Important items to note. . .

• Congratulations to Lily S. who was one of our Honeybees of the Week in December.  Her poster and muffins were enjoyed by the Honeybees.
• Our final Honeybee of the Week was Matthew.  The class had fun learning about his interests from his poster and sharing his special snack together. 
• Friday, 1/9 is Spirit Day--please plan to have your child wear his GM shirt. 
• Friday is also Relay For Life Hat Day--students may wear a baseball hat in class for a $1.00 donation.
• Please return any books from the Media Center so that your child may check out a new one.
• Please send in a nutritious snack each day.
• Remember to send in a rest towel.
• Specials on Friday will be P.E.

I am looking forward to seeing your child on Tuesday!

Janie Hutcherson

 This week we studied our third vowel, Ee.  We identified the short e and long e sounds and blended letters to read words containing short e (ex. ten, hen, red).  Our math unit in geometry continued this week as we reviewed plane shapes (circle, square, rectangle, and triangle) and solid shapes (sphere, cube, cone, and cylinder).  We explored how shapes can be moved by rolling, stacking, and/or sliding.  We also worked on identifying the parts of a given shape--the edges, corners, curves, and sides.  

The letter of the week next week will be Dd. The new sight words will be he and she--this will complete the yellow rainbow word list.  Beginning Monday, I will assess the yellow word list for those students who are ready. 

  Special notes: 

• Reece was our Honeybee of the Week.  His baseball poster and snack were enjoyed by our class!
• Please send in an adult size shoe box next week.  Any extra boxes would be appreciated.
• Thank you for your generosity with GM's Giving Tree! 
• GM's Student Council is sponsoring a Can-A-Thon to benefit MUST Ministries.  Please consider sending in a donation to help those in need.
• Friday, 12/12 will be Relay for Life Hat Day--your child may wear a baseball hat in class by donating $1.00.
• Specials next Friday will be P.E.

Enjoy your children this weekend!

Janie Hutcherson

  Important items to note:

• Congratulations to our Honeybee of the Week, Ean.  The Rice Krispy treats and poster were enjoyed by everyone. 
• Cobb County's computer system will undergo electrical upgrades November 21st-30th.  Please be aware that there will be no email service during this time.
• Happy birthday to Lily S., who will celebrate her special day on the 22nd.
• Thanks to everyone for the wonderful books purchased at the Book Fair!  The honeybees received many new titles for our classroom library.  Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
• When we return in December, the letter of the week will be Ee and the sight words will be big and not.  We will continue our unit on Geometry and will study about transportation and motion.   Specials on 12/5 will be Music.
• Next week's specials will be enjoying time with your family!

Thank you for the privilege of working with your family.  It is my joy to help your child grow and discover new things each day--not only about our curriculum, but about himself, too!  I wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving with plenty of time together doing the things you love.

Janie Hutcherson

The Thanksgiving season is here and the honeybees have much to be thankful for! Our study of the first Thanksgiving continued as we looked at the difficult circumstances of the Pilgrims' voyage from England and their first winter in America.  We learned about Squanto and how he helped the Pilgrims learn to plant crops and hunt.  We celebrated Veteran's Day earlier this week, learning about the brave men and women who have protected and served our country in the armed forces.

This week we studied our second vowel, Ii.  The students were reminded that all vowels have two sounds--long and short (long i as in ice cream, short i as in insect).  We practiced reading consonant-vowel-consonant words with the short i sound (ex. sit, pig, lid, his).  The honeybees are working on using only lower case letters in our writing (ex. red, not rEd) unless it is the first word in a sentence or it is the first letter of a name.  We are developing written expression by constructing sentences using sight words (rainbow words), word banks, and phonetically spelled words.  We will add to our sight word list next week with the words can and we.  The letter of the week will be Gg.

Items of Interest:

• Our honeybee of the Week was Elizabeth.  We enjoyed her poster, pencils, and snack!
• Welcome back to Mrs. Jann--we are so glad to have her back to our classroom!
• If your child has not completed and returned his map homework, please do so on Monday.
• Cobb County's computer system will undergo electrical upgrades November 21st-30th.  Please be aware that there will be no email service during this time.
• GM's Grandparents & Special Friends Luncheon will be on Wednesday, 11/19.  EVERYONE IS INVITED TO ATTEND.  Our class will eat at 10:55 a.m. Following lunch, we will present our play and music in our classroom.  Guests will be invited to have photographs made, visit the Book Fair, and bid on Relay for Life desserts made by GM staff members at the conclusion of our program. Please make every effort to have a guest in attendance for this special day.
• GM's Book Fair begins next week!  Hours of operation are as follows:   Monday 7:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.  Tuesday 7:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.   Wednesday  7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.     Thursday  7:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.  Friday  7:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.   
• Specials next week will be Art.

