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