Week of 4/1

As we head into our final week before Spring Break, I hate to say it, but the weeks after the break are going to just fly by! We have a lot to pack in and a lot of upcoming events, so keep updating your calendars with the information at the bottom of this post. You will notice I've added a lot of upcoming events.

Spring Fling

This Friday, April 5th, we will have a favorite kindergarten event, "Spring Fling." This is a morning of spring fun-- special art projects, outside fun, music, and festivity. We are hoping the weather will cooperate, but if it doesn't, we will change some of the activities and make it work. Thank you to all who have offered to help: Amanda, Mary, Sarah, Eden, Barb, and Brandie. This event kicks off at 1:00 and will last until about 2:30 (including clean-up time).

Language Arts
The sound we'll be studying this week is ea. We will be reading and spelling words like read, leap, seat, and cheat. Our sight words are this and where. Our story this week will be Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller. This book takes a look at oviparous animals. We will be creating our own books about oviparous animals as a follow-up.

Cornerstone
We have a Cornerstone lesson this Wednesday. I believe the lesson is on understanding & care. Thank you Kassie and Sarah for presenting this lesson.  

Math
We continue to work on subtraction concepts. Children have been using 10-frames, number bonds, and manipulatives like the rekenrek to solve subtraction problems. We have also been working on story problems, as you've seen demonstrated in the past two weeks on SeeSaw. The children seem to be doing well with their subtraction facts-- thank you for the additional reinforcement you've been doing at home.

Science
We will continue our science unit on Wood & Paper this week. We have been discussing different types of wood, which trees provide the wood, and how different types of wood are manufactured. We will also be discussing some of wood's byproducts and conducting different experiments with both wood and paper. This week, we will be recreating two types of manmade wood (particleboard and plywood) and sanding wood.

Helper Calendar
Thank you to all the volunteers for filling up the remaining slots on the helper calendar. Our kindergarten program truly would not be the same without all of you.  There are still several spots left on Friday, May 4th, for helping with painting the large paper dolls in the cafeteria. Please join us if you can!

Blue Bags
Please send in your child's Blue Bag on Monday. We will not be sending the bags home this Wednesday due to the upcoming vacation week, however, we will send home the Wednesday envelopes. Please try and have those back by Friday at the latest.

Upcoming Events
Field Trip:
We have a field trip coming up on Wednesday, April 24th. Permission slips for this trip will go home after Spring Break. We will be going to Emma Prusch Farm near downtown San Jose as a culmination of our farm unit. This trip is definitely a more "hands-on" chaperoning event, where you will be helping the children feed the animals, and walking them through the farm. Due to farm and school district insurance policies, younger siblings are not allowed on this trip. I will need six chaperones. If you are interested in chaperoning (the trip is for the duration of the kindergarten session) please email me.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:Monday: Return Blue Bags (Yvonne), Daily 5, Centers (Jenny & Mary)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Barb & Claire)
Wednesday:Recess 101, Cornerstone (Kassie & Sarah)

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Brandie & Belinda)
Friday: Spring Fling (Amanda, Mary, Sarah, Brandie, Barb, and Eden)

Upcoming Events:

Friday 4/5: Spring Fling
4/8-4/12: Spring Break
Wednesday, 4/24: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Wednesday, 4/24: Parent Volunteer Tea
Friday, 5/3: Kindergarten Movie Night for Auction Winners
Friday 5/10: Mother's Day Celebration
Friday 5/10: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, 5/15: Art Vista Art Show
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony-- please attend (parents only)
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School