May 17, 2008

End of School

WOW!  What a GREAT job in the program...  The kids did a wonderful job!  I know you are proud of all their hard work.

The rest of the kinder keys will come home this week.  You can work on it over the summer to work on keyboarding skills and reinforce sounding out words.  You can also have your child type "word families".  Type an ending and how many words can your child come up with and make a sentence.

Continue to read over the summer.  Ideas will come home with the report cards which will be mailed unless you owe any money to the school for lunches, library books, or ASP.

Writing:  We have been learning to edit sentences, finding where periods should go and capital letters should be placed.

word wall words. They include: when, then, is, in, this, are, you, come, with, too, here, it, on, what, play, of, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Math: Our last chapter is on subtraction.  An activity you can do at home is have two colors of the same object or two objects up to 10 in total and "roll" them out.  Take the big number and "take away" one of the numbers and write the answer.

Math key words:  word problems, subtraction, take away, difference, addition, counting on, combinations, tallies, graphs, compare, length, height, weight, cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet.  The main thing is to know what they mean.

Upcoming Dates:  Mark them on your calendar! 

Monday, May 19th      Games and Puzzle Day

Tuesday, May 20th      Autograph Day - Either children can have yearbooks signed or their class t-shirt.  Please let your child know what is okay.

Wednesday, May 21st     Beach Day - you can bring in sunglasses and a towel.

Thursday, May 22nd     Last day for backpacks.

Friday, May 23rd          LAST DAY OF SCHOOL (Oh My!)  No backpacks or papers allowed on the bus on the last day of school.  (County policy.)  If your child brings in lunch or snack, it should be in paper that can be thrown away.

April 27, 2008

May is Around the Corner

It is hard to believe April is almost over.  May is this week and we hope to be seeing you a great deal!  Please let us know if you will be unable to make either the Mother's/Author's tea or our Under the Sea program.  They will both start SHARPLY at their designated times. (Mother's tea-8:15 and Under the Sea- 8:30).  Remember parking is likely to be difficult.  Please allow time.

The next couple of weeks are very full during school and on the weekends.  Remember the Foundation is starting up and having a big yard sale this weekend.  The money raised is to support learning at Garrison Mill directly based on surveys done by parents and teachers.  We want to keep GM moving in the right educational direction.  Also, these are the last couple of weeks to support the Relay for Life team to benefit cancer research, etc.  Luminaries can be purchased for $10 and you can decorate your own bag or we will decorate it for you.  It can be in honor or in memory of a loved one.  Our team will be walking the night of May 9th and anyone can come to Jim Miller park and see what they do.  We put all of the purchased luminary bags around our "site" and light candles in a special ceremony for the nighttime.  All checks are tax deductible written to the American Cancer Society!  You can check out our team website at www.cobbrelay.org , check under teams, and find Garrison Mill.  Thanks for all of your support!

We are continuing our Under the Sea study and we have had a lot of fun.  Miss Wood will have another couple of weeks with us and she also taught us some neat things.  We should now know our oceans, reviewed our continents, and discussed what sinks and floats.

WOW!  What wonderful "Under the Sea" projects we have.  Thanks!

Kinder Keys will continue to come home.  Look for the letters that will come with it and tell you what the children should do now.  We want to continue the keyboarding skills.

Continue to encourage your child bring little books home.  If your child reads them to us in class, we will send it home in a ziploc for them to read it to you and bring it back for a new one. 

Writing:  We have continued to work on correct punctuation.  Some of us have it and some don't.  However, we are all progressing nicely.  Remember practicing is always helpful.  Most all of us have correct spaces between our words.  Don't forget using our word wall words and tricks in writing!

word wall words. They include: when, then, is, in, this, are, you, come, with, too, here, it, on, what, play, of, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Math:  We have been doing combinations up to 10.  An activity you can do at home is have two colors of the same object or two objects up to 10 in total and "roll" them out.  See and write what number combinations you have.

