Week of 10/28

Dear Parents,

Happy Halloween week!  To make things run more smoothly this week, we are planning to send home the blue bags on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.  The children will already have enough bits and pieces to get home on Wednesday between costumes and party crafts!  Because of this, please make sure to send in your child's blue bag tomorrow.  We only have one day to turn around the bags and we will need every bag there to make this possible.

Curriculum

Our letter this week is Bb, and our Alphafriend is Benny Bear. Our sight words this week will be like and can.  In math, we are introducing a new unit on Comparing Numbers: 0-10. Again we will be comparing numbers to identify which numbers are more than each other, less than each other, and equal. We will also be ordering numbers.

We have begun doing a lot of blending exercises during our opening.  This is an important pre-reading skill.  We say words with the beginning sound separated, for example, b-ath for bath or f-ox for fox.  We ask the children to guess what the word is if they put it back together.  This is a great game to play in the car, etc., and really helps them start to learn how to blend isolated sounds into words.

Our sharing this week is Letter of the Week sharing.  Please have your child bring in something that starts with Bb, in a bag, with three clues about it. 

Halloween

A few reminders again about Halloween--  First, it is a Wacky Wednesday for the p.m. class.  All Kindergarten children should arrive dressed up in their costumes.  Remember that if the costume has a weapon with it (pirate sword, Star Wars lightsaber, etc.) to please leave those at home.  No gory costumes/fake blood allowed either, although that's not usually a problem in kindergarten :)  We will begin heading out to the all-kindergarten parade at 10:30.  Please join us on the kindergarten playground. 

November Events

While on the subject of classroom events, and to give you an opportunity to plan ahead, we have two big events (back-to-back) in November.  On Monday the 19th, we have our Thanksgiving Feast.  If you can take some time off work to join us, this is a pretty fun and special event.  We ask each family to send in a dish for the event-- either a traditional Thanksgiving dish or a dish from your family's cultural background.  We always enjoy the wonderful mix of foods that we get.  Both afternoon kindergartens come together for this event.  The children from our class will be dressed as Native Americans, and the children in K1 will be dressed as Pilgrims.  No need to provide any costumes-- we have some special costumes made out of pillowcases that a few parents have offered to cut for us in the upcoming weeks.  This event is definitely a great photo-op!

The next day, Tuesday the 20th, we have Grandparents' Day.  This is an event for grades K-2, so there is a general reception held in the cafeteria at 10:30.  Afterward, the grandparents will come into our room with the kids.  The kids can briefly introduce their grandparents and tell whose parents they are (mom's, dad's, or both sets) and then the grandparents will join us for a fun art project.   I hope that all grandparents can join us, but if distance, etc., makes this impossible, the children can also invite another special adult to join in (uncle, aunt, special neighbor, even mom or dad).  Also, children are welcome to bring in pictures of grandparents who are too far away to make the trip.    

Conferences 
I am looking forward to meeting with each of you beginning next Tuesday the 6th, for your child's conference. Conferences will be held in the office conference room since the kindergarten classes will be in session during most conference times.  The conference room is located in the main office, 2nd door to the right after you walk through the swinging half-door.  If you are unsure of your conference time, please e-mail me.  Thanks! 

Upcoming Events:

10/29:  Dining for Dollars @ Willow Street Pizza
10/31: October's Wacky Wednesday  
10/31: Halloween Parade & Celebration, 10:30
11/6-11/16: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/12: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/19: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) 
11/20: Grandparents' Day @ 10:30 (a.m. class) and 11:30 (p.m. class)
11/28: November's Wacky Wednesday  
12/21: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)

Week of 10/21

Dear Parents,

It was GREAT to see so many of you yesterday at the Walk-a-thon! Almost our entire class participated, and it looked like much fun was had by all. Thanks for coming out and supporting the school, and hopefully, it was the beginning of many Walk-a-thons to come for all of you!  Tomorrow, send your children with their walk-a-thon necklaces & t-shirts, if possible, so that we can all celebrate the laps that we walked!

If you didn't have a chance to check out the Book Fair yesterday, it runs through Wednesday of this week, before school (for the big kids), at noon, and after school (for the big kids).  Additionally, if you cannot make it to the Fair, you can order online and have your child's books delivered directly to school with no shipping charges.  That link is:
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=alta_vista

We have a busy week this week with all the regular activities, plus Red Ribbon Week.

Our letter this week is Tt. The alphafriend is Tiggy Tiger. We have a new high frequency word, my. We will be finishing up our math unit on numbers 6-10. Your children should now be able to count, compare, and write numbers 6-10.