Enjoy your family this weekend!

Janie Hutcherson

Our school week may have been short, but the honeybees were hard at work in our classroom!  We began exploring the history of Thanksgiving by looking at Pilgrims and Indians and life in early America.  We reflected on our lives by writing about things we are thankful for. . . family, friends, pets, toys, food, and even birthdays!  Each student was given an Indian name this week--can your child tell you his?

The letter this week was Pp.  The children worked on identifying the upper and lower case letter as well as identifying the /p/ sound at the beginning, middle, and end of words.   We began working on a book titled The Indian's Week.  Color words, sight words, and days of the week are the focus of this text--no doubt, you have heard your honeybee "singing" this book at home!  In math we worked on dividing sets equally, numeral formation, and estimation.  Additionally, we discovered different ways of making the same number (5= 0 and 5, 1 and 4, 2 and 3). 

     Next week we will continue our study of Thanksgiving, looking at how the Indians and Pilgrims worked together.  We will be practicing the songs and play for our Thanksgiving program on the 19th.  The letter of the week will be Ii and the new sight words will be and & to.  In math, we will begin a new chapter, Geometry, where we will study two and three dimensional shapes.

A special thanks to Mrs. Mosteller for her hard work with our students!  Mrs. Mosteller has been an important part of our classroom during Mrs. Jann's absence.  The honeybees are looking forward to welcoming Mrs. Jann back to our room on Monday! 

Important items to note:

• Congratulations to Connor, this week's Honeybee of the Week.  The Rice Krispy treats and sports balls were enjoyed by the class!
• GM's Grandparents & Special Friends Luncheon will be on Wednesday, 11/19.  Our class will eat at 10:55 a.m. Following lunch, we will perform our play and music in our classroom.  Guests will be invited to have photographs made, visit the Book Fair, and bid on Relay for Life desserts made by GM staff members at the conclusion of our program. Please make every effort to have a guest in attendance for this special day.
• Cobb County will be conducting a major electrical upgrade to its IT services November 21st-30th.  Please be aware that there will be no email service during this time.
• If you have not already done so, please send in a white adult t-shirt by Monday.  The shirts will be used to create costumes for our Thanksgiving play.
• Picture retakes will be Friday, 11/14.  Unwanted pictures must be returned at the time the retakes are made.
• Friday, 11/14 will also be Relay for Life Baseball Cap Day. 
• Specials next week will be P.E.

See your honeybee on Monday!

Janie Hutcherson

The honeybees have had a pumpkin of a week here at Garrison Mill.  We enjoyed seasonal literature about pumpkins and learned about the life cycle of them as well.  We carved a class jack-o'-lantern and roasted the seeds for a yummy treat.  Today we had a wonderful time at our Fall Centers.  The honeybees loved dressing up in their costumes and participating in the many fun activities!  Thank you to the moms and dads who came to assist us this morning!

The letter of the week was Hh.  We read many books this week that highlighted the /h/ sound.  During guided reading groups we worked on specific skills and reading strategies such as recognizing and reading sight words, making predictions and inferences, and sequencing the events of a story.  We also did "word work" at centers, building sight words and creating word families by changing the beginning sound (ie. mat, fat, cat, sat, rat, bat).  I am very pleased with the children's mastery of sight words.  Review is done each day and students are reminded to correctly spell the sight words in their writing.  Please continue to use your child's poetry notebook each night to review letters, sight words, and thematic units.  Using the notebook's pointer will help your child track the words from left to right and will help reinforce the correlation between written and spoken words.  In math we continued number work with sets of 6-10.  We counted and labeled sets and worked on numeral formation. 

Next week we will begin a study of life in early America.  We will learn about Native Americans and the Pilgrims.  In math we will complete our chapter on numbers 6-10.  The letter of the week will be Pp and the sight words will be see and the. 

We will also begin working on our Thanksgiving program that will be presented immediately following the Grandparents' & Special Friends' Luncheon on Wednesday, 11/19.  A personal invitation will come home with your student next week.  Our class will eat at 10:55 a.m. and will then have a short program in our classroom.  Please make every effort to have a guest in attendance for your child.

We celebrated the birthdays of two classmates this week!  Happy birthday to Connor, whose special day was Wednesday.  Maclean's birthday was Thursday--happy birthday to you!

Please note:

• Congratulations to Jack, our Honeybee of the Week!  The class learned about Jack's favorite things from his poster and enjoyed the yummy treats and cool light sticks!
• Tuesday, 11/4 is Election Day.  Remember there will be no school for students.
• Friday, 11/7 is Spirit Day--please have your child wear his GM t-shirt.
• Specials next Friday will be Music.

Happy Halloween!

