Welcome to Back to School Night!
September 1st, 2015
Sara Lemcke – 2nd Grade
My name is Sara Lemcke and I’m very excited to be here at the Madeleine Choir School with your
second graders this year! I have a Master’s in Education with a concentration in Professional
Development from University of Wisconsin and a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and Art
History from DePaul University. Before coming to MCS in 2008, I taught first grade in Jordan
School District.
I aim to make my classroom a place that’s positive and encouraging, where students can learn
through both discovery and with guided activities. I revolve my extension activities to
accommodate a variety of learning styles. Students in our class participate in whole group learning
and in small, teacher guided pairs and groups. I encourage my students to think critically and learn
ways to grow in self-reliance.
You can reach me here at school by email (slemcke@utmcs.org) or by phone (323-9850 ext. 202.)
Email is the most reliable and quickest way to reach me during the day. Calling is less reliable as I
usually only check messages in the morning. I don’t answer the phone if it rings during class and I
can’t guarantee I’ll receive voicemail messages in a timely manner. If you have an urgent
message, please email me or contact Amy Coroon in the main office so she can reach me. If you
have a message that pertains to the end of the school day, please email me no later than 3 pm. I’ll
return emails or phone messages within 24 hours.
Important Second Grade Dates:

Renewal of Baptism Promises/Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
– Sunday, 1/10, 11:00 am. Cathedral.

Winter Concert – Saturday, 2/6, 4:30 pm. Tentative cafeteria.

Sacrament Information Meeting with Greg Glenn – TBA January/February

First Reconciliation – Wednesday, 2/24, 6:30 pm. Cathedral.

Banner Making Party – Friday after school, April TBA. Tentative cafeteria.

Mandatory Pentecost rehearsal for all participants – Saturday, 5/14, 10:30 am. Cathedral.

Pentecost Mass/First Communion and Confirmation – Sunday, 5/15, 11:00 am. Cathedral.

Violin Concert – Wednesday, 6/1, 7:00 pm. Tentative cafeteria.
(No December violin concert for 2nd graders this year.)
The students discussed and chose classroom rules based on the following categories:

Be hospitable

Be respectful

Be responsible
I base my classroom discipline around “Teaching with Love and Logic” by Jim Fay and David Funk,
which encourages students to make positive choices and internalize their decision-making. Our
room is a positive environment where personal responsibility and self-correction are encouraged.
If a student needs refocusing, the method followed is:

A verbal reminder

Sign “the book” (the classroom discipline log used in all the classrooms at MCS)

After three signatures in the book (per quarter,) a referral is sent home

Multiple referrals in a quarter will require a meeting between parents, teacher and the
administration
Referrals and meetings may be administered first in individual situations when appropriate and as
needed at the discretion of the faculty and staff.
Homework:
Homework information will be sent home as both a hard copy and an email every Monday, or at the
beginning of each week, unless otherwise noted. Please read the homework sheet weekly to stay
informed of due dates and important classroom information. Homework is extension of math and
literacy concepts we’ve studied in math and literacy, and well as weekly spelling words. Math will
typically be review pages from the practice book and are due every Tuesday through Friday,
unless otherwise noted. Your student should also read a level appropriate book of their choice for
at least 20 minutes a night (out loud or independently) while recording their reading in the
homework log (other assignments may be substituted for reading logs.) Occasionally we will do athome projects to support what we’ve studied in science, social studies, reading or religion. The
secondary purpose of homework is communicating with parents what subjects and concepts we’re
covering in class.

Homework folders and math books should come back to school everyday and
should be left in backpacks when not in use.

All homework, projects and assignments must be done by the students themselves
with minimal outside assistance.
Reading:
Reading instruction is based around the application of comprehension strategies, as well as
improving and applying phonemic skills. We will occasionally study a common text as a whole
class, and reading resources will occasionally be differentiated by reading level and/or interest.
The primary goal of reading for second graders is to increase comprehension and fluency steadily
over the course of the year. In second grade, we will learn and apply a variety of reading
strategies that are also incorporated into other subjects, such as religion, science and social
studies.
Writing
In the second grade we use the 6+1 Traits of Writing

Ideas: Choosing an interesting topic and using graphic organizers to build upon ideas

Organization: Organizing ideas into a clear beginning, middle, and end

Voice: Writing in a variety of forms and genres

Word Choice: Particular attention paid to repeated or over-used vocabulary

Presentation: Proper form, spacing, hand writing

Conventions: Proper use of capitalization and punctuation, learning to edit their work

Sentence Fluency: Writing with complete sentences.
Spelling
In spelling, we use the Reading Street series to deliver spelling and phonemic instruction.
Students will have 15-16 spelling words per week.
Math:
Please see the Utah State Common Core for math curriculum. (uen.org) Math will be
differentiated in the classroom and on an as-needed basis for either acceleration or remediation.
The Go Math series is our primary source for math homework and additional practice. Math
instruction is delivered in a hands-on, actively engaging way. The concepts we cover in class are
communicated home in the weekly newsletter. Caitlin Shaw, my 2nd grade teammate, will teach
math in our classroom twice a week and I will teach it the remainder of the week.
Science and Social Studies:
We will concentrate on one science or social studies topic at a time throughout the school year.
The concepts we study are complimented with reading and research as well as practice with
hands-on activities. Occasional at-home projects may be assigned to help reinforce concepts
studied in class. Please see The Utah State Common Core for science and social studies
concepts in second grade. (uen.org)
Religion:
2nd grade is a huge year in terms of religious studies. Baptized Catholic students will receive the
sacraments of Penance, Eucharist and Confirmation. We will spend the majority of the year
learning about the sacraments and preparing the receive them. Non-Catholic students study the
sacraments as well as part of the graded curriculum. At-home support and study greatly increases
the retention and meaningfulness of our sacramental study.
Specialty Schedule:
Monday:


Violin 8:30-10 (bring violins)
Spanish 1:25-205
Tuesday: (Informal dress – please monitor schedule for formal dress days such as Mass, etc.)

PE 2:05-3:30 (bring PE shoes)
Wednesday:



Music 12:35-1:20
Spanish 1:25-2:05
Art 2:05-2:45
Thursday:

Violin 12:35-2:05 (bring violins)
Friday: (Informal dress – please monitor schedule for formal dress days such as Mass, etc.)

Music 12:35-1:05
Login instructions for ThinkCentral (Go Math!)
http://www.thinkcentral.com/
Choose mathematics
Choose Go Math!
Choose Utah, then Diocese of Salt Lake Ed Office, then Madeleine Choir
School
Username is your child's 5 digit school ID. Please see Jupiter Grades or
your child’s report card from last year for their ID number.
Password is mathematics
Go to “My Library” for all texts.
Login Information for Pearson Success Net (Reading Street)
https://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
Choose Log In
Username is firstname.lastname (example, sara.lemcke)
Password is mcs+your child’s 5-digit school ID (no spaces or plus signs –
example, mcs12345)