Week of 5/30

Thank you for coming to Open House last Wednesday. It was wonderful to see the children showing off their work to family members! Thank you also for coming to our first Family Day. I enjoyed seeing the children making and creating with their loved ones. I hope this is the start of a new annual event.  

 

With just nine school days left, we are into the final countdown with lots of fun review activities mixed in with several more events. Keep your calendars updated!

 

Paper Grocery Bags Needed

I won't be sending home any more Wednesday envelopes. Instead, I'd like you to please send in a paper grocery bag with your child's name written prominently on the bag. I would prefer paper grocery bags (or a bag that can stand up on its own) because I am going to be taking down Open House projects and just dropping them into each child's bag. For the remainder of the year, finished projects will go in these bags, and your child will bring the bag home on the last week of school. Report cards will also go home in this bag-- I will staple those inside. 

 

Volunteer Celebration

I hope all the classroom/school helpers plan to join us at 1:30 on Wednesday the 31st in the Alta Vista cafeteria to thank you for volunteering your time at Alta Vista. Childcare is provided.

Lockdown Drill
Please see this week's Vista Views for information about our upcoming schoolwide Lockdown Drill on Wednesday. Here is some information from Mrs. Bailey:
In order to avoid creating fear or panic in our younger children, we have requested that teachers for grades TK-2nd use the following sample script: “There might be a time that we will have a situation in school when it will be important for us to stay together in our classrooms and not go outside as we do for a fire drill. There might be a stranger on campus or there could be some other problem in the hallways so it is important for us to stay safely in our rooms until Mrs. Bailey or a police officer tells us that the problem is fixed. Today, we’re going to practice sitting quietly together on the floor with the door and windows closed and the lights out, this is called a lockdown drill.”

Caine's Arcade 

This Friday, we will get to be players in a special arcade made by our Alta Vista 5th graders called Caine's Arcade. You can learn more about this activity here. Some of the games the 5th graders create have prizes. If your child comes home with some small toys/prizes on Friday, you will know now where those are from.

 

Field Day 6/5 

On Monday, June 5th, Alta Vista will have its schoolwide Field Day. Although this is an annual tradition at AV, this is the first year it will be organized by our Rhythm & Moves PE program. Children will be divided into teams to participate in fun games and activities. In the past, we have worn our class t-shirts for this event to help us stick together as a "team." Please plan on sending your child in their Grasshopper t-shirt on Monday the 5th. If that changes (since this is organized differently this year, it might) I will let you know. Yearbooks will be passed out after Field Day if you ordered one for your child prior to the cut-off for school delivery. Your child can continue bringing the yearbook back to school for the remainder of the week to get autographs from their friends-- please supply your child with a pen for signatures.

Family Picnic 6/6
I sent an email on Friday about the schoolwide Alta Vista Family Picnic on Tuesday, 6/6 from 12:00 to 12:45. Even if you do not plan on attending this event, please let us know your plans here. Also on this date is our last PE session with Miss Amy. It will be an all-kindergarten dance party. Please send your students in shoes and clothes appropriate for fitness.

Class Party 6/8
On Thursday the 8th, the Grasshoppers are having a camp-out! Danielle Kinney, Sadie's mom, sent out a sign up for various things we need for the party. Please see the Sign Up for ways that you can help!

Last Day 6/9 

There are no special events or activities on the last day. We like to keep things calm and quiet in kindergarten since this can be an emotional day for all. Please note that school is dismissed at 12:15 on the last day, and we do not go to lunch on this day. If your child needs a lunch, s/he can pick up a bag lunch at dismissal time from the cafeteria, otherwise, lunch is at home or extended care on this day-- please plan accordingly.

**Please remember to return your child's library book by this Wednesday at the latest so that the library can do their year-end inventory.

Week of 5/22

Open House & STEAM Night
We are looking forward to showing off so much work for you in our room this Wednesday the 24th for Open House! Please drop by our classroom any time between 6:00 and 6:45 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!

Following Open House, from 6:45 to 7:45, head over to the Makerspace for an all-school STEAM night! There will be many fun activities planned to share with your child.

Family Day

I am also excited about our very first Family Day this Friday the 26th. Since I have not heard from anyone that their child will be attending alone, this will be a full house! However, if you forgot to notify me and cannot make it on Friday, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can pair your child up with another family. As with any large event, you can get your visitor's badge in advance by going to the office any day this week. Just bring your driver's license and get a badge issued early so that you won't have to wait in a line on Friday morning. This event starts right away at 8:15 and will last until about 9:30. Each child will participate in a variety of crafts and STEAM activities with their parent(s). All the kindergarten classes are celebrating Family Day together, using both the indoor and outdoor areas of the Makerspace, so this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy time with your child, as well as connect with all the kindergarten parents. 

