Mrs. Alvarado's Class News

Friday, Feb.24th

KimAlvarado — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:40:20 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, February 24th Dear Parents, We have had a great short week! We turned our Hero essays in for the contest today. The writing was very touching. I will be sending the writing home at the end of the year for you to see. Take a look at what we are doing next week: Reading- We are reading the book Soup by Robert Newton Peck. The class has had fun reading all of the mis-adventures of Rob and his best friend Soup. Next week our focus lessons will be on comprehension, summarizing, sequencing, and letter writing. Grammar- We are going to review what makes up a sentence. We are also going to review sentence types. (This is always on the CRCT!) I will be reviewing it again before CRCT time! Writer’s Workshop- We are going to be working in the writing trait of “Sentence Fluency” next week. We will be breaking up run-on sentences with the correct punctuation. Spelling- Our sort will have words with ph and gh in them! Social Studies- We finished up Chapter 7 with a test on Friday. We will be going to Chapter 8 in Social Studies. Chapter 8 teaches about all of the battles in the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson, spies, patriots, and loyalists. Should be a fun week! The class has had fun this week talking about the British coming!!! Math- We are working in Chapter 18 in math. The class has learned to write fractions and decimals for models this week. Next week we will be comparing decimals, ordering decimals, and problem solving. We will finish up Chapter 18 with a test on Friday. Have a great weekend!!! Mrs.Alvarado

Friday, Feb.17th

KimAlvarado — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:43:00 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, Feb.17th Dear Parents, We have had a fun week! A big Thank you to everyone that helped make Valentine’s Day fun for the class. We had fun snacking and making flowers! Thank you for all of the flowers, goodies, and chocolate. Just a reminder: Monday we have off for President’s Day. Take a look at what we are working on in class. Reading- We will begin the book Soup by Robert Newton Peck next week. The story takes place in the 1920s. We will be comparing that time in history to our own time. Our other focus lessons will be on vocabulary, comparing/contrasting, and comprehension. Math- We will be finishing up Chapter 17 with a test on Wednesday. Chapter 18 relates fractions and decimals. Social Studies- We will wrap up Chapter 7 with a test on Friday. We will be moving onto Chapter 8 which teaches the different battles in the Revolutionary War. Spelling- Sort 25 teaches words with silent letters. Grammar- The class needed more work on adverbs so we worked on them some more this week. We will complete the review on adverbs next week. Writer’s Workshop- We will be writing using “hooks” to grab the reader’s attention. Have a great long weekend!!! Mrs.Alvarado

Friday, Feb.3rd

KimAlvarado — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:54:18 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, Feb.3rd We have had a great week! The class has been having fun learning about the solar system! Don’t forget that the solar system projects are due next Friday, Feb.10th. The class has shared their ideas for the projects and they sound great! We will be displaying the solar system projects in the media center. I will meet the class in the media center to help arrange the projects next Friday morning. We have a field trip next Thursday to the Youth Museum. The Youth Museum teaches about the Revolutionary War by putting the kids in a play. Everyone will get a part. It is a great way to preview the Revolutionary War before we learn about it in class. I would like everyone to wear their red class t-shirts and jeans for the trip. We will be eating an early lunch before we go on the trip. They can eat a snack when we get back to school. Should be a really fun day for them! Take a look at what we are doing in subject areas: Reading- We finished the Egypt Game book and all of the activities this week. Next week we will be reading Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. Our focus lessons will be on comprehension, sequencing, summarizing, and vocabulary. Grammar- We will be starting a unit on adverbs. Writer’s Workshop- We have been working in the trait “Word Choice”. We worked on replacing boring verbs with vivid verbs to make our writing more exciting. We also used our 5 senses to describe in more detail. Next week we will be writing with more vivid verbs, sensory words and adjectives/adverbs to make writing more detailed. Math- We have been working with fractions for the past two weeks. Some of the lessons have been challenging at first but they all seem to have a much better understanding now! Thanks for your help with homework! You really help me when you review at night with homework! You really insure your child’s success! We will be finishing up fractions with a test on Wednesday, Feb.8th over Chapters 14 and 15. Science- We will be finishing up our unit on the solar system with a test on Friday, Feb.10th. I will send home a study guide! Have a great super bowl weekend! May your favorite team win! Mrs.Alvarado

The 13 Colonies

Garrisonmill — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:23:48 PST

Dear Parents,

I would like to share your student's PowerPoint presentation on the 13 colonies:

