Classroom News; November 21, 2016

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of November! Picture retakes are tomorrow, Tuesday November 22^nd.  Also, we have Thursday and Friday off of school this week for the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

In class we are very busy indeed!  Our writing projects include writing acrostic poems for Thanksgiving and beginning expository animal reports.  Please look for the poems to come home on Wednesday.  It is a great time to talk about everything your child has to be thankful for.  The animal reports are a long-term project.  Students are researching an animal of their choice.  The report will include a drawing of their animal, basic facts, interesting facts, all put together on a decorative poster. 

Math is very exciting, as we have started a geometry unit covering 2D and 3D figures.  Math vocabulary includes words such as quadrilateral, prism, vertices, area, and symmetry.  At home to support our unit try and find everyday objects and/or situations when you can use these words and concepts. The more students hear and use these words, the easier it will be to learn the concepts. We are also working hard on our math facts.  Nearly half of the students have mastered their addition facts & are moving on to subtraction. We also have about 6 students who are working on their multiplication facts!  Keep practicing at home. It is important to get the basics so more complex problems are less challenging.  

In reading our focus last week was story development.  We are learning how to identify characters, setting, and plot.  Students are also spending a lot of time happily reading self selected books. December 7^th is our Camas Ridge Book Fair. If you need new books, this is a great time to purchase ‘good fit’ books.

A big thank you to the families who are able to donate snack.  We are getting low again. If you have not donated snack this year please feel free to send in items such as pretzels, plain Cheerios, goldfish, saltine crackers, etc...  Our hungry tummies appreciate your kindness.

Finally, we started art block last week.  The art walk is December 15^th.  Please save the date. The art walk never disappoints!

 Have a wonderful week and always if you have any questions feel free to email me,

~Donna

Classroom News October 28th, 2016

Dear Families,

This week we survived school pictures, indoor recess, a visit from the firefighters, and a visit to the pumpkin patch!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I am always inspired by the curiosity and love of learning 2nd graders bring to these experiences.

The pumpkin patch was a huge success. Thank you to all the parents who attended and made this trip safe and fun for everyone. Also a shout out to Ben, Averick, and Riley who kept DVD safe in the spooky spider house! The students went on a hayride, experienced a Harry Potter scavenger hunt, had lunch together, played together, learned about what is real and fake, and picked out the perfect pumpkin.  I hope all the pumpkins made it home in one piece.  To incorporate math you could estimate how many pumpkin seeds are inside. You could measure around your pumpkin and find the 'circumference'. You could also estimate the weight of your pumpkin.

If you missed school pictures or would like retakes the date is November 22nd. I must say the entire group looks as adorable as ever all dressed up!

This week firefighters visited 2nd grade students. Only about 1/5th had a fire escape plan at their home. I have watched a home burn down. It happens quick. Please make a plan and teach it to your children. Here is a great website as a resource. Be Safe!
http://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/safety-in-the-home/escape-planning/basic-fire-escape-planning

Conferences are happening next week.  I hope everyone received their conference appointment slip.  If not, send me an email and I will be happy to give you the time and date. This means there is NO SCHOOL next Thursday and Friday. There is also NO SCHOOL Friday November 11th due to Veteran's Day.

I am NOT sending home official homework this week due to the three day week ahead. Please keep reading every night with your child or encouraging them to read to themselves or a stuffie. Additionally, you can always use the links on my blog to practice 2nd grade skills.  Here is a great Halloween math website.

Monday students may wear costumes to school. If there is a very special part of a costume such as a prop perhaps it should stay home and only be used Monday night. I want to avoid the tears lost costume parts can cause.  Other than that, we are planning a very exciting day.  Thank you to all the volunteers who are decorating and providing a fun party for the class.  If you can stay a few extra minutes Monday morning you will  see our annual Halloween Parade.  It is always a good time.