Math key words:  addition, counting on, combinations, tallies, graphs, compare, length, height, weight, cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

Thank you to those that sent in wipes!  Hopefully, we will make it through the rest of the year.

Upcoming Dates:  Mark them on your calendar! 

Wednesday, April 30th  Chick Fil A breakfast to benefit Relay for Life

Thursday, May 1st       PTA meeting (6:30pm - 1st grade program)

Friday, May 2nd          Mother's Day/Author's Tea 8:15 - 9:00-this is for mom's or grandmom's only - let us know if you have a problem and we'll see what we can do - Thanks!

Saturday, May 3rd       GM Foundation Yard Sale - remember the more money we raise the faster you will see a difference in the school.

Friday, May 9th       Career Day and Volunteer Appreciation Brunch -
    get your luminaria bags for $10 each to honor or memorialize a loved one for cancer-benefits the American Cancer Society and our relay for life team

Tuesday, May 13th       Under the Sea kindergarten production - in the AM - plan on attending (This is a BIG DEAL!!!)

Wednesday, May 14th       Field Day (K-2) - Cynthia Camerieri still needs volunteers for either morning or afternoon shift (3 hours)

Friday, May 23rd       LAST DAY OF SCHOOL (Oh My!)

April 25, 2008

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 27th, but we may be able to make other arrangements.

April 14, 2008

Six Weeks to go and very full ones!

Well, we hope everyone had a relaxing Spring Break!  We are in the home stretch and it will be a busy end of the year.  We will be pushing to learn some more performance standards and reviewing others.  Our time will also be focused on our "Under the Sea" production as well as our Mother's/Author's tea on May 2nd.  You won't want to miss either.  Please make your arrangements now.  The mother's tea is 8:15 and the Under the Sea is 8:30 and it is a show like no other you have seen!

DON'T FORGET "Under the Sea" projects are due this week.  Please do more than just filling in the blanks.  Thanks!

Kinder Keys will continue to come home.  Look for the letter that will come with it and tell you what the children should do now.  We want to continue the keyboarding skills.

Look for little books to come home.  If your child reads them to us in class, we will send it home in a ziploc for them to read it to you and bring it back for a new one.  Please encourage this with your child.  Please continue to have your child sound out words.  The more practice, the better they get.  Read an easy book with your child and pick one simple sentence.  Have the child write it on a strip of paper.  Have them read it and then cut it up into words.  Then they have to mix them up, put it back together, and read it.  Please be sure to have your child write it with ONLY a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and on a name if there is a name.  Also, make sure there is a period or other punctuation at the end.

word wall words.  They include: this, are, you, come, with, too, here, it, on, what, play, of, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five-

Math words:  We are finishing graphing and beginning addition officially.  Continue to ask your children different ways to get to the same total using money.  For example, eight cents could be 8 pennies, or a nickel and 3 pennies, or some of our more advanced children can tell you give a dime and get 2 cents change.  This really helps them think things out and is good to practice.

Remember key words:  graphs, compare, length, height, weight, cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

FYI:  If your child has a birthday, sporting event, or a special activity that they are participating in, please let me know details in writing.  I try to come when I know about activities because this usually thrills and surprises the children that I do leave the school.  Thanks!  Frances

NEEEDED:  WIPES!!!!!  Thank you!  We are still out as them!  sorry for the short notice.  Thanks!!!!

Upcoming Dates:  Mark them on your calendar! 

Friday, May 2nd          Mother's Day Tea (more details to follow - save the date and plan to be here)

Friday, May 9th       Career Day and Volunteer Appreciation

Tuesday, May 13th       Under the Sea kindergarten production - in the AM - plan on attending (This is a BIG DEAL!!!)

Wednesday, May 14th       Field Day (K-2)

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 20, 2008

Less than 40 days of school to go...Oh My!

Report cards went out today.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Our next units will be spring and plants.  The first 4 children who can tell me this will receive one of our "stuffed dinosaurs".  Good luck!

