The Dess Gazette

I can't believe it's the last week of school!! We will have our play "Live:It's Fairy Tale News" in the cafeteria at 8:30A.M. on Monday, May 19th. It will take about 20 minutes and then you are invited to a cast party back at our room. Our purpose for doing this was to help the children practice their reading fluency and follow stage directions. I think you'll agree that they accomplished those goals!

Thanks to Mrs. Bamatraf who came in and talked to the class about teaching English to high school students in Japan. Her books and student work samples really made her talk meaningful. She also impressed us with her patience as she helped everyone make an origami crane!

I'd also like to thank Mrs. Westbrook and Mrs. Langmaid for being our room parents. They have helped with any request that I had, and I am very grateful for all the time and energy they put into making this a successful year for our class!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your support this year. I appreciate those of you that were able to come into the room and help out with activities.Your children have been fabulous to work with, and I know it's because of you! Continue having high expectations for them and holding them responsible for meeting those expectations. They can do it! Keep them self-evaluating this summer and explain to them when you do it. Let them decide if they've used their quality best or not. Get them to tell you how they will make it better next time. I truly believe that this is the key to making positive changes that are necessary to grow and learn!

Have a wonderful summer and stop by to see me at Sneak-A-Peek!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I'd like to thank you all for such a great Teacher Appreciation Week!! The book that the children made for me is priceless, my floral bouquet was beautiful, and my Scalini's gift certificate and the lovely gift basket with so many goodies were a greatly appreciated surprise!! It has truly been my privilege teaching your children this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed every day!

This week in reading we'll read The Chocolate Touch. It is a favorite of mine with some fun activities! Even though the media center books have been turned in, the children can still take Accelerated Reader tests. I have several books in the room, and many of your books at home are A. R.Your children can go to the Garrison Mill website and then the media center to see the list, or they can check at school. I strongly encourage you to have your child read at least a book a week this summer. They can read independently, buddy read with you, or read to a sibling. They will not be sorry they did!

In math, we've introduced multiplication. We've shown that it's repeated addition and how to make an array that represents a multiplication problem. We'll continue working on it this week.

The children enjoyed two speakers for Career Day. We had Mr. Wilson, a tennis pro, and Mr. Burkhalter, our state representative in the Georgia House of Representatives. They were both very interesting, and the children learned a lot from them. We appreciated them taking the time to come and talk with us.

This Wednesday is field day. Please have your child wear their class shirt or any orange shirt. They are welcome to bring water bottles, hats or sunglasses. If you think they'll need sunscreen, please apply it at home. Because of field day, we'll have sack lunches in our room on Wednesday and Thursday.

I have been very pleased with the children's behavior choices. I explained to them that my ultimate goal is for them to control their own behavior. Since they have been doing a good job with this, I haven't required a daily or weekly evaluation. If I have concerns, I'll let you know. Otherwise, please know that they are taking responsibility for their own behavior and continuing to make good choices.

Character Word of the Week is character.

5/14 Field Day for K-2

5/16 Celebration Night 6-8P.M.

5/23 Last Day of School (I can't believe it!!)

Have a great week!

Thank you to everyone that was able to attend the Hot Wheels skating party. I think everyone had a great time! We even had a few first time skaters that really gave it their best effort and showed some good improvement!!

Friday, May 9th, is the Cobb County Relay for Life celebration. One of the most moving parts is the survivor walk with the luminaries lighting their way. Thank you so much for your support through bake sales, biscuit sales, auctions, and penny jars. Your support throughout the year has truly been appreciated!

This week in reading, we will finish Hour of the Olympics. I have been very pleased with how well the children have been using their reading strategies to help them become thinking readers. The thinking sheets are sparking great discussions. I am pleased with how well the children can identify evidence for why they are thinking something.

The Accelerated Reader goal for this 9 weeks is 6 points. I sent home a copy of your child's reading record last Friday, so they would know how many more points they need. Mrs. Haas and Mrs. Dempsey are hosting a Reading Night Monday, 5/5, 6-8P.M. This is a great opportunity to read and take A.R. tests.

