Castle Pics

 These are photographs of a Medieval Village in Germany called Rotenburg.  Below are other pictures of Castles on the Rhine River in Germany.

Classroom News, October 19 & Volcanic Eruption Photographs

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Dear Families,

What an exciting day.  We erupted our volcanoes today.  It was very exciting. Please scroll down to view the excitement!  I also added a couple of photos from Library.  We are such readers in 2nd grade!

In other news:

Halloween is fast approaching. If you are interested in volunteering to help with a harvest celebration Wednesday, October 31^st please email me at

dubois_d@4j.lane.edu.  Our celebration will be 1:15-2:15 depending on the activities planned.  Students are allowed to wear costumes the morning of Halloween for our annual serpentine parade.  It is expected they change into normal clothes after the parade if their costume will disrupt classroom activities.  Please do not allow your child to bring toy weapons or masks with their costume.  Also, costumes should be appropriate enough to not scare a kindergartener.  Some kids do not enjoy dressing up.  It is a choice and if your child does not want to dress up, that is perfectly fine.

The week of Halloween students will be in homeroom classes all afternoon due to project classes ending October 26^th.  Room 13 students have decided it would be fun to create models of castles.  We are in need of shoeboxes and paper towel rolls.  We need 23 shoeboxes and 120 paper towel rolls.  Start saving please!!!

In your child’s Friday folder this week is you scheduled conference time.  Please let me know as soon as possible if this time does not work for your family.  Conferences are a wonderful way to connect about goals you have for your child this year.  Also in the Friday folder this week is our first book orders of the year. Supporting book orders allows me get classroom books for free.  Please order online. My teacher code is on the back of the order form.  Online ordering keeps loose money from getting lost at school.  

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, November 21^st. Both second grade classes are going to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.  The students will tour the art museum and participate in an art experience. 

Finally, thank you to parents who are sending in class snack.  It is really helpful.  You are very much appreciated.  

Thank you,

~Donna

Classroom News October 8th, 2018

Dear Families,

Welcome to October!  We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch.  

If you were brave enough to volunteer I hope you had as much fun as the children and I. In class we are using the experience to explore narrative writing using transitional words.  This will be our first official ‘experience’ writing assignment. 

If you haven’t heard, tomorrow is picture day.  We are having our pictures taken 9:45-10:45.  We have a new photographer this year who sent this message: 

The students and I are working together to make a beautiful photo of them for their loved ones who want to keep the memory of them at this age, so we need their help in making it happen. That includes relaxing and just ‘being themselves’ and also listening carefully when we’re making suggestions about how to make a nice photo.

In class we are still working on our short vowel sounds. Currently we are reviewing short u, o, and e.  Hearing these sounds in words we say is key to good spelling.  I am impressed with the words this class is adding to our phonics lists.  We have a very smart group in second grade!

Math class is working on adding two digit numbers using decomposition of numbers.  This is a fancy way of saying we are breaking double-digit numbers into tens and ones before adding them up.  It is fascinating to hear how the students think about numbers when they are working our calculations in their minds. 

In science we are finishing up painting our volcanoes and we hope to have grand eruptions next week with Mrs. Walker’s class.   In the meantime we are doing a mini health unit on germs and hand washing this week.  It is so important to keep hands washed and not to touch our faces during flu season.  We want all our students to stay healthy!

Finally, remember there is NO SCHOOL this Thursday and Friday. Also, looking forward to next week, our ‘artist in residence’ days are October 16th, 19th, and 25^th. Be sure to send your children with clothes they can paint in. 

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy week. As always, if you  have questions you can contact me at dubois_d@4j.lane.edu

Respectfully,

~Donna