Week of April 22nd

We are so excited for our field trip this Wednesday the 24th! A few important things:

Please send a snack and a lunch. We will eat snack before we leave, but we will be picnicking at Prusch Farm for lunch. If you ordered a school bag lunch, it will be in the classroom for your child. Everyone else needs to bring a lunch and water bottle from home, preferably packed in a disposable bag so that we don't have to keep track of too many things. Please label lunch bags with your child's name.

• Children must wear their class t-shirts (mandatory). This helps us keep track of all students since they are wearing the same color-- they are much easier to spot.
• Children should wear close-toed shoes appropriate for walking. We will walk around the farm and will probably also visit Prusch Farm's playground.
• Dismissal time on Wednesday is 1:15, as usual on Wednesdays
• Parent chaperones should arrive at school at 9:15. Please sign in, as usual when you are volunteering, and head to the classroom. Even though you are driving separately, I will need your help to get the children all packed up with their lunches and onto the bus, You will drive your car(s) after the kids are on the bus & meet us at the farm.
• We are looking forward to a fun day.

Language Arts
This week, we will continue to focus on farm animals in preparation for our field trip. We have many great fiction and non-fiction books that we will be reading to learn more about farms and farm animals. Our sight word this week is come.

We will continue to focus on digraphs in Fundations. Ask your children to point out digraphs in the stories you read together. In Fundations, we focus on the digraphs sh, th, ch, wh, and ck. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Math
We are continuing with the subtraction unit. We've been using 10 frames, number bonds, fingers, and other manipulatives to develop subtraction fluency. Thank you for your continued support with this concept. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

We enjoyed our math centers run by students from UMS last week.

STEAM
Last week, we began a new activity in the Makerspace, Snap Circuits. It was wonderful to watch the children work in pairs to get their circuits to turn on a light and start up a fan. We will head back to the Makerspace again on Wednesday, May 1st.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Open House
On the evening of May 22nd at 6:00, the Alta Vista campus is open for you to come enjoy both a STEAM night in the Makerspace, and coming to our classroom to see all the wonderful projects that will be on display. This is an important event to your children-- they love showing off all their hard work. Please mark your calendars!

Kindergarten Family Day
Our big year-end event in kindergarten is Kindergarten Family Day, on Thursday May 30th. 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 last hurrah to our kindergarten year. We hope all the students will have at least one parent join them for this event.

Mulitcultural Fair & Art Vista Show
Mark your calendars for the Multicultural Fair and Art Vista art show on Friday, May 31st. 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!

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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Fumi & Aida)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Marianne & Sean)
Wednesday: FIELD TRIP (bring bag lunch & wear Bulldog t-shirt), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: NO Centers
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 4/24: Field trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 4/26: AV Family Dance
Tuesday, 4/30: Spring Pictures
Friday, 5/3 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night (tickets required)
Friday, 5/10: AV Fantasy Fair "Animal Adventure" 5:00-8:00 pm
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Thursday, 5/30: Kindergarten Family Day
Friday, 5/31: AV Multicultural Night & Art Vista Art Show

Week of April 15th

I hope you all have been enjoying a nice week off with your children. As I mentioned before break, we are now into the "final stretch" of kindergarten, and the time will fly by very quickly! I am looking forward to some great fun and learning in the weeks ahead.

If you haven't returned your child's permission slips for our farm field trip on April 24th, please do so by this Wednesday.

Language Arts
For the next two weeks, our focus will be on farm animals. We have many great fiction and non-fiction books that we will be reading to learn more about farms and farm animals. Our sight word this week is where.

We will continue to focus on digraphs in Fundations. Ask your children to point out digraphs in the stories you read together. In Fundations, we focus on the digraphs sh, th, ch, wh, and ck. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Math
We are continuing with the subtraction unit. We've been using 10 frames, number bonds, fingers, and other manipulatives to develop subtraction fluency. Thank you for your continued support with this concept. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

On Thursday, students from UMS will again be coming over to run math centers with the kindergartners. This was a fun collaboration in the winter, and we are looking forward to their centers this week.

