The Dess Gazette

 

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend, eventhough it was quite wet!

Thank you for helping your child prepare for our play, "The Weatherman on Trial". We are hoping to start practicing with no scripts on Tuesday. The performance will be on the stage in the GM cafe on Monday, 5/21, at 8:30 A.M. There will be a short cast party in our classroom immediately following the show. If anyone has a hat box that we would be able to use for the show, please let me know.

Our field day is scheduled for Wednesday, 5/16. Please apply sunscreen to your child at home. They can reapply if necessary, but a good base coat is needed. My eighth grader's face was fried, and I sent him with sunscreen that never made it out of the bag! The children can have hats and labeled waterbottles. They are encouraged to bring an extra set of clothing since there are several water activities. Field Day is always such a fun day!

  

 Thank you so much for my class book!! The children and I had a blast reading it!! I appreciate Mrs. Williams putting it all together!! It's a wonderful keepsake!

We desperately need prize box donations. Dollar Tree and Target's dollar area and great places to find items. Anything you can send is appreciated!

Have a great week!

Authors' Celebration

We hope you enjoy the video from the Authors' Celebration.  I am very sorry to say that we were not able to include the music.

If you haven't already done so...

 

Please help our class by completing the Garrison Mill Elementary Foundation Survey.  The link to the survey follows:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e5tki7aph10qixpa/start

 

The results of this survey will help determine the Foundation's initiatives and methods of fundraising for the upcoming school year.  Please take a few minutes to complete this survey byThursday, May 3rd as it's important that the Foundation gets feedback from as many parents as possible.

To encourage a good survey response, the Foundation is sponsoring a CLASSROOM CONTEST.  The top three classrooms with the highest survey completion percentages will win awards as follows:

 

1st place wins a free Yogli-Mogli yogurt party in their classroom

2nd place wins extra recess time

3rd place wins a popcorn party

Please help our class win an end-of-year "special treat!"

Thanks in advance for your participation!

 

Almost all of our caterpillars are in their chrysalises. We should have butterflies soon! Our ladybug larvae is also close to their pupa stage. We appreciate Cobb County and our GM PTA for purchasing the larvae for this valuable learning experience!

The date for our play, "The Weatherman on Trial", is Monday, May 21st at 8:30 A.M. in the GM cafeteria. There will be a short cast and parent party in our classroom immediately following. We hope you can come!

The final reading log is due Monday, May 7th. The deadline for 8 A.R. points is Friday, May 18th. We almost have everyone with their points and several have already met the above and beyond goal of 16!!

Monday, April 30th, 5-8 P.M. is Bruster's Spirit Night. Come and enjoy a cool treat!

The children are excited to share all of this year's writing with you on Tuesday, May 1st, 9:30-10 at the Author Celebration! It's fun for everyone to see the evidence of  progress right in front of you! If you are not able to make it, please let me know and I will invite someone from the school to be with your child.

As your child passes the addition and subtraction timed tests, they will no longer have the mathblaster homework!! Many children have already achieved this goal! That's a Fact! is a great site on the GM notebook to help them stay strong over the summer.

Upcoming Events

4/30 Bruster's Spirit Night 5-8 P.M.

5/1 Author Celebration 9:30-10 in our classroom

5/9 Volunteer Brunch 8:30 A.M.-12 (The GM staff invites everyone who has volunteered and supported our students and staff this year!)

5/16 Field Day K-2

5/21 8:30 "The Weatherman on Trial" in the GM cafe/ party immediately following in our classroom

5/23 Early dismissal at 12:30

5/24 Last day of school! Early dismissal at 12:30

Have a great week!

 

This week during language arts we will continue our Earth Day activities. We compared and contrasted The Lorax and The Wump World. We also created flip flaps on ideas for reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Our writing genre for this nine weeks is persuasive writing. Your children's writing has really grown this year! I was very pleased with their spring break writing which will be scored as data for our School Improvement Plan. Congratulations to Mary Frances! Her narrative story placed top 4 of all second graders at the Cobb County Writing Fair!

We will have our Author Celebration on Tuesday, May 1st, 9:30-10. This is a great opportunity to sit one on one with your child and enjoy all the writing they have done this year! Please let me know if you are unable to make it, and I'll get an older sibling or friend to attend.