Download The 13 Colonies_Ball

Download The 13 Colonies_Banks

Download The 13 Colonies_Blanchet

Download The 13 Colonies_Briggs

Download The 13 Colonies_Brown

Download The 13 Colonies_Camerieri

Download The 13 Colonies_Eck

Download The 13 Colonies_Fiorenza

Download The 13 Colonies_Gordon

Download The 13 Colonies_Hamel

Download The 13 Colonies_Hewitt

Download The 13 Colonies_Hoarell

Download The 13 Colonies_Kean

Download The 13 Colonies_Killackey

Download The 13 Colonies_Moseley

Download The 13 Colonies_Nichols

Download The 13 Colonies_Noe

Download The 13 Colonies_Reed

Download The 13 Colonies_Scherer

Download The 13 Colonies_Scholar

Download The 13 Colonies_Suarez

Download The 13 Colonies_White

Download The 13 Colonies_Winn

Friday, Feb.27th

KimAlvarado — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:14:03 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, Jan 27th Dear Parents, It has been a really good learning week but a very rainy indoor week! I feel bad about all of the indoor time! Hopefully this rain will end soon! Take a look at what we’ve been doing! Reading- We finished reading the book The Egypt Game this week. We will be doing a few more activities next week to finish up. We will be taking a comprehension test over the book, taking an AR test over the book, sequencing story events, and creating some Egyptian costumes. Students can bring in some beads, cloth, and small embellishments to decorate their costume. Send them in a sealed plastic bag with your child’s name on the bag. This is not a requirement just something extra that I thought would be fun. Grammar- We finished our unit on adjectives with a review Thursday and Friday. Next week we will begin a unit on adverbs. Writer’s Workshop- We are working in the writing trait of “Word Choice”. We talked about using vivid verbs to make our writing more exciting. Next week we will be using adjectives and adverbs to enhance our writing. Math- We finished Chapter 13 with a test on Wednesday. We started Chapters 14 and 15 which both teach fractions. We will be working with equivalent fractions, adding/subtracting fractions, and working with mixed numbers. I will test on Chapter 14 and 15 at the same time when we are finished with 15. Social Studies/ Science- We finished up Chapter 6 in Social Studies with a test this week. When we return to Social Studies with will be studying the causes of the Revolutionary War and the war itself. In science, we have started our unit over the solar system. Next week we will be learning about planets, why we have seasons, and why we have day and night. By the end of next week your child should be able to answer those questions. I sent home a project sheet this week explaining a solar system model project. The project will be due Friday, Feb.10th. Hopefully your child has started talking to you about this project! The class seems excited to be learning about space! Have a great weekend! Mrs.Alvarado

Greyhound Gala

Garrisonmill — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:34:45 PST

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, I am offering "Muffins and Manicures."

This will be for the auction winner plus 2 guests. Approximately 1 hour of pampering after school. Includes manicures and muffins at a local spa. Date and time to be worked out between teacher and parents.

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!

KimAlvarado — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:53:39 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, Jan. 20th We have had a great learning week! Take a look at what we are working on for next week: Reading- We are reading The Egypt Game. Our focus for lessons next week will be on comprehension, vocabulary, summarizing, and sequencing. I hope your child has been working on their mystery packets for their independent reading projects. It has been fun to have a theme for the month of January. These packets will be due next Friday Jan.27th. Grammar- We are learning about adjectives. Math- We have been working on Chapter 13 which covers Geometry. We will be reviewing Chapter 13 on Monday and will be testing on Tuesday, Jan. 24th. Chapter 14 covers fractions. Social Studies- We have been learning about the Middle and Southern Colonies. We will be reviewing Chapter 6 on Monday and testing on Tuesday. I will send home a study guide to help with the review! Then we will be moving back to Science on Wednesday. We will be starting a unit on the solar system. I will also be sending home a project sheet on Wednesday. We will be making solar system models as part of this unit. More information to come! Writer’s Workshop- We started an essay contest this week for writing. Our theme was “My Hero”. These essays will be submitted as a school wide contest. Next week we will continue with the writing trait of “Word Choice”. Spelling- We are learning words with a final soft c and g sound. Have a great weekend! Mrs.Alvarado

