Week of 10/28

We have an exciting week ahead of us with Cornerstone, a trip to the Makerspace, and the Halloween parade & party on Thursday!

Blue Bags
There will be no Blue Bags this week due to the Union School District No Homework Night on Halloween. 

Halloween

Please send your children to school on Thursday dressed in their Halloween costumes. We will have a school-wide parade at 8:30 on the blacktop in front of rooms 7, 8, and 9. Please remember that children's costumes cannot include weapons of any kind or fake blood, and masks can only be warn for the parade. Afterwards, children will return to K2 for special Halloween-themed centers. The fun ends at approximately 10:00, when we will return to a "normal" school day. If your child is going to Extended Care or other day cares after the party, you will want to pack an extra bag for party items and costume pieces.

Language Arts

Our letters this week are Uu and Vv. Our sight words are he and it. Including this week's words, we have now introduced fourteen sight words that your children should recognize: I, see, me, like, a, can, to, go, the, am, at, he, is and it. Your children should be using these words to both read and write simple sentences like "I can go to the store." or "I see my mom." Please encourage them to read the sentences to you each week that come home in the Wednesday envelope.

Our stories this week will be Halloween-themed.

Math

We are spending the next couple of weeks reinforcing number concepts. These include knowing what one more and one less than a number is, recognizing written numbers to 10, recognizing instantly how many dots are on a ten frame, and counting objects.

Science/STEAM

We wrapped up our unit on pumpkins last Friday with pumpkin-themed STEAM centers. Children measured height and circumference of their pumpkins, and counted the ribs on their pumpkins. They also dissected a pumpkin. Additionally, they constructed bridges that could support a small pumpkin. Finally, they carved a virtual pumpkin using the Quiver app. Hopefully, you were able to view the Google album I sent of Friday's activities. It was a fun day of exploration and learning!

Upcoming

Conferences:
I am looking forward to meeting with each of you beginning Monday, November 4th for your child's conference. All conferences will be held in the classroom.  To confirm your conference time, please click here. Please note that you can no longer edit this form. If you need to change your conference time, please email me.

Friendship Feast:

The Friendship Feast will be on Friday, November 22nd at 10:00. If you can take some time off work to join us, this is a pretty fun and special event. We ask each family to send in a dish for the event-- either a traditional Thanksgiving dish or a dish from your family's cultural background.  We always enjoy the wonderful mix of foods that we get.  All the kindergartners will come together for this event, and sing some songs at the beginning. This event is definitely a great photo-op!

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags, Daily 5, Centers (Gomathi & Doreen)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Cornerstone (Jessica), Centers (Lisa & Claire)
Wednesday: Ozobots in the Makerspace, Rhythm & Moves P.E., Music, No Blue Bags
Thursday: Halloween Parade & Party
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Suman & Carlene)

Upcoming Events:
Thursday 10/31: Halloween Parade & Party@ 8:30
Nov. 4th-14th: Parent-Teacher Conferences & Early Dismissal
Monday, 11/11: No School: Veteran's Day
Friday 11/22: Friendship Feast at 10:00
Thursday 12/19: Nutcracker Performance at 10:00
12/21-01/05: Winter Break

Week of 10/21

It was so great to see nearly every Grasshopper out on the field at the walkathon on Saturday! I hope a fun time was had by all and that this is the first of many walkathons for all Grasshoppers!
The school book fair continues this week through Wednesday. It is open from 2:30 to 3:30 on both Monday & Tuesday.

Language Arts
Our letters this week are Ss and Tt. Our sight words are see and like. We will read a variety of pumpkin-themed  books this week, both fiction and non-fiction. We will start off with Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell.

We continue to post work to our See Saw accounts. Last week, we posted a Chatterpix project of your child voicing a "Creepy Carrot." This is based on the book Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. If you haven't had a chance to check this out, please do! The children did such a great job with their animated voices.