In math, we will finish working with three and four digit numbers. We will also move into understanding the process of multiplication. All students in the school that met their grade level's math computation goals will earn a Math Rules button today. Congratulations to our students who mastered 100 addition and 100 subtraction facts in seven minutes!

May 9th is our Volunteer Brunch. Several of you have volunteered many hours this year. Please try to drop by so we can show you how much you are appreciated!

The children would love to put on our play for you. It is not necessary to memorize the lines. We're going to perform it on Monday, May 19th, at 8:30 A.M. We hope you can make it!

Character Word of the Week: Wisdom

Upcoming Events

5/5 Reading Night 6-8 P.M.

5/9 Career Day

       Volunteer Brunch

5/14 K-2 Field Day

5/15 3-5 Field Day

5/16 Celebration Night  6-8 P.M.

5/23 Last day of school

Have a great week!

Here is last week's posting! I drafted it and then forgot to publish it!

Earth Day is April 22nd. We will be doing several activities this week about the importance of protecting our environment.

C.R.C.T. testing begins on Wednesday and will finish on Friday. If your child arrives late, they will be sent to the media center and will have to make up that section with a different teacher giving the test. If at all possible,please have them well fed and on time. We will have a snack break daily between the two tests.

Last week at GM there were 44 students tardy on one day! We appreciate you getting the children to school on time. It sets a much better tone for the day for your child if they are on time.

Our class had the most students participating in the fund raising for Jump Rope for Heart/Hoops! We voted to spend our cash prize on outdoor play equipment. We appreciate PTA's generosity!

The Character Education Word of the Week is courage.

Upcoming Events

4/24 Carvel Spirit Day

5/1 6:30 PTA meeting

5/2 GM Spirit Day- wear your GM T-shirt

5/3 GM Foundation Garage Sale

Have a great week!

Thank you so much for having your children at school and on time for each day of testing!! You can be very proud of how hard your children worked on the CRCT!I know I was!

In math this week, we will go over addition and subtraction of three digit numbers. We will also practice rounding to the nearest hundred.

In reading this week, we will begin The Magic Tree House Hour at the Olympics. We'll learn about how the Olympics started in Ancient Greece. We will also choose parts for our class play. The lines don't have to be memorized, just read fluently.

Social studies with Mrs. Kantor returns this week. She will begin a unit on Japan.

Our class party at Hot Wheels Skating Rink will be Thursday, May 1st, 6-8 P.M. Regular skate rental is free. In line skates are $2.50. Dinner can also be purchased for $2.50. We hope to see everyone there!

Friday, May 2nd 12:50 - 1:20, will be our Writer's Tea. The children will present their stories and projects that they have created this year. If you cannot make it let me know, and I'll have your child invite a friend or share a parent with another classmate. The portfolio will go home with your child that day.

Character Word of the Week: Patience/Moderation

Upcoming Events:

4/30 Chick-Fil-A biscuit pick up -preorders only

5/1 6:30 P.M. PTA meeting-1st grade performs

       6-8 Hot Wheels skating party for the class

5/2 Spirit Day- Wear your GM shirt

       12:50-1:20 Writer's Tea

5/9 Career Day

       8:30 A.M.Volunteer Brunch

       6:30 P.M. ASP Drama Presentation

Have a great week!

      

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.

I hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable break! To make returning a bit more fun, the children are invited to bring a board game to play. We'll also have lunch and a movie in the room.

In math this week, we'll begin fractions. Our standards state that the students will model, identify, label, and compare fractions(thirds, sixths, eighths, and tenths). We will also study fractions as parts of a whole and parts of a set.

The children did a super job with Dingoes at Dinnertime. They analyzed the story with an events and emotions sheet. They also gave reasons stating what parts of the story could have happened and what parts could not. The literature circle jobs turned out well and the book clubs had some great discussions. This week we'll read and do some activities with a Japanese story called The Paper Crane.

