Week of 3/31

We are heading into our last week before Spring Break. I always feel like after we return from Spring Break, the weeks just fly by. We have a lot to pack in during our remaining 39 school days, so keep supporting your children at home by reinforcing concepts and doing lots of reading & writing.

Classroom Help
I added all remaining center dates to the Sign-Up Genius for parent volunteers and library helpers this year. If you haven't had a chance to volunteer this year, please consider joining us. As your children get older, the volunteer opportunities decrease, so this is your chance to meet your child's friends and check out what's going on in the classroom. At this age, children love having their parents in the classroom-- come join in the fun!

Walk & Roll
Next week Alta Vista will be participating in "Walk & Roll." This is a schoolwide initiative to encourage our students to walk, bike, or scooter to school, with the goal of reducing traffic in front of the school on Blossom Valley Drive. There will be parent volunteers at 5 different checkpoints handing out tokens to students who walk/bike/scooter to school. If a family lives too far away to walk to school, they can still get a token by parking a bit further from the school and passing a checkpoint. There will be a white bucket in our classroom to collect the tokens. At the end of the week, the classroom with the highest proportion of tokens relative to class size, will win a class party sponsored by the Dad's Club!
Here is a map of where parents will be handing out tokens.

Spring Fling
This Friday the 4th we have a special event called Spring Fling. We will use both the indoors and outdoors for the activities. Children will do STEAM activities, planting, and
various crafts and activities. Parent helpers for this event are Charlien, Meeta, Emily, Tsuping, and Ellen. Please arrive at 12:20, just like at center time. Thank you!

Language Arts
Our sight word this week is your. We will begin reading books with a farm theme this week to prepare us for our field trip to Prusch Farm on the 18th.

We will also continue to focus on digraphs in Fundations, particularly sh, ch, wh, th, and ck. Be sure to check out the parent tips for this module.

Math
On Friday, I sent home the workbook from Module 5. Please take a look at that to see all your children have learned in this core module! This week is a review week in math. We will be reviewing addition, subtraction, and fact families to 10. After Spring Break, we will begin our final math module for the year, which covers place value.

Upcoming
On Friday, May 9th from 8:15 a.m, to 9:30 a.m., we will have a celebration for moms & dads in our class! This is Mother's Day, Father's Day, and an end-of-year celebration, all rolled into one. We hope that every child will have at least one parent (or grandparent/aunt/uncle) join us on the 9th, 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. Please mark your calendars!

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: Walk & Roll, Centers @ 12:20 (Franklin)
Tuesday: Walk & Roll, Centers @ 12:20 (Ellen)
Wednesday: Walk & Roll, Library @ 9:10 (Emily), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Walk & Roll
Friday: Walk & Roll, Spring Fling @ 12:20 (Emily, Meeta, Ellen, Tsuping, Charlien)

Upcoming Events
Saturday, 3/29 2:00-4:00: USD Health & Wellness Fair @ UMS
Friday, 4/4: Spring Fling
4/7-4/11: Spring Break
Friday, 4/18: Field Trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 5/9: Kindergarten Family Day @ 8:15
Friday, 5/9: Alta Vista's Fantasy Fair
Wednesday, 5/21: Open House
Friday, 5/30: Multicultural Fair

Week of 3/24

The Spring book fair is this week, and the special TK/K shopping hour is after school on Tuesday the 25th, from 1:40 to 2:40. This is your chance to take your child to the book fair directly after school (rather than waiting around until the rest of the school gets out at 2:40). This is a Literati Book Fair so the offerings will be a little different than the Scholastic Book Fair we had in the Fall. 

Movie Night

Our auction event, the kindergarten movie night, is happening this Friday the 28th from 5:00 to 7:30. More details will be sent out to those who purchased tickets later this week.

Language Arts

We are beginning Unit 4 in Fundations this week. In this unit, we will continue blending sounds to read & spell words. We will also introduce the digraphs sh, th, wh, ch, and ck. We've been talking about these digraphs when they are in sight words that we've introduced, but now, we will have drills & activities in Fundations that will also highlight these digraphs. Our sight words this week are look and are. 

This week, we will continue studying rainbows. We will read some informational texts about rainbows, and will also enjoy a fiction book called A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman. Ms. Gomathi will be leading a digital project using an app called Book Creator, where we will put together a book compiling the students' ideas of what they would do with a rainbow of their own. Using this app, we also created a book this week where the children described how their leprechaun traps would work. 

Math

We are wrapping up Module 5 this week! Next week, we will do some review, and then we will move onto our final math module, Module 6: Place Value Foundations, after Spring Break.

Clay

We will glaze our final clay project this Thursday at 12:15. Thank you to Evelyn, Emily, Tomoko, Meeta and Shelbie for your help with Clay this year.

Spring Fling Update

Thank you for quickly filling the slots for our Spring Fling event on Friday, April 4th. I have added a few more spots to the Sign-Up Genius for this event if anyone else would like to join. I have also added all center & library dates for the remainder of the year. Please check it out!

