Week of 4/30

Dear Parents,

We had a wonderful trip to Emma Prusch Farm last week. The weather was perfect, and we saw many of the different animals we've been studying. Thank you to the chaperones for helping make this trip a success.

We also had fun on Friday when we headed over to the cafeteria to paint life-sized paper dolls. These dolls will be on display in our classroom at Open House on the evening of May 16th. I hope you can attend with your child to see the paper dolls, and many other projects that we will be working on in the upcoming weeks.

We are now getting to that time in the school year where there are several events each week, so please keep your calendar updated & come and enjoy all the school has to offer! This week, we have a school-wide special speaker night, "How to Get Your Kids to Listen" in the cafeteria on Thursday, 5/3 at 6:30. If you're interested, please RSVP. This is a free presentation for Alta Vista parents.

This Friday, we also have the Kindergarten Movie Night for auction winners. This event is in room K1 from 5:00 to 7:00. We will be watching the movie "Ferdinand" and pizza and fruit will be served. I believe there are still a few tickets left for $40 apiece. Please email me if you are interested. All proceeds go to the AVHSC for our enrichment programs.

Next Friday the 11th, in addition to our Mother's Day celebration in the classroom, there is also another great school-wide event, the Fantasy Faire.  This is a super fun school-wide carnival that your child will not want to miss.  I also really encourage you to participate in the cake-making competition that morning (cakes must be submitted by 8:15).  It is really fun to be a part of, and the cakes are so amazing!  Don't be intimidated-- this is definitely a child-friendly competition :) Finally, the Fantasy Fair will need a lot of help, starting with our class booth. We are sharing our booth with Mrs. Barbara's pm class and I know Tanya has sent out an email seeking a coordinator. If you can help with this, I believe the p.m. mom, Sarina, has a lot of ideas, so you will simply be coordinating our class shifts.

Language Arts
We will be studying the word families og and ug this week. Children will be reading and spelling words like fog, log, hog, bug, rug, and hug.  Our new sight words are on and of.  Since of is often confused with off, we are trying to highlight the differences between those words by doing them in the same week we are doing their opposite word. Keep working on those sight words!

Math
We are continuing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit will cover number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Science
In our final weeks of the science unit on Wood & Paper, we will have the chance to make paper mache. We will also see how paper can be woven from strips to make a bigger sheet of paper. Finally, we will take apart boxes and look at how the flat template appears before being folded into a box. Then, we will use the remaining boxes to create structures.

We are also beginning a unit on the life cycle of a butterfly this week. We will be getting caterpillars in the classroom this week to observe as they change into butterflies. This unit is always a highlight for the children.

Upcoming Events
Don't forget to order your child's yearbook if you are interested. The kids usually love having a yearbook, and on the last few days of school, we have time to let them go around and sign each other's books. If you are interested, you must order by May 7th by going to this link.

The Mother's Day celebration is coming right up on Friday, May 11th at 10:00 a.m. Please let me know ahead of time if you have a conflict and are unable to come. If possible, please send another family representative to join your child so that s/he has someone to honor: a grandma, aunt, neighbor, even dads have come in a pinch before! This event is in the classroom, so there is not a lot of extra room. I have occasionally had moms AND grandmas come in the past, but due to space restrictions, this is mostly an event just for one guest. Please email me if you'd like to bring an additional guest so that I can make sure we have enough chairs. I hope moms can all join us!

Speaking of space restrictions, I wanted to give you all a heads-up that the Promotion Ceremony on June 5th at 9:00 is also in the classroom. Space is very limited, since most children have both parents attend. Due to space limitations, this event is really for the child and parents only, and non-school-aged siblings (school-aged siblings cannot be pulled out of class for this). Thank you for your understanding.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Touria), Daily 5, Centers (Anastasia & Celeste)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Camille/Pauline & Chris)
Wednesday: Cornerstone (Celeste), PE with Coach Sierra is canceled

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Tanya & Emily)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Jillian & Celeste)

Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 5/3: Alta Vista Speaker Night: "How to Get Kids to Listen"

Friday, 5/4: Kindergarten Movie Night @ 5:00 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: Class Party
Friday 6/1: Alta Vista Variety Show
Tuesday, 6/5: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony @ 9:00-- please attend!
Wednesday, 6/6: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/7: Last Day of School

Week of 4/23

We are so excited for our field trip this Wednesday to Emma Prusch Farm! Please be sure to be on time for school, as the bus will be leaving immediately after we arrive. Parent volunteers (Jillian, Jackie, Surbhi, Celeste, Samantha, Ying), I believe there will be enough room on the bus for all of you, however, please be prepared to carpool if we run out of space. Children should bring a fully disposable snack (please label their snack bag with their name), wear comfortable walking shoes, and wear their Grasshopper shirts. Please dress in layers-- the Grasshopper shirt may need to be over another long-sleeved shirt. We have been reading and learning all about farms and farm animals, so it will be fun to finally see one!

It was also great to see so many of our Grasshopper families participating in the Multicultural Family Night on Friday night. Singapore, Iran, United Kingdom, and India were represented by families in our class. It was such a great night celebrating the wonderful diversity of our school.

