Dear Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that, as a gala auction item, Mr. Bayer and I are offering a "Movie and Munchies."

This will be for the auction winner plus 3 guests. Approximately 2 hours of fun in the classroom after school.  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!

4th and 5th Graders:  vocabulary projects are due this week!  Please bring them to class on 11/29 and 12/01/11.

2nd and 3rd Graders:  optional projects are due on 11/30/11.

4th and 5th Graders:  optional projects are due on 12/06 and 12/08/11.

            2nd and 3rd graders have been busy investigating a simulated crime in their Target classrooms.  First, they observed the crime scene and carefully took notes.  Next, students collected and labeled evidence found at the scene.  In the past several weeks, students have been learning more about the victim and the suspects.  Students are currently conducting laboratory tests on the evidence which was collected.  These labs include:  powder tests, pH balance tests, DNA comparisons, fiber analysis, chromatography, handwriting sampling, hair and fiber screening, etc.

Has the victim, Felix Navidad, just left town for better opportunities or has he met with something (or someone) more sinister?  If so, who is responsible?  Is it Kendra Goode, Gene Poule, Alfredo Fettuccine, or Vera Cruise?  Only one thing is certain:  this group of dedicated detectives will solve this mystery very soon!  Stay tuned!

4th and 5th graders really enjoyed their field trip to the Georgia Department of Transportation.  Students met the GDOT's chief engineer for bridge design, Mr. Paul Liles, who offered an insider's look into the operations of the bridge department.  Students then spent time with experienced bridge designers who provided hands-on opportunities for our students to use their computer programs.  We appreciated Mr. Liles' and the GDOT's generosity in providing us this opportunity.  And of course, we appreciate our parents for donating the funds to make this trip possible!

        
 
 OPTIONAL PROJECTS and MORE!

Optional projects are a fun way to extend your learning and to show what you have learned in a creative way.  Optional project information was given to all students last week.  We encourage all our students to do optional projects….and we do mean our students!  Parents may not help students!!  If you have another idea for an optional project, please discuss it with your teacher and receive his or her permission prior to working on it.  We can’t wait to see what interesting projects YOU create!! 

Due dates:  2nd grade:  11/30/11       4th grade:  12/06/11        5th grade:  12/08/11

4th and 5th Graders:  Thank you, parents, for your overwhelming support of our upcoming field trip to the Georgia Department of Transportation.  Our students will learn about bridges in Georgia, about their design, and about various jobs at GA DOT.  In addition, students will have the opportunity to see designers in action.  They may even have an opportunity to use a computer program that the GA DOT engineers use!  This should be an exciting and educational field trip.

Fourth graders will attend this field trip on October 18, 2011.  Fifth graders will attend this field trip on October 20, 2011.  Our departure time for both dates is 9:15 a.m., returning around 1:00 p.m., on CCSD school busses.  Please remind your child to either bring a sack lunch or buy one from the cafeteria on that day.     

Students continue to expand their understanding of bridges, materials that are used for bridge construction, and how forces impact both.  Bridge companies have been formed and students are collaborating on bridge design, budgets, and the smooth operation of a business.  Several students are showing promise as budding entrepreneurs, architects, and accountants! 

2nd graders  are relishing in their writing as they finish up their Harris Burdick mystery stories.  They learned about DNA and solved the mystery case, DNA Net, by comparing a representation of DNA collected at a crime scene with that of several suspects.  Next, they will explore codes and ciphers as they learn about the history of cryptography. 

Students will begin working on their mystery vocabulary words.  This will not only introduce new words, but it will reinforce their dictionary skills and further develop their resesarch abilities. 

As we continue reading Chasing Vermeer, students are making valuable connections to events in their lives and to other books they have read.  Several have discovered that there seems to be a pattern in the illustrations as they scramble to find the hidden pentomino and question its role in the story.  It's such a mystery!

4th and 5th graders, please take note:

Bridge Vocabulary Assignment (creating a quiz or a crossword puzzle) will be due on November 29th (4th graders) and on December 1st (5th graders).  The requirements and the rubric were discussed in class this week.  This assignment will be completed at home; please remember that all work must be the student's work!

