Week of 4/2

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 there are a lot of upcoming events!

Spring Fling

This Friday, April 6th, 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! Thank you to all who have offered to help: Tanya, Mary, Camille, Josie, Jackie, and Samantha. This event kicks off at 9:00 and will last until about 10:30. 

Language Arts
Our word families this week are ip and ig. We will be looking at words like rip, tip, and dip and big, wig, and dig. Our sight words are in and they. We have now begun introducing two sight words per week, as we want to make sure we get through all the words. 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.

Math
We have now introduced subtraction using the number bonds. One of the "parts" is missing on the number bond, and the children have to figure out what it is by looking at the "whole" and the other "part." This is a difficult concept, so we will continue working on it during small group (centers) instruction time.

Science
We will continue our science unit on Wood & Paper this week. This is a really fun unit where we are 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.  I believe there is still one slot left on 5/14.

Clay
We will be glazing a special project this Wednesday the 4th. Please don't send your children in any special clothing on that day as the clay glaze stains.

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:
Please continue sending in the permission slips for the Emma Prusch Farm field trip on April 25th. I would like to receive all the permission slips by this Friday so that we are all ready to go when we get back from Spring Break. Thank you!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Jillian), Daily 5, Centers (Camille & Mary)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Surbhi & Celeste)
Wednesday:Clay Glazing, Wacky Wednesday, Recess 101

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Samantha & Chris)
Friday: Spring Fling (Tanya, Mary, Camille, Samantha, Josie, and Jackie)

Upcoming Events:

Friday 4/6: Spring Fling
4/9-4/13: Spring Break
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: 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

Week of 3/26

Happy Spring! There are two new class books circulating right now. There is one called "If I Caught a Leprechaun" that tells all the wonderful things the Grasshoppers would do with their leprechaun gold. Another one is based on the book we read last week, "A Rainbow of My Own." Children wrote about what they'd do with a rainbow. We hope you enjoy them! As always, please return them to school the next school day so the next child can have a turn, and be sure to write a comment for our budding authors.

Language Arts
We are going to continue studying r-controlled vowels this week, since they are in so many words. Look for words containing ar, er, or, ir, and ur when you are reading with your child. Our sight words are that and have. We will be reading various spring-themed stories this week.

Math
We continue reinforcing subtraction skills. You should've received our latest subtraction work in your child's SeeSaw account. Children had to show several ways to solve their subtraction story problem, and recorded their own story problem in SeeSaw as well. Keep practicing subtraction facts at home with counters, fingers, and 10-frames.

Science
We will begin a new science unit on Wood & Paper this week. This is a really fun unit where we will be 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. The children have really enjoyed this unit in the past.

Spring Fling

On 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! Thank you to all who have offered to help! So far I have: Amanda, Mary, Sarah, Eden, Brandie, and Barb. If anyone else wants to join, please email me.

Helper Calendar
Thank you so much for filling in the helper calendar through the end of centers so quickly! I believe we only have 5 spots left. If you are interested, please check the Sign-Up Genius.

Upcoming Events
Multicultural Night:
Please come to the Alta Vista cafeteria this Friday night, March 29th, from 5:00 to 8:00 to enjoy a trip around the world, all in one room! The AV Multicultural Night is in its seventh year, and it is an amazing evening celebrating the many cultures that make up the AV community.
 
Mother's Day:Just a reminder to the moms that we will have a Mother's Day celebration in class on Friday, May 10th. I would love every child in my class to have a mother there to celebrate. If mom is not able to come, another "representative" such as a grandma, aunt, or even dad is welcome to come. I just want to give you an extended amount of time to plan ahead so that someone is able to join us for this event.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hiromi), Daily 5, Centers (Claire & Jenny)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Barb & Ellen)
Wednesday: Recess 101, Snap Circuits in MakerSpace, Blue Bags go Home

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Erika/Pablo & Elena)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Barb & Claire), Multicultural Night (5:00-8:00)

Upcoming Events:

Week of 3/19

We had a wonderful time building leprechaun traps on Friday. The children were so creative and really put some thought into their designs. Thanks to Chris & Samantha for helping with the trap building. I look forward to hearing about what happened over the weekend on Monday!

Thank you all for meeting with me during conference time. I gained some insights from all of you about your children, and I look forward to our final trimester together! We have about 11 weeks left together to prepare your children for first grade-- let's continue working as a team to make that happen. Centers return this week now that conferences have concluded. Please check the schedule below to see if you are helping this week.

