Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, we are offering a "Nail Spa Day."

This will be for the auction winner plus 1 guest. This will include a manicure and a pedicure at Famous Nails.  Approximately 1 hour.  Date and time to be worked out between teachers 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!

Parents,

I want to remind you of the grandparent luncheon next Wednesday November 16th.  We will have a brief presentation in the classroom starting at 11:45 in our room.  Please be on time or you will miss it.  Our lunch time will start at 12:05.  If you don't have grandparents near by, please have someone come and eat with your child.  It is exciting for them to have someone special to eat with them.

Please continue to work with your child on counting coins and making change.  This can be a very difficult skill.  First in Math is a great website to use for practice.  It's fun and it strengthens their skills.  Keep practicing the subtraction flash cards as well.  It makes it much easier for children when they have their facts memorized.  

We look forward to seeing you and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break!!

We want to thank you for a wonderful Conference Week.  We enjoyed meeting with all of you, discussing your child's progress report, and going over our goals for the next nine weeks.   It is our privilege and pleasure to work with your children.  Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns.  We appreciate all you do!

Wow!  The first nine weeks is over and the second has just begun.  Here are the standards for the second nine weeks.

Writing:  How do I write a response to what I read?  How do I write a short story (narrative)?

Reading:  How do I use what I know to understand how stories work?                             

Math:  How does the placement of a digit in a number affect its value?  What do numbers represent?  What ways can I show a number?  What strategies can Iuse to subtract larger numbers?  How can combinations of numbers and operations be used to represent the same quantity?  How are numbers affected when they are combined and separated?  How can charts, graphs, and tables help me organize and understand data?  How can I describe geometric figures?  How are plane and solid figures alike and different?  What happens when I combine, separate, or rearrange shapes?

Science:  What are the sources of energy and how are they used?  What is a force?  How is a force used to change the location of an object and the direction in which it is moving?

Social Studies:  No questions have been posted by the county.  The topic is Georgia's beginnings.  The people being studied are:  James Oglethorpe, Mary Musgrove, and Tomochichi.

 Health:  No questions have been posted by the county.  The topics are:  emotional and mental health, medicine safety, and disease prevention.   

Technology:  How can a brainstorming/webbing application help me show what I know?

 This is a crucial nine weeks.  There are many interruptions to our schedule because of Holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Please help your child keep focused during this time.  As you can see, our Math standards are substantial.  Many of the skills can be practiced at home.  It will help your child be successful if you are reinforcing these skills daily.  

We are so proud of our class.  Everyone met the AR point requirement for this nine weeks.  Remember each quater the requirement changes by a point.  We are encouraging students to go above and beyond with the goal.  

We look forwared to meeting with each of you next week.  Remember it is early release all week.  That means dismissal will be at 12:25.  

We are working hard to finish up this nine weeks.  On Friday, you received an AR point update.  This will help see how many points your child has and how well they are comprehending.  It is important to do well on the test because it shows how well you understand what you are reading. 

We are continuing to work on adding with regrouping, counting and notating money, and understanding time.  We have learned a song to help us remember how many seconds are in a minute,  how many minutes are in an hour, how many hours are in a day, and how many days are in a year.  Ask your child to sing this song for you.  They have all sung it by themselves in class.

We will be scheduling conferences this week.  Please sign and return the forms promptly so we will know our schedule.  This should go out Thursday.

We are wrapping up our study of Matter.  Your child should be able to tell you the three states of matter, some of their properties and give you examples of each state. 

In language Arts we are studying  homophones, synonyms and antonyms.  We are learning how to use a thesaurus to find synonyms and to help enhance our writing.

Thank you to all who have read to our class.  WE love when you come in.

We had a great first week of school.  I am excited to report excellent behavior from everyone.  I wanted to let you know what we are doing this week in class.

spelling:  We have our first list of spelling words this week.  You will find the words in your child's take home folder.  They are on the assigment sheet.  We are writing sentences with 5 words for homework on Monday and 5 words with sentences on Tuesday.  Please review these words with your child.

Health:  We are learning about nutrition.  We evaluated the school lunch menu today.  We looked at which entree would be the healthiest choice.  We also viewed the food pyramid and placed foods in the correct catagory.  Please send in healthy snacks.  We will be evaluating our snacks to see if we are making good decision for our health.

Math:  We took a pre test on understanding the value of numbers.  We will learn how to represent numbers in word form, standard form, expanded form, and based ten blocks.  We will be review place value, and a 100s chart.

Up coming events:

August 25th- Chic Fil A spirit night 5-8 pm

Cloud 9 spirit week begins

August 26th-Relay For Life Baseball Cap Day

(students can donate a $1 to RFL and then get to where a baseball style all day on Fri.)

August 30th- QSP fundraiser strarts

Sept. 1st- New Family icecream social @ 6:30

Schedule:  Mrs. Powell will not be here this week until Fri. 

Have a wonderful week.  Your children have been a pleasure to work with so far the year.

Mrs. Powell and I are excited to have your children in our second grade class.  We have already been very busy this week.  We want you to know what we are going to be studying this first quarter. 

Essential Questions

The following are all of the essential questions for this grading period.  Only the questions related to the current units are posted in the classroom.  Your child should be able to answer all of these questions by the time this nine week period is completed.

Reading:How do I become a great reader?

Writing:  How do I write to describe?  How do I write a personal narrative?

Math:  What do numbers represent?  What ways can I show a number?  How does the placement of a digit in a numb er affect its value?  What strategies can I use  to add larger numbers?  How can combinations of numbers and operations be used to represent the same quantity?  How are numbers  affected when they are combined?  How can charts, tables, and graphs help me organize and understand data?  How can I show the relationship between, seconds, minutes, and hours?  In what ways can i represent a collection of coins or bills?  Why is it important to be able to count money?

Science:  What happens as seasons change?  How can we describe matter?  How can matter change?

Social Studies:  How does understanding intermediate directions help us travel from one place to another?  How do the geographic features of Georgia make our state unique?  How do the geographic features affect the economy of Georgia?  WHat are the different types of land and water in Georgia?  How can rivers and oceans be used for communication and transportation?  How can people affect rivers and oceans?  How can understanding the graphic features of Georgia help us to value our state?

Health:  How do I plan healthy meals and snacks?

Technology:  What drawing tools can I use to create an illustration?

We are looking forward to a great school year!