Week of 5/28

I hope you are all enjoying this long weekend. With only 9 days to go in kindergarten, this post will mostly just remind you of upcoming special events, and a few "lasts" happening this week.

This is our last week with Coach Justin. Our last Wednesday envelope will also go home this week. If you did not return it last week, please send it on Tuesday so that we can pack it for the final time. Please review the papers, and then keep the envelope-- no need to send it back again. However, please DO send in a paper grocery bag with your child's name on it as soon as possible. I am going to be taking all the art and projects off the walls and would like them to be safely transported home. Thank you!

YSI Presentation
On Tuesday, we will have a special presentation by YSI (Youth Science Institute) called "Life in the Pond." A docent from YSI will come with some pond animals and do a talk on pond life.

Sharing
This is our final week of sharing. I have really enjoyed watching your children present the various topics in front of the class. For our last week, we will return to "toy in a bag." Please have your children hide the toy in a bag or their backpack, write three clues about it, and be prepared to read those clues to the class. Children who normally share on Monday can share any other day of the week this upcoming week. 

Roundup
This Friday the 31st, all four K teachers will be out of the classroom (but on campus) to work with our incoming kindergartners at our Kindergarten Roundup (remember that?)

Week of 6/3

Class Party
We have our class party coming up Monday the 3rd.  This is a water play day (sprinklers and water table). Please send your children with a towel, a swimsuit under their clothes (or boys just wear their swimsuits as shorts) water shoes or flip flops or old shoes you don't mind having them get wet. We don't like them to go barefoot on the blacktop, so we need them to be wearing shoes that will work with the water. Please coat them in sunscreen before their arrival. Children who are going to daycare after class should have a change of clothes and shoes. Thank you to Erika, Claire, and Ruby for coordinating  this party. Pizza & treats will be served, so no need to pack a big lunch if your child is going to daycare.

Olympic Day
Wednesday the 5th, we have a school-wide Olympic Day. It starts at 10:00. This is another day with a lot of outdoor time, so hats and sunscreen are highly recommended. I could still use 1-2 parents to walk around with us and help keep everyone together & organized. Please email me if you can help with this.

Promotion Ceremony
Our last big event (parental attendance strongly encouraged) together is on Thursday the 6th at 1:15 for our Promotion Day celebration. This should wrap up before class is out (my guess is approximately an hour or so), and then the kids can stay and sign yearbooks, etc. If you want them to leave early that day, please sign them out in the office. Please plan on joining us as we have a small presentation and a video look back on our wonderful year together!

Last Day

There are no events on Friday the 7th, but all kindergarten classes attend from 8:05 to 11:25. Both the morning class and the afternoon class will be in the room together, cleaning up, signing yearbooks, and wrapping up our year together.

Looking forward to lots of fun & memories in these final weeks!

Week of 5/20

We are looking forward to showing off so much work for you in our room this Wednesday the 22nd for Open House! Please drop by our classroom any time between 7:00 and 8:00 to have your child show you around our room and share many projects with you. This is a family event & your child's night to shine! Please join us!

Next week is Spirit Week. Every day has a theme. Participation is optional, but the children really enjoy these days and like to be involved. Here is the rundown on the themes:
Monday: Twin day: dress like another friend in the class OR wear your Grasshopper shirt to match with multiple people in the class!
Tuesday: Disney Day: Wear an item of clothes you might have with a Disney character on it
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday: Wear mismatched socks, a shirt backward, silly hair, etc.
Thursday: Rainbow Day: I am actually getting clarification on this one on whether you dress in one single color in each grade level, or whether you dress in rainbow colors-- will get back to you.
Friday: Alta Vista Spiritwear day: Break out your AV t-shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets and wear them on this day!

Language Arts
We have now introduced all kindergarten sight words! The first grade sight words can be found here so that you can study those over the summer. The next 14 days (wow!) will be review weeks. We will be reviewing all sight words and different sounds to send your children on their way to 1st grade with a good phonetic and sight word repertoire.

We continue to do a lot of writing in class and will be doing a piece for our memory books this week. We will also be preparing to write an opinion piece for our final writing assessment next week.

I was SO amazed by last week's sharing!! It is not easy to present a song in front of peers, and every child in our class rose to the task. Not only that, but many children presented a song in another language. It was the most joyful part of my day last week-- so wonderful to watch! This week's sharing topic is "homemade sharing." Children can bring an item they made or assembled themselves, either out of Legos, from a craft kit, something they painted or drew-- whatever they'd like to share, as long as they mostly created it. 

