Week of 2/28

 I hope your children have had a fabulous week off & that you were able to enjoy some family time. The upcoming week, we will begin parent-teacher conferences on Thursday. Early dismissal (1:15) will begin on Wednesday, and will continue through Friday, March 11th. I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress with you soon.

We have a couple of special projects coming up in the next few weeks. I will need 3-4 volunteers for each of them. As long as you filled out the volunteer form & uploaded your vaccine card (most of you did that back in October), you can come in to help with these projects. Please email me and let me know if you can help with either of these:

• Thursday, 3/3 between 12:00 and 1:30 (please note that this starts while the children are at lunch, and ends after dismissal, due to set-up and clean-up time) I need 3-4 parents to help with glazing our clay projects.
• Wednesday, 3/16 between 9:00-10:30 I need 3-4 parents to help with leprechaun trap making in the Makerspace. This is an exciting project where children design and create their own leprechaun traps.

If you can help with either of these projects, please email me.

Language Arts
This week, we will be looking at words with l blends, for example, sleep, slug, slam, and slip. Our sight word is into. Continue reviewing those high frequency words posted on the website with your children.

Math
For the next few weeks, as the trimester ends and we gear up for parent-teacher conferences, we will be reviewing our most recent math topics of addition and numbers in the teens.

Cornerstone
This Friday, we have another Cornerstone lesson with Carlene. Cornerstone is a program to help all children feel respected, valued, and known.

Class t-shirt Wednesdays

Now that we all have our class t-shirts, let's wear them every Wednesday to show our class/school spirit! Alternatively, you can wear blue & gold or an Alta Vista t-shirt. Whatever you wear, Wednesdays are the day that we show our Alta Vista School spirit at the afternoon PAWS assembly (on Zoom) each week.

STEAM
For the next few weeks, we are going to go into the Makerspace to use some of the tools there to create and design. Next week, (3/9) we will create with Strawbees. The following week, we will build leprechaun traps. The week after, we will create using the Rigamajig.

Conference Week Reminders
Parent-teacher conferences begin this Thursday, March 3rd.  If you have forgotten your date/time, please check this link. Please note that this document can no longer be edited. If you need to change your conference time, please email me. Just a reminder that due to conferences, we will not have centers for the next two weeks, and class dismissal is 1:15 daily through Friday the 11th. Conferences will be held in-person in the classroom.

**Children should return library books by Tuesday, so they can check out a new book on Wednesday.

**We have P.E. every Monday. Please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness 

Upcoming Events
3/3: Clay Glazing at 12:15
3/3-3/11: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, 3/9: Strawbees in the Makerspace
Wednesday, 3/16: Leprechaun Trap Making in the Makerspace

Wednesday, 3/23: Rigamajig in the Makerspace

Week of 2/14

Thank you for signing up for in-person parent-teacher conferences so quickly. If you'd like to meet with me regarding your child's 2nd trimester progress, please see my schedule, which you can find in your email.

We are looking forward to Monday, when we will have both "look-alike day" (school Spirit Day) and we will pass out class valentines. For look-alike day, please send your children in their new Grasshopper t-shirt that came home with them on Friday. We will all be look-alikes together. :) Also, please send your children with 24 valentines for the class. REMINDER: please only fill out the "from" section of the valentine, for ease of passing out, especially since we have PE on Monday-- our time for passing out valentines is a little shorter. 

Language Arts
This week, we will focus on the sound ing as in ring, sing, and thing. We will be learning the sight word love. We are now up to 35 sight words. Please check the sight word link on the website (called "High Frequency Words") and make sure that your child knows the words we've introduced, as knowing these words is extremely helpful to writing and reading fluency. 

Our stories this week will be valentines-themed and we will also have some non-fiction books about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Math
We are continuing with Module 5 this week: Numbers 10-20; Count to 100 by 1s and 10s. We will be breaking teen numbers into "a ten and some ones," continuing to use number bonds and ten frames to model teen numbers as a ten and some ones, and continuing to reinforce counting to 100 by 10s and 1s, which we've been doing on a daily basis during calendar time. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Art Vistas
We have an Art Vista lesson this Wednesday. It has been wonderful having these lessons in-person once again. The lessons always involve looking for a certain artistic feature in some lithographs by master artists, followed by a lesson that focuses on that feature for the children to encompass in their own art. This week's lesson will be on boats. Thank you to Agnieszka & Tiffany for presenting the lessons to our class.