Math
We are wrapping up our module on numbers to 10. Some kindergarten year-end standards that you should be aware of are:

• Children should be able to count to 100
• Children should be able to count on from any given number between 1 and 100. For example: 49, 50, 51, 52, 53.
• Children should be able to write numbers to 20
• Children should be able to recognize numbers to 20 and count out objects to 20, no matter what the arrangement of those objects (in a line, scattered, in a circle)

Science/STEAM
We will be reading non-fiction books about pumpkins. At the end of the week, we will end our pumpkin unit with some pumpkin STEAM activities to further explore pumpkins. We will even be dissecting a pumpkin to check out all the different parts of a pumpkin that we've been studying!

Upcoming Events
Halloween:
The Halloween Party & parade is on Thursday, October 31st. Children are encouraged to wear costumes to school. However, they will probably want to bring a change of clothes for after the party to be comfortable for the remainder of the day. Just a reminder that Halloween costumes worn at school cannot have any weapons as accessories. Also, fake blood or masks that prevent children from being able to see are not allowed. The school-wide parade is at 8:30, on the primary blacktop (near rooms 7, 8, and 9). Come out and watch the fun! Our classroom party will follow at approximately 9:00 until about 10:00. Afterward, we will resume a (somewhat!) normal school day.

Conferences:
I am looking forward to meeting with each of you beginning Monday, November 4th for your child's conference. All conferences will be held in the classroom. To confirm your conference time, please click here. Please note that you can no longer edit this form. If you need to change your conference time, please email me.

Friendship Feast:

To give you an opportunity to plan ahead, the Friendship Feast will be on Friday, November 22nd at 10:00. If you can take some time off work to join us, this is a pretty fun and special event.  We ask each family to send in a dish for the event-- either a traditional Thanksgiving dish or a dish from your family's cultural background. We always enjoy the wonderful mix of foods that we get. All kindergarten classes come together for this event, and sing some songs at the beginning.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags, Daily 5, Centers (Gomathi & Adam)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Claire & Agnieszka)
Wednesday: P.E, Music, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Hema & Daniel)
Friday: Daily 5, STEAM Centers (Gomathi & Devyani)

Upcoming Events:
10/21-10/23: Book Fair Continues 
Thursday 10/31: Halloween Parade & Party@ 8:30
Nov. 4th-14th: Parent-Teacher Conferences & Early Dismissal
Friday 11/22: Friendship Feast at 10:00
Thursday 12/19: Nutcracker Performance at 10:00
12/21-01/05: Winter Break

Week of 10/14

It's Walk-a-thon week!! There's still time to sign up if you haven't already! You won't want to miss out on the fun! Even if you can't join us, please consider signing up so that your child can receive a t-shirt to wear and you can also help support all the great enrichment programs at Alta Vista. We will be doing one practice lap this week so that the kids have an idea of the lap length and what to expect.  On Friday, the kids will receive both their walk-a-thon t-shirt (if they have signed up online) and their lanyard with the first charm. Please be sure to wear both the t-shirt & lanyard on Saturday. Every 5 laps, the kids get a different plastic foot on the lanyard/necklace. The kindergartners get a special charm already on their necklace for the practice lap that they did. These plastic feet are very motivating for the children! You will see them walk many more laps than you ever thought they could walk, all for a plastic foot! :)  There are also treats every five laps and plenty of other fun things on campus like face painting and a crazy hair booth.  The walk-a-thon runs from 9:00 to 3:00, but you can arrive and leave any time that fits with your schedule.  Don't forget that if you are coming from a soccer game, etc., to mention that at check-in.  Even if you can only come for an hour or so, please join in for a fun day that supports all of the enrichment programs at our school!

Another big event is the school book fair starting this Thursday. You may check it out after school (for grades 1-5) through Wednesday the 23rd. *Special Shopping Hour for Kindergarten Families
Please note that the book fair will be open on Friday, October 18th at 1:40pm. This will give you the opportunity to visit before the busy after school crowd. There are many great offerings, and a percentage of every dollar you spend there will go toward our school and classroom libraries, so please check it out!

