I hope you have all been enjoying a fun Halloween weekend. It was great seeing the kids dressed up on Friday and having fun at the Monster Marathon. I'm sure you're getting in lots of steps this weekend to continue supporting the enrichment programs at Alta Vista! Thanks again to everyone for helping to fund these great programs, and to Emily, Deanna, and Van for coordinating our events & goodie bags on Friday.
November is a month with many days off and shortened days for parent-teacher conferences. This makes it a great time to review material we've covered so far.
Language Arts
This week, we add another short-a word family, am, while also reviewing other word families we've covered. Children are blending sounds to read and spell many words in different short-a word families such as can, tap, jam, bat, sad. Encourage children to use the sounds they know to sound these types of words out on their own while reading.
Our sight words this week are to and is. We have now introduced 22 sight words! The list that we've covered so far can be found on here under the tab "High Frequency Word List." Continue having your child read the sight word sentences that are sent home each week in the Wednesday envelope. We will be reading more Fall-themed and scarecrow books.
Leaves
Following the theme of Fall, I'd love to have children bring in a small baggie of leaves that we can use for leaf rubbings on Tuesday. If your child just collects two or three leaves to add to our leaf basket, it will give us a nice variety of leaves for this project.
Math
In math, we will wrap up the module on measurement, as well as review counting and number writing.
Kimochis
This week, your child will learn the third Kimochis® Key to Communication: Use a Talking Face and Body. We will practice strategies for maintaining a positive facial expression and body language when experiencing upset emotions and conflicts instead of a mean or hurtful facial expression (Fighting Face) and body language. When your child can keep his/her face and body from looking aggressive or hurtful, others will be more willing to listen. Your child will learn how to notice and read the facial expressions and body language of others as a way to understand the emotion behind the words. Your child also will learn a communication tool called the Talking Hand. This is a positive and effective strategy your child can use to respond to peers or siblings when they grab.
Special Family Project
In this week's Wednesday envelope, we will be sending home a turkey for your child to "disguise." This project goes along with a book called Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano. In this book, the turkey does not want to become Thanksgiving dinner, so he disguises himself in many different costumes to avoid getting caught. Your children will receive their own turkey to disguise, along with directions for this project, in their envelope. Examples of this project can be found here and here, but please let your child lead this project with their ideas on how to disguise the turkey. We love seeing these projects year after year and look forward to this year's editions!
Please note, the projects are due back in the following week's envelope, which will go home on a Tuesday due to the holidays on 11/11 & 11/12. Therefore, you will return the project in your child's envelope on 11/10.
Changes to Arrivals & Dismissals
As you read in the Superintendent's message on Friday, parents are now allowed past the gates on campus, to escort their children to the classroom door. The kindergarten teachers will discuss the new procedures at our meetings on Monday, and I will send an updated email to you with information about this. There will likely be no changes to the dismissal procedures because even pre-COVID, we escorted the class to the gates to dismiss them because the rest of the school is still in session. so the gates are still locked (except on Wednesdays). Please look for an email with updates about arrival & dismissal procedures on Monday afternoon.
Reminders
**P.E. is every Monday-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness.
**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 11/1: No School: Staff Development Day
Tuesday, 11/2: Bring leaves to school
Monday, 11/8: Parent-Teacher Conferences Begin
11/11 &11/12: No School: Veteran's Day
Week of 11/22: Thanksgiving Vacation