 

Multicultural Fair

Well over half our class participated in or attended the Multicultural Fair on Friday. It was great to see so many families get involved with this wonderful event! I was also so impressed with all the art on display in the cafeteria. Thank you so much to our Art Vista parents for a wonderful year of art lessons.

 

Language Arts

We will continue reviewing sound patterns we've studied throughout this year. Digraphs, blends, silent "Mama" e, Bossy r, and vowel teams are all in the mix! We have introduced all sight words from the district list now, so we will end the year with a few bonus sight words. This is also our last week of the Fundations program! We have found it to be a very successful pilot this year, and the district has decided to adopt Fundations at all sites.

 

Math 

We continue to review all the concepts we've learned this trimester, with a focus on addition & subtraction fluency this week.

Thank You!!
Last week was our final week of afternoon classroom centers. I'd like to thank all our center helpers-- I always had every spot filled. Classroom centers are a very busy time, and I truly couldn't have done many of the projects and activities we did this year without the help of all the parent volunteers. Thank you so much!! 

STEAM
We had our last Wednesday trip to the Makerspace on the 17th, but don't despair! We will head to the Makerspace on Family Day this Friday and use many different things that are available over there.

Last Library
This week will be our last visit to the library. Please be sure to return your child's book this Wednesday. We will check out books one last time, and then the week of 5/29, we will not visit the library and simply return our books. Thank you to all the readers & check-out helpers we've had this year, especially Bora Nam (Caleb's mom), who has done check-out nearly every week this year.

Reminders

**P.E. is every Monday-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week.

**Grasshopper t-shirt day is Friday each week.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: PE outside with Miss Amy
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Kay & Fadime), dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Return Weds. envelopes
Friday: Final Music @ 12:45

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 5/24: Alta Vista Open House & STEAM Fair

Friday, 5/26: Family Day @ 8:15

Wednesday, 5/31: Volunteer Appreciation Social

Monday, 6/5: Field Day-- children should wear Grasshopper t-shirts

Tuesday, 6/6: Schoolwide Family Picnic-- details to come!

Thursday, 6/8: Classroom Party: Camp-Out Theme-- details to come!

Friday, 6/9: Last day-- dismissal @ 12:15

Week of 5/15

I'm very excited for the Multicultural Fair and Art Vista art show coming up this Friday the 19th from 5:00 to 7:00. Many families in our classroom will be hosting booths for this wonderful event. Come travel around the world without ever leaving the Alta Vista campus! Additionally, every student will have work on display in the art show. This is an evening you won't want to miss! 

I've added one final date to the Sign-Up Genius. Our last trip to the library will be on Wednesday, 5/24. We need one last reader & check-out helper on that date.

 

Language Arts

Beginning this week, we will be reviewing sound patterns we've studied throughout this year. Digraphs, blends, silent "Mama" e, Bossy r, and vowel teams are all in the mix! Our sight word this week is where. We will also continue with our final unit of Fundations, Unit 5. This unit will focus on merging all the skills we've learned so far: spelling, sentence writing, writing conventions, and reading with fluency. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

 

Our caterpillars arrived in class this past week, and we are so excited to continue observing them as they transform into butterflies! We will continue integrating our butterfly theme in our classroom with our art, science, reading, and writing.  

 

Math

We are reviewing our key concepts from this trimester. We will be completing a lot of assessments in math in the upcoming weeks. At this point, students should be able to add and subtract within 10, understand story problems and apply the correct operation to solve them, understand that numbers in the teens are made from a 10 and some 1s, and recognize numbers in the teens. 

 

STEAM 

This week, we will go to the Makerspace for part 3 of using the Rigamajig. Children will work in small groups to build something together. The children had so much fun last week that they asked to continue using the Rigamajig for one more week. I've added more pictures to the Rigamajig album. Check it out!

Open House & STEAM Fair
On Wednesday, May 24th, the Alta Vista campus will be hosting Open House. This is a night where you can come check out many projects on display in our classroom. Children are working hard on art, writing, and math projects that will all be on display that night. I hope you will join me in K2 to come and see the amazing work your children have been doing! Following Open House is the district's STEAM fair. You can head over to the Makerspace to do STEAM projects with your child and other families from our school.

