Week of 5/28

Thank you for coming to Open House last Wednesday. It was wonderful to see the children showing off their work to family members!
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 29th in the Alta Vista cafeteria to thank you for volunteering your time at Alta Vista. Childcare is provided.

Family Day

Family Day is on Thursday the 30th. 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 the 30th, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can pair your child up with another family.  Remember that there is a limit of 2 guests per child. 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 the morning of the event. 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 & Art Show
This is another must-attend event on May 31st. Many families from our class will be helping host booths and taking part in the cultural performances. Additionally, every child in our class will have art on display in the Art Vista Art Show. Come out for this wonderful community-building event.

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.

Olympic Day 6/3

On Monday, June 3rd, Alta Vista will have its schoolwide Olympic Day. This is an annual tradition at AV. Children will participate in fun games and activities during this all-outdoor event. We wear 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 3rd. Please also be sure to send your child with a water bottle to stay hydrated during this event. 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. 

Class Party 6/4

On Tuesday the 4th, the Grasshoppers are having a Foam Party! Thanks to your generous fund-raising and donations to the AVHSC, this party is funded with our grade level field trip & experiences budget. We will also be serving ice cream sundaes, but there isn't enough time after the Foam Party to have those, so we will serve sundaes on Thursday the 6th.

Last Day 6/7

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.

Looking forward to a fun final nine days!

Week of 5/13

I hope all the moms are enjoying a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Hopefully, you all found your portrait with your child's biography about you in the last Wednesday envelope. They all did a fantastic job writing about one of their favorite subjects-- their moms. :)

This is the last week of classroom centers! I'd like to thank everyone who has volunteered in centers-- we haven't had a glitch all year. I could not do all the projects and small-group instruction without your support. Thank you so much. This is also the last week of library time. We will check out one last book on Wednesday, and we will return it the following week so that the library can complete their inventory. Thank you also for the wonderful support in the library!  

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! We have now introduced all sight words that are on the kindergarten list for the school year, but every word eventually becomes a sight word with further exposure. We will be spending time in the next weeks reinforcing all the words on our list, and we may also introduce a few "bonus" words. 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.

Our caterpillars have now all gone into their chrysalises. We are awaiting butterflies, and hope that we will have butterflies on display at Open House, but we may release them before that. 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 2 of using the Rigamajig. Children will work in small groups to build something together. Last week, we introduced this large building tool, and this week we will use what we learned last week & work together as a group to hopefully build some wonderful creations.

UPCOMING

Open House & STEAM Fair

On Wednesday, May 22nd at 6:00-7:00 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! After you enjoy the classroom, you can head over to the district's STEAM fair, which runs until 7:30. Go to the Makerspace to do STEAM projects with your child and other families from our school. 

 

Family Day 

On Thursday, May 30th 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 30th, 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.

 

Multicultural Night & Art Show 

On Friday, May 31st, Alta Vista will be hosting our annual Multicultural Night and Art Vista Art Show. Travel all around the world without ever leaving the AV Campus! You can play games, watch performances, and sample cultural dishes, all while learning about all the countries that are represented. In addition, every child will have several pieces of art on display in the Art Vista Art Show. Come see what your student worked on during all their art lessons this year. This is one of my favorite events-- I hope I'll see you there!

 

Reminders

**Library is every Wednesday. Please return your child's library book by Tuesday each week.

 **School spirit days are every Wednesday. Wear your Alta Vista t-shirts or your Grasshopper t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: No Centers
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Anna & Brooke)
Wednesday: Makerspace @ 8:30 (Jackie & Sandy), Library @ 9:10 (Jackie & Aditi), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Sara & Vanessa)
Friday: Music @ 12:30

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Wednesday, 5/29: Volunteer Appreciation Social, 1:30-2:30
Thursday, 5/30: Kindergarten Family Day @ 8:15
Friday, 5/31: AV Multicultural Night & Art Vista Art Show

Week of 5/6

Thank you all for such a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week. I felt very pampered and loved last week! It was so nice to read all the lovely notes your children gave me. Thank you also for the gift cards and subscription to the New York Times. I love all their word games and recipes, so I am looking forward to having access to that.

Baby Guessing Book
I've already received several pages for the Baby Guessing book, and they are so adorable! Please send in your child's page by this Thursday, May 9th, at the latest. We will turn these pages into our final class book, which will be on display at Open House on May 22nd. 

Language Arts

This week, we will focus on ee and oo. 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. 

Our caterpillars arrived in the classroom on Friday! We are excited to watch them 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 and create with the Rigamajig. Children will work in small groups to build something together. This is always a favorite activity because of the size of these projects-- last year children created things they could sit on, and even a swing! 

 

Fantasy Fair

The Alta Vista Fantasy Fair, "Animal Adventure," is this Friday! This event is always hugely popular. It's a schoolwide carnival with games, food, and prizes. Be sure to pre-buy your tickets to avoid the lines. These can be bought through Membership Toolkit: https://altavistahsc.membershiptoolkit.com/

It takes a lot of help to make an event like this successful. Please consider helping in some of the areas:

2024 Alta Vista Fantasy Fair Volunteer Sign Up
2024 Fantasy Fair Booth & Game Volunteer Sign Up 

If your child enjoys baking, I encourage you to participate in the cake decorating contest. Keep it simple and kid-friendly-- it's so fun to see what kids come up with. Bring your cakes or cupcakes to school on Friday morning before 8:15 for the contest. First prize gets a bundle of game tickets!

Open House & STEAM Fair
On Wednesday, May 22nd, 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.

Family Day

On Thursday, May 30th 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

**Library is every Wednesday. Please return your child's library book by Tuesday each week.

**School spirit days are every Wednesday. Wear your Alta Vista t-shirts or your Grasshopper t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: No Centers
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Snigdha & Brooke)
Wednesday: Makerspace @ 8:30 (Chris H. & Kristine), Library @ 9:10 (Liz & Niki), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Aditi & Sujay)
Friday: Music @ 12:30 

Upcoming Events

Friday, 5/10: AV Fantasy Fair "Animal Adventure" 5:00-8:00 pm

Wednesday, 5/22: Open House

Thursday, 5/30: Kindergarten Family Day @ 8:15

Friday, 5/31: AV Multicultural Night & Art Vista Art Show