Miss DuRocher's 2nd Grade Crew

It's the final countdown!

5/16/2019

I apologize for not keeping up with our site towards the end of the year. I wanted to put some important upcoming dates and information to note as we head towards these last couple weeks of school.

Upcoming dates:

  • NO SCHOOL TOMORROW (FRIDAY May, 17th)
  • May 22nd is class picture day/spring pictures (forms went home in Friday Folders this week)
  • NO SCHOOL Monday May 27th-Memorial Day
  • Field Trip is May 29th (We only had 4 parent seats available unfortunately. The show is sold out.)
  • Field Day is June 6th
  • Last day of school is June 7th (early release 1:30)
    • Party information will go home soon


Thank you for all the sweet teacher appreciation gifts, I am very grateful!

Miss. Julian has completed her student teaching, it was such a great opportunity having her learn alongside the students and I. We enjoyed having her and are sad she is not with us every day anymore.

Academics to pay attention to:

  • Spelling: We are working on prefixes and suffixes the remainder of the year for spelling and phonics. Be sure to practice with your student reading and writing the patterns (unfortunately powerspelling has expired for the remainder of the year. We are looking into purchasing it again next year if student would utilize it)
  • 3 digit subtraction is a difficult concept! We do not teach it the same way you learned how until later grades. This helps build better number sense so students understand what they are doing. Check out a tool to understand what the heck those boxes and lines mean that they are doing below.
  • Fractions and geometry! Students should understand what direction a column goes and a row. Please practice this with students. They are being asked to take a rectangle and partition (cut it) into a certain amount of columns and rows. They should also know halves, fourths, thirds, and a whole.
  • Fluency goal is 95+ words a minute!

The last Scholastic Book Order was sent home last week! If you would like some new books for summer reading, this is a great place to look. Teachers earn rewards for classroom supplies when parents purchase.

Only one me books should be here soon! We cannot wait to get these after students hard work!

Here's a few things we have been up to:

  • Becoming paleontologist
  • Writing our own books
  • Writing persuasive letters to author Susan Nipp convincing her where Mudgy and Millie should go on their next adventure
  • Triple digit math strategies!
  • Working on our frustrations
  • Being honest and respectful of others belongings
  • Ninja math facts
  • Saving up for items in our class store
  • Painting rocks for our passion project (rock path)
  • Games related to all our learning
  • & SO MUCH MORE!

Week 23: 3/11/19

Thank you for your attending the student led conferences!

I loved watching the interactions and jitters disappear from students as they celebrated their learning.

Upcoming things to note:

  • Students are becoming authors! They are writing their own book all about how they are unique called Only One Me. If you would like to purchase a hard copy of your student's very own (not shared) book, please complete the order form in your students Friday Folder last week and return with a cash or check. DUE AFTER SPRING BREAK!
  • Third quarter ends next Thursday (2/21). Please practice telling time, reading fluency (85+ words a minute), spelling, and reading comprehension with your students. I have A TON of resources and games to practice these skills I can send home. Just let me know!
  • Several students are having a difficult time with spelling. Please be sure your student is completing their spelling homework and/or logging into powerspelling.com and practicing. $25 is rewarded to those who complete their automated practice test on powerspelling.com by Wednesday each week. If you are reading this your student will earn $5 if you send me a text with something you and your student will commit to working on. :)
  • I created a feedback survey that I would really appreciate if you could fill out. I wasn't asked to do this, I just want to grow professionally and ensure I am meeting you and your student's needs. Link below:

Teacher Feedback Survey!

Please take a moment to take this quick survey to ensure I am meeting your needs.

Click Here

Week 21: 2/26/19

Time is just flying by!

Student Led Conferences:

On March 7th students will be having their student led conference or what I like to call A Celebration of Learning because that is what it is. THEY ARE REALLY EXCITED! We have been working hard to prepare for these. Students are taking ownership of their learning!


Things to know:

  • When your students attend their conference, that will count as their attendance for the day. THERE IS NO SCHOOL THAT DAY. Once your student completes their conference, they are dismissed for the day.
  • If you have more than one child, please send your other children to our FREE childcare!! THIS IS A CHANCE FOR YOU TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR ONE STUDENT AT A TIME! I cannot stress this enough.
  • Although I will be in the room, this is NOT a parent teacher conference between you and I. This is a time for your student to celebrate and share their learning to you from their perspective. A separate conference can be set up between us if you feel like you need one after their conference.
  • Conferences last around 15 minutes, however, your student is the leader and they can control how long they make it.
  • These are SO important to your student. They worked really hard on these. Please give your student the time they deserve to showcase their learning.
  • At the end, there will be a feedback survey. Your feedback is really important.