With so much going on, sometimes it is hard to keep up with all of it.  Remember to take some time and just enjoy each other. Have a wonderful weekend!
~Donna

Wattle and Daub

 Last week was very messy in project class.  We constructed our version of wattle and daub, peasant homes to begin our replica of a medieval village.  This village will take some time to complete, but with nearly 30 peasant homes we certainly have a good start.  Traditional wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw.  Our homes were made of popsicle sticks and a mixture of soil, straw, moss, and glue.  This is one of many activities to address our project driving question... "How do we as historians educate our community about what life was like 1000 years ago?"

 

Medieval Festival November 10, 1:00-2:00pm

Dear Families, 

Donna & Eric's project classes are planning a Medieval Festival to celebrate the end of our project, 1000 years back.  It has been exciting learning about life so long ago.  Parent help is needed to make sure this is a memorable event for our 2^nd & 3^rd grade Lords and Ladies!

Students are encouraged to dress up.  Next week we will send home a handout of simple costume ideas you can make at home.  If your child needs assistance with a costume please let Eric or DVD (Donna) know as soon as possible.  Not all children enjoy dressing up so remember dressing up is OPTIONAL. 

Students will participate in a three-village rotation.  Village one will be Feast or Famine, village two will be Knight Jousting, and village three will be Centuries Old Crafting.  Because we are hosting 60 young Lords and Ladies we are asking for parent volunteers during this historic event.  Please return this volunteer form as soon as possible so the planning can begin!

Student Name ________________________________________________________________________________

Parent Name _________________________________________________________________________________

Phone __________________________  Email ______________________________________________________

_____________       I can attend to decorate the medieval feasting hall and help with the

feast 12:30 – 2:00pm.

_______________  I can judge the Jousting Battles from 12:50 – 2:00 pm.

________________ I can help the young apprentices in the Crafters Village  12:50 – 2:00pm.

______________     I can donate foods for the feast.

Circle what you are able to donate/prepare:

Vegetable Soup         French Bread             Chicken Legs

Cheese            White Grape Juice     Ham    Honey

Pears              Berries            Oranges          Grapes                       

Medieval Times Project

Welcome to the Medieval Times Project. Many of you expressed an interest in doing research. Here are some websites to get you started!

Middle Ages Multiple Topics

Middle Ages Daily Life

Feudal System

Castles

Classroom News October 7, 2016

Dear Families,

This week marked the beginning of projects.  How exciting for second graders to start projects this early in their school year.  This means your child now attends homeroom, community time, and a project class 4 times per week.  Please take some time this weekend to talk with your child about their project and what they hope to learn in their class. 

Science was exciting as we started a crystal growing experiment. Each student was given a jar and we dissolved Epson Salt into warm water. We are hoping crystals form.  Fingers crossed!  This continues our study of rocks and minerals.  This topic extends through December so keep looking for and talking about rocks and minerals.

Money was the word of the week in math.  We are trying to learn our coins and what it means to trade coins.  This week give your child a chance to count your money jar at home or to use coins at the store.  It is also interesting to look at different money from around the world.

We are being highly creative in language arts as our fall poems are nearly complete. We explored fall words, designed magic pairs of adjectives and nouns, created first draft poetry, and now we will refine our poems.  This might seem like a long process to get to a fall poem, but the effort is so worth the outcome.

Important dates to look forward to include:

No School October 13^th & 14

Jog-a-Thon October 19^th

Harvest Festival October 21^st

School Pictures October 21^st

Finally, due to the short week next week there is NO SPELLING homework and if you are able to help organize our classroom harvest party please contact me at dubois_d@4j.lane.edu   It can be a very exciting event with your help!

Enjoy your weekend,

~Donna

Math Practice Websites

Fact Practice Count Down

Fact Monster

Many Math Games to Select From

Word Problem Practice

Bingo Money

Adding Dice

A collection of games to choose from

Collaborative Art!

Each second grade student and a few third graders had a hand in making this masterpiece!

Young Scientists in Action!

We are learning about the properties of rocks. We are also learning what happens when we put rocks into water.  I am looking forward to your rock collections this Friday!