We are discovering many interesting facts about bridges.  Students participated in a bridge simulation, involving five communities who had to rely on other communities' resources in order to survive, in addition to dealing with taxes and natural disasters.  The simulation included a hurricane in which the bridges were wiped out (a timely connection to real life, Hurricane Irene).  Students partnered with another to design and build the first of several bridges we will build this year.

Parents:  please ask your child to name the three main types of bridges and the application of each.  Ask your child to describe the bridge he/she constructed out of pasta and clay; how much weight could the bridge withstand?  Why did it fail?  Have him/her tell you about some of the reasons bridges fail and what safeguards are put into place to prevent them from failing.  Connections:  Your child was asked to count the number of bridge crossings he/she makes in one day and to ask you how many you make.  They should be able to tell you the national average bridge crossings made each day per person.

  2nd graders have been busy writing a mystery short story, prompted by the fascinating, black/white illustrations of Harris Burdick.  In Target, we utilize graphic organizers and the 6 plus 1 writing program which is taught in all GM classrooms.  We have high expectations in all writing areas and I'm looking forward to reading the students' final short stories!

Students learned about the fingerprinting process and "took" their own fingerprints.  Using a magnifying glass, students examined their prints and described what they saw.  They were then shown enlarged fingerprints showing the types of fingerprint patterns and the "official" terms for each.

Parents:  please ask them to describe the Harris Burdick illustrations and to explain how these mysterious illustrations were found.  Ask your child to describe the three main types of patterns found in fingerprints, according to the Standard Fingerprinting Classification System.     Connections:  Have your child tell you about pentominoes, and have him/her discover shapes, in and around home, similar to the twelve different pentomino shapes.

Thanks so much for sending in supplies for our classroom!

It was great seeing your children in class this week!  They seemed eager to get started...we kicked off the week with a bridge simulation activity in 4th and 5th grades and wrote a mystery poem in 2nd grade.  For those of you who were unable to attend our Open House,  4^th and 5^th graders will learn about the Ultimate Connection:  Bridges.  In 2^nd and 3^rd grade, we will go Beyond the Magnifying Glass and investigate ways to solve mysteries.

Communication is key to understanding your child’s progress in Target.  Your child should bring home a weekly Target Tally.  Please review it, ask questions about their day, discuss their feelings about their progress (or the need to progress!), and ways to improve their performance.  This Tally needs to be signed and returned the following week.  It is your child’s responsibility to ask you to sign it, place it in his/her backpack, and return it to school. 

Just a reminder:  an important element of education is one’s discovery of the joy of learning.  I know many of you are tempted to come up with ideas and ways to implement them, prompt your child to complete their assignments, and in some cases, you may have actually completed the assignment.  Please, please, please let your child take responsibility for his/her own learning.  They need to discover to think for themselves, to design strategies to accomplish tasks, and to have the motivation to complete assignments and projects in a timely manner.  Sometimes this means that a child may stumble a bit, but that’s all in the learning process and allows a child to learn life-long lessons.  Let’s let them learn on their own….they can do it!

Thank you for your support; I look forward to working with you and your child this year!

TARGET LUNCH TIME:  12:17-12:47, Table 1

A L P   S T A N D A R D S

New This Year!!  Updated ALP (Advanced Learning Program) Standards have recently been introducted.  To access the link, please visit:  ALP Standards. After arriving at the Picasso ALP site, hover over your child's grade level and click.  The ALP standards for his/her grade level will be displayed.

Target Open House

Parents, please join us for an informal look into the updated gifted standards and our curriculum for this year during our Target Open House.   Target Open House will be held on August 16^th, at 6:00 p.m., for Grades 3-5 and on August 18^th at 6:00 p.m., for 2^nd Graders.  Both will be held in the GM Media Center.

Target classes will begin the week of August 22nd.  Please watch for a flyer being sent home on August 15th which will inform you of your Target teacher and the day on which you will have Target.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school!  I hope you all had a super summer and that you're ready to roll up your sleeves and get busy with our new Target units!   

4th and 5th graders:  Solve this puzzle to see what we'll be learning about in the fall.    http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/EA055D4D83E6

2nd and 3rd graders:  When solved, this puzzle will give you a clue to one component of our fall unit.  You will need to use all your critical thinking skills to piece together the clues to solve this!  http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/54055D50B612

  Looking forward to seeing you at Sneak A Peek on August 12th.....please stop by Room 206 to say hello!