STEAM
We are continuing to head over to the Makerspace on Wednesdays in April, using a variety of materials there. A big part of STEAM activities is collaboration. This is often hard for kindergartners, as they want the project to be exactly what they want, instead of compromising with group members. We will continue to encourage cooperation & collaboration with various STEAM activities.

Spring Fling
Although the weather didn't totally cooperate with us for our Spring Fling before the break, we were happy that the sun did at least come out and we were able to get outside for the event. Thank you to all the parent helpers for this event-- the kids had a great time.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Open House
On the evening of May 22nd (last year it was at 6:00), the Alta Vista campus is open for you to come enjoy both a STEAM night in the Makerspace, and coming to our classroom to see all the wonderful projects that will be on display. This is an important event to your children-- they love showing off all their hard work. Please mark your calendars!

Kindergarten Family Day
Our big year-end event in kindergarten is Kindergarten Family Day, on Thursday May 30th. 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 last hurrah to our kindergarten year. We hope all the students will have at least one parent join them for this event.

Mulitcultural Fair & Art Vista Show
Mark your calendars for the Multicultural Fair and Art Vista art show on Friday, May 31st. 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!

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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday:
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Fumi & Kaela)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Kristen & Aida), Makerspace, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: UMS Math Student centers @ 10:30, Centers @ 12:20 (Fumi & Aida)
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Thursday, 4/18: UMS Math Students Visit
Wednesday, 4/24: Field trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 4/26: AV Family Dance
Friday, 5/10: AV Fantasy Fair "Animal Adventure" 5:00-8:00 pm
Wednesday, 5/22: Open House
Tuesday, 4/30: Spring Pictures
Friday, 5/3 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night (tickets required)

Week of April 1st

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 45 school days, so keep supporting your children at home by reinforcing concepts and doing lots of reading & writing.

Classroom Help
I added more dates to the Sign-Up Genius for parent volunteers in April.

Field Trip
We have a field trip coming up on April 24th! We will be going to Prusch Farm Park. This is always a great trip, as there are often baby animals to see at this time of year. We will also go on a hay ride and look at their crops. A permission slip for this field trip will come home in this week's Wednesday envelope. There will be two permission slips: one from Union School District, and one from the City of San Jose. The city's permission slip is a general form they use for all sorts of city activities (and for all ages, including adults) to gather information about those who participate in city programs. Please do not feel like you need to fill out the entire form for the city. Please read through the information we're attaching to the permission slips about which boxes are required on the city form.

Field Trip Chaperones
While we wish we could take all who wish to go on this trip, we are very limited on space due to the farm's restrictions and can only take 4 parents per class. If you are interested in chaperoning, please read through this document carefully.

Spring Fling
This Thursday 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 and various crafts and activities. Parent helpers for this event, please arrive at 12:20, just like at center time. Thank you!

This Week In Class
Language Arts
Our sight word this week is here. We will continue reading books with a Spring-theme this week.

We will continue to focus on digraphs in Fundations, particularly sh, ch, wh, th, and ck. Parent tips for this unit can be found here.

Math
We will continue with Module 4: Number Pairs, Addition & Subtraction to 10. We will spend the remainder of this school year on subtraction, then move to addition & subtraction word problems and fluency. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

STEAM
We had another fun visit to the Makerspace last Wednesday, where we worked with Strawbees again. We had a 3D shape challenge, and first built one cube as a group, then a cube that they could fit inside. Challenge #2 proved to be quite difficult. This week, our STEAM activities will be at Spring Fling, and we will head back to the Makerspace after Spring Break.

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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday:
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Marianne & Amanda)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Zachery & Francesca, Makerspace, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Spring Fling @ 12:20 (Raji, Kaela, Janelle)
Friday: Music @ 12:30

Upcoming Events
Thursday, 4/4: Spring Fling
4/8-4/12: Spring Break
Wednesday, 4/24: Field trip to Prusch Farm
Friday, 4/26: AV Family Dance
Friday, 5/3 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night

Week of March 18th

We are looking forward to returning to centers this week! 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 a few future openings for centers and library readers on the Sign Up Genius. I've also added a new special event to the sign up, Spring Fling. This is a fun event with Spring-themed crafts and activities that will be on Thursday, 4/4. I hope some of you can join us!

