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!
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.
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 ArtsWe 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.
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