Thank you so much if you were able to donate to our Relay for Life basket.  We greatly appreciated this and we hope to raise a lot of money next week at the auction at the fairground.

As of next week we are done with all letters of the alphabet.  Please continue to have your child sound out words.  The more practice, the better they get.  Read an easy book with your child and pick one simple sentence.  Have the child write it on a strip of paper.  Have them read it and then cut it up into words.  Then they have to mix them up, put it back together, and read it.  Please be sure to have your child write it with ONLY a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and on a name if there is a name.  Also, make sure there is a period or other punctuation at the end.

word wall words.  They include: come, with, too, here, it, on, what, play, of, they, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five-Try circling word wall words in newspaper articles..

Math words:  We finished time and we have moved onto Measurement.  Have your child compare height, weight, and length.  They have to be able to say things on their own.  Don't forget at the beginning of each chapter, you get an activity that you can try and play at home.

Remember key words:  cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

FYI:  If your child has a birthday, sporting event, or a special activity that they are participating in, please let me know details in writing.  I try to come when I know about activities because this usually thrills and surprises the children that I do leave the school.  Thanks!  Frances

NEEEDED:  WIPES!!!!!  Thank you!  We are out as of today!  sorry for the short notice.  Thanks!!!!

Upcoming Dates:  Mark them on your calendar! 

Thursday, March 20th     Backyard burger night

Friday, March 21st     Egg Drop and Egg Hunt (Send in your "Humpty Dumpty" and your filled eggs.  (Thanks to all of you who already have.)

                                   CLASS PICTURE DAY!!! 8:25AM

Thursday, March 27th   County wide Relay for Life Auction at the Roswell Street Baptist Church - $5.00 in advance  - feel free to e-mail any questions.

Wednesday, April 2     Registration for next year's Kindergarten children

Monday, April 7 - Friday, April 11     Spring Break

Friday, May 2nd          Mother's Day Tea (more details to follow - save the date and plan to be here)

Friday, May 9th       Career Day and Volunteer Appreciation

Tuesday, May 13th       Under the Sea kindergarten production - in the AM - plan on attending (This is a BIG DEAL!!!)

Wednesday, May 14th       Field Day (K-2)

March 01, 2008

In like a lion, out like a lamb, we hope

March has arrived!  "In like a lion, out like a lamb".  (If your child can tell me this on Monday, I will give them a feather.)  We may really see this if all of the predictors are right for our crazy weather expected on Tuesday.

We were happy to see all of the "guests" we had for doughnuts on Friday.  The children have done a great job!  You missed lots of fun!

Our units this month will include farm, spring, and plants.  Highlights include: farm breakfast and Cagle Dairy field trip,  planting, egg drop, and egg hunt

There are MANY activities happening this week in the MEDIA CENTER.   We hope to see you!  They include:  BOOK FAIR, Relay for Life Auction - a dinner serving 4- 6 people on a date agreed upon by the donating team with the highest bidder, a portrait offer for 9.95  to benefit our Relay for Life team that will allow you to have a portrait taken of your child or children in "vintage" clothing.  These really come out well and they will be available to you by MOTHER'S DAY. 

The Book Fair hours this week will be until 4 pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  On Thursday, the Book Fair will be open through Curriculum night in the evening. 

The kids have done a good job recognizing these.  Letters include:  A,a,B,b,C,c,D,d,E,e,F,f,G,g,H,h,I,i,J,j,K,k,M,m,N,n, O,o, P, p, R,r,S,s,T,t, V,v W,w-  Sounds are reviewed and the children are really working to sound out their own words.  We tell them that "if they write, they can read it and if we write, we can read it."  Try having your children circle word wall words that are in articles.  This is good review.

word wall words.  They include: it, on, what, play, of, they, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five-Try circling word wall words in newspaper articles..

Technology:  Last week we wrote our dinosaur facts on the computer.  It sure makes a difference for those children that keep up with their "Kinder Keys".  They are on the walls with our 3-D dinosaurs.