We had a lot of fun on Thursday with the leprechaun traps. The kids were so creative and were true engineers! I look forward to hearing back from them on Monday about what happened to their traps. We also have a trap set up in our classroom, so we'll see what happens over the weekend!

Language Arts
Our sight word this week is said. This is another "heart word." Children should know the beginning sound and the ending sound from their phonics knowledge, but the middle ai is the part they will need to learn "by heart."

We will be reading a lot about rainbows this week, both fiction and non-fiction books. By the end of this week, you should be hearing many rainbow facts from your children.

Math
This week, we return to Module 4: Number Pairs, Addition & Subtraction to 10. We will spend the upcoming weeks on subtraction, then move to addition & subtraction word problems and fluency. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

STEAM
We will take our first trip to the Makerspace on Wednesday, and will be working with Strawbees. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) activities give the students an opportunity to work together to create, as well as solve problems. We look forward to getting started in the Makerspace!

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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday:
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Naira & Marianne)
Wednesday: Library (Phil & Gina), Makerspace, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Need helpers)
Friday: Music, Clay

Upcoming Events
Saturday, 3/23 2:00-4:00: USD Health & Wellness Fair @ UMS
4/8-4/12: Spring Break
Friday, 5/3 @ 5:00: Kindergarten Movie Night

Week of March 11th

I have enjoyed meeting with most of you already for parent-teacher conferences, and I am looking forward to meeting with a few 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. If you need to confirm your time next week, click here. Remember that the 1:15 dismissal time will continue through Wednesday the 13th, with only Thursday being a 1:40 dismissal day this week.

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 Thursday at 12:20. Thank you to Fiorella, Gina, Kristen, and Ryan for helping with the leprechaun traps.

Auction Update
The AVHSC Auction last week was a successful fundraiser and they exceeded their fundraising goal by over $5000! Our kindergarten movie night was also very popular, and 18 students in our class will be joining in for the event on May 3rd. The AVHSC has generously agreed to reopen ticket sales for a few more days in case you missed the auction last weekend & would like your child to join in. The final cut-off (no exceptions!) will be this Friday the 15th. Here is the link if you're interested in one of the remaining 5 tickets: https://altavistahsc.membershiptoolkit.com/packet/9451

Language Arts
Our sight words this week are you and your. We call both of these words "heart words" because they have a part in them (ou) 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.

Math
We are continuing Module 5: Numbers 10-20; Count to 100 by 1s and 10s. We've already covered the counting portion of this module, so our focus now is writing and decomposing numbers in the teens. Parent tips for this module can be found here. We will return to Module 4 for the subtraction portion of that module the following week.

Upcoming Events & Activities
Leprechaun Traps: This Thursday, 3/14, children will be designing and creating their own leprechaun traps! We will send the traps home with the children on Thursday since St. Patrick's Day is on a Sunday. I look forward to hearing about what happened to their traps when they return to school on Monday!

School Spirit Day-- Wear Green: Also on Thursday the 14th, there is a schoolwide Spirit Day. Wear green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little early!

No School Friday the 15th: Union School District Professional Development Day.

USD Health & Wellness Fair 3/23, 2:00-4:00pm: Hosted at Union Middle School, the fair will include many health and wellness centered activities, exhibits, and resources. Members of our community's first responder agencies, medical organizations, and wellness groups will join with activities highlighting sports, movement and exercise, healthy nutrition, bicycle safety, animal-assisted therapy, and much more. You'll also be able to enjoy exciting live student music and dance performances and a special student creativity showcase highlighting inspiration, imagination, and Technicolor Dreams.

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Conferences, Dismissal @ 1:15
Tuesday: Conferences, Dismissal @ 1:15
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Kaela, Aida)
Thursday: Leprechaun Traps (Fiorella, Gina, Kristen, and Ryan), Dismissal @ 1:40
Friday: No School

Week of March 4th

It's auction weekend! Check out the many wonderful items available in the AVHSC online auction here. Remember-- the auction closes tomorrow night at 6:00 pm, and the kindergarten movie night will be the place to be on May 3rd! To avoid having any disappointed children, please log in and buy your child a ticket to this fun & special night out. **If there is financial hardship, please contact me. An anonymous donor is happy to buy a ticket for anyone who needs one.

