerly preparing for my next class of students. I clean the room, order supplies, plan our units of study, and think about how to refine my teaching with colleagues. In the middle of this bustle and excitement, I find it important to pause and remember the purpose of this voyage we’ll take together. Ours is akin to a sailing enterprise: working in harmony to navigate, propel, and balance the craft. The way we work together will be just as important as our endpoint.

 At the beginning of the year you will undoubtedly be greeted by a storm of communication and activities: forms to be returned, dates to calendar, lunches to pack, playdates to schedule, and soccer practices to attend. I know this time of year can be overwhelming and confusing. As you entrust me with the care and education of your child, please be assured that I will do my very best to create a consistent, safe, loving, and educationally-rigorous community every day that we are together. My goals for your child are simple:

 1)      to feel loved and valued;

2)    to cultivate a passion for learning; and

3)    to be challenged and successful academically and socially.

 Everything that we do this year will be connected to these three goals, and I will do my best to explain why we do what we do. There will be times when something doesn’t seem to fit, when concerns or questions arise. At these moments I urge you to reach out to me. I will respond to you promptly and with honesty. I ask for your support, involvement, and trust so that we can help each child in this learning community attain excellence. I promise to provide the very best teaching and learning environment possible.

 I’ll send more information to you on the first day of school, but here are a few important details to get you started:

• The first day of school is Wednesday, September 1. We will begin our learning meeting each day promptly at 8:05. Your child should arrive at L.C.S. between 7:30 and 8:00. I’ll be in my room ready to greet your child from 7:45. I’ve found that children do best when they arrive before 8:00 and have time to unpack, sign up for lunch, greet their friends, and ease into the day. If your child will need a breakfast from the kitchen, it’s best if they arrive at 7:45 and have time to eat before learning starts at 8:05. Thank you in advance for your punctuality.
•  I will provide the basic school supplies that your child needs.
• There will be a community snack program this year operated by the L.C.S. cafe. Laura Collaro and I will send more details home on the first day of school. We will provide a snack for your child Monday through Thursday and a parent volunteer will provide snack for the class on Fridays. Please let me know if you’d like to provide our first community snack on Friday, September 3.
• The LaRose family is moving to Bristol.  Koby will attend second grade at Bristol Elementary. He will come in to see the second graders in the first few weeks of school.

I look forward to this journey together and welcome you aboard the second-grade boat!

 Peace,

Justin May

 work phone: 453-2119

 e-mail: jmay@anesu.org

 After some technical difficulties, and some busy field trip weeks, I'm pleased to announce the return of the Second Grade Blog, Curioustigators. I'll be posting pictures from our learning, catching up on posts about our field trips, and occasionally we'll have guest student posts. Stay tuned for the come back tour of the second grade blog!

Have a great weekend!

Cheerios,

Justin

Click here for the 9-21-09 2nd Grade Class News

I sent home a letter with information about home reading. Your child will have a book or two from school and a reading log. Please help your second grader remember to read for twenty minutes every night!  Patty, Bonnie and I are reading with second graders individually this week to learn more about who they are as readers.

Interviewing Farmers

We'll be heading to the Middlebury Farmers' market this Wednesday 9/16. We'll leave school at 9:00 and return before noon. Thanks to all of you who have sent $2.00 for the group snack.

Beetle Glyphs in Mathematics

Second graders have created beetles that show information about themselves. They used a key and symbols to represent their favorite sport, season, and their birthday. Come to our class and see if you can figure out who these beetles belong to!

We had a great potluck last night!

I'm looking forward to seeing you all for the first day of school tomorrow. My room is open for quiet reading at 7:45 each day. Instruction begins at 8:05 sharp. A community snack will be provided. Please check your child's backpack for his or her notes folder. There are letters from me and forms from the school.

I'm looking forward to working with you!

Peace,

Justin