Please send in your final blue bags on Monday!! "Virtual homework" will begin this week as the blue bag program is done.  Please take about 15-20 minutes a day to have your child do either Lexia or raz-kids. If you are not sure how to log into these sites, please email me, as these sites will also be available to your child over most of the summer.

Math
We are finishing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20, as well as further reinforcement on addition and subtraction facts. I have also been and will continue to be administering the final round of assessments to evaluate your children for the 3rd trimester report cards. Those report cards will come home with your children on the last day of school.

Science
We are continuing our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. The caterpillars all went into chrysalids at the end of last week, so we are awaiting their emergence as butterflies!

Upcoming Events

We have our "Splash Bash"/class party coming up on Monday, June 3rd. We will have snacks and some fun in the sun!  Please send your children with a towel, a swimsuit under their clothes (or boys just wear their swimsuits as shorts) water shoes or flip flops or old shoes you don't mind having them get wet. We don't let children go barefoot on the blacktop, so we need them to be wearing shoes that will work with the water. Please coat them in sunblock before their arrival. Children who are going to daycare after class should have a change of clothes and shoes.

On Wednesday the 5th, we have a school-wide Olympic Day. Children will participate in different fun fitness challenges throughout the event. We will be outside for over an hour-- please plan accordingly with sunscreen and hats. Grasshopper shirts are our team t-shirt that day! It starts at 10:00, and I could use a few parent helpers to walk around with us & help organize the kids. Please email me if you can help with that event.

Our last big event altogether is Thursday the 6th for our Promotion Day celebration. This event is at 1:15. Please plan on joining us as we have a small presentation and will look back on our wonderful year together! This should wrap up before class is out, and then the kids can stay and sign yearbooks, etc. If you want them to leave early that day, please sign them out in the office. We are trying to keep this event to immediate family (parents) only due to space limitations, as it is in our classroom. Also, school-aged siblings are not to be pulled out of class to attend. Thank you for your understanding.

There are no events on Friday the 8th, but all kindergarten classes attend from 8:05 to 11:25. Both the morning class and the afternoon class will be in the room together, cleaning up, signing yearbooks, and wrapping up our year together.

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Monday, 6/3: "Splash Bash" end of year party
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony @ 1:15
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School, all K students attend from 8:05 to 11:25

Week of 5/13

Thank you also to all the moms for joining us on Friday. It was great to see you all and celebrate. Please let me know if you weren't able to open the video. I will also be sending out your green screen photographs as soon as I can get those ready. Happy Mother's Day weekend!

Another thanks to all of you who came out for the Fantasy Faire. It looked like a great time was had by all at their first Faire as AV students. Thanks to all those who helped with our class booth, especially Sarah K., who made the cute beanbags & the jungle-themed bean bag toss cut-outs! I don't know if everyone heard, but it was a Grasshopper sweep in the kindergarten cake decorating contest! Congratulations to Jon, Ellianna, and Amy for their first, second, and third place wins!!

We are beginning to have our "lasts" in kindergarten. This is our last week of centers, and I'd like to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to coming in weekly to help us in the classroom.  This was an amazing year for classroom help-- whenever somebody was unable to come in, someone else stepped right up as a sub.  That small-group instruction time is so important, and without all of the helpers, it would not have been possible. Thank you, thank you!

This is also our last week of Daily 5/Guided Reading. This is our second year using the Guided Reading program, which offers targeted small-group instruction in literacy, ensuring that we reach the many needs of all students in the classroom. We believe it really encouraged a love of literacy in the children and they have all greatly improved in their reading skills.

This is also our last week of Blue Bags. Our final Blue Bag will go home this Wednesday the 15th!

Language Arts
We will introduce our final two sight words, as and too. The link to the first grade list of words for those who want to get a jump-start on those, can be found here.We will also review previously introduced sounds, especially focusing on digraphs. We will be finishing our own version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and doing some other butterfly-themed projects, which will be on display at Open House next Wednesday the 22nd.

Our sharing theme this week is song, poem, and nursery rhyme. Children can present short songs and poems such as Twinkle, Twinkle, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Hickory Dickory Dock, songs we've learned in class, and songs or lullabies that they may know in another language are always wonderful to hear as well.

Math
We are continuing with Module 5, Numbers 10-20. This unit covers number names and counting to 100, as well as foundations for place value. Parent tips for this unit can be found here. I have also been and will continue to be administering the final round of assessments to evaluate your children for the 3rd trimester report cards. Those report cards will come home with your children on the last day of school.

Science
We are continuing our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. The caterpillars arrived in class last week, and we are looking forward to watching them go through their metamorphosis.

