Wetlands Field Experience

 What an amazing trip! Great weather, wonderful parent volunteers, and stellar students.  A special thank you to Susannah and Larry our wetland guides.  We had many wonderful questions today from the students including, "If this is the wetlands, where is all the water?" Now we can get to the business of decorating our wetlands mural in the classroom. 

Classroom News September 28th

                                                         September 28, 2015

Dear Parents,

   Welcome to the third full week of school.  This week we have a couple of exciting things happening.  Tuesday is our first field experience.  The second grade is going to the West Eugene Wetlands.  It is going to be clear and cold.  PLEASE make sure your child has a warm coat as the temperature is forecasted at around 50 degrees Tuesday morning.  Wednesday evening is curriculum night.  I look forward to seeing all of you in attendance! 

   In class we are testing towers this week.  Our engineering challenge included creating a tower 45 centimeters or taller. Our towers must also pass a wind challenge. I'm hoping to get some tower pictures posted on the blog later today. It is very exciting indeed.  In science we are also beginning our study of the wetland habitat. 

   On Wednesday we will have our first class party.  Our class earned 50 points for a popcorn party!  This is a day your child will not want to miss.  

   Finally, many of you responded you wanted more homework for your child.  I have included extra pages this week. To make my process simple all homework folders are stuffed with the same pages. Please remember, if you have your own homework routines and you prefer not to have your child complete the worksheets, you may recycle the ones I have provided. Spelling homework will be explained at curriculum night. Reading is the only homework required in second grade.

Have a wonderful week,

Donna

West Eugene Wetlands Field Trip

I am excited to announce our first field trip of the year!  To enhance our classroom learning we are going to the West Eugene Wetlands to become wetland science explorers. This is an educational and engaging trip designed to provide hands-on, minds-on learning through explorations of the wetlands. The West Eugene Wetlands is home to a myriad of many precious plants and wildlife. During the field trip we will discuss the importance of these wetlands, their role in the ecosystem and share ways we can care for these unique habitats. On September 29th, we leave Camas Ridge at precisely 9:00 am, and return at 11:30 am.  We are in need of 5 or 6 chaperones to join in on our adventure. Please look in your child's Friday Folder for more information. :)

Next Generation Science Standards addressed in this unit of study/field experience are:
* Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
* There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water. 

Kandinsky Circles

Second grade students used warm and cool colors to create a Kandinsky Circles Tree! We used pastels so our colors would be bright. This is a wonderful collaborative art activity to start the school year.

Community Time

Welcome to the Room 6 Community Time Blog!

Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year! I am very excited for Community Time to begin.  It is always an exciting time to welcome our new 1st grade friends to our community class.  Community Time happens four times per week.  Community Time groups are made up of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Students work together in groups on cooperative activities and social skills.  The cohort remains intact throughout a student's experience at Camas Ridge. First grade students keep the same community teacher for 5 years. We are lucky at Camas Ridge to have opportunities to build friendships across multiple grade levels, lasting 5 years!

Parents wave goodbye on the first day of school!

First Day Success!

What an exciting first day of school!  Today in room 13 students settled into 2nd grade wonderfully.  We greeted old friends, met new friends, and ended our day with a 'first day of school bubble blowing celebration'.  A big thanks to Mary for taking all of our photographs today.

I do have a few reminders for you... Please remember to send a healthy snack with your child each day. I would love a volunteer Snack Coordinator.  Last year it was a very big help.   If you are interested please email me at dubois_d@4j.lane.edu   I have other volunteer positions open as well such as Classroom Liaison, Librarian, Filing Clerk, Reading Specialist, Party Planner, etc...  I will talk more about these at curriculum night however, if you have a burning desire to fill one of these positions please email me and let me know. Also, if you have not sent in your school supply fees, please remember to do so. These funds keep our class stocked in notebooks, art supplies, pencils, folders, science materials, and much more throughout the school year.  If your family needs a confidential supply fee scholarship please let me know so this can be arranged.  

Tomorrow we will be working on Rocket Science... Stay tuned, it will be an explosive experience!
See you in the morning,
~Donna

Open House Coming Soon...

I can't wait to see each of you at Open House on Tuesday, September 8th.  The classroom will be open 3:15-4:00. If you are new to Camas Ridge this year, please join us at 2:45 for a new family welcome and orientation.  See you soon!