News from Mrs Atcheson

It doesn't seem possible that our school year is coming to an end.  We have had a wonderful year and every child has shown great academic growth.

Math Buttons:

• Everyone in our class has earned a button for adequate mastery of the addition facts to 18.  Congratulations on a job well done!

Author's Tea:

• Thank you for coming to hear about and see the great gains that your child has made in both reading and writing this year.  I am very proud of the children.

Field Day:

• We had a wonderful day and everyone displayed good sportsmanship during the outside activities.

Report Cards:

• Final report cards will be mailed the week after school gets out.

Thank You:

• Many thanks to all of the parents who graciously donated their time and talents.
• Our year would not have been as successful without the help of our Room Moms, Copy/Media Moms and Reading Parents.

Have a great summer!

Sincerely,
Joyce Atcheson

Garage Sale

If you need to schedule a large item pick-up to be donated to the Foundation Garage Sale,

Please call Patti Lavender:  770-552-1162

We are planning to schedule pick-ups for Sunday afternoon, April 27^th, but we may be able to make other arrangements.

GME Foundation

Garrison Mill has recently established a Foundation whose purpose is to provide resources above and beyond what the County and the Garrison Mill PTA is able to provide.  Please visit their web page to find out more about who they are, what they do, and help support their first fundraising event.  You can visit them at:  GME Foundation.

    March has really flown by, with less than a week remaining.  Many thanks for the St. Patrick's Day treats...we had enough for four days!

Dress Code:
    We have been asked to remind you of the Garrison Mill Dress Code.  Although the weather is warming up, midriff tops, spaghetti straps and tank tops are not allowed.  Shorts and skirts must be long enough so that when your child stands the fingertips touch the hem.  Flip flops are not allowed, but Crocs can be worn.  Grades K-2 will be given a warning and then sent to the office to call parents.

CRCT Update:
    Thank you for your help with the weekly CRCT packets.  Your time and effort is really paying off!  The weekly test scores are really improving.  We are practicing CRCT questions and test taking strategies in the classroom every day.

Science for Everyone:
    We enjoyed this recent in-school field trip.  The children loved the program and enjoyed helping with many of the experiments.  We will have our final in-school field trip in May.  It will be about animals.  Thank you for making this possible with your donations.

    Enjoy a safe and fun-filled Spring Break!

February 25, 2008

    February is nearly over!  It has been a very busy month with lots of special days to celebrate.  Many thanks to Mrs. Harper, Mrs Apple and Mrs. Mostyn for the special centers on February 14th.

Presidential Reports:
    We have read about and discussed Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.  We will be working on factual writing for our state reading standard.  Each child selected the president of his or her choice.  Remember to have your child complete the question sheet about his/her president and select a project to complete and present to the class.  Projects are due on or before February 28th.

Garrison Mill Talent Show:
    The Talent Show is from 6:30 - 8:00 on Friday, February 29th.  Teachers will be performing in the opening act.  Please come to the show!

Read Across America Day:
    On March 3rd children will have a school-wide pajama day, take a reading oath and enjoy Guest Readers!  If you can come on that day to read to the class...please let me know ASAP.

CRCT Update:
    I will be sending home a packet each week with skills similar to those found on the test.  Please work on these with your child and check them together.  I have attached an answer key for your convenience.  It is important for them to see their mistakes and learn from them.  I will be testing every Monday. the skills that you have worked on during the previous week.  Do Not return the packets...instead, hold on to them for review as the test date gets closer.  Don't forget about the online practice test at http://www.georgiaoas.org.  I gave you your child's login # at conference time.  Please let me know if you need your child's login #.

February 6, 2008

Conferences:

• Thank you for taking the time to come in and discuss your child's progress.  "Our" children have come a long way since August!  We will be working very hard during the second half of 1st grade and gearing up in preparation for the 2nd grade.

Penguin Projects:

• I am thrilled with the projects!  Everyone has shared their quality work and the children have been very good listeners while someone else was sharing.  We had songs, poems, games, graphs reports and some magnificent art projects.  Thank you for your help and support.

