I am so happy that you are here! Please find your child’s seat and I will begin the presentation shortly. Feel free to walk around and explore the classroom while you’re waiting!

To Mrs. Vayer’s 2nd Grade Class

o Born and raised in Springfield, VAo 2nd year of teaching!o I got married to my best

friend, Hunter, this past July and we went on our honeymoon to Hawaii

o Attended JMU - undergraduate and Master's degree. Go Dukes!

o Lover of adventure, traveling, crafting, and reading

o Studied abroad in Costa Ricao Target addicto I have a younger brother

named Jakeo I have 2 dogs – Teddy & Tucker

o Active and engagingo Collaborativeo Safe & comfortingo Hands-on learningo Differentiatedo Movemento Critical thinkingo Nurturingo Authentic

o Information sent home in Take Home Folders

o Poster with "All About Me" information and photos/drawings is due ____________

Schedule:• Monday: Bring in baby pictures• Tuesday: Show & tell item• Wednesday: Read aloud to the class• Thursday: Classmates will write

him/her a friendly letter• Friday: You may come into the

classroom to do a read aloud and/or eat lunch with your child

Take home foldero These purple folders will be taken

home every day.o These folders will include homework,

school forms, lunch menus, notes, etc.o Students will be checking their mailbox

in class at the end of the day and will place everything in their folder accordingly.

o One side of the folder will be labeled “take home” and the other will be labeled “keep at school”.

o I strongly encourage you to check these folders daily so that you don’t miss any important information.

o You can send me notes in this folder because I will be checking them every morning.

Thursday folderso These green folders will be taken

home every Thursday.o Inside the Thursday folders will be

fliers/information from the PTA, papers from the school, graded work, and returned quizzes/tests.

o Please check this folder on Thursday and send it back with your child on Friday morning.

Birthdays are a very exciting time in our classroom! When your child has a birthday…

o They are not allowed to bring in class treats/snacks due to our school being allergy aware.

o You may donate a book, table game or recess equipment.

o Party invitations can only be distributed if all students invited.

o We will be singing your child happy birthday on their special day!

Rubric: E= Exceeds StandardM= Meets Standard P= Progressing Towards StandardB= Performing Below Standard

When you receive the report card, please look over it and let me know if you have any questions. Once you have looked it over, please sign & return it to school.

Distributed quarte rly

Morning schedule:o 7:30-7:50: Students arrive &

complete morning routine (unpack, lunch choice, choose a morning tub)

o 7:50: Announcementso 8:00-8:20: Power Up & word studyo 8:20-8:35: Morning meetingo 8:40-8:50: Shared Readingo 8:55-9:25: Recesso 9:25-9:30: Snacko 9:30-9:45: Read Aloudo 9:45-10:10: Independent Readingo 10:15-10:55: Reading groups &

centerso 11:00-11:30: Luncho 11:30-12:00: Writing

Afternoon schedule:o 12:00-1:00: Specials (depends on the

day; we have more than others some days)

o 1:00-1:30: Content – science or social studies

o 1:35-2:20: Matho 2:20-2:35: Read Aloud on the

carpet & pack upo 2:35: Dismissal

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

P.E. 12:00-12:30

Computers11:35-12:25

STEM with Mrs. Raines class

9:20-9:50

P.E.12:00-12:30

P.E.1:00-1:30

Library12:30-1:00

Music12:30-1:00

Art12:30-1:15

Music12:30-1:00

Guidance (A)1:00-1:30

orSEARCH (B)1:00-1:45

LunchOur lunches will be every day in the cafeteria from 11:00-11:30. At the beginning of the year, we will be reviewing lunch room rules. We will take a restroom break before and after lunch.

SnackIn addition to lunch, I will be giving students a few minutes in the morning to eat a snack. I believe that a snack is important for fueling their brains and helping out with their focusing. I encourage you to pack a healthy snack that doesn’t require silverware and isn’t too messy. Please keep in mind that we are an allergy aware classroom and school.

I am beyond ecstatic that LCPS changed the recess policy to 30 minutes! Recess is a great time for students to get a brain break, form friendships, and practice their communication skills. I love playing outside at recess with my kids – whether it’s tag, basketball, or kickball, I’m all in for it! We will be having our recess fairly early in the mornings around 9:00-9:30. It will give students a break in our mornings since they are longer than the afternoons. If the weather is colder towards the fall and early winter, I highly suggest sending your child to school with a jacket on so that they are comfortable outside. We will do indoor recess if the weather is too cold, hot, or raining.

o For homework, students will be completing a hamburger homework menu!

o The hamburger menu allows students to select their own homework assignments.

o Students will pick a box from each category (bun, meat, lettuce, ketchup and mustard) to build their own hamburger.

o I will pass out the hamburger homework menu on Mondays and I would like them returned on Fridays. If you could sign it or initial it, that would be great!

o Students will earn awards for completing their homework menus. For every 3 rewards, students may pick a friend to eat lunch in the classroom with!

o This menu gives students choice for the homework that they complete every night ☺

School-wide rules:o Respect for selfo Respect for otherso Respect for property

Classroom RULES:o Follow directions quickly.o Raise your hand for permission to

speak.o Raise your hand for permission to

leave your seat.o Make smart choices.o Keep your dear teacher happy ☺

I will be focusing on positive behavior.

o Individual, group, & whole class rewards• Individual: golden tickets & Fun

Friday (every other week)• Table group: Lunch bunch• Whole class: Various rewards

o Consequences:• Nonverbal/verbal warning• Brainstorm with teacher• Parent contact (if needed)

We will be reviewing procedures, rules, & expectations a lot at the beginning of the year and as the years goes on if needed.