We start conferences on Monday. I'm looking forward to meeting with you & updating you on your child's progress. If you need to check the schedule, it can be found here. Please note that this is now a "view only" document. If you need to reschedule, please email me. Remember that dismissal will be at 1:15 from Monday, March 4th through Wednesday, March 13th.

We are going to start going to the Makerspace on Wednesday mornings! This will be a time to explore the many STEAM activities available there. We will be kicking off our visits there on 3/20, when we will be building with Strawbees. We will be going to the Makerspace on Wednesday mornings.

Language Arts
Our sight words this week are they and back. Both of these sight words contain digraphs, so we will highlight the digraphs th and ck so that we can orthographically map these words. Here is a great article to read so that you can better understand how words become instantly recognizable and the importance of mapping words so that they can become "sight words."

We are now in our 4th week of Unit 3 in Fundations. Blending sounds to read and spell words is now the main focus in our reading curriculum. There are some great resources in the Unit 3 Fundations Home Support letter.

Math
We are continuing with the module, Module 5: Numbers 10-20; Count to 100 by 1s and 10s. We've already covered the counting portion of this module, so our focus will be writing and decomposing numbers in the teens. Parent tips for this module can be found here. We will return to Module 4 for the subtraction portion of that module after we finish with numbers in the teens.

Upcoming Events & Activities
Leprechaun Traps: On Thursday, 3/14, children will be designing and creating their own leprechaun traps! Most of the materials for this activity are provided by the AVHSC funds, but if you are out and about and see something that looks like a fun addition to our leprechaun traps, we will gladly take your donations for our supply of trap "accessories!" Thank you in advance!

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 bulldogs t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Conferences, dismissal @ 1:15
Tuesday: Conferences, dismissal @ 1:15
Wednesday: Library @ 8(Janelle & Aida), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Conferences, dismissal @ 1:15
Friday: Conferences, dismissal @ 1:15


Upcoming Events
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences, dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday, 3/14: Special Event: Leprechaun Trap Building
Friday, 3/15: No School: Teacher Work Day
Wednesday, 3/20: First trip to the Makerspace @ 8:30
4/8-4/12: Spring Break

Week of February 26th

I hope you are all enjoying some nice family time this week. We start conferences next Monday the 4th. I'm looking forward to meeting with you & updating you on your child's progress. If you need to check the schedule, it can be found here. Remember that dismissal will be at 1:15 from Monday, March 4th through Wednesday, March 13th.

I've added a few new dates on the Sign-Up Genius. One special event to note is that on March 14th, we will be doing a STEAM activity that is an annual favorite: designing and creating leprechaun traps. I hope some of you can join us!

Language Arts
Our sight words this week are for and are. Going hand-in-hand with these sight words, we will also look at the "Bossy R," or r-controlled vowels, which both these words have.

We will continue with the 3rd week of Unit 3 of Fundations. Blending sounds to read and spell words is now the main focus in our reading curriculum. There are some great resources in the Unit 3 Fundations Home Support letter.

Math
We are beginning a new module, Module 5: Numbers 10-20; Count to 100 by 1s and 10s. We've already covered the counting portion of this module, so our focus will be writing and decomposing numbers in the teens. Parent tips for this module can be found here. We will return to Module 4 for the subtraction portion of that module after we finish with numbers in the teens.

Upcoming Events & Activities
Leprechaun Traps: In class on Thursday, 3/14, children will be designing and creating their own leprechaun traps! Most of the materials for this activity are provided by our grade level money from the Home & School Club, but if you are out and about and see something that looks like a fun addition to our leprechaun traps, we will gladly take your donations for our supply of trap "accessories!" Thank you in advance!

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 Bulldogs t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Aida & Judy)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Gina & Sean)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Marianne & Kaela), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Ryan & Aida)
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, 3/14: Special Event: Leprechaun Trap Building
Friday, 3/15: No School: Teacher Work Day
4/8-4/12: Spring Break

Week of February 12th

We will celebrate Valentine's Day in class on Wednesday. One final reminder about the guidelines:

• Please send in a card for each child. There are 23 total students in our class: 14 girls and 9 boys.
• Please ONLY sign the card & put nothing in the TO box. It is challenging enough for kindergartners to pass out valentines to all their classmates. Having the "to" part filled out makes this extremely challenging and it takes far too long. Thank you for your help with this!
• Please try to purchase valentines that do not have candy attached. I know those can sometimes be hard to find, but there are good choices with stickers, play tattoos, and other non-food goodies.