Penguin Writing:

• We will be working on an informational writing piece about penguins.  The children are reading books in class and gathering information about penguins.  We will put the facts together from the books and informational worksheets.  Details will be very important in this writing.  Our focus is still on capital letters, punctuation and complete thoughts with our sentences.  The use of numerous nouns, verbs and adjectives in our writing is becoming much more apparent.  These are some of the performance standards for first grade.

Six Flags Tickets:

• Please remember to send in the Six Flags from attached to the January log before February 20th.  The time tally needs to be 360 minutes.

Money Bags:

• Thank you for sending in the money bags.  The children seem to thoroughly enjoy counting money.  Please practice coin identification and counting change at home too!

Happy New Year!!

We have had a fabulous start to the new year.  The children are excited to be together again and about learning...what a nice combination!  We are officially half way  through the school year.

Conferences will be held Tuesday, January 22nd, through Monday, January 28th.  Dismissal will be two hours earlier and lunch will also be earlier:  10:46 - 11:16.  Thank you for returning the conference letters so promptly.  I am looking forward to talking with you.

Six Flags reading logs were sent home on Friday.  Please use this form and then staple your regular January log to it and return it to me before February 20th.  Reading for six hours (360 minutes) entitles your child to a free pass to Six Flags.  I will send his/her  pass with the final report card.  Participation is optional, but what a great way to increase and encourage reading nightly!

Reminder:

Monday, January 21st, is Martin Luther King Day and is a school holiday.  Enjoy your three day weekend and Read, Read, Read!

Welcome Back!!

    I hope that all of you enjoyed a fun and restful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  It was so nice to have five days off in a row!

    Many thanks for coming to the Grandparents' and Special Friends' Luncheon.  Every child had one or more guests for the luncheon.  The children had lots of fun practicing the skit and learning their songs and hand motions.  I am very proud of "our" children.  They are growing by leaps and bounds.

Accelerated Reading:

• Please encourage your child to read and take an AR test, on their level, each week.  Some children are doing this while others are not.  It is important that the books be on their reading level.  Each child has his/her level sheet in his/her pencil box for easy reference.

Writing:

• We are all working on using capital letters and punctuation in every sentence.  We are also working on logical order in our thoughts and writing clear and concise sentences.

Math:

• We have started our "third" math book.  Fact families, tally tables and graphing will be our focus.

Timed Tests:

• The children are doing a great job on these.  Please continue to work on both addition and subtraction facts at home.

Exemplars:

• We are working on "word problems" and the logical sequence to solve them.  Word problems were introduced in kindergarten and we are fine tuning our problem solving skills in first grade.

Sitton Spelling:

• We will begin weekly homework spelling assignments next week.  The assignment will be due at the end of the week.  It can be returned sooner if it is completed early.

Test

Welcome November!

We Loved our Special Centers.  Many thanks to our wonderful parents for all of the fun activities!

Grandparents and Friends Luncheon will be on November 15, 2007.  Please join us at 11:50 for our Thanksgiving skit and songs.  Then we will walk down together for our 12:15 lunch.  After lunch, you can have a family picture taken if you wish.  Please try to have someone join your child for lunch.  It can be grandparents, parents or special friends.  Please send in your lunch reservation ASAP.  If you can't come and you don't have anyone to eat with your child, please let me know ahead of time.

October Reading Logs:
Maddie had 530 minutes...congratulations to her!
Nearly everyone had the required 300 minutes and many had over 300 minutes.  Keep up the good work.

Timed Tests:
We will now begin having weekly timed tests on Thursdays or Fridays.  Our goal is 50 problems in 5 minutes.  Please work on addition facts at home.  I am looking for a better score each week rather than a perfect score.

Copy Paper Shortage:
Donations would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for your help and support.

Accelerated Reader:
I am encouraging each child to take one test per week on "their" level.  I want them to be successful and feel good about their scores.  Books need to be read 2 - 3 times before taking the test.

Dates to Remember:
November 12 - 16    Book Fair
November 15           Grandparent/Special Friends Luncheon
November 19           High Touch/High Tech "Sound"
November 20           Picture Retakes
November 21 - 23    Thanksgiving Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving!