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!

Classroom News September 8th

Dear Families,

What an amazing first two days of school.  I have been teaching 19 years and I can honestly say Wednesday was one of the best ‘first days’ of school I have experienced.  I hope your children feel the same.  This year will be one of fun, laughter, and learning for all of us.  Second grade is a year of growth in academics & social, emotional development.  The first month of school in homeroom class, we are focused on community building.  This ensures we are ready for the hard work of learning during the rest of the year.

Our second day together was full of math, reading, writing, and science! We were very busy.  I think the highlights of today included exploring calculators during math and using hammers to break open our geodes during science.  I’m happy to report there were no hammered fingers and plenty of excited scientists when the geodes opened.  Homework this week is to keep your eyes open for rocks as you are out and about on your weekend adventures. We will have an upcoming rock collection assignment so this is an excellent opportunity to get started early. Besides, it is fun to find rocks!

I am a firm believer in strong communication between families and myself.  When children know the adults in their lives are on the same page they gain confidence in us and everyone grows as a result.  If you have questions or concerns you can find my contact information in the email I sent to the email address you have on file with the school or in this weeks printed letter to families.

I hope you enjoy this blog.  It is a fun place to post photographs of what we do in class.  I know as a parent I always wanted to be a fly on the wall in class to spy on my children.  With the blog you have this opportunity.  If you do not see your child on the blog you have chosen not to have photos posted when you registered at Camas Ridge.  If you change your mind let me know.  On the other hand, if you see your child posted and you would rather not have their photo on a public blogspot, just email me and I will remove their photo.

Finally, mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 28^th. At 5:30 we are having curriculum night. This is a wonderful time to come to school and discover what your child will be learning in 2^nd grade. Hope to see you there.

Thank you for an amazing class of second graders!

~Donna