Language Arts
Our word families this week are ed and en. We will be reading and spelling words like red, bed, fed, hen, men, den, etc.  We also have a new sight word, said. Please continue reinforcing sight words. See the list of words on our webpage for more reinforcement, or go to http://spellingcity.com/k2grist/ You will be able to see the full 40 word list, a 25 word kindergarten list, and a supplemental 25 word list that includes more first grade words. Your children will be able to play word games on this website to become more familiar with these words. On the link on the side of this website, the list is organized so that the 25 words they most need to know are first, then after those are the remaining 15, so that you know which ones to really reinforce. As I mentioned to many of you during conferences, after your child has mastered these words, start working on the 1st grade 100 word list, that can be found here.

The stories this week will focus on rainbows. We will read A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman and a non-fiction book about rainbows. This is timely since many beautiful rainbows have been appearing around town recently!

Math
We are reinforcing both addition and subtraction facts using the number bonds. Children study the two "parts" that make the "whole" for addition facts. For subtraction, one of the "parts" is missing on the number bond, and the children have to figure out what it is by looking at the "whole" and the other "part." Centers return this week, so we will be working in small groups on more math reinforcement.

Science
Along with the books we are reading about rainbows, we will be doing some fun rainbow science. We will be creating rainbows in our room by using prisms, and we have a fun experiment with milk and food coloring, where we will create "rainbows" in the dish of milk.

Upcoming Events
Safety Assembly
Next Wednesday, March 28th, we have the "Be Seen and Heard" Safety Assembly. A lot of information has been sent home about these assemblies, and there will be an information night both tonight (Sunday) from 6:30 to 8:00 at Dartmouth, as well as tomorrow night from 6:30 to 8:00 at Union. Additionally, you can view the primary content here:  bit.ly/BSAHK2 Please be sure to fill out the permission slip that was sent home about two weeks ago if for any reason you do NOT want your child participating in this assembly. The form is an opt-out form, so there is no need to fill it out if you have no objection to your child participating. I do not believe I received any opt-out forms. If that is incorrect, please be sure to email me.

Staff Development Day
There is no school this Friday, March 23rd, due to a professional development day for staff members.

Spring Fling

On Friday, April 6th, we will have a favorite kindergarten event, "Spring Fling." This is a morning of spring fun-- special art projects, outside fun, music, and festivity! Thank you to all who have offered to help! So far I have: Tanya, Mary, Camille, and Samantha. If you'd still like to help, just email me.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Ying), Daily 5, Centers (Lynda & Anastasia)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Celeste & Susan H.)
Wednesday:Writer's Workshop, Recess 101, Blue Bags go Home

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Samantha & Tanya)
Friday: NO SCHOOL

Upcoming Events:

Friday 3/23: No School: Staff Development Day
Tuesday 3/27: Alta Vista's STEAM Night
Wednesday 3/28: Safety Assemblies
Friday 4/6: Spring Fling
4/9-4/13: Spring Break
Wednesday, 4/25: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Friday 5/11: Mother's Day Celebration

Week of 3/12

Dear Parents,

I have enjoyed meeting with about half of you already for parent-teacher conferences, and I am looking forward to meeting with the rest of you this week-- it's great to share your child's successes with you. It's hard to believe that we are already in our last trimester of kindergarten. The time will pass quickly in this last 3 months, and before you know it, we will be moving on to first grade! After we meet, please be sure to praise your children for the progress they've made, and also continue to support them in areas where they still need reinforcement to meet end-of-year standards. If you need to confirm your time next week, click here.

There will continue to be no centers this week due to parent-teacher conferences, except Friday, when we will have leprechaun trap building as our STEAM center. All other centers will resume on Monday, March 19.

Language Arts
Our word families this week are ot and op.  We will be spelling and reading words such as: hot, got, hop and top.  Our sight word is and.  We will be doing a lot of writing this week with a St. Patrick's Day theme. We will be writing about what we will do with a leprechaun's gold (because we are definitely catching a leprechaun this week! ;) We will also be writing about where we would hide gold if we were a leprechaun. Our story this week is Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola. It is a great story about a man who does catch a leprechaun, and what he gets from that leprechaun.

Math
We will continue reinforcing addition fact families. We have been emphasizing fact families for 5 and 10. We have been using dominoes to make addition sentences and reinforce fact families. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Art Vistas
We have an Art Vista lesson this Wednesday. Thank you to Jason, Tanya, Camille, and Surbhi for leading these lessons. The children will be looking at lithographs of houses and then using pastels to draw unique and colorful houses.