Janie Hutcherson

This week at Garrison Mill has been a busy one!  We read many stories about the autumn season, working on distinguishing between fiction (pretend) and non-fiction (fact) literature.  Many children asked to read the "orange" words from our rainbow word list.  We did a quick assessment this week for those who were ready, and many of them know all 10 color words!  I will offer more opportunities next week to read the "orange" word list.  Today we honored our bus drivers--each honeybee made a card to show his appreciation for the great job they do everyday!

The letter of the week was Bb.  We had many take home books emphasizing the /b/ sound.  Please give your child the opportunity to revisit these easy readers at home.  Keeping these reading materials in a collection will enable your child to have his own reading library.  Encourage independent reading a few minutes each day.  When reading together, track the text with your finger and give your child the opportunity to read the words he knows.  Students must be able to recognize the sight words in everyday reading situations--not just on flashcards.  Daily reading (both independently and together) will help your emerging reader build the skills and confidence he needs!

     The letter for next week will be Hh and we will add the rainbow words pink and white to our word wall.  We will continue working with numbers 6-10 in math and will have our Fall Centers on Friday.  Garrison Mill will also be celebrating Red Ribbon Week. Special activities are planned for each day as students participate in this drug awareness program. (M--Favorite Sports Team Shirt Day, T--Silly Hair Day, W--PJ Day, Th--Wear Red Day, F--Orange & Black Day).

Items of Interest:

• Nathan was our Honeybee of the Week.  We enjoyed his poster, snacks, and meeting his two mice, Rollie and Pollie!
• The GM Foundation's Pancake Breakfast is tomorrow morning, 10/25.  Tickets will be available at the door for $5.50.
• Square One Art orders are due Monday, 10/27.
• Kindergartners will have the opportunity to dress up in their costumes on Friday, 10/31.  Students must be able to independently change into their costumes after arriving at school.  No masks, weapons, or scary costumes are allowed.  Participation is optional.
• There will be no school on Tuesday, 11/4 as it is Election Day.
• Please mark your calendars for GM's Grandparents' Luncheon on Wednesday, 11/19.  The honeybees will eat at 10:55 a.m. and then have a class performance in our room immediately following lunch.
• Please be sure to send a nutritious snack for your child each day. 
• Specials next week will be Music.

Enjoy the weekend,

Janie Hutcherson

     It is hard to believe that the first quarter of kindergarten is over! Report cards were sent home yesterday--please be sure to read the letter explaining the standards-based reporting system that was included in the report card envelope.  Thank you for your support and efforts at home.

                                           We began our week by learning about Christopher Columbus and the holiday that is named after him.  Ask your child about Columbus' discovery and the voyage from Spain on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.  This week we also studied about families, sharing about the members in each of our families and how they contribute to the family unit.  Each honeybee created a family crest illustrating himself, his family, his home, and his best friend.  The children shared about the responsibilities they have at home and how each member of the family is important and needed.  We ended the week with our High-Touch, High-Tech program "Rock and Roll", where students learned about rocks and soil.  The class observed, sorted, and classified rocks as they looked at color, size, texture, and hardness. 

Jj was the letter of the week.  We worked on identifying the initial /j/ sound in words and correctly forming the upper and lower case letter.  The honeybees continued to develop their writing skills by using pictures, phonetically spelled words, and sight words to convey meaning.  We focused on conventions in our writing, too!  Students were reminded to begin each sentence with a capital letter and to space between each word.  In guided reading, we worked on leveled texts. Drawing on prior knowledge of a subject, using picture clues for unknown words, recognizing and reading known sight words, and applying letter and sound knowledge in context are all strategies that your reader is learning to use!

     In math, we completed our chapter on numbers 0-5.  During this unit, we explored number concepts, practiced numeral formation, made mathematical comparisons (=, <, >), and demonstrated our understanding of key vocabulary words (equal, more, more than, fewer, fewer than, and estimate).  In our next chapter, we will continue these math concepts with the numbers 6-10.   Next week the letter of the week will be Bb and the orange rainbow words will be black and brown.

News from our classroom:

• Congratulations to Madelyn, our current Honeybee of the Week.  The class loved the poster, snack, and lightstick necklaces.
• Our class is scheduled to visit the Media Center on Tuesday, 10/21.  Please return any outstanding library books by that morning.
• All Box Tops are due by Wednesday, 10/22.
• Square One Art orders are due by Monday, 10/27.
• Kindergarten students will be allowed to dress-up in their costumes on Friday, 10/31.  Please remember that after arriving at school, your child must be able to independently put on his costume.  Scary costumes, masks, and weapons will not be allowed.  Participation is strictly optional.
• If you have not yet sent in a family picture, please do so for our hall display.
• Specials next Friday will be P.E.

Enjoy the weekend with your family!

Janie Hutcherson