Classroom News September 22, 2016

Dear Families,

            Wow, we are at the end of week 3!  I want to make sure we are all on the same page about homework.  In second grade I send home homework on Friday.  ALL homework is optional except reading.  I will send home a reading log due the following Friday.  I will send home two or three math sheets. Some will be second grade level, one is a challenge story problem, and the final sheet is a third grade challenge sheet.  Normally math causes the most difficulty at home.  If this is the case please SKIP IT and spend the time doing something fun such as cooking using recipes (fractions), measuring things including your child, practicing with an analog clock telling time, or counting money when appropriate.  Also, I will send home second grade spelling words. We will not have formal spelling tests in class this year. If this is important to you, you can test your child at home.  If not skip it.  Children learn spelling through writing and we will be doing a lot of writing at school!  I never want to send a message to a child they are awful spellers because they fail the weekly test.  I will talk more about my homework philosophy at curriculum night September 28^th. 

            In class we have been very busy. I am happy to say testing is over. Now we can get down to the business of learning.  We continued our study of rocks this week.  We were learning how rocks change in water.  I hope everyone is hard at work collecting 12 rocks to share at school on September 30^th.  If you need an egg carton for your rock collection I have a few extra in the classroom. I plan on putting more pictures of our science lessons on the classroom blog so be sure to check back soon!  In math this week we are continuing our review. We also wrote math riddles for our friends to solve.  We have also been writing Pet Rock Guide Books.  I am completely impressed with how willing the children are to jump in and try to do their best work. I can’t wait to see how each of the children grow as writers this year.

Have a wonderful week!

~Donna

Classroom News September 12, 2016

Dear Parents,

We are off to a great start this week.  I have some new photographs up on the blog of our geode splitting adventure.  Be sure to take a look by clicking the science tab.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is our PE day. Please send your child with appropriate footwear.  PE is always an exciting day for students!

Today was an thrilling day in 2^nd grade. Every child received a new book bag to keep in class. We discussed how to pick a ‘good fit’ book for independent reading. Tomorrow we will fill our new book bags with books to read in class. Children are encouraged to choose books they know the Purpose for reading, books they are Interested in, books they can Comprehend, and books in which they Know most of the words.  It is important a book isn’t too hard or too easy. It needs to fit just right!  You can use this language at home as well when you are out selecting books from the bookstore or library.

Many children are asking about homework.  In second grade I send home homework on Friday.  ALL homework is optional except reading.  I will send home a reading log due the following Friday.  I will send home two or three math sheets. One will be second grade level, one is a challenge story problem, and the final sheet is a third grade challenge sheet.  Normally math causes the most difficulty at home.  If this is the case please SKIP IT and spend the time doing something fun such as cooking using recipes (fractions), measuring things including your child, practicing with an analog clock telling time, or counting money when appropriate.  Also, I will send home second grade spelling words and challenge words. If this is important to you, you can test your child at home.  If not skip it.  Children learn spelling through writing and we will be doing a lot of writing at school!  I never want to send a message to a child they are awful spellers because they fail the weekly test.  I will talk more about my homework philosophy at curriculum night September 28^th. 

Finally, I will send home the rock collection assignment on Friday.  I find ‘project type’ homework dealing with motivating topics, families can enjoy together, work well at this age and do not cause family stress.  If you have any egg cartons at home please send them to school this week!

Last but not least, we have snack at school each day.  If you can contribute to our class snack, helping children who do not bring a snack, all donations are appreciated. Don’t forget, NUT FREE only. 

Have a wonderful week,

~Donna

Geode Science

What an exciting second day of school... After a serious talk about safety in science I handed safety glasses and hammers to my 2nd graders and let them break open Geodes!  I am happy to report we had no hammer injuries. Instead we had an overwhelming excitement for science.  This activity is a kick off to our rock and mineral unit this fall.  Encourage your children to go out and hunt rocks.  On Friday we will have our first homework project, finding 12 special rocks to bring and share with the class. While you are doing this consider the question, "How have rocks and minerals influenced humans through history?" Have fun this week!