Greyhound Gala

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, Ms. Robertson, Ms. Epling, and I are offering a "Sweat Treat Party."

This will be for the auction winner plus 5 guests. Approximately 2 hours of fun after school on February 9th.  We will create a Valentine's Day craft and decorate cupcakes/cookies.

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!

1/20/12

Honoring Our Heroes

In class we completed a rough draft of the Honoring Our Heroes Essay. I placed them in the Thursday folder that was sent home yesterday. A blue entry form for the contest was also in the folder. Your child may do any edits to the rough draft that they would like, including starting over or turning the essay in as is. The essays are due in the box by the office by February 24. Your child does not need to show the final copy to me.

Youth Museum

Fourth graders will be visiting the Youth Museum in February. Due to space availability at the Youth Museum, our class will visit the museum on two days. Half of the class will visit on Thursday, Feb. 9 while the other half will go Friday, Feb. 10. The students do not realize that the class will be split as of yet. I will tell the students the week of the trip; otherwise, they get very confused. They date that was written on your child's permission slip which was sent home yesterday in the Thursday folder is the date that your child will attend the Youth Museum. Thank you in advance for your donation, so we can fund this trip. The students will dress in custome provided by the museum and recite scripts about the American Revolution.

Holiday thank you!

I want to thank everyone for the class gift, card, and well wishes for the holidays.

I keep telling the students that they are closer to fifth grade than they are to the the beginning of fourth grade. They are progressing well. We have alot more to learn in the next 4 1/2 months.

12/12/11

End of the nine weeks celebration

Please consider donating cans of Coke or Sprite for the nine weeks celebration next Thursday. We are also in need of regular size candy bars of any kind.

Reading Contract

The reading contract is due by next Thursday. This is the list of five books that your child has read for this nine weeks.

 

Recess

We are in the season where the outside temperature varies greatly. We try to go outside as much as the weather will allow for recess. Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for the temperature each day.

Grandparent Luncheon

Next Wednesday, November 16 we have our annual Grandparents Luncheon at 11:00. We invite you to our classroom at 10:45. The students will read a couple of poems for you. After the luncheon, you are welcome to visit the book fair or have a family picture taken. Both of these events will be located in the media center. If you choose to take your child home with you after the luncheon, please let me know and be sure to check them out in the office.

 

Fire Safety Field Trip Monday

We will be taking an off campus field trip to the fire safety village on Monday 11/7. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately to be inside or outside. Also, students who do not bring their lunch to school will have the opportunity  to purchase a sack lunch from the cafeteria before we leave the school. Please talk with your child about appropriate behavior for a field trip. I have permission slips for each student. The permission slips were sent home earlier this year.

October 31

I enjoyed meeting with you last week to discuss your child's progress in fourth grade.

We began a fire safety program today. Cobb County firefighters presented the program with some extra lessons that we will do in class. We will go on a field trip to the Fire Safety Village next Monday, Nov. 7. (Please note: I already have permission for each student. I sent the notes home earlier this year). The firefighters will return on Nov. 14 for their final lesson. There will be homework and a culminating assessment. The work for this class will count toward your child's health grade.

Here are the main topics that we will be studying during the next couple of weeks:

math- interpreting remainders in a division problem; dividing by double digit divisors (M4N4)

language arts- reading comprehension/vocabulary development (ELA4R2,3); parts of speech (ELA4C1; written expression (ELA4W3,4)

Social Studies- Explorers-concentrating on Columbus, Balboa, Cartier, Hudson, Ponce de Leon, and Cabot (SS4H2)

Science/Health- Fire safety/begin force and motion unit (S4P3)

October 17

Parent Help Requested

Next Monday and Tuesday (October 24-25) from 9-10 our class will be researching famous explorers. We could use parent helpers to assist students with reading the text and helping them write important information (notes) about their explorer.  If you are able to help one or both days, please email Dr. Hohn. 

