Week of 12/17

The main business of this week is all things Nutcracker! We will be practicing daily this week, so there will be no centers. There will also be no blue bags OR white envelopes this Wednesday.

For the Nutcracker performance, we have Hiromi, Mary, Karla, and Brandie helping with make-up and costuming. If costume parents could please come at around 12:30 or so and begin calling kids back individually and get them ready for the stage, that would be great. Thank you!

On Monday this week, you will have an opportunity to bid in an online auction for a block of four front-row seats for the Nutcracker.  Look for an email and start the bidding! All money will go toward supporting the enrichment programs funded by the Alta Vista Home & School Club. The auction will close on Tuesday. Good luck!

Language Arts:
We will continue to focus on Gingerbread Man stories. We will also read some holiday books. Our sight word is come. Our word family will be am.

Math:
We are continuing with Module 3 in Eureka Math: Comparison of Weight, Length, Capacity, and Numbers to 10. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Center Help
Thank you for such wonderful parent support in centers for all of 2018. There are just 8 spots left for those who are interested in joining us for centers in early 2019. Please see the Sign-Up Genius to sign up.

This Week's Special Events
A reminder about clothing for the Nutcracker: please remember to dress your children in the clothes suggested in the letter sent home in the Wednesday envelope two weeks ago. Children should come to school dressed in these items on Thursday. Girls who are wearing leotards can wear something over the top of their leotards when they arrive and change into their ballet shoes for the performance. As a reminder, here is the list:

FRITZ: Bathrobe/pajamas & slippers
NUTCRACKER/SOLDIERS/RUSSIAN DANCERS: White Shirt & Dark Pants w/ dark shoes
MICE/MOUSE KING: Dark Shirt & Dark Pants & dark shoes
SUGAR PLUM, RIBBON CANDY, FLOWERS: Light colored leotard/light colored tights/ballet slippers or light colored shoes-- leotards with tutus attached are fine & encouraged for Sugar Plum Fairies & Flowers, especially. Ribbon tutu provided for Ribbon Candies.
ARABIAN: Light colored fitted shirt w/ leggings OR leotard (we provide the Harem pants)
CHINESE DANCERS: Shirt doesn't matter so much (will be wearing jacket we provide) dark pants.

Please borrow whatever you need to borrow-- we don't intend for anyone to have to buy anything.  I have several leotards and a few pairs of ballet slippers in the classroom that used to belong to my daughter that are also available-- let me know if you need to borrow. I will send them home with children who want to borrow one on Monday. Please send me a reminder to let me know you'd like to borrow one-- I've had several people ask and I'm afraid I've lost track.

Please arrive promptly in the cafeteria for the Nutcracker, as we intend to start the show right at 1:45. Also, please do not try to come early and save seats. We will be keeping the doors locked until about 15 minutes before the performance. There are plenty of seats for everyone, so no need to stress. We want everyone to enjoy the performance, so please refrain from standing and blocking the aisles. It is no fun to watch a performance with a raised camera in front of you blocking your view-- I've had this happen to me at several performances, and I ask that you refrain from this behavior. If you want to take pictures, please go to the back row. Also remember that school-aged siblings are not to be pulled out of class to watch the performance. Thank you!

On another photography note, I will have my son (17) at the performance recording a video of it on an iPad. He & I will also be taking photographs of the children in their costumes both before & after the performance. You will have access to these photos & the video, so that you can spend your time on Thursday enjoying the performance.

Remember to bring your blue bags tomorrow. Starting in January, a journal page will be added to the folder inside so that your children can write a response to the book in the bag each week. No blue bags this Wednesday due to the upcoming holiday.

Upcoming
When we return from Winter Break on January 7th, we are having a special district-wide day called "Smart Start." Basically, it's a fun day of activities to get children excited about returning to school. We will be doing some hands-on projects and having time to play to ease our way back into school.

Happy Holidays and enjoy your break!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Blue Bags returned (Hiromi), Nutcracker practice on stage, no centers
Tuesday: Nutcracker practice on stage, no centers
Wednesday: Recess 101, Nutcracker practice, no Blue Bags/White envelopes
Thursday: Nutcracker performance at 1:45, come to school in clothes for your part (above), cast party after performance.
Friday: No School

Upcoming Events
Thursday 12/20: Nutcracker Performance @ 1:45
12/21-01/04: Winter Break
Monday 01/07: School Resumes: Smart Start Day
Friday 01/18: Professional Development Day: No School
Monday 01/21: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Thursday 01/31: 100 Day
02/18-02/22: President's Week Vacation

Week of 12/10

We were excited to participate in Hour of Code last week, and we got to use some familiar activities, as well as some new ones. We will continue to bring back these activities throughout the year, as Computer Science Education is critical to developing logical thinking and problem solving. This week, we will do more creating & problem solving in the MakerSpace by building with the Rigamajig.

This is the last week for parent helpers in 2018! Thank you for making centers run so smoothly and volunteering your time in our classroom. The Sign-Up Genius for early 2019 is filling up fast! There are still about 10 spots left for those who are interested in joining us for centers. Please see the Sign-Up Genius (link in email) to sign up.

Language Arts
This week, we will be reading different versions of The Gingerbread Man, which we will continue enjoying next week as well. We will be comparing two different versions in particular: The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone and The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst. We have some fun activities and art projects surrounding all of these stories. Other stories we will be reading include The Ninjabread Man, Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Man Loose in the School and many more. We will follow up with several Gingerbread Man writing and art activities. Our Daily Five literacy centers have also been including many fun Gingerbread-themed activities, and will continue to do so this week as well. Our sight words for the week are look and up, and our word families will be ap and ad. 