Cornerstone
Our last Cornerstone lesson will also be presented this Wednesday! We will return to a story we enjoyed at the beginning of the year in class, The Recess Queen. Thank you to the many parents who were involved in Cornerstone: Nisha, Claire, Kassie, Erika, and Sarah.

Art Vistas
Please come join us this Wednesday the 15th for the Art Vistas Art Show in the cafeteria. The art show will be open from 5:00 to 8:00, and every student in our class will have a few pieces of art on display. The art show is truly amazing to see and I definitely encourage you to stop by! A huge thank you to Kassie for leading up Art Vistas this year.

Upcoming Events
For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Open House (May 22nd), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 6th @ 1:15). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Remember that due to this event being in the classroom, this is for parents and younger siblings only. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 7th, all K classes are on a morning schedule (8:05-11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 42 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies!  

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags (Yvonne), Daily 5, Centers (Jenny & Gee)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Hiromi & Mary)
Wednesday: Recess 101, Cornerstone (Erika/Nisha), Last Blue Bag, Art Vistas Art Show (5:00-8:00)

Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Pablo/Erika & Barb)
Friday: Last Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Amanda & Sarah)

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday 5/15: Last Blue Bag goes home Wednesday, 5/15: Art Vista Art Show, 5:00-8:00
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Friday 5/31: Alta Vista Variety Show
Monday, 6/3: "Splash Bash" end of year party
Wednesday, 6/5: School-wide Olympic Day
Thursday, 6/6: Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony @ 1:15
Friday, 6/7: Last Day of School, all K students attend from 8:05 to 11:25

Week of 5/6

I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! From the door poster, to the fruit basket, to the other sweet treats and the notes from the children & gift cards-- I was so spoiled last week! Thank you so much-- your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated.

I hope to see all the moms at our Mother's Day celebration this Friday the 10th. We are looking forward to celebrating with all the moms or other "representatives" at 1:30. We have a short presentation of a mini-play and a few songs, and then you can enjoy some treats with your child. This is an event the kindergartners always look forward to sharing with their moms/someone special, so please try to have someone come. Let me know if there are any problems. Thank you!

This Friday is also the Alta Vista Fantasy Faire, and you won't want to miss it! This is a very fun school-wide carnival with game booths and bouncy houses, a cake walk, food, face painting, and a balloon twister. The Faire is from 5:00 to 8:00. Be sure to stop by for some fun! I believe we are in great need of helpers in our K2 booth that night! Since this is an evening activity, this is a great opportunity for working parents who haven't been able to volunteer much due to their work commitments.Please volunteer for a shift in our booth if you will be at the fair.

On another Fantasy Faire note, if your child enjoys baking, I encourage you to participate in the cake decorating contest. Bring your cakes or cupcakes to school on Friday morning before 8:15 for the contest. It is really fun to see the cakes and participate in this!

We are busily preparing for Open House, on the night of May 22nd.  We will have much on display in our room that night, and the kids are very excited to show off their work. Please plan on attending with your child! 

Language Arts
We will be studying the word family ing this week. We will be reading and spelling words such as ring, king, sing, and thing. We will also be looking at it as a word ending as well, as in running, swimming, and playing. Our sight word this week is of. Our stories for the next few weeks will center around butterflies as we begin a unit on caterpillars and butterflies. This week, we will focus on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and begin making our own version of this book in class, which will be on display at Open House.

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

Science
We will begin our unit on the life cycle of a butterfly. Some real caterpillars will arrive in class this week, and we will watch the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.

Upcoming Events
I wanted to remind you 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 10th by going to this link.

For your future planning-- please review all dates in the "Upcoming Events" section below. Critical dates (where I'd really like a parent to try to come) are: Mother's Day (Friday the 10th @ 1:30), Open House (May 22nd), and the Promotion Ceremony (June 6th @ 1:15). The Promotion Ceremony is our big last "hurrah" together, where we look back on our year & celebrate the children. Also, please be aware that the last day of school, Friday the 8th, all K classes are on a morning schedule (8:05-11:25)-- there are no celebrations or parties as we will have 42 kids in the classroom and don't have room for any extra bodies!  

Please return your blue bags tomorrow-- the final blue bag will go home on May 15th. After that, please take advantage of our online programs, Lexia and RazKids, for learning reinforcement.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:Monday: Return Blue Bags (Hiromi), Centers (Belinda & Elena)
Tuesday: Centers (Hiromi & Mary)
Wednesday: Recess 101, Trip to the Makerspace, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Centers (Erika/Pablo & Barb)
Friday: Mother's Day Celebration at 1:30

Upcoming Events:

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: Last Blue Bag goes home
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