2KD Information and Routines

Welcome to 2KD at Nose Creek Elementary.

Welcome back to school!  I hope that you and your family have had a fantastic summer.  I’m very excited about my new class and to have the opportunity to work with you and your child. This letter contains information that is important for the school year. Please keep it as a reference.

Homework: By setting aside 15 to 20 minutes each school night to complete the various homework activities, your child will not only develop positive work habits and a consistent routine, but it will also have a tremendous impact on improving their skills and their self-confidence. Thank you so much for your support in this area.

Home reading:  At Nose Creek Elementary, our focus is reading.  Your child will bring home a leveled book every night.  As part of the grade two program it is expected that your child will read at least fifteen minutes each evening.  Practicing the skills and strategies they have been learning at school is such an important part of the “learning to read, loving to read” process. Please remember that home reading is not meant to be an assessment of your child’s reading, but the opportunity to read “just right” reading books.  It’s the “Love to Read” part of our program.

Sight Words:  Each week, the students will be tested on the Nose Creek Elementary 100 Sight Word Program's word list.  10 new words will be written in their agenda and sent home to be practiced and hopefully mastered by two weeks. These words will stay in the agenda for two weeks. The first week is to practice the words by sight. The second week is to practice spelling these words. These words should be practiced until they are considered recognizable on sight (the student should not have to sound out or break down the word). Practicing these words, which appear most often in print, will allow your child to become a more fluent reader with better comprehension. Spelling these words will help your child better their skills as many of these words do not follow many phonemic spelling patterns.

Power of Ten: Among other strategies, we will be using the Power of Ten program this year to teach and reinforce basic facts, number sense, problem solving and functional math skills.  Watch for playing cards, information and activities that you can use at home to help your child better understand math and its applications.  Refer to our website for information about the program and ways to help you better understand the program and videos to help you learn the games.

Agendas/Home School Communication: The agenda is sent home on a daily basis. Please initial it daily as this is my only way of knowing that you have seen the agenda message and received any important notices.  Please feel free to communicate information to me through the agenda, by email or phone.

Supplies: Students are supplied with all materials required to work at school.  While it is nice to have things like binders, gel pens and notebooks, these items are unnecessary and result in extra clutter and parental expense. I would ask that you send only the following items:

• 2 boxes of kleenex that will be stockpiled by myself and shared by the class
• headphones for computers/iPads.
• painting shirt for art

Daily Physical Activity: Our class will be having gym 4 periods/week with our cohorted class, 2H. We will alternate the climbing wall at least once per week and will participate in other daily physical activities throughout the week. It is therefore important that students have appropriate indoor running shoes at school every day.  On days when weather permits, the students will go outside for recreation, and should wear appropriate outdoor shoes that they can comfortably participate in P.E. activities.

Clothing/Shoes: Please label all belongings that will be taken off (jackets, mittens, hats, boots, hoodies, indoor shoes etc.) as these items often end up in the lost and found. Students require two pairs of shoes; one for indoor use and the other for outside.  If your child has runners with laces please ensure they are able to tie them. Otherwise please send a pair they are able to do up independently. We have daily physical education, so students must have appropriate running shoes at school every day.

The temperature in the classroom is not within the teacher’s control, and it can get cool in the winter.  Please send a sweater or hoody for your child to remain comfortable.  Also, please ensure your child has warm and extra dry clothing during the cold and wet winter months.  The playground gets very mucky and warm dry boots and snow/splash pants are essential.

Bookbags: Each student will be given a bookbag to keep all of their school related books in.  Each bookbag has the student’s name on it.  Please ensure that the bookbags are cared for and used each day to transport books and written communication.

Classroom Volunteers: Unfortunately due to the current COVID-19 protocols, we are unable to allow classroom volunteers inside the building this year. If you are able to help out with prepping materials at home and follow the approproate COVID-19 quaranitne protocols, please speak with me.

Nutrition: One health unit in grade 2 is Nutrition.  To reinforce these concepts and healthy living, please ensure that your child has a nutritious snack (for after recess) as well as a nutritious and plentiful lunch. Students are asked to take any food that they have not eaten home again, so that you, the parent is aware of what your child is eating (or not) at school.

Students will be allowed to keep a water bottle (filled with water only) on their desk during class time. They will be encouraged to take it home each night to be cleaned.

NCE is a “peanut aware” school and we request that you refrain from sending peanut products to school to keep children with peanut allergies safe.  We do have a child in our class with nut allergies, and I also have allergies to some nuts.

Birthdays: In the classroom, birthdays will be acknowledged on or near your child’s birthday. Summer birthdays will be acknowledged in June.  ***Please note***  With the growing number of food allergies, COVID-19 restrictions, and in an effort to promote healthy eating habits, I request birthday treats not be sent.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Technology: NCE has a website, and I use the grade 2 page to provide information and resources for parents and links to activities for students.  In class, the internet will be used, as well as school supported software and especially using Notebook software for the Smartboard.  The students will use the Smartboard and iPads on a regular basis. Refer to our school website on a regular basis for information and updates of what we are doing in 2KD using technology. http://nosecreek.rockyview.ab.ca/Members/sdezengoski

Art: Art will be taught in the classroom by myself.  Please send a paint shirt to school, as we will be getting messy.

Music: Mrs. Kenealey will be teaching your child music this year.  We will be having music on Monday and Wednesday.

Electronic devices: Students are not allowed to bring any hand held electronic devices to school.  This includes cell phones and hand held games.  Please have your child keep these at home.

The previous information is intended to be a comprehensive overview of some procedures and routines in our classroom.  Please keep it on hand and refer to it throughout the year if questions arise. Also, please feel free to contact me via a note in your child’s agenda, by email or a phone call to the school before or after class time. I look forward to hearing from you if there is ever a question or concern about anything to do with your child’s experience at school. Your invaluable home support is truly a vital aspect of your child’s success at school. By working as a team, we will all experience an exciting and rewarding year.