Bonus opportunity!!

  • If your student completes the powerspelling.com assignment by tomorrow (Wednesday) they will earn $25!! Have them complete the assignment completely independently.

Fun things we are doing:

  • Powerspelling.com is great tool for spelling!
  • Lyrics2Learn.com to practice reading fluency!
  • Math Fact Master Ninjas!
  • Fossil unit!

Week 18: 1/27/19

it has been awhile. i apologize.

Miss Julian our student teacher is such a treat to have in our classroom. In the photos you will see pictures of our crew tracing one another on butcher paper. This was an art project she did with them where they used collaboration to trace and decorate the person they were drawing. They then had to write kind things about them on the outside. How fun!

In Friday Folders students were sent home with math fact flashcards. Students built a ninja during math. They will be earning ninja master belts as they learn their math facts. For example: If they learn all of their ones facts (1+1,1+2,1+3,1+4...) automatically they will earn their first ninja master belt. As they learn them all the way to 9 they will earn belts. After addition mastery they will be come a subtraction master. This skill is hugely needed in third grade to help with multiplication. PLEASE practice with your student at home. Once they learn their facts at home, let me know and I can send home more cards.

Our Valentines Day party will be taking place on February 14th. Miss Julian will will be sending home information about this party soon. (Text me your students favorite season and your student will receive $5 in class money) I will be out of town unfortunately, however I know she will do great! If you are wanting a class list for Valentine cards a link is at the top of our website.

Report cards go home Friday.

We are officially halfway done with second grade! It goes by real fast from here.

Important skills to practice at home:

  • Addition and subtraction
  • Reading fluency: By the end of 3rd quarter students need to read 85 words a minute
  • Weekly spelling words sent home in homework packet. I really encourage you to have students do some of the homework assignments!

Week 15: 12/24/18

Merry Christmas! Have a great Break!

We had a really fun week!

Here is a little glimpse at what we did this week:

  • Made our parent gifts
  • Turned an ordinary cutout of a gingerbread man into an extraordinary gingerbread man with our group
  • Decorated gingerbread houses
  • Applied to be elves
  • Did awesome breakout kits with Mrs. Anderson where students had to work together to break out of the kit to find Santa's missing reindeer. (Like an escape room!)
  • Went to the Responsible assembly and watched Jayden and Naomi collect marshmallows on their face using shaving cream.
  • Watched Mrs. Thomas get turned into an eagle using maple syrup, feathers, and spray paint. Students who raised at least $1.00 for the Walk-a-Thon were entered into a drawing to get to do something to Mrs. Thomas. Our school raised over $2,000 from the Walk-a-Thon to go towards our new playground!

We will be having a student teacher when we come back to school! Look for an introductory letter from Miss. Julian in Friday Folders when we come back.

Breakout kits & gingerbread houses!

SO MUCH FUN!

Week 14: 12/16/18

Last week before break, are you ready?! I can tell you the kiddos seemed ready for it last week.

I forgot to mention in the beginning of December we got a surprise visitor, the Elf on a Shelf came in. Student's voted on a name for the elf (one of which was Mr. DuRocher) and the winner was Jr. Cookie. The kids walk into the classroom everyday and look for Jr. Cookie and write 3 sentences about what he is doing in their Elf Journal.

Weekly spelling tests from the beginning of the quarter were sent home in Friday Folders this week. Students have also been doing something called Spiral Math in class (these are also on the math homework now) which has students review math concepts we have been learning all year. These would be great practice for you to do at home with your student.

If you have a Alexa, Google Home, or something equivalent, you and your family can "call Santa" and it's really cute! I just discovered this on my Google Home and thought I would share the fun.

If your student does Freckle Education at home, please express to them that it is important that they try they try their best on any assignments they do. I am using this data in class and it is great practice for them!

We learned a new game during Crew Olympics (team building) on Friday called Perfect Pass. Ask your student if they liked the game and text me their response so they can earn $5. This game was fun and easy. Players line up in teams, and throw a ball to a teammate in a hula hoop. If the teammate catches the ball then they get to keep the hula hoop. The team with the most hula hoops wins.

We have a fun week coming up!

Students will be making their parent gifts this week, applying to be an elf during writing, and going to our responsible assembly. Our holiday party is Friday where students will be making gingerbread houses. Parents, I hope you can join us in making these fun houses!

Week 12 & 13: 12/9/18

I cannot believe how fast this year is going by!

