Week of 1/17

Dear Parents,

I hope you are enjoying some fun family time on this long weekend. Of course, we have Monday off school in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Tuesday, it will be very important to return the Blue Bags on time since we only have a day to turn them back around. So please put them by the door or wherever you will remember them Tuesday morning.

This week, we will hit the half-way mark in our kindergarten year. This is where the kindergarten curriculum really takes off, and your continued support with the curriculum will be especially important at this time. Helping children complete their writing journals, reading to your children and asking them questions about what they are reading, and reinforcing math facts and sight words is really important at this time. I want to ensure that everyone is prepared for first grade, and I definitely need your help :).

Language Arts:
This week, we will continue studying digraphs. Our two digraphs are th and ee. Children will be reading and spelling words with these digraphs. We will also have two new sight words: he and she. Our story this week is Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. We will write our own "Snowmen at Night" adventures after reading this story.

Our sharing this week is Song, Poem or Nursery Rhyme. Please have your child prepared to come up and recite or sing something in front of the class. Songs we sing in class are always welcome, as well as songs or poems your child may know in another language.

Math:
We continue to use visual aids such as number bonds and ten frames as a way of both decomposing and composing numbers. Children are encouraged to take a "whole" (for example, 7) and break it into "parts" (for example, 4 & 3). We will continue with this strategy this week. There are many great iPad apps out there to reinforce this concept. There is a great free app called "Number Bond Blasters" and another one called "Ten Frame Fill." Additionally, take advantage of your subscription to ixl.com, paid for by the school district.  It is a great math reinforcement website.

Special Events:

We have Snow Day this week. It will be on Friday, before recess, for both K1 & K2. This is a day when the children come to school all dressed in their snow gear-- whatever items you have. Mittens, knit hats, jackets, snow boots, scarves, goggles, etc. are all welcome! Please do not buy anything special for this day, just use what you have or borrow from a friend. They wear their gear, and then we will have some snow-themed fun! We will be having a "snowball fight" using wadded up recycled paper & have a treat afterward!  It is always lots of fun.

On January 28th, we have the start of Chinese New Year/Tet/Lunar New Year. We will have a special presentation on Friday the 27th in class by Isabella's mom. Thank you! We will also have art centered around this theme on both the 27th and the 29th.

Another fun day to mark your calendars for is 100 day on February 2nd. This is an in-class celebration of our 100th day of school. We will have many fun activities for counting out 100. This is another very memorable day for the children. In celebration of 100 Day, the sharing theme for the week of the 29th is 100 Day collections. Please have your children bring in 100 of the same item that they'd like to show on their share day. This is a fun counting activity at home, plus a fun way to see the many ways 100 can look. I will probably ask your child how they counted out their items (by 1s, 10s, 5s, etc.), so have him/her prepared to talk about the process. Remember that it can be as simple as bringing in a baggie of 100 cheerios, 100 pennies, 100 Legos-- whatever your child has 100 items of that s/he would like to share. If they want to glue down the 100 items and make a picture out of them, that's great, too. In the past, children have created pictures out of 100 Goldfish crackers and 100 mini marshmallows, etc.

I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, Blue Bags in hand!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: NO SCHOOL
Tuesday: Blue Bags returned (Hosun), Centers (Claire K. & Minna), Sharing
Wednesday: Recess 101, Sharing, Blue Bags go home

Thursday: Centers (Belinda & Susan), Sharing
Friday: STEAM Centers (Gus), Snow Day Fun, Story Time with Grandma Gail, Sharing

Upcoming Events:
Monday 1/16: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Tuesday 1/17: Incoming Kindergarten Orientation (tell your friends!)
Friday 1/20: Snow Day
Friday 1/27: Lunar New Year Celebration
Thursday 2/2: 100 Day
Friday 2/10: Alta Vista Family Valentine's Dance
2/20-2/24: President's Week Vacation
3/9-3/17: Spring Conferences
Saturday 3/18: Alta Vista Hawaiian Luau/Auction