Week of 10/2

Our extended days begin on Monday! Our schedule for the remainder of the year will be:

• Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 8:15 to 1:40
• Wednesdays and modified days during conference weeks: 8:15 to 1:15.  **Please plan accordingly on these days as the rest of the school releases at this time, so parking will not be available on the street in front of our classroom 

I am looking forward to the additional time with your children. The first week+ will probably be very tiring for your students. Please make sure they get to bed early so they are well-rested and ready for their longer day.

Lunch will be from 11:30 to 12:15. Children will be supervised by yard duties at that time, and will eat and then play on the playground. A few take-aways from our lunch on Friday:

1. Please make sure your child knows which items are for snack and what is for lunch. Separate boxes within the lunch bag would be helpful OR two separate bags entirely. Some students today were out of food at lunch, and then we had to send them through the hot lunch line.
2. Please understand that microwaves are NOT available if your child packs a lunch from home.
3. If your child packs a lunch or snack from home that needs utensils, please provide those in your child's bag.
4. In general, students still need a lot of practice at opening their own snacks and food wrappers and containers. When children are at home with you, please let them attempt to open snacks & show them how to do this, rather than doing it for them. There is a lot of pride in children when they are able to do things on their own!

For those who are getting hot/school lunch:

1. Please go over the menu (found on the "Nutrition" tab on the Alta Vista website) with your child, and have them make their choice with you so that they know what they are getting once they are in line.
2. Practice "ordering" an item, using a clear and confident voice. At the very least, your child needs to be able to point to what they would like. Have children practice at home, restaurants, and even when pretending they're at a restaurant.
3. Children have a choice between white milk, chocolate milk, or their own water bottle. Please go over this choice with them as well. If choosing milk, you should have them practice opening a carton on their own. This was very difficult for many today.

Language Arts

This week, we will introduce another Daily 5 activity, "Word Work." Word Work is a variety of literacy games that we use to reinforce phonics, sight word recognition, and comprehension skills. In the next couple of weeks, we will be able to fully launch Daily 5. Once that happens, a small group of students will be meeting with me each day while the rest of the class is engaged in various other literacy centers. Your children will be receiving lessons targeted for their ability level in a small group instruction setting. 

 

In Fundations, we will introduce the letters Cc and Oo. The letter c is important in handwriting, because many letters start with the "magic c," as we call it. The letters a, d, g, o, and q are all "Magic C" letters. Parent tips for this week's letters and concepts can be found here.

We will introduce our first sight words this week! Your children will be exposed to over 40 sight words this year. Using the phonics knowledge they already know, sight words will be taught through "orthographic mapping." This means that children will listen to how many sounds they hear in a word and then apply their phonics skills to "map" out those sounds. Each week, when we introduce new sight words, they will only contain sounds that we've already learned. This week's words are it and in. You can find the sight words we will be introducing on the classroom website. Go to the tab called "High Frequency Word List."

Math

In math, we will continue working with numbers to 10. This week, we will focus on the numbers 6-10.  

 

Music & Art

Our music program begins this week! Thanks to your generous donations to the Home & School Club, they are able to support our enrichment activities such as funding the music program. We have music class every Friday with Miss Emory.

We will also have our first Art Vista lesson on Friday. Art Vista lessons start with looking at prints from professional artists, followed by a lesson on some aspect of those prints (foreground, line, color, etc.) Thank you to Snigdha and Sahana for coordinating these lessons, and to all our parents & grandparents who will be helping out on Friday with our lesson on trains.

**Remember to return your child's library book by Tuesday each week

**Classroom centers start next week! The Sign-Up Genius can be found here.

 

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: first day of our extended day schedule

Tuesday: Return library books

Wednesday: Library (Sara & Shelley), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes

Friday: Art Vistas (Snigdha, Sahana, Juan, Sandy, Gazal), Music with Miss Emory

Upcoming Events 

Monday, 10/2: First Day of our Extended Day: 1:40 dismissal begins

Friday, 10/6: First Music Class

Friday, 10/6: First Art Vista lesson

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

 

Week of 9/18

Thank you for bringing your children back for the afternoon assessments. I have now completed all assessments, and will use this information to group children according to their academic needs. Nobody needs to return to campus for a 2nd assessment.