Language Arts
We will be studying the word endings ing and ink this week. We will be reading and spelling words such as sing, ring, wink, link, etc. Our new sight words are up and down. It is important that you continue working with your children on sight word recognition and fluency, as the children are being asked to used these in the writing that we are doing on a daily basis.  Most importantly, these words are very commonly found in the books and stories that they are reading, so it will help them with their reading fluency and accuracy.

Math
We will be beginning Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit will cover number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Science
This week, we return to our science unit on wood & paper to take a closer look at paper. We will be looking at different types of paper such as wax paper, chip board, tag board, tissue paper, and cardboard. We will be looking at different properties of these types of paper such as absorbency and how easy or difficulty it is to write on and fold.

Upcoming Events
This Friday the 27th, we will be painting the life-sized paper dolls in the cafeteria. Thank you to Jillian, Jackie, Josie, Ching, Samantha, and Tanya for volunteering to help with this.

Don't forget to order your child's yearbook if you are interested. The kids usually love having a yearbook, and on the last few days of school, we have time to let them go around and sign each other's books. If you are interested, you must order by May 7th by going to this link.

The Mother's Day celebration is coming right up on Friday, May 11th at 10:00 a.m. Please let me know ahead of time if you have a conflict and are unable to come. If possible, please send another family representative to join your child so that s/he has someone to honor: a grandma, aunt, neighbor, even dads have come in a pinch before! I hope moms can all join us!

Please remember to send in your child's blue bag on Monday, with the "baby guessing" book page inside the yellow folder!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Ying), Daily 5, Centers (Anastasia & Camille)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Emily & Celeste)
Wednesday:Field Trip to Prusch Farm (Wear Grasshopper shirts & walking shoes & pack a disposable snack!)

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Tanya & Jillian)
Friday: Daily 5, Painting in Cafeteria (Jackie, Josie, Tanya, Jillian, Ching, and Samantha)

Upcoming Events:

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: Class Party
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 4/16

I hope you have all enjoyed a nice week off with your children.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are now into the "final stretch" of kindergarten, and the time will fly by very quickly! I am looking forward to some great fun and learning in the weeks ahead.

Welcome Back, Miss Soraya
Our student teacher, Miss Soraya, who worked with us in November, returned to K2 the week before Spring Break. She's been spending the past trimester in 5th grade with Ms. Hammer, and is now transitioning to kindergarten. We are lucky to have Miss Soraya with us for the remainder of the school year. She will provide additional support in the classroom and gradually take over teaching more and more subject areas. Welcome back, Miss Soraya!

Language Arts
This week, we will be looking at silent e. We will be studying how it changes the sound of the vowel in the middle of the word from short to long. We have many fun and engaging videos to show the children about this "magic" letter. We also have two new sight words, this and me. As I mentioned to many of you during conferences, after your child has mastered the kindergarten sight words, start working on the 1st grade 100 word list, that can be found here.

Our stories this week will be farm-themed, as well as our writing activities and projects. We will be learning and reading about life on a farm and different farm animals as we prepare for our trip to Emma Prusch Farm on the 25th.

Homework this week will include a special project called the Baby Guessing Book. Your child will complete a page that describes him/herself. A baby photo will be attached to the page, and then we circulate the book and try and guess who each baby is. This is always one of our most popular books, so start looking for a special baby picture that you can attach to your child's page!

Math
We are in our final weeks of Module 4. At this point, both addition and subtraction skills should be quite fluent for your child. If you feel your child needs further review, please take advantage of math apps on the iPad or ixl.com. If you need a reminder on how to log onto ixl, please email me.

Special Project
For the next few weeks, we will be working on a special art project that is an annual favorite in kindergarten-- life-sized paper dolls. Students will be traced and then paint their posters on Friday, April 27th. I already have two helpers for this day who had signed up for STEAM centers (Jackie & Jillian), but I could definitely use 2-3 more helpers. We will be painting the posters in the cafeteria all at once at 10:00. Please email me if you can help with this!

Upcoming Events
We have our final Art Vista lesson this Wednesday the 18th. Thank you Tanya, Jason, Camille, and Surbhi for your support with Art Vistas during the school year. For this lesson, children will be making self-portraits. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, May 31st, when the Art Vistas Art Show will be in the school cafeteria. Every child will have several pieces of art on display in the show.

We have our field trip on April 25th to Emma Prusch Farm coming right up.  We are so excited for this trip as it is always a hit.  Thank you to Jillian, Jackie, Surbhi, Celeste, Samantha, and Ying for volunteering to chaperone this trip. We will leave right after school starts, so please don't be late on this day!

Alta Vista's Multicultural Family Night is this Friday the 20th from 5:00 to 8:00. This event is a wonderful family event. A few students in our class are participating by having a board on display of their family's culture or even taking part in cultural performances! Check it out if you can!

I will look forward to seeing the children Monday and hearing all about their adventures over the past week!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Daily 5, Centers (Celeste & Surbhi)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Anastasia & Touria)
Wednesday:Art Vistas (Jason, Tanya, Camille, Surbhi), Recess 101

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Samantha & Ying)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Surbhi & Touria)

Upcoming Events:

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: Class Party
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