*I also have several games for indoor recess that need to be unpackaged and put together. If you are interested in staying after the library time to help with games, please let me know. Please note: the students are not playing the games at that time. It is simply a time for parents to help unpackage and put them together. I will keep them for a rainy day for the kids to play.

Timed Tests

It is a new nine weeks so all students will be retaking an addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division timed test between today and Wednesday.  Your child must pass the test with 96% accuracy for this nine weeks to not have the extra homework. We retest at the beginning of each nine weeks to keep to keep the students’ fact knowledge precise and quick.

 

Here are the standards that we will be studying for the next couple of weeks.

Language Arts

ELA4 R1,2,3,4  Students will demonstrate comprehension and vocabulary from a diverse collection of literary forms

ELAW1Students will produce writing with an organization structure, maintain a focus, and signal a closing.

ELAC Students will demonstrate and understanding and control of the rules of English language.

Math

M4N4 a-d Students will further develop their understanding of division of whole numbers and divide in problem solving situations without a calculator.

Science

S4P3 a-d Students will demonstrate the relationship between the application of a force and the resulting change in position and motion on an object.

Social Studies

SS4H2 a-d The students will describe European exploration in North America.

*Please note that these are the overall standards. There are many subsections to each of these broad standards.

9/23/11

This is just a quick reminder: The weather instrument projects are due on Monday.

Also, I sent home progress reports in the Thursday folders. That was your child's grades to date. They have about 4 more weeks until we send home report cards. Please sign and return the progress sheets. Thank you to those parents who have already sent the signed progress report back.

 

Weather instrument due date is Monday, September 26

*I forgot to change the due date in my previous email/blog posting from last year. The weather instrument is due Monday, September 26.

Top Secret Weather Project

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: MEASURING OUR WEATHER

 

PROBLEM: The evil Dr. Noah Taul has developed a device that can control the weather. He can make it rain in the desert, snow in Hawaii, or have a heat wave in Alaska. He is demanding that every nation in the world pay him a fair weather fee of 1 billion dollars a year to make sure they don’t have really yucky weather all the time. The United States has already said that they will not give in to terrorists, and will not pay. This could mean certain disaster to our country, and no fun for the children of the U.S.A. who want to play outside.

 

YOUR MISSION: Should you choose to accept it, (no it’s not an option) is to help our own scientist gather necessary information about our own weather, by providing them with background information about wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, and air temperature. If successful, U.S. scientists will make their own Weather Machine to foil Dr. Taul’s evil plans.

 

By using the latest technology (or what ever you have laying around the house, Don’t Spend A Penny!!!) and the plans on our top-secret web pages,

http://www.ehow.com/how_4867474_make-thermometer-kids.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/gather_data/anemometer.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/gather_data/barometer.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/gather_data/raingauge.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/gather_data/windvane.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_4962549_make-elementary-school-weather-instruments.html

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/anemometer.html

http://www.fi.edu/weather/todo/barometer.html

http://starryskies.com/try_this/baro1.html

http://sln.fi.edu/weather/todo/hygrometer.html

http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/barometer.html

http://www.fi.edu/weather/todo/dixie.html

you will construct ONE weather device. (With a parents permission, you may google other sites.) You may get input from your parents, but they may not actually touch your project. If your parents say you cannot do something, then you cannot do it. You must get parent permission before operating power tools, remember, they cannot touch your project or help you. You must complete the project on your own. If a parent helps, points will be deducted from your final grade. The deadline for the completion of this project is Monday, September 12, 2011.

On the morning of Monday, September 12th, the Mission Impossible Team will bring their Weather Instruments to school and gather in a top secret location. There students will demonstrate and use their weather instruments, gather weather data, and save the world.

 

Mission Parameters: Below is a list of approved Weather Instruments. Please note that some of these experiments are more involved, and or more difficult than others, please read them all carefully.

 

Approved: Thermometer, anemometer, barometer, hygrometer. With permission only, or can be added to project for extra credit: Weather vane, windsock rain gauge.

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