This week your children will receive their script for our play "The Weatherman on Trial". Please help your child memorize their lines. I'll get the date for the performance to you A.S.A.P., so you can mark your calendars.

 In math we are continuing multiplication and will be introduced to division. We are also working on adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers with and without regrouping. On Friday, 4/27, we'll have our last time for math games. I really appreciate all the parents who were able to come in during the year to support this activity! The children really enjoy it!

In science, we are continuing our life cycles unit. We are finishing the life cycle of a butterfly, and then beginning the life cycle of a plant. I'd like for the children to make their own garden. I would like to have two volunteers to help them create their gardens on Thursday, 4/26. I'd like to do this around 8:30. Please email me if you'd be available to help. Thanks!
Upcoming Events

4/26 Progress Reports go home

4/30 Bruster's Night 5-8 P.M.

5/1 Author Celebration- 9:30-10:00

5/3 6:30 PTA meeting-Kindergarten performs

5/9 Volunteer Brunch 8:30-12

5/16 K-2 Field Day

5/18 Deadline for 8 A.R. points

Have a great week!

Thank you so much for sending in the healthy snacks! The children sampled some new foods and enjoyed some old favorites! I appreciate you taking the time to support this activity!

This week in reading we are starting new novels. I am really looking for thorough answers written in complete sentences. I am expecting the children to share their predictions, connections, and inferences with the group. They have all grown so much with their reading! It's fun to be a part of their conversations.

In writing, we're working on our persuasive papers. We will choose a topic and give at least three reasons supporting our idea.

In math, we are finishing our measurement unit of inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters. We are using the measurements gathered from our stuffed animals to create addition and subtraction story problems. We will begin our unit of measuring temperature on Wednesday.

We are less than 2 weeks away from our wax museum presentation. Please help your child finish bubble mapping the events of their famous person's life. This week is a good week to begin writing their speech on notecards. We have talked about only putting 2-3 facts on a card, so it's easy for your child to find their place if they get lost. Many will practice so much that they'll almost have it memorized! Next week, they can begin practicing their speech in front of the class. We talked about how video taping is also helpful so they can self evaluate and make any necessary improvements. We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday, 3/30, any time between 8:30 and 9:00.

The children are back with me now for science. We are studying life cycles. We have started with the frog, then ladybug, butterfly, cat and plant. This is a fun unit with a lot of activities!

The Student Council is sponsoring a collection of coins(or any donation) to help pave the road to our new Mabry Park. Please send in your donation by Friday, 3/23.

The Girl Scouts are sponsoring a pet supply drive for the Humane Society. Complete details were in the latest issue of PAWS. Please send in any donations by Friday, 3/23.

Our class is very short on pencil cap erasers. Any donations are appreciated!

Upcoming Events

3/20 Chuck-E-Cheese Spirit Night 3-9 P.M.

2/22 Report Cards go home

2/23 Relay for Life Cap Day $1 donation to the American Cancer Society

        Deadline for pet supply donations and Mabry Park coins

3/27 Flower sale

        6:30 Honoring Our Heroes Reception

2/28 Kindergarten Registration

4/2-4/6 Spring Break

Have a great week!

Where has February gone?? Thank you so much to the parents that came in and played math games on Friday. I really appreciate you all volunteering for this. The children love it!

We have finished our animal reports and habitat triaramas. They'll be in the hall for one more week. We are continuing with informational text. This week the children will select a biography from the media center about the person they'd like to be in the Wax Museum. More information will be sent home about this later in the week.

On Friday, March 2nd, Garrison Mill will celebrate Read Across America. It is a school wide pajama day! The children are also invited to bring a few books or magazines, a sleeping bag or blanket, small pillow, and a flashlight to school. We will have several activities with Dr. Seuss books, as well as time for them to read on their own.It is a fun time to enjoy reading!

 

In math we are continuing to make change from $5.00. We are also working on subtracting 3 digit numbers and checking the answers with addition. The children are learning the valuable lesson of double checking their answers because it is so easy to make careless mistakes in math.

 

The last day for observing the moon is Tuesday, 2/28. Please have the calendar turned in by Friday, 3/2.

