News from Powell and Schmidt

Electric Pencil Sharpener Needed

The electric pencil sharpener that was donated to our class last year is on its last leg. If anyone has one at your home or office that you would like to donate to our classroom, we would more than appreciate it. The manual sharpeners we have in our classrooms have been around for years and are difficult for the chidren to use. Electric ones are much easier and quicker, allowing us to sharpen our pencils and get back to our work.

Thank you for your consideration!

Classroom News

Fall is in the air and we are definitely feeling it here at Garrison Mill. We will be enjoying some fun fall activities this week such as weighing, measuring, decorating, and writing descriptions of our fall pumpkins. We will also be doing some really cool Native American paper weaving this week.

Yesterday we enjoyed our AR reward with Mrs. Kantor's class. Those of us who earned 5 or more AR points got to enjoy the Native American movie, Spirit, and have popcorn. Those who earned 10 or points received an extra surprise treat of a yummy candy bar! Our goal for the next 9 weeks is to earn 6 MORE AR points (in addition to what you have now). This nine weeks ends on December 19th, right before the Winter Holidays. We will have another special treat when we return to school in January. Read! Read! Read!

Report cards will come home tomorrow. Please look over your child's report card carefully as it will look quite different from the ones you've seen in the past. Be sure to look at the back of the report card for a description of the first quarter benchmarks. The report card is fairly self-explanatory, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Just a note, we had to block out a few sections in health and P.E. as those areas were not assessed this quarter. Please be sure to sign and return the signature card that is in your child's report card envelope.

As we get further into the fall season and the weather starts to cool off, please be sure to send a jacket or sweater with your child so that he/she can comfortably get outside for walk-fit and recess.

Thank you for a wonderful first quarter! We so appreciate the support your child receives at home. It makes such a difference in your child's educational success. We are looking forward to our next quarter filled with learning and fun!

YEARBOOK

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL $22*
Nov. 1st price increast to $25*

On-line ordering available at:  http://www.myyear.com
*Note:  cost includes taxes.  Does not include 1x $1.75 processing fee per transaction, multiple items per order allowed.  Be sure to print & keep your confirmation for proof of payment.

ORDER FORMS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE CREDENZA OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE.

Class News

Our first field trip was a HUGE success. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. We learned SO much about the Cherokee people. What an interesting group they were. New Echota has some really neat activities coming up including a fall festival day on October 18th and various activities for the winter holidays. Check out their web site and consider taking your whole family up there for some educational fun.

We are so excited about our Fall Festival and Fun Run tomorrow night, October 3rd. Please bring your family out from 5-8 PM and enjoy some fun with your Garrison Mill Family.

We will be wrapping up our first 9 week quarter next week. We are so pleased with the progress everyone is showing. Your child will receive his/her first report card on October 16th. Please take some time to look over your child's report card as it will look quite different from the ones you've seen in the past. The report card is fairly self-explanatory, but please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions about your child's progress.

In math, we are beginning to work on addition with regrouping and counting money. These can be challenging concepts to master so please look over the work that comes home and discuss these math topics with your child.

In science, we are finishing up our study of matter. If anyone has an "old-fashioned" popcorn popper (the one that you put the oil and kernels in and watch the popcorn pop) please let us know. We would like to use it for a demonstration on changes in matter.

In social studies, we are continuing to learn about the history of Georgia.

In reading and writing, we are continuing to work toward becoming independent readers and writers. In writing, we are working on consistently writing with correct capitalization and punctuation.

If your child has not reached our AR goal of 5 points, you should have received a note with his/her AR report attached. Please discuss this with your child and remind him/her that there will be a special celebration for those who reach the goal. If you did not receive a note, your child has 5 or more points. If you're unsure, just ask your child.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Test Feed by Schulman

We need your old magazines.

We will be doing a science project on matter this week where we will be cutting pictures of solids, liquids, and gases out of magazines and making collages. If you have any old magazines at home that you don't need anymore, please sent them in with your child. Please send your magazines in by Thursday. Thank you for your support.

Progress Reports & Assessments

Progress reports will come home on Thursday for those students who are beginning to show some weaknesses in certain areas. These are students who could possibly receive a "1" on their report card indicating they are making limited or minimum progress in meeting their standards. If you receive a progress report for your child, please look over our comments and make a plan at home to help your child improve. Please also sign and return the attached signature slip so that we know you have seen and discussed the progress report with your child. Thank you for your support.

In the next few weeks, you will be seeing papers come home that are scored with a 1,2, or 3. Please remember that these are Formative Assessments. Formative Assessments guide our instruction and allow you to see how your child is doing on daily tasks. These tasks may be completed whole-group, individually, or with a partner. These assessments do not count toward your child's report card. Please refer to the sticker in your child's home folder for a breakdown of the number scores.

As we near the end of the nine weeks and begin to complete units of study, we will be giving the students Summative Assessments. Summative Assessments are the projects, tests, and such that we use to determine if your child has met his/her standards. We were asked not to send these assessments home as they will be used from year to year. We will keep these assessments on file for your child in the classroom. At anytime, if you would like to see your child's Summative Assessments, please make an appointment with us, and we will be glad to show them to you. Please keep in mind that the scores you see coming home on the Formative Assessments should be a good indicator of how your child is doing in class.

Please keep in mind that this new report card system is a work in progress and things are always changing. We will do our best to address any questions and concerns you have as we go through the year. Thank you for your patience as we navigate through this together.

Field Trip!

A letter and permission slip came home earlier this week telling you about our field trip to the New Echota State Historic Site on October 1st. A big thanks to those who have already sent back the permission slip and $10 donation. If you have not, please try to by the end of the week.

We will be able to take two parent chaperones on the trip with us. The cost for chaperones is $2.00. If you would like to come with us, please send us an email or jot a note on your child's assignment sheet this week. If we get more than two volunteers, we will draw names and let you know who was chosen so that they can send in their $2.00. Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to a great trip!

The in-school Performing Arts permission slip also came home this week. Please return that as well. Even if you do not plan on making a donation, we will need a permission slip for your child to attend the performances.

Thank you very much for your continued support.

Accelerated Reader Night!

Our first Accelerated Reader Night of the school year will be this Monday, September 8th, from 6:00-8:00 P.M. in the Media Center. This is a great opportunity for your child to read AR books and take tests. Remember your child will need 5 points by the end of the nine weeks to attend the special 2nd grade celebration.

By the way, we didn't get to the paper plate math project this past Friday, so if you asked your child about it and he/she didn't know what you were talking about, that's why. We'll try and get it in this week.

Classroom News

We've had a great week here at Garrison Mill. In math, we've been continuing to work on numeration. We've been focusing on representing numbers various ways as well as comparing them. Today, we're doing a fun paper plate project on number representation. Ask you children about it when they get home today.

We read Ruby the Copycat in reading and shared stories about when we've all dealt with a copycat. We also read some AR books in our reading groups this week and took the AR tests. We did a great job and already have three people in our class with 5 points. Congratulations John, Jamie, and Alex! You guys will definitely get to join in the AR celebration at the end of the 9 weeks. Hopefully lots of others will get to join you. Keep reading those AR books!

In social studies, we've been continuing to learn all about the Creek and Cherokee Native Americans. We're preparing for an exciting field trip to the New Echota Native American Village at the end of September. Look for a permission slip to come home in the next couple weeks.

Our class also earned extra recess this week for high Sally Foster sales. We'll enjoy that extra recess today!

Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week!