Spirit Week
Leading up to the walkathon, we have a whole week of spirit days next week. Remember that participation is entirely optional, but a fun way to show Alta Vista pride. Here is the rundown:
MONDAY: Mustache Monday:  Either draw on a mustache or stick one on and join in the fun!
TUESDAY: Twin Day: Get with a friend or several and plan a similar outfit!
WEDNESDAY: Pajama Day! Wear your PJs with your sneakers (we still have P.E.)!
THURSDAY: Crazy Hair Day: Wear a silly pony-tail, spike your hair, or whatever silly style you'd like!
FRIDAY:  Color Day: Kindergartners wear orange.

Language Arts
Our letters this week are Qq and Rr. Our sight word is is. Our story this week is Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, and his follow-up book, Creepy Pair of Underwear.

Our guided reading groups are meeting with a teacher for differentiated, small group instruction four days a week. During this time, children are working on phonics, reviewing sight words, and working on reading fluency & comprehension. There are five different reading groups and children work on different books and activities depending on their reading ability.

Math
We continue to work on Module 1 in Eureka Math. We have been learning about numbers to 10, writing those numbers, and learning what one more and one less than a given number would be. We are also learning to recognize the dots on a 10 frame by sight as the number that they represent.

Clay
We have our first clay project coming up this Friday the 18th. Alta Vista is one of the few schools in USD that have a clay program. Children get to do two clay projects per year and glaze those projects. On Friday, they will be making pinch pots. Thank you to Gomathi for being our clay lead, and everyone who is helping out.

Upcoming
Halloween: The planning & organizing for our Halloween party on Thursday the 31st is well underway. Thank you to Carole, Jessica, Tara, and Gomathi for heading up this event. The school-wide parade is at 8:30, on the primary blacktop (near rooms 7, 8, and 9.) Come out and watch the fun! We will have he party immediately afterward.

Conferences: I am looking forward to meeting with each of you beginning Monday, November 4th for your child's conference. To confirm your conference time, please click here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. If you need to change your conference time, please email me.

Friendship Feast:
To give you an opportunity to plan ahead, the Friendship Feast will be on November 22nd at 10:00. If you can take some time off work to join us, this is a pretty fun and special event.  We ask each family to send in a dish for the event-- either a traditional Thanksgiving dish or a dish from your family's cultural background. We always enjoy the wonderful mix of foods that we get. All the kindergarten classes will come together for this event. The children will be wearing a turkey costume (self-made!) and they will sing a couple of songs when they arrive in the cafeteria.  This event is definitely a great photo-op!
 **Please send in your child's blue bag Monday.**

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags, Daily 5, Centers (Agnieszka & Tiffany H.)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Centers (Agnieszka & Claire)
Wednesday: Rhythm & Moves, Trip to the Makerspace, Music, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Daily 5, Centers (Lisa W. & Lauren)
Friday: Daily 5, Clay Project, STEAM Centers (Hema & Gary)

Upcoming Events:
Saturday 10/19: Alta Vista Walkathon 
Thursday 10/31: Halloween Parade & Party@ 8:30
Nov. 4th-14th: Parent-Teacher Conferences & Early Dismissal
Friday 11/22: Friendship Feast at 10:00
Thursday 12/19: Nutcracker Performance at 10:00
12/21-01/05: Winter Break

Week of 10/7

Our first week of extended day went so well! Thank you everyone for letting your children know what is for snack vs. lunch. The children were all well-fed & prepared for the longer day. We have a lot going on this week, so bear with me for this long update!

Art Vistas:
We will have our first Art Vista lesson on Monday. This is a program that is paid for by the Home & School Club through your generous donation to the CCP and fundraisers like the Walkathon. In Art Vistas, children look at a group of lithographs by various artists. They look for a particular element in those pictures, like colors, lines, shading, etc.  Then they create their own art project modeled after the prints they saw. Thank you to the many parents who are assisting with Art Vistas this year, and to Tiffany Heintz for leading.

Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Hopefully, you all received the green flyer I sent home last Thursday about the assembly this Wednesday called, "Be Seen and Heard." The goal of this program (from the website) is: "To create a safe and engaging environment where children will learn about the dangers of abuse and the difference between safe and unsafe touch." You can view the primary content here: bit.ly/BSAHK2 Please be sure to fill out the permission slip that was sent home last week if for any reason you do NOT want your child participating in this assembly. The form is an opt-out form, so there is no need to fill it out if you have no objection to your child participating. I have not received any opt-out forms at this point. If that is incorrect, please be sure to email me.

Field Trip
We are so excited for our field trip this Friday! We will be traveling by bus to YSI Vasona to learn about "Animal Adaptations." Thanks to Daniel, Sunder, and Lauren for chaperoning. We will leave school just before 9:00, so chaperones, please arrive at about 8:50. We will return to school in time for lunch, so no need to worry about a brown bag lunch. **If your child has an Alta Vista t-shirt or sweatshirt, please send them in that. This year, we are not doing class t-shirts, but we are all getting Alta Vista t-shirts. Unfortunately, they haven't arrived yet, so for now, please wear any Alta Vista gear you may already have or simply wear a navy t-shirt. If you don't have a navy shirt, please do not worry.

Conferences
Thank you for all signing up for a conference time. The conference schedule can be viewed here. I look forward to meeting with you all in November!

Cornerstone
We had our first Cornerstone reading last Thursday. Project Cornerstone  is a program that helps develop respect and positive messages toward others. Thank you to Jessica Kazmucha for leading this program. If you'd like to assist, please email me or her.

Language Arts
This week's letters are Oo and Pp. Our new sight words are can and go. We have launched the Writer's Workshop, and are encouraging children to write or draw a narrative story during the entire session of writer's workshop. The message is that we are all writers and we all have a story to tell. Please have your students read any writing they bring home to you, even if you are unable to read it. You will find that they often can "read" the whole thing to you and have a wonderful story to tell. This is the first step in writing fluency, so please encourage your developing writers! It is very fun to watch their writing progress at this level.

Our literature this week will be about spiders, both fiction and non-fiction.

Math
We continue to work through Module 1 in Eureka Math. We have been learning about numbers to 10, writing those numbers, and learning what one more and one less than a given number would be. We are also learning to recognize the dots on a 10 frame by sight as the number that they represent. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Upcoming
Walkathon: The walkathon is coming right up on October 19th! Our Grasshopper team has over half the class participating! You won't want to miss out on this fun community event. Sign up here: https://altavistawalkathon.dojiggy.com/b42ff92/regPages/pages/?p=bd1c3028

Halloween: Just a reminder that we will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday the 31st. The school-wide parade is at 8:30, and our class party will follow at about 9:00. Thank you to Carole, Tara, Gomathi, and Jessica for their work on the Halloween party.

**Please send in your child's Blue Bag on Monday, and your child's envelope if you haven't already.

**Thank you so much for filling the 2019 parent helper calendar!! I think we only have a few December openings remaining. Wow!! You can find the sign-up here.
 
This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: Return Blue Bags, Daily 5, Art Vistas, Centers (Gomathi & Doreen)
Tuesday: Daily 5, Writer's Workshop, Centers (Lauren & Jessica K.)
Wednesday: Be Seen & Heard Assembly, Rhythm & Moves, Music, Blue Bags go home
Thursday: Daily 5, Writer's Workshop, Centers (David & Hema)
Friday: Daily 5, Field Trip, STEAM Centers (Gomathi & Hema)

Upcoming Events:
Wednesday 10/9: Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Friday 10/11: YSI Field Trip "Animal Adaptations"
Saturday 10/19: Alta Vista Walkathon
Thursday 10/31: Halloween Parade & Party@ 8:30
Nov. 4th-14th: Parent-Teacher Conferences & Early Dismissal
Friday 11/22: Friendship Feast at 10:00
Thursday 12/19: Nutcracker Performance at 10:00
12/21-01/05: Winter Break