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: Centers @ 12:20 (Emily)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20  (Tsuping & Ellen)
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Shelbie & Emily), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday:  Clay @ 12:20 (Evelyn, Emily, Shelbie, Tomoko & Meeta)
Friday:  Kindergarten PJ Party & Movie Night @ 5:00 (must have auction ticket)

Upcoming Events

3/24-3/28: Literati Book Fair: Special kindergarten hour on Tuesday @ 1:40

Friday, 3/28: Kindergarten Movie Night (Auction Ticket required)

Saturday, 3/29 2:00-4:00: USD Health & Wellness Fair @ UMS

Friday, 4/4: Spring Fling

4/7-4/11: Spring Break

Friday, 4/18: Field Trip to Prusch Farm 

Week of 3/17

Due to the Professional Development Day on Monday (no school) we have another week off from centers. Center time will return on Monday the 24th. Center time allows me to instruct children in a small group setting, while other students are doing crafts, projects, and educational games with parent helpers. There are several openings for centers and library time in the upcoming weeks. Please check out the  Sign Up Genius. 

We had a lot of fun on Friday with the leprechaun traps. The kids were so creative and were true engineers! I look forward to hearing back from them on Tuesday about what happened to their traps.

Language Arts

Our sight word this week are you and here. These are both considered "heart words," because they can't be decoded with the phonics knowledge the children have at this point. Both these words have a part they will need to learn "by heart." Check out the linked website for short videos with both these words.

Since here has a "silent e" or "Mama e" as we call it in the Secret Stories program,  I will focus on that this week in our phonics lessons. Silent/magic E has many jobs in English, so focusing on it helps children break down words in both their reading and spelling. 

Math

This week, we switch to looking at patterns in Topic D. Students look for and make use of structure by looking for and making use of patterns. They learn what a pattern is and how to recognize and extend patterns, and they use patterns to extend their work with numbers. Students apply their knowledge of patterns to help them answer how many questions.

Art Vista

We have an Art Vista lesson this Thursday at 12:20. In this lesson, we will be drawing self-portraits. Thank you to Emily, Evelyn, Shelbie, and Kevin for their help with art this year.

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 SCHOOL

Tuesday: No Centers

Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Reader: Franklin, Checkout: Emily), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Art Vistas @ 12:20

Upcoming Events

Monday, 3/17: No School: Professional Development Day

Friday, 3/28 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night (auction ticket required)

4/7-4/11: Spring Break

Friday, 4/18: Field Trip to Prusch Farm

Week of 3/10

I have enjoyed meeting with many of you already for parent-teacher conferences, and I am looking forward to meeting with more of you this week-- it's great to share your child's successes with you. It's hard to believe that we are already in our last trimester of kindergarten. The time will pass quickly in these last 3 months, and before you know it, we will be moving on to first grade! After we meet, please be sure to praise your children for the progress they've made, and also continue to support them in areas where they still need reinforcement to meet end-of-year standards. Remember that the 1:15 dismissal time will continue through Friday the 14th.

There will continue to be no centers this week due to parent-teacher conferences. We do have library (as usual) on Wednesday, and our special leprechaun trap making activity on Friday at 8:30. Thank you to Emily, Shelbie, Evelyn, and Marie for helping with the leprechaun traps. 

Auction Update

The AVHSC Auction will continue through tomorrow night at 9:00. Don't miss out on joining us for our kindergarten movie night on March 28th at 5:00 pm! Just $40 can get your child a ticket to the pajama party and movie night for ALL kindergarten classes in our K2 classroom. It will be the place to be on the 28th & your child won't want to miss it! Check out all the auction items at this link.

Field Trip Update

Thank you to Emily, Shelbie, and Charlien for volunteering to chaperone the field trip. We now have enough chaperones for the trip. Thank you for returning the permission slips so promptly! If you haven't had a chance to fill it out yet, please return it by this Friday.

Language Arts
Our sight word this week is said. This is another "heart word" because it has a part in it (ai) that is not decodable with our regular phonics rules. 

We are in the 5th week of Unit 3 of Fundations this week. The children are doing very well with blending sounds to read & spell CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. We have also been doing a lot of writing! We have been writing both dictated sentences, where we work on our spelling and writing conventions, as well as writing to a prompt where we practice phonetic spelling.

Math

We will wrap up Topic C of Module 5, and begin Topic D: Make Use of Structure. In this topic, students look for and make use of structure by looking for and making use of patterns. They learn what a pattern is and how to recognize and extend patterns, and they use patterns to extend their work with numbers. Students apply their knowledge of patterns to help them answer how many questions.

Upcoming Events & Activities

Leprechaun Traps: This Friday, 3/14, children will be designing and creating their own leprechaun traps! We will send the traps home with the children on Friday since St. Patrick's Day is on Monday the 17th, when we don't have school. I look forward to hearing about what happened to their traps when they return to school on Tuesday!

School Spirit Day-- Wear Green: Also on Friday the 14th, there is a schoolwide Spirit Day. Wear green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little early! The Grasshopper shirt is perfect for this day, or any other green attire your children would like to wear. 

No School Monday the 17th: Union School District Professional Development Day.

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 

**Classroom help is needed for Centers & Library Readers & Library Check-Out. Check out the Sign-Up Genius.

This Week's Helpers & Activities

Monday: No Centers, Dismissal @ 1:15

Tuesday: Return Library Books, No Centers, Dismissal @ 1:15
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Emily: Reader & Shelbie:Check-Out), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Dismissal @ 1:15

Friday: Dismissal @ 1:15
 

Upcoming Events

3/6-3/14: Parent-Teacher Conferences 

Friday, 3/14 @ 8:30: Leprechaun Trap Making Activity and Wear Green Spirit Day

Monday, 3/17: No School: Professional Development Day

Friday, 3/28 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night (auction ticket required)

4/7-4/11: Spring Break