Be Seen & Heard Assemblies
As you have heard in communications from Union School District, the district will be hosting the "Be Seen & Heard" assembly virtually (we will view the livestream in the classroom) this Wednesday, 9/20. If you were not able to attend the parent information night they hosted, more information about the assembly can be found here. Here is a brief summary about the K/1st grade content: This assembly will address the dangers of child sexual abuse, the differences between a safe and unsafe touch and a safe and unsafe secret, strategies to stay safe, and how to identify trusted adults. The phrase “sexual abuse” is not used. Please refer to the message sent through ParentSquare if you have any further questions about this assembly.

Language Arts
In language arts, we continue introducing letters and letter sounds, along with the handwriting of those letters, using the Fundations program. We have introduced Tt, Bb, and Ff, which are all "sky-line letters" and this week, we will introduce Mm and Nn, which are "plane-line letters." If you'd like more information about the formation of these letters to support your student at home, as well as posters that are similar to the ones we use in the classroom, please read this week's home support letter. 

We will wrap up our drawing unit this week. Once we extend our day, we will begin moving onto labeling our pictures using phonetic spelling. We encourage children to sound out words on their own using their knowledge of phonics, and we encourage you to do the same. Rather than spelling words for beginning writers, have them listen for the sounds they hear in that word. If they spell "goat" as "got" at first, that is ok! This is a stage in writing, and we want the focus right now to be on developing their independence as writers. We will also begin rolling out our Daily 5 literacy centers this week. Daily 5 "is a literacy framework that instills behaviors of independence, creates a classroom of highly engaged readers, writers, and learners, and provides teachers with the time and structure to meet diverse student needs." Children are placed in differentiated groups and cycle through different literacy centers each day, which includes meeting with me for small group instruction.

Math

We will continue reviewing both 2D and 3D shapes. Children should be able to name and describe these shapes: square, rectangle, triangle, circle, hexagon, cube, sphere, cone, cylinder.

 

Kimochis

This week, the Kimochis® Character named Huggtopus will join our classroom to teach your child about the feelings silly, frustrated, excited, and proud. Huggtopus (or Huggs) is our Kimochis® Character who is strong and affectionate, but she sometimes gets a little carried away with her big, friendly personality. She might hug too tightly or play too roughly, which upsets her friends. This can be confusing and frustrating to Huggs because she doesn’t know why her friends say, “Don’t bother me.” With Huggtopus, your child is learning to read social cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and sounds from peers. Huggtopus also teaches children how to celebrate our differences. Huggs is a six-legged octopus and is proud that she is so unique!

Library Books
Remember to return your child's library book by Tuesday at the latest, so that they can check out a new book when we go to the library again on Wednesday. This week, we have Jessica & Snigdha helping out in the library.

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 9/20: Be Seen & Heard Assembly
Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night
Friday, 9/29: "Dry Run" of lunchtime procedures (more info to come)
Monday, 10/2: First Day of Extended Day (Dismissal at 1:40)
Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon
10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Week of 9/11

Thank you everyone for bringing your children for their afternoon assessments. This will help me to best meet the differing needs of the students in my class during small group instruction. I am continuing to meet with students this week. If you need to check the schedule, you can view it here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. When you arrive for your assessment, please wait by Gate F (the gate we enter through in the morning). I will see you out there and let you in when you arrive. If you need to reschedule your child's time, please email me.

Picture Day

Picture Day is this Friday the 15th. There is no need to pre-order-- you will receive a QR code in your child's backpack on Friday which will link you to the proofs and let you know how to order.

Language Arts
We launched the Fundations program last week, and the children are doing so well with learning the routines and language of Fundations. A big focus is learning the correct formation of letters, hand-in-hand with learning their sounds. Handwriting serves to link visual processing with motor experience, facilitating subsequent letter recognition skills. The expectation is that by the end of the first trimester (early November) students know all their letters & sounds.

We used our Fundations journals last week to practice correct name-writing. Continue to encourage your children to write their name using only one upper-case letter. Check that they are holding their pencils correctly, as well as forming their letters correctly, by looking at the resources in this Fundations Home Support letter. We will share these home support letters weekly with you-- they are definitely worth checking out.

We will also continue with our drawing unit. This week, we will be working on drawing a school, park, and some different vehicles.

Math

This week, we will be introducing and working with 3D shapes. The 3D shapes we focus on in kindergarten are the cube, cone, cylinder, and sphere. Just like with the 2D shapes, students will be expected to name and describe the attributes of these shapes. Parent tips for this module can be found here. 

