Dear Families,
Welcome to our online classroom! Here you will find tons of resources for you and your student to explore. In this introductory letter I want to give you an idea of the different types of things you will find on the website.
Our class website has been a great resource for students to learn about fascinating topics, practice educational skills, and find reading resources online. Here is some background about the tools on the website, and how you can use these tools to help your student to continue to learn outside of our school building.
Reading
Studies have shown that students learn to read in a variety of ways. A combination of these methods can help any student develop as an effective reader.
- Read Aloud (student is read TO)
- Guided Reading (student practices reading WITH an adult who helps them along the way)
- Buddy Reading (taking turns with someone else)
- Choral Reading (reading at the same time as the adult)
- Echo Reading (the student repeats reading right after hearing it)
- Independent Reading (reading alone)
If you are interested in learning more about how students learn to read, please check out the Reading Corner section. In working with the students throughout the year, we find a reading level that helps identify where your student is reading at and how we can help them advance.
The best way to improve in reading is by practice, practice, practice! And the best way to help students practice is by helping them find books that are interesting, slightly challenging, and fun! If you need any help finding a great book for you and your student to enjoy together, please e-mail me!
Math
We cover many different topics throughout the year with Math. The largest concepts are addition and subtraction, and most of the games on the Math page are video games that help your student become faster with their math facts. There are also many games that you can play at home with your students to help their "math fluency". Check out the Study Tools page for more chances to practice.
Here are some of the other concepts that we will talk about this year in Math:
- Graphing
- Money
- Temperature
- Telling Time
- Measurement (length and weight)
Writing
At this age, students are moving past the "How do I write a sentence?" to "Why should I enjoy writing?" In that spirit, I try to come up with a variety of different types of writing that different students will enjoy. You can try some of these ideas at home!
- Comics
- Journal writing
- Online blogging
- Instant Messagings
- Song writing
- Movie scripting
- Video game instructions
- How-to Animal stories
Spelling
We are using a program called F.A.S.T. this year that helps students develop what they have learned about "why" we spell certain words the way we do. The words that we give the students each week are based around a concept of spelling that we have practiced in class throughout the week. Click here to see interactive versions of our F.A.S.T. boards.
You can help your student develop in their spelling abilities by helping them with their flash cards, or visiting Spelling City. The spelling words for the week are listed on the Student Spelling page and this website has many games, quizzes, and tests that they can use to help practice!
If you ever have any questions about the website or anything in the class, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can e-mail me or call me in the classroom at (720) 776-4065. Thank you for working together to help your student enjoy learning!
Sincerely,
Bobby Kennedy
2nd Grade Teacher
Buffalo Trail Elementary School
rkennedy4@cherrycreekschools.org