Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, Ms. Robertson, Dr. Hohn, 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!

What a great start for the new year! The kids have come back ready to learn and we are taking off full speed ahead.

What are we doing now?

-Science-We are working on sound and light. Students have been learning about pitch and frequency. They have sound projects due on January 30th. Students may bring them in starting next Wednesday.

Here is the information they brought home last week.

Download Urgent Dispatch from the President

We have H.T.H.T Vibes on Thursday, January 26th at 12:30-2:00. We will be eating lunch in the classroom at 12:00 that day.

-Social Studies- Students were working on the colonies prior to the winter break. We will begin to discuss the causes of the American Revolution including the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and the meaning of the slogan "No taxation without representation."

We are heading out of school for a trip to the Cobb County Youth Museum. Students will have an opportunity to role play significant characters during the Revolutionary War period.

February 10th- Cobb County Youth Museum (We are eating lunch early in the morning so please send a snack with students that will fill them up for the afternoon.)

-Math- Students finshed their units on Geometry and three-dimensional figures. We will now focus on fractions, equivalent fractions, proper and improper fractions, and mixed numbers. We will then go into adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.

-Language Arts and Reading- Students are working on capitalization and comprehension questions. George Washington's Socks is the next novel we are reading. The story correlates with what we are studying in Social Studies as well. Students will complete comprehension activities throughout the book. They will also learn new vocabulary words that are connected to the story.

Red Reading Contracts are due by

Book 1- January 26th

Book 2- February 9th

Book 3- February 23rd

Book 4 and Book 5- March 15th

Please encourage students to be responsible for reading contracts and know that it is their job to locate them prior to the due date. Parents need to sign contracts after student has completed reading the story and taken the AR test or completed the project. Remember AR scores lower than 70% will not count.

Red Ribbon Week
"We Rule!  We're a Drug-Free School!"
October 17-21, 2011
Please support Garrison Mill's pledge to be drug free
by participating in the following Spirit Days:

Monday, October 17 - PJ Day
"Put Drugs to Sleep" - come to school in your pajamas

Tuesday, October 18 - Backwards Day
"Turn Your Back Against Drugs" - wear your shirt backwards

Wednesday, October 19 - Sweatsuit Day
"It's No Sweat to Say No to Drugs" - wear a sweatsuit to school

Thursday, October 20 - Team Jersey Day
"Team Up Against Drugs" - wear your favorite team jerseys

Friday, October 21 - Red Day
"Red Out Against Durgs" - wear as much red as possible.

October News

          Time has flown so quickly this first nine weeks. We are closing the nine week period on the 14th. Conference Week is October 24-28. Look in your communication folders this week for a letter stating your time and date of conference. Thank you in advance for sending the confirmation slip for attending the conference as soon as possible.

Some other dates to put on the family calendar

October 13 - Reflections due

October 14- HTHT in-school field trip "Meteorology Madness" 8:15-9:45

October 14- Fall Festival (6-8 PM) Prepaid forms due by Oct. 12th

October 17-21 Red Ribbon Week (Scheduled event days will be announced closer to this time.)

October 18- Hearing and Vision Screening (10:00-10:30)

October 18- Target field trip to GA DOT

October 21- Fall Lang. Arts centers (1:15-2:15)

October 24-28 Scheduled Conference Week

Upcoming Units of Study

Social Studies-  We have been learning about explorers the last few days and will continue to do so till mid/late October. Students are learning about the Spanish, French, and English explorers' accomplishments and obstacles.

Science- Force, Newton's Laws of Motion, and Simple Machines will be our next science unit. 

Math- We are using the basic facts of multiplication to complete larger multiplication problems. Students will solve problems involving multiplication of 2-3 digit numbers by 1 or 2 digit numbers. Students must know the multiplication  facts (1-12) fluently to do well in this unit.

Language Arts/ Reading- Students have been reading a mystery book, Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective. They have been writing down their predictions of the solution to each of the cases presented in the book. One of our upcoming writing stories will be to use the steps of mystery writing and write a mystery.

Students are also using what they learn in Social Studies to write stories as well. The latest writing the class is doing involves writing a letter to Christopher Columbus expressing which job students would want to have as a member of his crew. We have already gotten some really cute and creative drafts.

 Thank you to Mrs. Perdomo and Mrs. Seal, our room parents, for helping make my birthday so special. All the children who brought in homemade cards and yummy treats helped make the day even better. You are all wonderful!

Thank you to all the parents who have sent in all the paperwork and field trip forms in the last few weeks. It was a lot at the beginning but it will help greatly to have this done early.

Subjects

We have done all of our beginning of the year baseline assessments to learn more about your child. Communication Folders this week should include the timed computation tests summary from the first week and the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) scores from last week.

Social Studies- We have been studying six Native American tribes and will be completing this unit soon.

Science- We will soon begin to study the water cycle and weather. Students will learn about the states of water. They will also learn about the types of clouds and how clouds are formed. In October, our first in-school HTHT field trip will review what we have studied about meteorology.

Math- While the first two chapters were mainly review of third grade concepts, this month will introduce many new fourth grade lessons. Students will work on graphing and coordinate grids as well as problem solving.

Language Arts- Students are continuing to write narrative pieces. So far, they have written a few personal narratives and a diary of a tribe's person. We have been discussing how to improve their narrative writing by including sensory details and staying on topic.

Spelling and Grammar- We continue to use Words Their Way spelling sorts. The students have been reviewing types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory). We will also work on combining sentences.

Reading- Students have been reading Dinosaur Hunters and completing comprehension questions. We will move into reading science-related books as well as chapter books as the month progresses.

Red Reading Contracts are the students' independent reading log for the year.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

Respectfully,

Mrs. Epling and Mrs. Robertson

Open House is early this year!
August 16th (2nd day of school)
6:30 PTA mtg. and then Grades 3-5 Open House (1 session only)
If you have more than one teacher to meet that night, stop by and pick up the information. We would love to see you there.