Week of 4/29

We had a wonderful trip to Emma Prusch Farm last week. The weather was perfect (though a bit warm!), 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 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 Friday, we will have the Kindergarten Movie Night for auction winners. Pizza and fruit will be served, and we will watch a movie together. Auction winners, more details will come to you in a separate email.

Language Arts
We will be studying the trigraph igh this week. Children will be reading and spelling words like flight, light, might, and night.  Our new sight word is back. Keep working on those sight words! Sharing will also begin this week! Please see the sharing letter for your child's sharing day, and information about the weekly topics. Please help your child be prepared for this activity, which assists them in becoming more comfortable with speaking in front of a group.

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.

Upcoming Events
Mother's Day
The Mother's Day celebration is coming right up on Friday, May 10th at 1:30 p.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!

Fantasy Fair
Next Friday the 10th, 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 believe we are seeking a coordinator. Please email me if you are able to help coordinate the set-up, staffing, and take-down of our class booth.

Promotion Ceremony 
Speaking of space restrictions, I wanted to give you all a heads-up that the Promotion Ceremony on June 6th at 1:15 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 (Yvonne), Daily 5, Centers (Elena & Eric S.)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Hiromi & Barb)
Wednesday: Recess 101, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Erika/Pablo & Barb)
Friday: Daily 5, Painting in the Cafeteria (Gunnar, Mary, Hiromi, and Erika)

Upcoming Events:

Friday, 5/3: Kindergarten Movie Night for Auction Winners
Wednesday, 5/8: Parent Volunteer Reception
Friday 5/10: Mother's Day Celebration
Friday 5/10: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, 5/15: Art Vista Art Show
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony-- please attend (parents only)
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School

Week of 4/22

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 (Brandie, Mary, Hiromi, Erika, Virgina, and Claire), there will only be enough room for all of you on the bus if it is seating three children per bench, so 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 (not optional). 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!

Language Arts
We will be studying the sound of y when it is an ending sound, as in the words baby, silly, and happy. We only have one sight word this week, your.  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. Review the sentences that come home weekly in the Wednesday envelope. Many families have told me that they keep these sentences in a folder and review them regularly. Thank you-- reinforcement activities like that are really helpful.

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.

Art Vistas
We have our last Art Vista lesson for the year on Tuesday at 2:00. Please contact Kassie if you can help with this. Thank you to Kassie, Elena, and Karla for their help with Art Vistas this year. Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 15th from 6:00 to 8:00, when the Art Vista Art Show will take place in the cafeteria. Every child will have several pieces of art on display in the show.

*Please remember to send in your child's blue bag on Monday, with the "baby guessing" book page inside the yellow folder! Also, please send your child's field trip permission slip if you haven't done so already.

*We are still collecting silver coins for "Silver Saves Lives" through Thursday the 25th. We are also still collecting small boxes for a project on Friday the 26th. Thank you for your help!

Upcoming Events
Book Fair
The Book Fair opens on Tuesday and will run through Friday. Special kindergarten-only hours (avoid the crowds!) are before class on Friday, at 11:00. Additionally, they are offering a new event this year-- an ice cream social. Come to the Alta Vista cafeteria from 6:00 to 8:00 on Wednesday the 24th to visit with other AV families and enjoy the book fair, too.

Paper Dolls
Next Friday, May 3rd, we will be painting the life-sized paper dolls in the cafeteria. Thank you to Gunnar, Mary, Erika, and Hiromi for volunteering to help with this. We could still use a couple more helpers if you are available! We also have a center opening on Monday, May 6th. Please check the Sign-Up Genius if you can fill either of those spots.

Mother's Day
The Mother's Day celebration is coming right up on Friday, May 10th at 1:30 p.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!

This Week's Helpers & Activities: 
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hiromi), Daily 5, Centers (Elena & Jenny)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers at 1:00 (Ellen & Hiromi)
Wednesday: Field Trip to Prusch Farm (Wear Grasshopper shirts & walking shoes & pack a disposable snack!)
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Erika/Pablo & Mary)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Gunnar & Sarah)

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, 4/24: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 5/3: Kindergarten Movie Night for Auction Winners
Wednesday, 5/8: Parent Volunteer Reception
Friday 5/10: Mother's Day Celebration
Friday 5/10: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, 5/15: Art Vista Art Show
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony-- please attend (parents only)
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School

Week of 4/15

I hope you are all enjoying 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.

Language Arts
This week, we will be looking at the ay ending. We will be looking at words like say, may, and day. We also have two new sight words, his and run. 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 24th.

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 week of Module 4. At this point, both addition and subtraction skills should be quite fluent for your child. We will be moving onto Module 5, Numbers 10-20, Count to 100 by 10s and 1s. We have covered the counting piece of this next module already, so we will be focusing on numbers 10-20.

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, May 3rd. I already have two helpers for this day (Gunnar & Mary), but I could definitely use 2-3 more helpers. We will be painting the posters in the cafeteria all at once at 1:30. Please email me or go to the Sign-Up Genius if you can help with this!

Upcoming Event
We have our field trip on April 24th to Emma Prusch Farm coming right up.  Permission slips for this trip will be in this week's Wednesday envelope, and they will need a quick turn-around. We are so excited for this trip as it is always a hit.  Thank you to Brandie, Mary, Erika, Hiromi, Virginia, and Claire for volunteering to chaperone this trip. We will leave right after school starts, so please don't be late on this day!

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 (Mary & Jenny)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Barb & Claire)
Wednesday: Recess 101, Blue Bags go home with Baby Guessing book page
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Jennifer R. & Brandie)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Erika/Pablo & Claire)

Upcoming Events:

4/8-4/12: Spring Break
Wednesday, 4/24: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 5/3: Kindergarten Movie Night for Auction Winners
Wednesday, 5/8: Parent Volunteer Reception
Friday 5/10: Mother's Day Celebration
Friday 5/10: Alta Vista Fantasy Faire 5:00-8:30pm
Wednesday, 5/15: Art Vista Art Show
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony-- please attend (parents only)
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School