Spring parent-teacher conferences are coming up on March 4 through March 12. Check the sign-ups if you'd like to meet with me. These are optional conferences, but are available to anyone who would like an update on their child's progress.

Language Arts
Our sight words this week are love and into. Love is another tricky word because the sounds don't follow the traditional phonics rules, while into is a compound word composed of two words we've already learned.

We will continue with Unit 3 of Fundations this week. Blending sounds to read and spell words is now the main focus in our reading curriculum. There are some great resources in the Unit 3 Fundations Home Support letter.

Math
We will continue with Module 4 this week. In class, I have noticed that some children are struggling when we move away from physical counters. Encourage your children to use their fingers to find the answers. Any reinforcement you can provide at home on solving addition problems is appreciated.


**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 Bulldogs t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Aida & Sean)
Tuesday
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Eileen & Juliet), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, 2/14: Valentines Exchange
2/19-2/23: President's Week Vacation
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, 3/15: No School: Teacher Work Day

Week of February 5th

We have "Snow Day" this week on Monday. See below for details on this winter-themed school day.

I have added a few more dates on our Sign-Up Genius, If you're interested in either helping with Centers or Library, please check it out! We need 1 more helper for Tuesday.

Spring parent-teacher conferences are coming up on March 4 through March 12. Check the sign-ups if you'd like to meet with me. These are optional conferences, but are available to anyone who would like an update on their child's progress. I would really like to meet with anyone whose child had more than two areas marked with a "B" last trimester.

Language Arts
Our sight words this week are his and to. We now are up to 31 sight words! Please check the words on the class website to ensure your child is retaining these words.

We will begin Unit 3 of Fundations this week. Blending sounds to read and spell words is now the main focus in our reading curriculum. There are some great resources in the Unit 3 Fundations Home Support letter.

Math
We will continue with Module 4 this week. In class, I have noticed that some children are struggling when we move away from physical counters. Encourage your children to use their fingers to find the answers. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Kimochis

This week, your child will learn the fifth Kimochis® Key to Communication: Redo hurtful moments. This key helps us remember to own and name our mistakes by apologizing and making things right. Although younger children may not always realize when they have said or done something wrong, they need to understand why it’s important to say they’re sorry. Learning the words “I’m sorry” comes faster than the genuine feeling behind it.1 As children develop the ability to take the perspective of someone else (between ages 3 and 4), their apology skills will improve. Kimochis® Cat comes with bandages that can help young children understand that hurt feelings are like an injury that needs attention. Children who can learn to redo communication mistakes will have healthier and more successful social relationships.

UPCOMING
Snow Day:
Snow Day will be on Monday the 5th. This is a day when the children come to school all dressed in their snow gear-- whatever items you have. Mittens, knit hats, jackets, snow boots, scarves, goggles, etc. are all welcome! Please do not buy anything special for this day, just use what you have or borrow from a friend. They wear their gear, and then we will be having a "snowball fight" among all our K classes using wadded up recycled paper just after our 10:00 recess. Children should bring a separate bag for their snow gear for taking on and off, as it gets too warm wearing some of those items all day. They also tend to get lost if we don't have a place to put them. If they fit in your child's backpack, that is fine too. Our centers on Monday will all be snow-themed. It is always lots of fun.

Valentines Day:
I know that valentines are now available in most stores, and children will be asking about our celebration. We will exchange cards in class on February 14th, but this is not a "party." We have a fun celebration of friendship, exchange valentines, and take them home to show our families. So that you can prepare for this event, I wanted to share some information:

• Please send in a card for each child. There are 24 total students in our class: 13 girls and 9 boys.
• Please ONLY sign the card & put nothing in the TO box. It is challenging enough for kindergartners to pass out valentines to all their classmates. Having the "to" part filled out makes this extremely challenging and it takes far too long. Thank you for your help with this!
• Please try to purchase valentines that do not have candy attached. I know those can sometimes be hard to find, but there are good choices with stickers, play tattoos, and other non-food goodies.

