Week of 4/16

I hope you have all enjoyed a nice week off with your children.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are now into the "final stretch" of kindergarten, and the time will fly by very quickly! I am looking forward to some great fun and learning in the weeks ahead.

Welcome Back, Miss Soraya
Our student teacher, Miss Soraya, who worked with us in November, returned to K2 the week before Spring Break. She's been spending the past trimester in 5th grade with Ms. Hammer, and is now transitioning to kindergarten. We are lucky to have Miss Soraya with us for the remainder of the school year. She will provide additional support in the classroom and gradually take over teaching more and more subject areas. Welcome back, Miss Soraya!

Language Arts
This week, we will be looking at silent e. We will be studying how it changes the sound of the vowel in the middle of the word from short to long. We have many fun and engaging videos to show the children about this "magic" letter. We also have two new sight words, this and me. As I mentioned to many of you during conferences, after your child has mastered the kindergarten sight words, start working on the 1st grade 100 word list, that can be found here.

Our stories this week will be farm-themed, as well as our writing activities and projects. We will be learning and reading about life on a farm and different farm animals as we prepare for our trip to Emma Prusch Farm on the 25th.

Homework this week will include a special project called the Baby Guessing Book. Your child will complete a page that describes him/herself. A baby photo will be attached to the page, and then we circulate the book and try and guess who each baby is. This is always one of our most popular books, so start looking for a special baby picture that you can attach to your child's page!

Math
We are in our final weeks of Module 4. At this point, both addition and subtraction skills should be quite fluent for your child. If you feel your child needs further review, please take advantage of math apps on the iPad or ixl.com. If you need a reminder on how to log onto ixl, please email me.

Special Project
For the next few weeks, we will be working on a special art project that is an annual favorite in kindergarten-- life-sized paper dolls. Students will be traced and then paint their posters on Friday, April 27th. I already have two helpers for this day who had signed up for STEAM centers (Jackie & Jillian), but I could definitely use 2-3 more helpers. We will be painting the posters in the cafeteria all at once at 10:00. Please email me if you can help with this!

Upcoming Events
We have our final Art Vista lesson this Wednesday the 18th. Thank you Tanya, Jason, Camille, and Surbhi for your support with Art Vistas during the school year. For this lesson, children will be making self-portraits. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, May 31st, when the Art Vistas Art Show will be in the school cafeteria. Every child will have several pieces of art on display in the show.

We have our field trip on April 25th to Emma Prusch Farm coming right up.  We are so excited for this trip as it is always a hit.  Thank you to Jillian, Jackie, Surbhi, Celeste, Samantha, and Ying for volunteering to chaperone this trip. We will leave right after school starts, so please don't be late on this day!

Alta Vista's Multicultural Family Night is this Friday the 20th from 5:00 to 8:00. This event is a wonderful family event. A few students in our class are participating by having a board on display of their family's culture or even taking part in cultural performances! Check it out if you can!

I will look forward to seeing the children Monday and hearing all about their adventures over the past week!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Daily 5, Centers (Celeste & Surbhi)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Anastasia & Touria)
Wednesday:Art Vistas (Jason, Tanya, Camille, Surbhi), Recess 101

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Samantha & Ying)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Surbhi & Touria)

Upcoming Events:

Friday, 4/20: Alta Vista Mulicultural Night
Wednesday, 4/25: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Wednesday, 4/25: Parent Volunteer Tea
Friday, 5/4: Kindergarten Movie Night for Auction Winners
Friday 5/11: Mother's Day Celebration
Friday 5/11: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, 5/16: Open House
Monday, 5/28: Memorial Day Holiday
Thursday, 5/31: Art Vista Art Show
Friday, 6/1: Class Party
Friday 6/1: Alta Vista Variety Show
Tuesday, 6/5: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony-- please attend!
Wednesday, 6/6: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/7: Last Day of School