Our Specials/Encore Schedule 2019-2020
As you may or may not have heard, we are utilizing a "Four Day" schedule" this year. It's different from what we have been doing, a "Monday-Friday "schedule, and will likely take a little getting used to. I was on the scheduling committee this summer and am eager to see how the advantages of this schedule work out (and how difficult the drawbacks are).
With a Monday-Friday schedule, the "Specials" that happen on a given school day, Art for example, happen depending on what day of the week it is. In a Four Day schedule, the specials of Art, Music, and PE (twice in four days) take place depending on whether it is Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, or Day 4. When we were doing the scheduling work this summer we referred to these "Specials" as "Encore." I don't know if that word will be used school-wide or not. Spanish and Chorus will still be on the Monday-Friday schedule. I have yet to schedule Library and Computer Science, so I'll keep you posted about those.
I think the biggest impact for parents will have to do with knowing when your child needs to have sneakers for PE. My recommendation is to keep sneakers at school so that your child/children are always ready.
Here's our schedule:
Day 1 PE Spanish: Wed, Thurs, Fri
Day 2 Music Chorus: Friday
Day 3 PE Library: to be scheduled
Day 4 Art Computer Science: to be scheduled
So for the first two weeks of school, this is how our specials/encore schedule will work:
Wednesday 8/28 Day 1 PE and Spanish
Thursday 8/29 Day 2 Music and Spanish
Friday 8/310 Day 3 PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Tuesday 9/3 Day 4 Art
Wednesday 9/4 Day 1 PE and Spanish
Thursday 9/5 Day 2 Music and Spanish
Friday 9/6 Day 3 PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Monday 9/9 Day 4 Art
Second graders have traditionally gone to library weekly. They have a short teaching time and then check out books. They can have 4 books for up to two weeks. Two books stay at school and two can go home. They start the year checking out just two books. At the beginning of the year your child will be required to read with an adult before checking out any books. We emphasize reading good-fit books and this is one of the ways we help kids learn how to tell if a book is good fit. (More on that later). Eventually, they will be able to check out three good-fit books and one choice book. The choice book is not required to be good-fit.
With a Monday-Friday schedule, the "Specials" that happen on a given school day, Art for example, happen depending on what day of the week it is. In a Four Day schedule, the specials of Art, Music, and PE (twice in four days) take place depending on whether it is Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, or Day 4. When we were doing the scheduling work this summer we referred to these "Specials" as "Encore." I don't know if that word will be used school-wide or not. Spanish and Chorus will still be on the Monday-Friday schedule. I have yet to schedule Library and Computer Science, so I'll keep you posted about those.
I think the biggest impact for parents will have to do with knowing when your child needs to have sneakers for PE. My recommendation is to keep sneakers at school so that your child/children are always ready.
Here's our schedule:
Day 1 PE Spanish: Wed, Thurs, Fri
Day 2 Music Chorus: Friday
Day 3 PE Library: to be scheduled
Day 4 Art Computer Science: to be scheduled
So for the first two weeks of school, this is how our specials/encore schedule will work:
Wednesday 8/28 Day 1 PE and Spanish
Thursday 8/29 Day 2 Music and Spanish
Friday 8/310 Day 3 PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Tuesday 9/3 Day 4 Art
Wednesday 9/4 Day 1 PE and Spanish
Thursday 9/5 Day 2 Music and Spanish
Friday 9/6 Day 3 PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Monday 9/9 Day 4 Art
Second graders have traditionally gone to library weekly. They have a short teaching time and then check out books. They can have 4 books for up to two weeks. Two books stay at school and two can go home. They start the year checking out just two books. At the beginning of the year your child will be required to read with an adult before checking out any books. We emphasize reading good-fit books and this is one of the ways we help kids learn how to tell if a book is good fit. (More on that later). Eventually, they will be able to check out three good-fit books and one choice book. The choice book is not required to be good-fit.
Snack
Second graders need to bring
their own snack to school.
Birthdays in Room 207
You are welcome to send in a special
snack on or near your child’s
birthday. I ask that you keep it
simple. Please have the snack be
something that does not require a freezer, refrigeration, or teacher
preparation (for example an ice-cream cake).
Your child should be able to pass it out with the help of another
student. We have birthday snacks at our regular
snack time and the birthday snack is in addition to whatever else students have
brought in for snack.
If your child has a summer birthday
we can celebrate a half birthday or pick the “date”
of his or her birthday in May or June and celebrate on that day (for example a
July 28 birthday could be celebrated on May 28).
After School Change of Plans/Absences
If
at all possible, please send in a written note if your child is doing something
different after school. You can email me*,
but please do that before the school day starts (the students and I get anxious
if the email isn’t
there when they get to school). If your
child will be taking a different bus or will be missing all or part of a school
day, please cc Ms. Gwyn Dessert in the office.
That saves me a step and she’ll
have any necessary bus passes waiting when your child gets to school.
School Day Start Time
The bell rings at 7:55 am. Second graders line up by grade at the main
entrance. Your child should be
walking into the building with the class at that time. This will give your child the time needed to
do the settling-in chores and activities that are necessary before we start our
morning meeting. Please talk to your
child about getting right to the classroom in the morning.
Take-Home Folders/Homework
The Take-Home folders generally go
home on Fridays and are expected back on Mondays. When we start the Homework log, it is due on Mondays. As I mentioned in the summer letter, if you could have your child bring in a picture (or two) of your family, that would be great.
*Email and Phone Contact
I try to respond to emails within 24
hours. I don’t always check email during the
school day. The best way to communicate
about after school plans is to send your child in with a written note or email
the day before (cc Gwyn Dessert and I’ll
give you extra credit). If your plans
change during the day and you need to email me, I will send an email back during
the day to let you know I’ve
seen the email. Otherwise you can call
the school, in which case they will put the call through to the classroom.
Let me know if you have other
questions or concerns. I'm eager to get
the school year going!
Best,
Mrs.
Whaley