Substitute on Wednesday
This Wednesday, I will be on campus, but not in the classroom teaching, as I will be completing assessments to prepare for parent-teacher conferences. The children will have a wonderful substitute, Mrs. Johnson, on that day, but I will be in & out of the room as well. 

Kimochis/SEL
This past week, your child learned about being “excited” and the Kimochis® kotowaza or Japanese proverb—that accompanies this feeling: “Fun has to be fun for everyone.” This kotowaza inspires and encourages children to feel the positive energy of fun and excitement. Your child also learned how to control excited feelings. Play is an activity that is very exciting for young children. When children get really excited, they might engage in what is called “rough-and- tumble play.” Rough-and-tumble play helps children learn about their bodies. It can also serve as an outlet for active children and helps develop the frontal lobe of the brain, which is used to regulate behavior. This style of play teaches children to both display and read body language that indicates when play needs to change or end. Your child learned the tool called “Stop Hands,” which is a means to let friends know when the current form of play has gotten to be too much. Stop Hands nonverbally say, “I like you, but let’s play something else.” These are the four steps for Stop Hands: 1. Take a step back to make space. 2. Put up hands in a friendly way close to the body, palms facing out, fingers spread, to gently indicate, “Stop.” 3. Use a Talking Voice and Face to speak the person’s name. 4. Say, “Stop, let’s play something else.” 

Upcoming Events

2/21-2/25: Presidents' Week Vacation

3/3-3/11: Parent-Teacher Conferences

3/25: Spring Pictures

4/4-4/8: Spring Break

Week of 2/7

We had a fun day on Friday with Snow Day! The children enjoyed the "snowball" fight and the snow-themed centers. Pictures from the day, along with our "Kindness Chain" pictures that I mentioned last week, can be found in a link I emailed to you.

 

Now that we've celebrated the 100th day of school (and a few more after that), we have 74 days left to go to reach all of our end-of-year kindergarten standards. Please continue supporting your children's education by reading daily with them, working with them on their writing, and reinforcing math concepts. The year goes by quickly and we still have a lot of work to do! Spring conferences are rapidly approaching (March) and I will be sending my sign-ups out soon (I am still waiting for clarification from the district about whether these can be in-person conferences). I am seeing a lot of good progress and I look forward to updating you all soon.

Language Arts
This week, we will focus on the sound oo as in pool, look, and loose. We will be learning the sight word back. We are now up to 34 sight words.  Please check the sight word link on the website (called "High Frequency Words") and make sure that your child knows the words we've introduced, as knowing these words is extremely helpful to writing and reading fluency.

Our story this week will be The Mitten by Jan Brett. We will study some of the animals in these stories, and do some non-fiction reading and writing about them.

Math
We are continuing with Module 5 this week: Numbers 10-20; Count to 100 by 1s and 10s. We will be breaking teen numbers into "a ten and some ones," continuing to use number bonds and ten frames to model teen numbers as a ten and some ones, and continuing to reinforce counting to 100 by 10s and 1s, which we've been doing on a daily basis during calendar time. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Kimochis/SEL

This past week, we talked about how the feeling “happy” helps children remember to take turns. When children take turns, everyone feels happy. Taking turns can be difficult for young children because they need to regulate their impulses and have patience. Young children are just learning to master this as they move from the egocentric “me” stage to the more group-conscious “us” stage. Gentle reminders in the moment and acknowledgement when children take turns will help them learn about this democratic principle. Your child has learned that taking turns works best when we each name our turn. For example, when it’s your child’s turn, they can say, “My turn” and pat their hand on their chest to indicate this. You can do the same for your turn. This can also work with a sibling or friend. The hand movements (patting your own chest and pointing to your play partner) help to guide the back-and-forth action of taking turns. Your child also learned some communication scripts that can help decide who will go first during play. We practiced being kind and saying, “Would you like to go first?” and “Can I please go first next time?” 

Upcoming
Valentines Day:
On Monday, February 14th, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day in class.  This is not a party, but we will be passing out valentines. Just a reminder again that in kindergarten, we have the kids sign their valentines, but we do not have them write who the valentine is "to." This makes distribution much easier.  Please send in 24 valentines so that there are enough for each child in the class. We have 11 girls and 13 boys. I know that many store-bought valentines come with candy attached. However, please consider candy-free valentines due to allergies in the class as well as candy overload. Valentines with stickers or tattoos, etc. are greatly preferred and homemade cards and messages are wonderful. Thanks!

Upcoming Events

2/21-2/25: Presidents' Week Vacation
3/3-3/11: Parent-Teacher Conferences