In this week's Wednesday envelope, I will be sending home information on how to log onto two online reading programs, Kids A-Z and Lexia. These programs are paid for by the district and are great tools to work on various reading skills. They are both available as either an iPad app or via a website. It is important to have your child work independently on these programs, especially Lexia. Lexia adjusts the skills it presents depending on your child's needs. For example, if your child is struggling with medial sounds but has mastered beginning sounds, Lexia will stop presenting beginning sounds and focus on the medial ones. If your child receives too much help, Lexia may stop presenting a skill that your child actually needs to continue working on. Since we use Lexia in class, it is important that children can work independently on this program. Having access to both Lexia and Kids A-Z will be useful over the holidays when your child needs something to do :)


Math
We are continuing with Module 3 in Eureka Math: Comparison of Weight, Length, Capacity, and Numbers to 10. We will be looking at weight this week, as well as comparing numbers using <, >, =. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Upcoming

Your child should have received his/her part assignment for the Nutcracker in last week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems gathering the clothes we've asked them to wear. I do have several leotards that my daughter outgrew from her dance days in the classroom, as well as a few pairs of ballet slippers. We do not intend for you to have to buy anything. We are looking forward to a memorable performance on the 20th at 1:45!

Be Seen & Heard Assemblies
On Thursday, December 13th, Alta Vista will host a series of Be Seen and Heard© assemblies. They are presented in the interest of student safety and will address the dangers of child sexual abuse, the differences between a safe and unsafe touch and a safe and unsafe secret, the importance of voice, and identifying trusted adults. The topics are scaled to be appropriate for each grade level. If you do not want your child to participate, please turn in the opt-out form in the office.

**Please return your child's Blue Bag on Monday. The last Blue Bag for 2018 will go home this Wednesday.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Yvonne), Daily 5, Centers (Elena & Nisha)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Sarah & Hiromi)
Wednesday: PE with Coach Sierra, Trip to the MakerSpace, Blue Bags Go Home
Thursday: Daily 5, Be Seen & Heard Assembly (Centers canceled)
Friday: Story time with Grandma Gail, Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Claire & Steve S.)

Upcoming Events
Thursday 12/13: Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Thursday 12/20: Nutcracker Performance @ 1:45
12/21-01/04: Winter Break
Monday 01/07: School Resumes
Friday 01/18: Professional Development Day: No School
Monday 01/21: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Thursday 01/31: 100 Day
02/18-02/22: President's Week Vacation

Week of 12/3

You will be receiving a note regarding your child's Nutcracker part, and what s/he should wear for the performance in this week's Wednesday envelope. Please let me know if there are any problems with gathering up the various clothes needed-- most girls will be wearing leotards, and most boys will be wearing dark pants and either a light or dark shirt. Hopefully, if there is a clothing item you do not have, you can borrow it, as I do not intend for you to have to buy anything.  Girls-- I have several leotards of my daughter's that can be borrowed.  Again, the performance of the Nutcracker will be at 1:45 on the 20th. I only know of one student who will not be at school on that date. Please email me ASAP if you will not be in town for the performance!

On another Nutcracker note, I am in need of a few people who can help with make-up and costuming on the day of the show. You will come into the classroom at about 12:30 and call children back one-by-one to get them ready for the stage. Please email me if you can help with this!

Thank you for diligently signing up for the helper spots for the beginning of 2019. There are still 20 spots left for those who are interested in joining us for centers. Please see the Sign-Up Genius (link in email) to sign up.

Language Arts
Our sight word this week is you. We will be finishing up our unit on owls by having the children write what they've learned about owls. Children will work with me in the writing center to write a sentence or more of owl facts. This will be our first attempt at informational text. Though it may look something like "An owl is noktrnl." (translation: An owl is nocturnal.) that is the expectation right now. Sight words are spelled correctly, but other words are spelled phonetically. Thank you for encouraging your budding writers in the writing process by not over-emphasizing spelling at this time.

Math
We are finishing with 2D & 3D shapes this week and will begin Module 3: Comparison of Weight, Length, Capacity, and Numbers to 10. We will be looking at length this week. Children will be measuring the height & width of things around the classroom as well as comparing the length of different strips of paper. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

STEAM
This week, our class will participate in an exciting movement called Hour of Code. Students have become very proficient at coding using apps such as Kodable and last week, they did an amazing job with CodeSpark. This week we will be writing code for our Bee Bot, and using the Osmos again to do Osmo Coding Jam.  We will also do some "off the grid" programming using a game called "Hopscotch Coding." We are excited to be a part of this global movement!

We have an Art Vista lesson on Wednesday. Please contact Kassie if you can help with this.

**Please remember to send in your child's Blue Bag on Monday.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hiromi), Daily 5, Centers (Jenny & Elena)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Sarah & Kassie)
Wednesday: Art Vistas (Kassie & ???), PE with Coach Justin, Blue Bags Go Home
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Ellen & Belinda)
Friday: Story time with Grandma Gail, Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Chris H. & Mary)

Upcoming Events:
12/3-12/7: Hour of Code/Computer Science Week  
Thursday 12/13: Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Thursday 12/20: Nutcracker Performance @ 1:45
12/21-01/04: Winter Break
Monday 01/07: School Resumes
Friday 01/18: Professional Development Day: No School
Monday 01/21: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Thursday 01/31: 100 Day
02/18-02/22: President's Week Vacation