Math words:  We will continue to review money, but we will begin Time on Monday.  Any review that you can do with your child makes a difference.

cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

Don't forget to send in your donation for our "scrapbook" basket kindergarten will be putting together for the County wide Relay for Life auction that everyone is invited to participate in at Roswell Street Baptist Church.  It is always a lot of fun and you often get some real bargains that night on sporting events, cultural events, and trips to name a few.

FYI:  If your child has a birthday, sporting event, or a special activity that they are participating in, please let me know details in writing.  I try to come when I know about activities because this usually thrills and surprises the children that I do leave the school.  Thanks!  Frances

Upcoming Dates:  Mark them on your calendar!

March 3rd - March 7th   Read Across America Week - BOOK FAIR ALL WEEK

Monday, March 3rd     Dr. Suess' birthday -PAJAMA DAY- Wear your pajamas and send in slippers.

Tuesday, March 4th     Early Release Day - 12:30 Dismissal

Thursday, March 6th    Curriculum Night - 6:30

Friday, March 7th          Last day to bid on Auction and to purchase Book Fair books by 11:00 am

Thursday, March 13th   Farmer's Breakfast - Have your child dress like a farmer

Friday, March 14th        Cagle Dairy Field trip

Thursday, March 27th   County wide Relay for Life Auction at the Roswell Street Baptist Church - $5.00 in advance  - feel free to e-mail any questions.

February 04, 2008

February is Here!

Well, the groundhog has spoken and says we will have an early spring.  We will see!  As Valentines Day approaches, we will try something new.  I am asking you to help your child prepare a Valentines box to put their Valentines in next week.  You may decorate a shoe box and cut a hole in the top.  The shoeboxes should be totally covered and decorated.  These are due Monday, February 11th.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Also, every child should bring in a Valentine for each classmate.  Your child should sign their name to every card.  Do not worry about putting names on the envelope.  We prefer for them to be blank.  This is easier when the children are "delivering" their Valentines cards. 

Has your child told you what a "letter/ tricks" are yet?   See if your child can tell you what a "word trick" is.  Each blog I will introduce a couple that we have been working on in class.  Next are:  "ar like in car, starve, bark "or like in horn" "ch-ch like in chick, like in chop, and like church" Letters include:  A,a,B,b,C,c,D,d,E,e,F,f,G,g,H,h,I,i,J,j,K,k,M,m,N,n,R,r, O,o, S,s,T,t, W,w-  Sounds are reviewed and we are trying to get the children to sound out their own words.  We tell them that "if they write, they can read it and if we write, we can read it."  Try having your children circle word wall words that are in articles.  This is good review.

word wall words.  They include: of, they, she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five-Try circling word wall wordsy in newspaper articles..

Six Hour Reading Club:  FREE SIX FLAGS TICKET AVAILABLE:  Don't forget to keep up with your reading.  If you read a total of 6 hours that you record on the sheet and return it to us by Wednesday, February 20th, your child will receive a free ticket to Six Flags to use over the summer. 

Technology:  This week, we will be using our Kinder Key skills to write our stories on Bears from our bear research. 

Math words:  We will continue to review ten grids, but we are now starting Money.  This week we are completing the Performance Standards of identifying math coins and their values.

cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

FYI:  If your child has a birthday, sporting event, or a special activity that they are participating in, please let me know details in writing.  I try to come when I know about activities because this usually thrills and surprises the children that I do leave the school.  Thanks!  Frances

Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday, February 6th              Early Release Day

Friday, February 8th                        Last day to turn in Jump Rope/Hoop for Heart money

Thursday, February 14th                Special Valentine Centers

Friday, February 15th                     Box Tops for Education due

Monday, February 18th                  Presidents Day (No School)

Tuesday, February 19th                 Teacher Inservice Day (No School)

Wednesday, February 20th            6 hour reading club certificates due

Thursday, February 21st                 High Touch High Tech

Monday, February 25th                  Monies due to order Chick Fil A biscuits to benefit the American Cancer Society

(anyone may order one to pick up at the end of the week-more details coming home this week)

Friday, February 29th                    Doughnuts for Dads early AM-8:15 AM SHARP

Friday, February 29th                    Talent Show (includes teacher song performance) evening

January 27, 2008

100 Days of school and counting...What a wonderful Conference Week!  It has been great to see everyone!  Please remember to e-mail or write me anytime if you need or want to meet again. 