Classroom Centers & Library Time

Thank you for answering the call for center and library help! We have just about every spot filled in our first set of dates on the Sign-Up Genius. There are still a few openings if you're interested in helping out, and more dates will continue to be added as the year goes on. Please make sure you fill out the Volunteer Code of Conduct at least a week prior to the first time you volunteer. You only have to fill this out once. Every time you come to volunteer, you must check in at the office. Please bring your driver's license. Miss Chitra will scan your driver's license and issue you a badge to be on campus. You can then come either straight to the library, or straight to K2, depending on what you are volunteering for. 

I am looking forward to starting up in the library this Wednesday! If you are a library reader, please bring a story with you that you'd like to share with the class that is no longer than about 5-10 minutes. Check-out helpers have instructions at the computer for checking in/checking out books. If you've never done this before, allow enough time to read through the directions so that you can be ready when the kids are checking out their books. Thank you!

This Week's Helpers

Wednesday: Library (Jackie & Sara)

Upcoming Events:

Friday, 9/15: Picture Day

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Week of 9/5

I hope you are having a nice long weekend. We will get right back into the swing of things on Tuesday, with after school assessments continuing next week, as well as the continuation of our drawing unit. 

Afternoon Assessments

Thank you for signing your child up on my assessment schedule. This will help me to best meet the differing needs of the students in my class during small group instruction. I was able to complete the assessments of all extended care students last week, and I look forward to meeting with the rest of the students in the upcoming weeks. Please come to Gate F (our morning entry gate) at the time of your child's assessment. I can see you out there from the classroom and will come out and open the gate for you. If you need to check the schedule, you can view it here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. If you need to reschedule your child's time, please email me. 

 

Language Arts

In language arts, we have been working on a drawing unit as a way to ease into the process of building kindergarten story writers. The kindergarten team started using this program last year, and we found that by teaching students how to draw, their written stories for the entire year were so much better. Often, we ask children to map out their stories first by drawing. If they get stuck in the drawing step, they can't fully express themselves in writing. Studies show that explicitly teaching drawing in conjunction with writing contributes to better literacy skills.

Kimochis
This week, the Kimochis® Character named Cloud will join our classroom to teach your child about the feelings happy, sad, and mad. Cloud is the Kimochis® Character who can be moody, so sometimes it is hard for him to get along with his friends. When Cloud is happy, he spreads sunshine everywhere, which makes everyone feel fantastic! But when Cloud feels mad or sad, he might snap or yell. Because he has a hard time controlling his anger, he might do things that hurt feelings, even though he doesn’t mean to. Cloud helps children develop patience, tolerance, and understanding for friends who are still learning how to express upset feelings in positive, healthy ways.

Wednesday Envelopes 

Thank you so much for returning all the envelopes on Thursday. This routine will continue for the remainder of the year-- envelopes go home on Wednesday & children bring back the empty envelope on Thursday and put it in the basket on the picnic table. If you forget the envelope on Thursday, please try to send it back by the following Monday at the latest, so that I can pack the envelopes again for the following week.

Enrichment Update
Thank you for answering the call for supporting our enrichment programs! All our positions are filled, and the informational meetings for launching Art Vistas, Room Parents, and the Clay program start next week. If you signed up for these programs, please try to attend the training sessions. This week, I will also send out a Sign Up Genius for classroom center help and library helpers. Classroom centers begin on October 2nd, but library visits start next Wednesday the 13th. Our library time is every Wednesday, from 9:10 to 9:30. We will have sign-ups for both a check-out person and a story reader. I hope to see many of you in the library! It's a fun way to help out with a very small time commitment.

Thank you also for your continued donations to the C.A.G.E. drive to support our enrichment programs. If you haven't had a chance to donate yet, please consider donating by going to this link: https://altavistahsc.membershiptoolkit.com/home

Yard Duties Still Needed
We are still in need of yard duties for TK and Kindergarten (we are all out on the playground together) on Tuesdays, and Thursdays. TK/K lunch time runs from 11:30 to 12:15, so if you can spare 45 minutes to help at lunch, we need you! Please see Chitra in the office if you are interested.

Upcoming Events

Monday, 9/4: No School: Labor Day

Friday, 9/15: Picture Day

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night