Upcoming Events

3/2 Read Across America Day-wear pajamas

3/5- 3/9 Exceptional Children's Week

3/5 February Reading log due

3/12-3/16 Health & Nutrition Week

Have a great week!

On Tuesday, 2/14, we'll begin creating models of the animals and their habitats that we researched.I have many materials at school, but your child may bring in some of their own,too. We build it in a triarama that will hang in the hall, so the materials can't be too heavy.

On Tuesday, 2/14, we'll have our Valentine Centers from 1-2 P.M. Everyone is welcome!

Thursday, 2/16, is our trip to see the ballet, Snow White. Please have your child wear their orange GM class shirt. When we return, we'll have  sack lunches from the cafeteria unless your child signed up to bring a lunch from home. Our Jump Rope for Heart day will be changed to 2/21 at 10:08-10:48.

I appreciate you helping your child view the moon and keep track on their calendar. Since it is waning now, it is often visible in the morning. Please use the website I listed at the bottom of the page to help you out on the low visibility evenings.

The Hero Essay is due 2/24. Participation is required since it supports our school writing goal. Your children have grown so much as writers! This is a great opportunity for them to show off all they have learned. If you need another copy of the rules and entry form, you can go to the GM PTA website or send me a note in your child's folder.

There is a new First in Math challenge. Any second grader earning 400 new stickers between February 1st and March 1st will have their name go into a drawing for tickets to an Atlanta Hawks game! It would be wonderful if someone from our class could win!

 
Class pictures will be taken of everyone on Friday, 2/17. Individual pictures will only be taken of those that order one.

Hold on to your hats! February is flying by!!

Have a great week!

This week in language arts we are continuing to read informational text. We are practicing correct fluency which helps increase the understanding of the material. We are also using our animal research to write an informational paper. Mrs. Kantor has been helping us with the organizing and revising of ideas.

January reading logs are due Monday, Feb. 6th. The next deadline for 7 A.R. points is Wed., March 14th. Monday, Feb. 13th, is Reading Night in the media Center. It's a great opportunity to read and take A.R. tests.

In math, we've been working on fractions that are parts of a whole. This week we'll concentrate on fractions that are parts of a set. Mrs. Schulman added a fun site to the GM notebook under 2nd grade-math. There are many games for practicing fractions. Have your child check it out!

The children did a great job researching and creating their constellations. We've had fun observing them in our "night sky". Thanks for your support with this! If your child has me for science, please be sure they are filling in their nightly observation of the moon's phases on the calendar provided. I included a website at the bottom to assist on nights when visibility is poor.

O'Charley's Spirit Night is Tuesday, Feb. 7th, from 5-8. Be sure to mention you're from Garrison Mill!

The last collection this year for Box Tops will be on Friday, Feb. 17th. Thank you for support!

Picture Day is on Friday, Feb. 17th. Everyone will be in the class picture, and individual pictures will only be taken of those students who place an order for one.

Upcoming Events

2/7 O'Charley's Spirit Night 5-8

2/8 New Kndergarten Meeting 10A.M.

2/9 6:30 PTA Meeting/Math Game Night immediately following

2/13 Reading Night 6-8

2/14 Flower Sale

        Valentine Centers 1-2P.M.

2/16 Progress Reports go home

2/17 Box Tops due

         Spring Picture Day

2/20  No school

Have a great week!

 

 

Greyhound Gala

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, I am offering a "Flick with a Friend."

This will be for the auction winner plus 1 guest. Friday, March 2nd.  We will attend a movie at a local theater.  Time and movie to be worked out between teacher and parents.

The Gala Auction will be held February 4, 2012 at Olde Towne Athletic Club from 7 to 11 PM. Tickets are on sale at http://gmefoundation.org - $35 and $45 at the door or you can Download 2012GALATicketformto purchase tickets in advance. Visit the website for a sample of items to bid on. All proceeds go back to GMEF.

The proceeds will be used to improve our school by providing funding for programs such as technology, educational curriculum and facility improvements. The GMEF will accumulate and distribute resources beyond those provided by Cobb County or the PTA, in order to further enhance, foster and enrich the educational experiences of all students at Garrison Mill.

Thank you for your support!