We received some good news before the break. Our class won the good nutrition food log contest! Someone from PTA will be contacting me with the details of the Hot Wheels skating party. I will get all the information to you as soon as I know. Thank you for your support! We also won the GM T-shirt spirit day. Is this a great class or what??

Please keep working on the second grade spelling list. The tests have words from the first and second grade lists. The children will be expected to spell these words correctly in their writing and on their spelling tests in third grade. I appreciate you helping your children practice any words that are incorrect on their weekly tests.

The Character Word of the Week: perseverance

Upcoming Events:

4/23-4/25 CRCT

4/24 Carvel Spirit Day 3 P.M.

 Thank you to Michael's mother for helping organize and facilitate our Australia centers. We appreciated Virginia's and Garrett's moms for helping out, too! The activities were lots of fun and provided some meaningful learning about Australia. We hope to do the same type of celebration when we finish studying about Japan.

The PTA provided the entire staff with a delicious lunch last Friday. The media center was decorated festively with fun door prizes, too! Thanks to Michael's and Virgina's moms for watching the class so that I could enjoy an hour lunch!

Reading logs for March are due on Tuesday, April 1st. Students that meet the 90 minutes of reading a week will get to invite a friend to have lunch with them in our room! Second grade can be such a growth year for reading and practicing at home only enhances the progress. 15 minutes a day can make such a difference!

This week for math we'll be working with adding and subtracting with three digit numbers. We will also work on how to use an addition table to solve problems.

In reading we have finished Dingoes at Dinnertime. The literature circle jobs for chapters 7-10 will be due on Tuesday. This week we'll work on informational books about Australia and current events with Weekly Reader.

The Scholastic book order money is due Monday, 3/31. This is optional.

We will visit the media center on Monday. Mrs. Haas is allowing everyone to check out two books for spring break.

Character Word of the Week- leadership

Upcoming Events

4/2 Kindergarten registration

4/3 PTA/ Art Show 6:30 P.M.

4/4 Spirit Day- wear your GM shirt

4/7-4/11 Spring Break

4/23- 4/25 CRCT testing

Have a great week!

I hope everyone was able to spend the weekend enjoying friends and family! I'd like to thank Heidi's mom for the St. Patrick's Day cupcakes and Michael's mom for the Easter ones. The sweet treats were appreciated!

The student council is sponsoring a canned food drive for Must Ministries. The final day will be Wednesday, 3/26. Thank you for your support!

We will finish Dingoes at Dinnertime this week. I am very pleased with everyone's evidence of thinking while they are reading. The literature circle jobs are helping to create great discussions of the book. We also have an informational book about Australia that we'll be reading. We will discuss using the table of contents, the glossary, and index along with the conventions of an informational text.

Each student needs to take at least one Accelerated Reader test each week. If your child is reading a chapter book, they can have two weeks. Just have them let me know. The A.R. goal for the final nine weeks is 6 points.

In math we are finishing up measurement. Please have your child bring in a stuffed animal on Tuesday to measure and make comparisons with their classmates. Our standards are to measure length using customary and metric measurements. We will also measure temperature in Fahrenheit degrees. We will take our final addition timed test on Tuesday and our subtraction one on Friday. Thanks again for all your support at home!

Please remember that the Garrison Mill website has several great links to learning games. The children have tried many of them at school, so they are familiar with them. It's a great way to help them occupy their time productively!

To wrap up the social studies unit this week, we will have Australia Day on Friday, 3/28. I appreciate Michael's mom helping me organize the activities and getting volunteers for this. It's a fun way to make the learning more meaningful.

Please check with your child about their supplies. Many are running low on glue sticks, crayons, and markers. Thanks!

We were sad to learn that our wonderful principal, Mrs. Wilson, is retiring after this year. However, the good news is that Mrs. Huffman, our assistant principal, will be taking her place!

Please send in your child's food record sheet by Tuesday, 3/25. We're hoping to win the Hot Wheels skating party!

Upcoming Events

4/2 Kindergarten Registration

4/3 6:30 PTA meeting/Art Show

4/4 GM Spirit Day- wear your GM shirt

4/7-4/11 Spring Break