The sharing this week is Book Share.  Please send your child with a book to show the class.  Have them prepared to tell the title, a little bit about what happens in the story, and please bookmark a favorite page.

Red Ribbon Week is this week. In kindergarten, we do not get into a big discussion about drugs, as that is typically way over their heads. We try to keep the focus on positive choices-- things to do to keep their bodies healthy. We talk about eating right, getting enough sleep, and getting exercise. Sometimes smoking and alcohol do come up, as these are things the children have seen. We will talk about those things if they come up. but mostly we like to keep the focus on "what TO do" rather than "what NOT TO do." There are some theme days that go along with Red Ribbon Week. These are entirely optional. Sometimes the kindergartners do get a kick out of these days, especially if they have older siblings at the school. They are:

• MONDAY: Wear red (Red Ribbon Week)
• TUESDAY: Wear crazy or mismatched socks (Sock it to drugs)
• WEDNESDAY: Wear a baseball cap (Put a cap on drugs)
• THURSDAY: Wear a sports team jersey/shirt (Team up against drugs)
• FRIDAY: Wear some clothes backwards (Turn your back on drugs)

Please remember to send in your child's blue bag tomorrow after such a busy weekend.

Upcoming Events:
10/29:  Dining for Dollars @ Willow Street Pizza
10/31: October's Wacky Wednesday  
10/31: Halloween Parade & Celebration, 10:30
11/6-11/16: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/12: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/19: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) 
11/20: Grandparents' Day @ 10:30 (a.m. class) and 11:30 (p.m. class)
11/28: November's Wacky Wednesday  
12/21: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)

Week of 10/14

Dear Parents,

It's Walk-a-thon week!!  We will be doing our practice laps this week so that the kids have an idea of the lap length and what to expect.  On Friday, the kids will get a peek at their special necklace that they will get at check-in.  Every 5 laps, the kids get a different plastic foot on the necklace.  The kindergartners get a special foot already on their necklace for the practice laps that they've done.  These plastic feet are very motivating for the children!  You will see them walk many more laps than you ever thought they could walk, all for a plastic foot! :)  There are also treats every few laps and plenty of other fun things on campus like face painting and a crazy hair booth.  The walk-a-thon runs from 9:00 to 3:00, but you can arrive and leave any time that fits with your schedule-- don't worry about needing to check in at the start.  You can check in any time during the day, and don't forget that if you are coming from participating in a soccer game, etc., to mention that at check-in.  Even if you can only come for an hour or so, please join in for a fun day that supports all of the enrichment programs at our school!

Our next big event is the school book fair starting this Thursday.  You may check it out in the morning, at lunch, or after school with your children.  There are many great offerings, and a percentage of every dollar you spend there will go toward our school library.  So please check it out! 

Language Arts

This week's letter is Rr. The Alphafriend is Reggie Rooster. We have a new high frequency word, in. We have started incorporating these words in our writing and encouraging the children to begin writing a short sentence.  For example, now that we know I and see, we wrote a sentence that started with "I see...."  As kindergarten progresses, the expectation is that the children will write at least one sentence on their own.  We will be expecting things like detailed & colorful pictures, the use of some of our high-frequency words, attempts at spelling using phonetic spelling ("kat" for "cat", etc.), proper use of spacing between words, etc.  It is very fun to watch their writing progress at this level. 

Math

We will continue with our math topic on numbers 6-10. We will be counting, comparing, and making numerals from 6-10. We will also be looking at combinations that build 6-10 (1 and 5, 6 and 0, 2 and 4, etc.)  The idea behind many of the coloring pages you'll see coming home (they are often red & yellow) is to help the children visualize number combinations that make the bigger number.  We are also working on the concept of counting on.  We use a "five frame" and we know that if it is full, we just count on from 5 (5, 6, 7, 8...).  This is a hard concept for kindergartners, but it is an important one to know. 

Homework

On the homework letter page this week & next, please be sure that your children are coloring all things that start with the sound.  Check the directions at the bottom of each page, as sometimes they vary.  If there is a box to draw a picture that starts with the letter, remember to try and have children choose something that's not already on the page, so that they are showing you that they can isolate the sound and think of some things that start with it on their own.  Thanks again for all your support with homework & for sending in the Blue Bags each Monday.  I appreciate it! 