We have started learning about coins! We are practicing counting quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Help your child practice at home by counting change and identifying the name and value of each coin.

We had our class store. Students really had a good time shopping with their Miss D. Dollars. Our next store will be on December 21st. Help your child earn money. Text me right now one thing your student likes about school and your student will earn $5. Also, remind your student to complete some of their homework and they can earn $2 for each assignment they do.

If you want any academic games sent home that you can play with your student related to skills we are learning let me know and I will send them home. I have spelling boardgames, war card games, Toothy (the kids can explain) and much more. If you do get games sent home and your student is done playing the game and it is in good condition, feel free to send it back to school for another student to take home.

A no screen challenge was sent home last week. This is an opportunity for students to earn $5 for spending 7 consecutive days without any screen time (tv, video games, tablets, etc.) I told the kids Freckle does not count.

Our holiday party is coming up!

On Friday December 21st we will be making gingerbread houses in our class.

If you would like to volunteer or donate some supplies please click here

Week 10 and 11: 11/16/18

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy some extra time with you kiddos!

Please encourage your student to do Freckle online at home if you have access to the internet on a tablet or computer. Encourage your student to do their homework. They can earn up to $40 D. Dollars if they turn it in. This is great practice and a great way for you to know the skills we are working on in class.

Students got to take home their free book for November this week!

We will begin our dinosaur expedition when we get back from break. I know students are eager to start.

Attention to families who love games:

I have math versions of the card game "War" I can send home that students play in class. They cover skills we are working on. This is a fun way to practice and get the family playing games together.

I also have a game students love called "Toothy" that is for grammar and math that students play in class.

If you would like any of these games sent home, I can send home your own copy of the game. Please text me and let me know.

Week 8 and 9: 11/4/18

The week quickly escaped me. I apologize there was no post last week.

There was no homework sent home in friday folders this week!

Quarter 2 begins!

Parent teacher conferences are on Wednesday the 7th and Thursday the 8th!

We learned a new team building game!

Watch videos of some classmates playing in the gym below:

Video 1 Video 2 Video 3

Respect Assembly

Lisa and Logan were honored during our school assembly for showing respect.


Jaiden shares his adventures with Nelly Narwhal to the class.

Harvest Party fun!

During our Harvest Party we dressed our friends as mummies using toilet paper. We enjoyed a nacho bar for lunch and sliced apples covered in a variety of toppings for dessert.

Thank you for those who donated something to our party and/or helped out during the party. It would not have been possible without your support!

Week 7: 10/21/18

Sign up to bring something to our Harvest Party by clicking HERE!

Harvest Party

On October 31st from 12:00-1:30pm we will be having our Harvest Party.

We will be having a nacho bar and dessert apple nachos (caramel and chocolate sauce) for lunch during the party.

If you are able to donate food items for our party please let me know or complete this quick form with the items you can bring. (Earn $5 D. Dollars for your student by texting me what your student wants to be when they grow up.)

Click here if you are interested in volunteering or donating to our class party.

We are looking for the nacho ingredients, as well as apples, caramel and chocolate sauce, and toppings.

Classroom Store:

On Monday, we will be having our classroom store. This is an opportunity for your student to spend their D. Dollars on prizes they want for them to take home.


First quarter ends November 1st!

Fun things this week:

  • We received a donation of boxes of dinosaur books for next quarter. Students will be learning all about dinosaurs and fossils thanks to generous donors.
  • Students got to pick out this months free book of the month to keep.
  • We did a gallery walk: Students walked around with a partner. Using a checklist they evaluated different paragraphs to determine what grade they should get. This helped students understand writing criteria and what's expected of them in a fun and interactive way where they got to be the teacher.

Reminder: Students can earn up to $40 D. Dollars if they complete every activity sent home for homework. This is a great way to practice this quarters skills! Due on Fridays!

Spelling:

Skill – Vowel, Consonant, Silent e (V__e)Continue practicing short vowels and CVC words

tire, store, nine, pancake, home, whale, shade, choke, cute, rule, once, your, goes, off

We will be taking spelling tests every Friday!

What we are working on:

Math: Skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, 100's, fact fluency, place value

Reading: Fiction comprehension, sight words, independent reading

Writing: Paragraph of the week: A Time with Friends, we turned them into final drafts and we shared them with partners

Week 6: 10/14/18

  • HOMEWORK: This last week I sent home two surveys, one that was about whether or not weekly homework was wanted and whether a Facebook page would be beneficial. Here are the results for homework I received. 12 out of 19 families responded. 100% of those that responded said their student would be motivated by Miss D. Dollars. With that information, I decided to send home weekly homework that is encouraged, but not graded. This week I just sent home a reading and spelling homework assignment just to get feedback and get students use to the format. I wanted to make the format as easy as possible. It will stay the same but have updated content each week. PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK! (Send me feedback via text or email and your student will receive $5 D. Dollars OR tell me your students favorite thing to do at recess.) I explained the process to students on Friday. This is also a great opportunity for families to stay in the loop of their student's learning.

