As you've probably noticed the weeks leading up to the end of the school year are packed with events. Please keep reading our weekly emails, as well as Mrs. Bailey's weekly emails, to keep on top of all the fun things happening at Alta Vista!
Language Arts
Our sight word this week is goes. We will continue focusing on digraphs as we begin 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. Although the parent tips mention that we will begin discussing the differences between informational and narrative texts, we've actually been talking about these differences all year. Your children are experts on the differences between these types of books.
Our sight word this week is goes. We will continue focusing on digraphs as we begin 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. Although the parent tips mention that we will begin discussing the differences between informational and narrative texts, we've actually been talking about these differences all year. Your children are experts on the differences between these types of books.
We are beginning to study caterpillars! Next week, we will have live caterpillars in our classroom that we will watch as they transform into butterflies. We will kick off this unit this week by reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and making our own take-off of this book.
Math
This week, we begin Topic B of our module on place value. Students expand their experience with place value and part–total relationships by representing teen numbers with number bonds and number sentences. Story contexts offer an entry point for students to connect real-life situations to abstract mathematical representations. Each story uses 10 as a part to reinforce the understanding that teen numbers are composed of 10 ones and some more ones.
STEAM
For the past few weeks, we have been integrating STEAM activities into our center time. We started with a building tool called Strawbees. The children made such amazing creations with them! Last week, we added Snap Circuits, and another building tool called the Rigamajig. The Rigamajig allows for building very large creations, and the children worked together to build swings, cars, and houses. It's been exciting to see the children collaborating to build such wonderful things.
UPCOMING/REMINDERS
Yearbook Orders
It's time to order your Alta Vista yearbook! Yes, even kindergarteners have yearbooks. Since many of you are new to Alta Vista, I want to make sure you know that there is time in the last week of school for kids to sign each others' yearbooks, and they really enjoy doing this. Year after year, there are some students who are very disappointed when the yearbooks arrive and their parents didn't order one. If you prefer not to order a yearbook, your child can bring in a notebook, etc., for class signatures, but the yearbook does make a nice keepsake. Here is the information for ordering:
Please order by April 30th so it will arrive in time for the last week of school. Yearbooks will be distributed to students in class during the last week of school.
Prices are below:
- Hardcover: $30.00
- Softcover: $21.00
Don't forget that you can customize pages for your student as well for an additional fee. This is where you can add photos of your child in sports, vacations, family events, etc. This is also a great option if you missed the deadline to submit candid photos of your child for the yearbook!
Kindergarten Family Day
Our big year-end event in kindergarten is Kindergarten Family Day, on Friday, May 9th. This event will be for all kindergarten families, and will take place in the Makerspace and outside areas. The event is at the start of school, from 8:15 to 9:30. Kindergartners and their parent(s) will be able to enjoy STEAM activities and projects and meet with other kindergarten families as a Mother's Day/Father's Day celebration. We hope all the students will have at least one parent join them for this event.
Fantasy Fair: Splashtacular
Alta Vista's annual school carnival, the Fantasy Fair, will be held on the evening of Friday, May 9th (same day as our Kindergarten Family Day). Come back to school with your child(ren) for an evening of games, prizes, and fun!
Open House
On the evening of May 21st (last year it was at 6:00), the Alta Vista campus is open for you to come enjoy Open House, where all the wonderful projects your students have recently made will be on display. This is an important event to your children-- they love showing off all their hard work. Please mark your calendars!
Mulitcultural Fair & Art Vista Show
Mark your calendars for the Multicultural Fair and Art Vista art show on Friday, May 30th. The Multicultural Fair is another hallmark Alta Vista event! Students will be performing in the cultural presentations and dances, and families from our class will be 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!
**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
**There are still a couple of center/library openings left. Check out the Sign-Up Genius to come in and help
This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Emily & Shelbie)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Tsuping & Alexandria)
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Reader: Emily, Check-out: Shelbie), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15 LAST DAY TO ORDER YEARBOOKS
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Emily & Shelbie)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Tsuping & Alexandria)
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Reader: Emily, Check-out: Shelbie), Music @ 12:15, Dismissal @ 1:15 LAST DAY TO ORDER YEARBOOKS
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 4/30: Yearbook Orders due
Friday, 5/9: Kindergarten Family Day 8:15-9:30
Friday, 5/9: AV Fantasy Fair 5:00-8:00 pm
Wednesday, 5/21: Open House
Friday, 5/30: Multicultural Night