**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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Snow Day, Centers @ 12:20 (Aida & Naira)
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Zachary & ?)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Kaela & Aida), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Janelle & Fumi)
Friday: Music @ 12:30

Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/5: Snow Day
Wednesday, 2/14: Valentines Exchange
2/19-2/23: President's Week Vacation
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, 3/15: No School: Teacher Work Day

Week of January 30th

**No School Monday: Teacher Work Day

It was great hearing about all the kind acts of our Bulldogs during Kindness Week last week. I was so impressed with the things students were doing to be kind! It was wonderful emphasizing kind acts in the classroom, as well as at home. I hope you benefitted from plenty of kind acts in your home last week!

Spring parent-teacher conferences are coming up on March 4 through March 12. I sent the sign-ups out for those last week. These are optional conferences, but are available to anyone who would like an update on their child's progress.

100 Day
This Wednesday is 100 Day! This is a fun celebration of the number 100 and being at school together for 100 days. There is a schoolwide Spirit Day on this day-- dress like you are 100 years old. As always, Spirit Days are totally optional, but very fun. I look forward to seeing many 100-year-old Bulldogs on Wednesday!

Language Arts
We have many fun stories to read and center activities to do in honor of 100 Day- it will be an all week celebration. Our sight words this week are my and is. This is the last week of Unit 2 in Fundations. We will finish upper case letter instruction, covering letters Qq through Zz this week.

A big emphasis right now is using our knowledge of letter sounds, word families, and sight words to write simple sentences. Children need to be able to put together a readable sentence on their own by the end of kindergarten. Encourage your children to write and spell phonetically as often as possible to build their abilities as independent writers. Try to resist the temptation to spell words for them if they ask, rather, encourage them to "stretch the word out" and put down all the sounds they hear themselves. They can write notes to you, grocery lists, cards for family members, etc.

Math
We will continue with Module 4 this week; just the addition portion of this module will last up until President's Week Break. Parent tips for this module can be found here. I have noticed that some students need extra reinforcement with addition. Use objects you have at home such as Legos, Cheerios, pennies, etc. to encourage children to work on their addition skills.

We will also have lots of number & counting fun this week in celebration of 100 Day.

Kimochis
This week, your child will learn the fourth Kimochis® Key to Communication: Choose helping words. This key helps us to both think before we speak and consider our word choices. Typically, children acquire a basic ability to understand another’s perspective between 3 and 4 years of age. This allows them to become caring people. However, they will need modeling and practice to do so. In our lesson, we will talk about words that make hearts feel good and words that hurt feelings and your hearts. Your child knows that everybody makes mistakes and can accidentally use words that hurt. Your child will learn to use the following communication tool when hurting words are used: 1. Place your hand over your heart. 2. Show a gentle, but hurt facial expression. 3. Make eye contact with the person who hurt you. 4. Say, “Ouch” in a soft, but hurt tone. The children now know that this is a safe, kind way to express hurt feelings. If a mistake is made, family members can use this tool so they can apologize and make things better.

Snacks
All the kindergarten teachers have noticed an uptick in children bringing candy for snacks. Although we love sweet treats too, we don't recommend this as a good choice to help fuel your child for learning. If we could save the candy for a treat at home, that would be much appreciated.

Upcoming Events
Valentines Day: I know that valentines are now available in most stores, and children will be asking about our celebration. We will exchange cards in class on February 14th, but this is not a "party." We have a fun celebration of friendship, exchange valentines, and take them home to show our families. So that you can prepare for this event, I wanted to share some information:

• Please send in a card for each child. There are 23 total students in our class: 14 girls and 9 boys.
• Please ONLY sign the card & put nothing in the TO box. It is challenging enough for kindergartners to pass out valentines to all their classmates. Having the "to" part filled out makes this extremely challenging and it takes far too long. Thank you for your help with this!
• Please try to purchase valentines that do not have candy attached. I know those can sometimes be hard to find, but there are good choices with stickers, play tattoos, and other non-food goodies.