Homework Explanation:

  • For every completed activity, students will receive $2 Miss D. Dollars.
  • Students can complete as many activities as they want before the due date on Friday in and subject they want.
  • They will get paid on pay day (Wednesday) depending how many completed tasks they turn in.
  • They can complete multiple activities in one night or complete them occasionally. I want it to be a flexible format for families to prioritize family time together. For example: If it is a busy night or couple nights, you student may just submit one completed activity that week or they may have time to do multiple in one night.
  • The homework slip must be signed and returned, with a parent initial on each activity completed in order to get paid.
  • I will be working on Facebook logistics. Look for more information soon.
  • Nelly Narwhal was sent home with Nathan this week! Brooke got to share her fun adventures with the class on Wednesday. Nelly got to jump on a trampoline! The kids loved it!
  • Parents, a lot of students in our class are getting sick. Please do not send your student to school if they are sick.

Our Class has a Google Calendar!

Spelling Words this Week:

painter Friday game chain Sunday grapes mailman vacant stay plate done very what button

What we are working on:

Math: Even and odd, place value concepts, expanded form

Reading: Fiction comprehension, sight words, independent reading

Writing: Paragraph of the week: A Time with Friends, using a graphic organizer, parts of a paragraph, turning a graphic organizer into a rough draft paragraph

Week 5: 10/6/18

The first 8 minutes of our day as students are coming in always begin with morning tubs. Morning tubs are activities that students use with their team. This uses collaboration, discussion, and fun to start our day. (Text me your students favorite morning tub. They'll earn $5 Miss D. Dollars)

After these eight minutes, we sit in a circle and do morning meeting. This is an opportunity for us to build community, a sense of belonging, and so much more! We always start morning meeting saying good morning to all our crew members in a fun way. After greeting, a student always leads the share discussion by calling on 4 different students to share each day. After share, we do an activity based on a skill we are focusing on. RIght now we have been working on working through frustrations. This week we did this through the game 4 Corners and by building a cup tower as a group.

On Fridays we do flashlight Fridays. This is a time when students read independently with a flashlight and a book while the lights are off. If your student has a special flashlight from home they would like to bring, they may bring it on Fridays.

On Fridays we also do Crew Olympics. This is the last 20 minutes of the day. We play physical games that incorporate fitness and health. This week we did Crew Olympics on Thursday because we did not have school on Friday. During Crew Olympics, students were put in teams to do a spelling relay. I would say a spelling word and one by one they would run to the pile of letters to grab the next letter of the word before tagging their partner. This was another activity that incorporated our goal of working through our frustrations (not finding the letter were looking for, not winning, etc.). We had such a blast! Even if it was a little chilly.

It's always hard to remember to take pictures of students deep in thought and working, because I am usually right there with them. I am trying to be conscious to take pictures of those moments. Fingers crossed for next week!

Lisa took Nelly home for the weekend. She got to share her adventure with the class on Monday. We love seeing what others did. Everyone is anxiously awaiting their turn.

Week 4: 10/1/18

I can't believe it is already October!

This last week students took home Nelly Narwhal the first time. They were so very excited! I loved the anticipation as the randomizer selected someone's name. Each week a different student will be taking home Nelly Narwhal and his adventure book to write about their adventures. Students need to write 5 complete sentence and decorate two pages in their own creative way. On Monday, when the book comes back, they get to share their adventure in the "teachers chair". Last week Matthias was selected to be the first to bring Nelly home. This week, it was Lisa. Don't worry parents, I make sure Nelly gets washed each week. :)

Freckle logins were sent home in Friday Folders. This is an awesome online opportunity that your students can do through an app or the website. Students can work on all subject areas. It works with students at their level and challenges them as they grow! The kids love it, it helps them practice skills, and we can see how they are doing.

If you would like additional practice work at home, visit the tab above called "Academic Support".