Has your child told you what a "letter/ tricks" are yet?   See if your child can tell you what a "word trick" is.  Each blog I will introduce a couple that we have been working on in class.  The first two are:  "sh-shhhhhhh like in ship, like in sharp, like in fish..."  "ing like in ring, like in drinking, like in bring..."

Letters include:  A,a,B,b,C,c,D,d,E,e,F,f,G,g,H,h,I,i,J,j,K,k,M,m,N,n,S,s,T,t, W,w-  Sounds are reviewed and we are trying to get the children to sound out their own words.  We tell them that "if they write, they can read it and if we write, we can read it."  One activity you can do is a capital letter and lower case letter match.  When you see your child write, please encourage them to use lower case letters unless it is the beginning of a sentence or the name of something or someone.  These are skills we will always be working on.

Please be working on the word wall words.  They include: she, went, name, they, we, by, all, we, he, be, go, no, yes, see, not, was, red, blue, yellow, green, black, brown, blue, purple, and, orange, is, am, I, a, too, to, the, my, me, like, on, one, two, three, four, five

Six Hour Reading Club:  FREE SIX FLAGS TICKET AVAILABLE:  Today we sent home a sheet for you to write down any time you spend with your child reading a book.  If you read a total of 6 hours that you record on the sheet and return it to us by Wednesday, February 20th, your child will receive a free ticket to Six Flags to use over the summer. 

Technology:  I hope everyone enjoyed the power point slides that your children did for the 100th day.  We were very proud of them.  Last week in computer lab, we went back and reminded the children what we did.  They have now started a new slide on any topic they wanted.  We have also worked on filling in with color, changing font, and giving backgrounds.

Math words:  See if your child can show you a ten grid and demonstrate numbers in a ten grid up to 20.

cube, sphere, more, less, fewer, estimate, fair trade-5 pennies to a nickel, 10 pennies make a dime, ordinal numbers, below, before, after, in front of, under, above, over, calendar, circle, square, rectangle, square, above, in front of, sort, between, behind, under, over, alike, not alike, size, kind, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.  These are vocabulary words.  The children do not have to be able to spell or recognize yet (except for color words that we are now working on).  The main thing is to know what they mean.

FYI:  If your child has a birthday, sporting event, or a special activity that they are participating in, please let me know details in writing.  I try to come when I know about activities because this usually thrills and surprises the children that I do leave the school.  Thanks!  Frances

Upcoming Dates:

Monday, Jan. 28th    Early Release Day - Last day for Conferences

Tuesday, January 29th                   Orientation for kindergarten parents for 2008 - 09(AM)

Wednesday, February 6th              Early Release Day

Monday, February 18th                  Presidents Day (No School)

Tuesday, February 19th                 Teacher Inservice Day (No School)

Wednesday, February 20th            6 hour reading club certificates due

Friday, February 29th                    Doughnuts for Dads early AM-more details to follow

Friday, February 29th                    Talent Show (includes teacher song performance) evening

January 16, 2008

change in lunch prepay

Due to a change in ownership of MealPayPlus, all users will need to re-register their account after January 1, 2008. In an effort to get this message out, I have created an information page on the county site and am asking each of you to redirect your current MealPayPlus link to this page until further notice. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated and will hopefully eliminate any confusion that might arise from the transition.
Please set your MealPay link to go to this url:
Thanks!!

May 2008

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