District-Wide Family Night
We have a district-wide no homework/family night this Wednesday. So that you can enjoy that evening as a family, I will send the blue bags home a day earlier (Tuesday). Please return the blue bags Monday so that I can turn them around in one day.

Upcoming Events
Our "Spring Fling" event is coming up on Friday, April 6th. We will have special spring-themed centers for a fun send-off to Spring Break. We will have face painting, planting, spin art, painting garden stakes, and outdoor fun, to name a few. We need lots of helpers to make this event a success! Please email me if you are available on Friday, April 6th from 9:15 to about 10:30. Thank you!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Blue Bags Returned (Jillian), Daily 5, No Centers
Tuesday: No Centers, Blue Bags Go Home, Book Fair Closes
Wednesday: Art Vistas, Recess 101, District Family Night

Thursday: Daily 5, No Centers
Friday: Leprechaun Trap Building (Chris & Samantha), Story Time with Grandma Gail

Upcoming Events:

3/8-3/15: Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/8-3/14: Book Fair
Friday 3/23: No School: Staff Development Day
Tuesday 3/27: Alta Vista's STEAM Night
Wednesday 3/28: Safety Assemblies
Friday 4/6: Spring Fling
4/9-4/13: Spring Break
Friday 5/11: Mother's Day Celebration

Week of 3/5

We had a very fun, "Seussical" week in celebration of Read Across America on March 2nd. We enjoyed hearing Mr. Thomas read Martha Speaks, we read many Dr. Seuss books, fun other book titles, and did a few Dr. Seuss-themed projects. I hope you were all able to view your child's video about Thing 1 and Thing 2 in SeeSaw. They had some cute stories to share about what those two would do if they came to their houses!

We have Clay this Wednesday-- thank you Tanya, Camille, Mary, and Surbhi for helping with the lesson.

Thank you for answering the call for boxes and items that we can use for our leprechaun traps on March 16th. Our supply is looking pretty good, but feel free to continue sending in items.

Language Arts

This week, we are taking a look at some r-controlled vowels, ar and or. We will be spelling and writing words with these sounds, such as barn, car,  fork, horn, etc. Our sight word this week is are. Keep reinforcing the sight words-- they really help with reading fluency. We will also be looking at the book Koala Lou by Mem Fox.

This week, we will also be preparing for our first writing assessment. Children will need to write one complete sentence independently to a prompt. Our prompt this time involves informational writing. I will be sharing these papers with you at your child's conference.

Math
We are continuing with Eureka Math Module 4. This module lasts all the way until mid-April, since it covers some of the core kindergarten math concepts. We continue to focus on writing number sentences, and looking at different combinations that make up a number.
Parent tips for helping your child with this unit can be found here. Please continue reinforcing the concept at home.

Upcoming Events
Conferences:
Parent-teacher conferences begin this week on Thursday, March 8th.  As they were first trimester,  conferences will be in the office conference room. If you have forgotten your date/time, please check this link. I have now made this document viewable only (cannot be edited). If you need to change your time, please email me. Just a reminder that we will not have centers during conference weeks.

Spring Fling:
On Friday, April 6th, we will have a special event called Spring Fling. Fun spring-themed centers will be a part of the day to celebrate the kick-off to our Spring Break. Sign-ups and more information will come later, but we need many helpers to make this event a success.

Mother's Day:
Please note that I have added a new event to the calendar below. On Friday, May 11th, we will be celebrating Mother's Day in class. There is a special presentation and some light refreshments are served. I would really love every mom to be there to be celebrated, so I give lots of notice on this event. If a mom is unable to come, please send another representative for her if possible (aunt, grandma, even dad!) Please mark your calendars for 5/11!

Please remember to send in your child's Blue Bag tomorrow.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Touria), Daily 5
Tuesday: Daily 5, Writing Assessment
Wednesday:Clay Project (Tanya, Camille, Mary, Surbhi), Recess 101, Blue Bags go home

Thursday: Daily 5, Conferences Begin
Friday: Daily 5, Conferences Continue

Upcoming Events:

3/8-3/15: Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/8-3/14: Book Fair
Friday 3/23: No School: Staff Development Day
Tuesday 3/27: Alta Vista's STEAM Night
Wednesday 3/28: Safety Assemblies
Friday 4/6: Spring Fling
4/9-4/13: Spring Break
Friday 5/11: Mother's Day Celebration