What we have been working on:

  • Reading: Choosing "just right books". This is a great strategy for students when choosing independent reading books. Check out the photo on the right. We have also been working on building reading stamina.
  • Writing: We are working on writing one solid paragraph. A solid paragraph helps the reader visualize what happened. We are writing narrative paragraphs. A paragraph should be about one topic. It should start with a topic sentence, have 3 supporting details, and a conclusion sentence.
  • (Parents, if you are reading this, send me a text that says "I read it!" and your child will automatically earn 5 Miss D. Dollars!)
  • Math: We are really working hard on understanding place value. We have been doing a lot of "no symbol math" which is where we focus on what numbers mean before we add and subtract them.
  • Crew: This is a time in the beginning of the day during morning meeting and the last 30 minutes of the day where we focus on community in our classroom. Our focus right now has been frustrations and working through them. We have been doing this through a variety of games (dealing with not being chosen as "it" or not winning the game) and art projects (getting frustrated when things are difficult).


Reminders:

  • Scholastic Book Orders will be submitted on October 5th. If you submitted a book order, it will not be finalized until then. If you would like to place in order, please get them in!
  • NO SCHOOL FRIDAY!


Spelling Words This Week:

stove tire

cute scrape

locate stripe

pancake nine

polite store

once your

goes off

Week 3: 9/24/18

We had our very first pay day this week! Students are earning Miss D Dollars based on their effort, work ethic, and behavior in class. They earn one D Dollar for every point they have on Class Dojo on pay day. Students were very excited. They helped brainstorm different ideas they would love to see in the class store to purchase with their money. They were very creative. One student asked if they could buy a SeaDoo! Click here to see the store idea list they came up with. Let me know if you would like to donate any of these items, new or used.

We began reading the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds and discussed what it means to be creative, what is art, fear of failure, challenging ourselves, and building self-confidence. It was a beautiful day so we worked outside in the grass on turning one dot into our own masterpiece. We are going to continue working on this project throughout the year.

In math, we are really working on place value and what each number represents. Example:

What is the value of the bold number? 352

The value of the bold number is 50 because it is 5 groups of ten because it is in the tens place.

We are also working on counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 100s. This is essential in second grade and will be assessed on the report card.

Please practice these skills at home. If you would like additional support or practice pages let me know.

We also began our data folders this week! Students will begin tracking their own data. They got to see their assessment scores we have taken and got to graph their result. This way students will be able to set goals for themselves, take ownership of their learning, and know exactly how they are doing and growing as learners.

Parents, I will be sending home a survey on whether or not you would appreciate us having a class Facebook page with updates in the classroom or additional blog site you can access on your smartphones. This will then just be used for general information and resources if that is the case.

Week 2: 9/14/18

Our second week is in the books!

Some of you have already heard, that due to high numbers in our second grade class (27), we were able to hire another second grade teacher. If your child was chosen to move, you already heard the news. Mrs. Clauson is the new teacher who will start Monday with her class. We are super excited to have her on our second grade team! It will definitely be a benefit to all second grade students that we are able to have smaller class sizes.

Images of students will be posted soon as soon as photo release forms are turned in and approved. If you have not returned a completed form, please do so. If you need a new one, please contact me.

Remember to sign up for our text alerts through Remind to stay in the loop with our class. Look for the link at the top of the page.

Weekly News

Welcome to our website!

I am so glad you found it! This is where you will find our weekly newsletter and photos. As soon as photo release forms are submitted, photos will be inputted on our site. Be sure to sign and return those.

Check back soon!

Favorites:

Food: Burrito bowls, tomatoes, blackberries, and apricots

Drinks: Sweet tea and lemonade

Snacks: Kettle Brand Chips, local fruits and veggies, and dark chocolate (no milk)

Animal: Hippopotamus

Sport: Ice-hockey (GO AVS!)

Colors: Pink and Teal

Place: Queenstown, NZ

Activity: Camping

My 2nd Grade Photo
My family

Meet Miss. DuRocher

This will be my second year teaching at Athol Elementary. I previously taught in Colorado. I received my bachelors in Elementary Education at Colorado Mesa University in 2015. I’m currently attending University of Idaho to get my masters in Educational Leadership. I was born and raised in Riverside, California. I moved to North Idaho in May 2017 after doing a year of traveling and I love it up here!

When I am not teaching, I enjoy being outside as much as possible! I love camping, wakeboarding, snowboarding, and anything in the water. I spend a lot of time at local events in the community.

I am very excited to be moving up to second grade with the kiddos from the first grade classes last year. I hope you are just as excited as I am! There is a lot of exploring and learning ahead of us.

Quick Facts:

  • This is my third year teaching.
  • I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters.
  • I have a gluten and dairy allergy.
  • I have 9 chickens.
  • I've been to 40 of the 50 states.
My Family
My Other Half