Friday, Jan.13th

KimAlvarado — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:15:24 PST

Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News Friday, Jan.13th Dear Parents, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful break from school! I really enjoyed relaxing with family and sleeping in! I wanted to thank the class for the very generous gift card I received in December. I love the Loft! I had so much fun shopping the sales in January! We are off to a great start! This week has been really busy. I gave part 2 of the checkpoint tests. These tests are like pretests for the 2nd half of the year. The class actually did pretty well on the tests considering they were over material that has not been taught. These tests should give me a good idea of what areas I need to teach really well before CRCT. Take a look at what we are working on: Reading- We started a book called The Egypt Game .The book is a Newberry award winning book. The book is a mystery with school aged kids as the main characters. It is really well written. If your child is enjoying the book there is a sequel to this book called The Gypsy Game. The author’s name is Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Next week’s lessons will focus on comprehension, summarizing, and cause and effect. Independent Reading Project- This is mystery month in my class! I assigned a mystery packet this week for the month of January. We got books from the library and reviewed the tasks in the assignment. This is a large assignment and the class only has 3 weeks to complete the work so get started early! Grammar- We are working on an adjective unit. Math- We are working on a Geometry unit which is Chapter 13 in the book. I will be encouraging students to bring home their math journals to help with homework. There is a lot of vocabulary in this unit. Social Studies- In Chapter 5, we learned about the New England Region of the colonies. In Chapter 6, we are learning about the Middle and Southern Colonies. Writer’s Workshop- We started working on our hero essay. When we have finished the essay we will be starting a unit on the trait of “Word Choice”. Enjoy the nice long weekend! Mrs.Alvarado

Thursday, Dec.15th

KimAlvarado — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:05:02 PST

Dear Parents, Thursday, Dec. 15th We have had a great week! The “Sharing through the Seasons” projects have been wonderful! The books the class read were great! They read with tons of expression and the souvenirs were so creative! The projects were really fun! We also worked on checkpoint testing this week. I was very nervous about the technology part of the testing. Each student had to input their answers into the computer with I-Respond remotes. I was really nervous about how it was going to go…but it was great! The class was so good during the testing! They listened and were patient when I needed a moment to read directions. This is new technology for me and I wasn’t sure how it would go! You have very kind and patient children! We have so much going on next week! So, I thought I would send out my newsletter early! Take a look: Reading- We will be finishing our “Sharing through the Seasons” projects on Tuesday. Monday- Samantha, Billy, Christian, and Lucas Tuesday- Connor, Christopher, Melanie, and Ashley Math- We will be finishing up Chapter 12 in math with a test on Tuesday. Social Studies- We will be finishing up Chapter 5 with a test on Tuesday. The study guide came home for homework tonight. I will remind the class to take the book home for the weekend. Wednesday- Wednesday will be “Polar Express” day in the room! Students may wear their P.J.s and bring their favorite stuffed animal. We will be taking a ride on the Polar Express so dress warm! Thursday- We will be having our holiday breakfast from 8:00-9:00 in the cafeteria. Everyone is welcome! Then we will be having our 2nd nine week celebration in the classroom. I think I have enough pop for the party from the last nine weeks. I do need full sized candy bars and someone to pop popcorn for the party. The class can bring in rated G movies to watch during the nine week party. Then we will all be exhausted and ready for Friday to be off from school! I hope you have a wonderful holiday break! Enjoy your family and rest! Mrs.Alvarado

Friday, Dec.9th

KimAlvarado — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:41:18 PST

Dear Parents, Friday, Dec.9th We have had a great week! Only 9 more days until our winter break! I have a lot of fun things planned the last 4 days! Next week we will be taking 3 checkpoint assessments in the areas of English/Language Arts, Math, and Science. These assessments will be used as a reflective piece for me. No grades will be taken do there is no need to worry about the tests. I will be looking at the scores to see if there are areas that need to be re-taught before the CRCT in the spring. Take a look at what we are working on next week: Reading- We finished the book Mrs.Frisby and the Rats of Nihm. We watched the movie on Friday. The class loved it! Next week we will be starting our December Reading projects “Sharing through the Seasons”. I am looking forward to hearing everyone’s favorite book. Be sure to practice reading the books out loud. I will be listening for fluency. The schedule for this week: Monday- Sam, Nick, Ansley B., Victoria Tuesday- Katie, Alexis B., Coco, Alexis E. Wednesday- Lauren, Lindsay, Carter, Ansley H. Thursday- Clayton, William, Ryan, Libby Friday- Tiphanie, Kate, Felix, Amanda Social Studies- We will return to Social Studies next week. We will be learning about the 13 original colonies. That information is in Chapters 5 and 6 in the book. We will be learning about the differences in geography, economics, and products in the three regions. We will also be learning about what life was like for the colonists. Math- We are going to be starting a geometry unit which is covered in Chapter 12. We will be learning a lot of new terms that will be recorded in our math journals. Math journals will need to be taken home in order to do math homework and to study for the test at the end. I will be encouraging the class to take them home daily. Writer’s Workshop- We will be doing some fun holiday writing next week! Big Fun! Spelling- Sort 17 –Words with –cher, -ture, -sure, -ure endings. (Last list until January!) Have a great weekend! Mrs.Alvarado