What?o Project Based Learning (PBL) is an inquiry based process for

teaching and learning. In PBL, students focus on a complex question or problem, then answer the question or solve the problem through a collaborative process of investigation over an extended period of time. Projects often are used to investigate authentic issues and topics found outside of school. During the inquiry process, students learn content, information, and facts necessary to draw conclusions about the question.

Why?o PBL is extremely effective as a method for engaging students in

their learning. With engagement comes focus, discipline, and mastery of academic content. Further, students have the opportunity to work on problems and issues relevant to their lives, as well as learn vital work and life skills necessary to their success in school or in the work world.

2nd grade math will be filled with lots of hands-on learning experiences! These are the standards we will be covering:

o Place value (ones, tens, hundreds)o Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)o Rounding numberso Comparing numberso Even and odd numberso Skip counting (5, 10, 15, etc.)o Addition & Subtraction strategies and

factso Number patternso Estimatingo Regrouping (subtraction)o Story problemso Graphing/probabilityo Analyzing datao Telling time to the nearest 5 mins.o Calendar (days & months)o Temperature

o Symmetryo 2-D & 3-D shapeso Fractionso Moneyo Measuremento Word problemso 2-digit addition & subtraction

Reading is something that is near and dear to my heart. My goal is for each of my students to love reading. Students will be engaging with reading through small groups, read alouds, shared reading, buddy reading, and a listening center. These are the standards that we will be covering:

o Creating & sharing oral storieso Setting a purpose for readingo Making predictionso Making connectionso Using reading strategies to decode

wordso Problem & solutiono Working on fluency & expressiono Synonyms & antonymso Homophoneso Story elements: characters, setting,

eventso Retellingo Story structure & sequencingo Homophones

o Main idea & summarizingo Reference materials – pictures,

captions, diagrams, charts, etc.o Prefixes and suffixeso Inferenceso Conclusionso Dictionary, glossary, index

2nd grade science allows students to explore, investigate, question, and conduct experiments for various topics. These are the standards that we will be covering:

o Scientific investigationso Habitats (connect to our field trip

and PBL)o Seasonal change & its effectso Magnetso Matter (solid, liquid, gas)o Weather (severe weather & storms)o Erosiono Plant & plant productso Life cycles of plants and animals

o Butterflyo White-tailed deero Chicken (when we have eggs)o Plant

Social studies allows students to learn more about the world around them, make connections, and dive deeper into history. These are the standards that we will be covering:

o Citizenship (our first unit)o Map skillso Geography’s effect on peoples & cultureso Native Americanso Natural, human, capital resourceso Needs & wantso Barter and moneyo Consumer choices & scarcity (PBL)o Communication and technology advanceso American symbols

o Famous Americans• George Washington• Benjamin Franklin• Martin Luther King Jr.• Jackie Robinson• George Washington Carver• Christopher Columbus• Abraham Lincoln• Helen Keller• Cesar Chavez

o Famous holidays• Independence Day (July 4th)• Labor Day• Columbus Day• Veterans Day• Thanksgiving• President’s Day• MLK Jr. Day• Memorial Day

Writing is such an important part of the school day. Writing allows students to express themselves, bring out their creativity, have a voice, and bring ideas to life. I love seeing students fall in love with writing. These are the standards & units we will be covering:

Standards:o Generating writing ideaso Organize writing for beginning, middle,

and endo Edit writing for

capitalization/punctuationo Revise for clarityo Sight word spellingo D’nealian manuscript (handwriting)o Cursive handwriting (2nd half of year)o Plan, revise, & edit writingo Grammaro Parts of speech

Units of writing:o Personal narrativeo Small momentso Launching with nonfictiono Authors as mentorso Research based nonfictiono Nonfiction informational writingo Realistic fictiono Poetryo Opinion Writingo Persuasive Writing

• Students will be given a spelling list at the beginning of the week.• The word lists will consist of spelling patterns that are

developmentally appropriate for your child.• They will be completing in-class activities to practice with their

words. There will not be any homework for word study. However, students may practice their words at home if desired!

• Tests will be given every two weeks on that Friday. Tests will consist of the spelling words, dictation sentences (sight words, capitals, punctuation) and vocabulary.

• Students will also be given quarterly sight words to practice with.

o We will be a BYOT (bring your own technology) classroom. The technology will be safely and securely stored during the day while not being used.

o Students will be using the technology for Dream Box, listening to reading during center time, and for classroom projects. It is a powerful tool for research.

o We will have computer lab once a week where students will be working on laptops. I will also be checking out the iPads occasionally to incorporate into my lessons.

Please fill out the volunteer interest sheet if you would like more information about volunteering in our classroom. o Classroom Volunteer (Thursday Folders, Copies, Stapling, etc)o Room Parent o Guest Reader (on Fridays)o Field trip chaperoneso Take-home projects

Please remember to always sign into the office first when coming into Cedar Lane and wear your visitor pass at all times! ☺

o I will be sending out a weekly update through email every Sunday. This will include what we will be learning, events coming up, homework, upcoming tests, important information, etc. My goal is to keep you in the loop of what is happening in our classroom each week!

o Thursday folders & take home folders will be important to check!

o Remind app – I will send out updates, reminders, and important info through this. You can always reach me on this app if you have a question.

o Emails & phone calls ☺

o Seesaw! I love posting pictures of my students doing amazing work! They will soon be able to start posting pictures of their own work when we start centers.

o Most importantly, I want you to know that we are a team and are working to get the best for your child.

Please let me know if you have any questions! I’m happy to answer them ☺

I am looking forward to an amazing and memorable year in 2nd grade!