Sharing

The share this week is song, poem, or nursery rhyme.  Children should be prepared to recite a familiar song, poem or nursery rhyme that they know.  A good choice for this one if your child is "stuck" is to sing a color song or an Alphafriend song.  This is also a great time for children who know another language to share a song or nursery rhyme in that language.  We love hearing other languages in K2!

Upcoming

 Thanks to everyone for scheduling your conferences with me so quickly.  If you have not yet scheduled a conference, please do so as soon as possible.

We are still in need of cardboard egg cartons.  We have a project coming up this week where we use sections of egg cartons for eyes and a nose.  If you have an empty cardboard egg carton at home that you can send in, I'd appreciate it.

Just an update on the Halloween parade-- the school-wide parade is now at 8:30.  Kindergarten will not be participating in that.  Instead, we will take advantage of our Wacky Wednesday and have an all-kindergarten parade at 10:30 on the kindergarten yard.  Kindergartners should come to class dressed in their costumes.

Please send in your child's blue bag tomorrow, homework folder inside :) 

Upcoming Events:
10/20: Walk-a-thon  
10/31: October's Wacky Wednesday  
10/31: Halloween Parade & Celebration, 10:30
11/6-11/16: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/12: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/19: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) 
11/20: Grandparents' Day @ 10:30 (a.m. class) and 11:30 (p.m. class)
11/28: November's Wacky Wednesday  
12/21: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)

Week of 10/7

Dear Parents,

In class this week, we will be focusing on the letter Mm. We will also have a new sight word, see. We will also begin some Halloween projects. We have a fun book coming up that is about a ghost who changes colors, depending on what he eats. We will have some great discussions about food and colors!  The color songs that we've been singing (and that hopefully, you've heard your children singing at home) will help the children spell out the color words on their own.

In math, we will start a new math topic tomorrow on numbers 6-10.  Please continue reviewing the concept of "more" and "fewer" with your children, as that was difficult for many.  Ask how many you would have if you have one more, one fewer, etc.

This week's sharing is Letter of the Week sharing again-- this time for the letter Mm.  It is great to give the children an opportunity to think about things that start with the letter of the week.  Please have three clues about what is inside the bag either written on the bag or on a paper inside the bag.  Several children did not have clues written last week and this made it difficult for them, as they were unprepared to stand up in front of the class.  I told the children that this week, if they don't have their clues, they will have to try again the next day.  If your child shares on Friday, s/he may share any other day this week due to the Friday Staff Development day.

This week, I will begin assessing your children at center time so that I have up-to-date information to share with you at conference time. I will be working with them individually to check them on things such as letter recognition, letter sounds, sight word recognition, rhyming, etc. I look forward to sharing this information with you in early November.  This of course means that it is also time to sign up for conferences!  Please either e-mail me with your time selections, or print out the form I have sent out and send it back to class with your child.

Last week, an envelope came home with your child with all the information about the walkathon.  The envelope is what you will use for collecting donations, unless you register your child online.  On the day of the walkathon, you DO NOT bring your money.  You just bring the envelope with your sponsor information/amounts, and the walkathon committee will figure out how much you owe after your child completes his/her laps.  This year, as I mentioned last week, the walkathon committee has added an online registration, where you can collect sponsor money via PayPal.  The online registration is easy to do!  Go to http://www.altavistawalkathon.org  The children all seem very excited about the walkathon, so I hope to see you all there on the 20th!  Not only does it help raise money for all of the wonderful enrichment programs at our school, but it is a great community event.  There is so much to do besides the walking!  Come out and enjoy the day.

And...since I've seen many of you on the soccer fields, I wanted to let you know that if you have to leave for a soccer game (or come a little later because of soccer) please let the people at the check-in desk know.  Your child gets 10 laps of credit for soccer games or other outside sports obligations that they have.

Along with the Walk-a-thon, the Scholastic Book Fair also begins on Thursday the 18th.  It will be open in the morning (8:00-9:00) at lunch (noon) and after school (2:00-3:30).  It will also be open during the Walk-a-thon.  Check it out-- there will be some great selections there, and a percentage of the sales goes to support the Alta Vista Library.   

Blue bags, with homework folders inside are due tomorrow.  Thanks for being so great about returning the Blue Bags each week on time.   

Upcoming Events:
10/12: No School, Staff Development Day
10/20: Walk-a-thon  
10/31: October's Wacky Wednesday  
10/31: Halloween Parade & Celebration
11/6-11/16: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/12: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/19: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class) 
11/20: Grandparents' Day @ 10:30 (a.m. class) and 11:30 (p.m. class)
11/28: November's Wacky Wednesday  
12/21: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)