New Event: Family Day

On Friday, May 26th from 8:15 a.m, to 9:30 a.m., we will have a celebration for moms & dads in our class! In the past, we've had a Mother's Day event, but have not been able to squeeze in a Father's Day event with the busy end-of-year calendar. This year, we will celebrate all parents with one event, Family Day. We hope that every child will have at least one parent (or grandparent/aunt/uncle) join us on the 26th, with a maximum of two guests per child. If your child will not have a family member joining for this event, please let me know so that I can make arrangements for your child to have someone as a guest in lieu of a family member. All the kindergarten classes are celebrating Family Day together, using both the indoor and outdoor areas of the Makerspace, so this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy time with your child, as well as connect with all the kindergarten parents. 

 

Reminders 

**P.E. is every Monday-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week.

**Grasshopper t-shirt day is Friday each week.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: PE (OT room)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:25 (Fadime & Bosco)
Wednesday: Makerspace at 8:30 (Uygar & Aparna), Library @ 9:10 (Danielle & Brittny), dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Return Weds. envelopes, Centers (Shereen & Fadime)
Friday: Music @ 12:45 

Upcoming Events   

Friday, 5/19: Multicultural Night & Art Show

Wednesday, 5/24: Alta Vista Open House & STEAM Fair

Friday, 5/26: Family Day @ 8:15

Wednesday, 5/31: Volunteer Appreciation Social

Week of 5/8

It was great to see so many of you at the Hoe Down on Friday! It was wonderful to see the event back in full swing & so many families enjoying themselves! I'm also so proud of the many Grasshoppers who participated in the cake decorating contest! That used to be a favorite event of my own children each year, so I hope it is something that you all can enjoy year after year. Two students in our class even took home cake decorating prizes-- congratulations Emmi & Sonya!

 

I've added one final date to the Sign-Up Genius. Our last trip to the library will be on Wednesday, 5/24. We need one last reader & check-out helper on that date.

Language Arts
This week, we will continue focusing on vowel teams such as ai, oa, ea, and ui. Our sight word this week is goes. We will also continue with our final unit of Fundations, Unit 5. This unit will focus on merging all the skills we've learned so far: spelling, sentence writing, writing conventions, and reading with fluency. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

We are beginning to study caterpillars! Later next week, we will have live caterpillars in our classroom that we will watch as they transform into butterflies. We will be reading both fiction and non-fiction books about butterflies over the next few weeks.

 

Math 

We will continue working on story problems, as well as working toward fluency in both subtraction and addition facts within 5.

 

STEAM 

This week, we will go to the Makerspace for part 2 of using the Rigamajig. Children will work in small groups to build something together. There were some wonderful projects created last week, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the children create this week. Pictures from last week can be found here.

Multicultural Fair & Art Vista Show
Mark your calendars for the Multicultural Fair and Art Vista art show on Friday, May 19th. The Multicultural Fair is another hallmark Alta Vista event! Several students in our class will be performing in the cultural presentations and dances, and helping sponsor booths. The art show is also that night, where every student will have art on display in the cafeteria. You won't want to miss it!

Open House & STEAM Fair

On Wednesday, May 24th, the Alta Vista campus will be hosting Open House. This is a night where you can come check out many projects on display in our classroom. Children are working hard on art, writing, and math projects that will all be on display that night. I hope you will join me in K2 to come and see the amazing work your children have been doing! Following Open House is the district's STEAM fair. You can head over to the Makerspace to do STEAM projects with your child and other families from our school. 

 

New Event: Family Day  

On Friday, May 26th from 8:15 a.m, to 9:30 a.m., we will have a celebration for moms & dads in our class! In the past, we've had a Mother's Day event, but have not been able to squeeze in a Father's Day event with the busy end-of-year calendar. This year, we will celebrate all parents with one event, Family Day. We hope that every child will have at least one parent (or grandparent/aunt/uncle) join us on the 26th, with a maximum of two guests per child. If your child will not have a family member joining for this event, please let me know so that I can make arrangements for your child to have someone as a guest in lieu of a family member. All the kindergarten classes are celebrating Family Day together, using both the indoor and outdoor areas of the Makerspace, so this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy time with your child, as well as connect with all the kindergarten parents. 

 

Reminders 

**P.E. is every Monday-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness. This week we have outdoor PE with Miss Amy.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week.

**Grasshopper t-shirt day is Friday each week.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:
Monday: PE with Miss Amy
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:25 (Brittny & Shereen)
Wednesday: Makerspace at 8:30 (Uygar & Aparna), Library @ 9:10 (Bora & Aparna), dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Return Weds. envelopes, Centers (Shereen & Fadime)
Friday: Music @ 12:45 

Upcoming Events
Friday, 5/19: Multicultural Night & Art Show
Wednesday, 5/24: Alta Vista Open House & STEAM Fair
Friday, 5/26: Family Day @ 8:15
Wednesday, 5/31: Volunteer Appreciation Social