**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 Bulldogs t-shirts to show your school pride (this week it's dressing like you're 100 years old instead)

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: No School: Staff Work Day
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Michelle & Marianne)
Wednesday: Library (Ryan & Aida), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Ryan & Raji)
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Monday, 1/29: No School: Teacher Work Day
Wednesday, 1/31: 100th Day of School
Monday, 2/5: Snow Day
Wednesday, 2/14: Valentines Exchange
2/19-2/23: President's Week Vacation
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Week of January 22nd

*We are in need of 1 more center helper for Tuesday and Thursday, as well as other dates. If you are able to help, use this link to sign-up. Your time is greatly appreciated.

As you may have seen in Mrs. Bailey's weekly update, we are kicking off "The Great Kindness Challenge" this week at school. This is an opportunity to really focus as a family on how our kind acts can help make everyone's day a little better. In kindergarten, we will be keeping track of kind acts with a "kindness chain." Children can come in each morning and tell me about a kind act they did at home, and we will also celebrate kind acts done at school. When children tell me about a kind act, they will receive a loop for our kindness chain. They write their name on the loop, and we will add it to our classroom chain. We are hoping that by the end of the week, our chain gets all the way across the classroom! You can support children at home by reminding them to tell me about a kind act you saw them do and brainstorming ways that they can be kind & helpful, both at home and at school. You can find a list of some simple ideas here.

Spring parent-teacher conferences are coming up on March 4 through March 12. I will send the sign-ups out for those soon. These are optional conferences, but are available to anyone who would like an update on their child's progress. However, if your child had several areas marked with a "B," I would like to meet with you.

Language Arts
We will continue reading snow-themed stories and do writing projects and crafts around this theme. This week we will focus on the book, Snowmen at Night. The culmination of this theme will end with "Snow Day" on February 5th. Children will come to school dressed up in any winter gear they have, and we'll have some snow-themed fun! Our sight words this week are like and see.

Our emphasis in Fundations will continue to be blending sounds to read and write words with fluency. We also continue to work on the formation of upper case letters, covering two letters per day. This week, we will cover letters Ii through Pp. As I said last week, the Fundations Parent Letter has a lot of great tips on ways to encourage blending, as well as guides to correct formation of the upper case letters.

Math
We will continue with Module 4 this week; just the addition portion of this module will last up until President's Week Break. Parent tips for this module can be found here. I do recommend that you look these over, because there will be some new vocabulary for those of you who do not have older students who have done the Eureka math program. Of particular importance are the words "compose" (finding numbers that add up to a given number-- like 3 & 2 compose 5) "decompose" (take apart a number-- like 5 can be 4 & 1 OR 3 & 2) and number bonds (a model to show mathematical thinking).

Kimochis
This week, your child will learn the third Kimochis® Key to Communication: Use a Talking Face and Body. We will practice strategies for maintaining a positive facial expression and body language when experiencing upset emotions and conflicts instead of a mean or hurtful facial expression (Fighting Face) and body language. When your child can keep his/her face and body from looking aggressive or hurtful, others will be more willing to listen. Your child will learn how to notice and read the facial expressions and body language of others as a way to understand the emotion behind the words. Your child will also learn a communication tool called the Talking Hand. This is a positive and effective strategy your child can use to respond to peers or siblings when they grab.

Art Vistas
We have an Art Vista lesson this week, and we will be doing fish prints! This lesson is always a highlight. We use rubber fish and will be stamping them onto canvas bags. Your students will have a beautiful canvas bag after this lesson.

Upcoming Events
100 Day: We will be celebrating our 100th day of school on January 31st! That week, our center activities will be around the number 100. The 100th day celebration is just a fun way to celebrate 100 days of school after we've been counting up to this day during calendar time.

Valentines Day: I know that valentines are now available in most stores, and children will be asking about our celebration. We will exchange cards in class on February 14th, but this is not a "party." We have a fun celebration of friendship, exchange valentines, and take them home to show our families. So that you can prepare for this event, I wanted to share some information:

1. Please send in a card for each child. There are 23 total students in our class: 14 girls and 9 boys.
2. Please ONLY sign the card & put nothing in the TO box. It is challenging enough for kindergartners to pass out valentines to all their classmates. Having the "to" part filled out makes this extremely challenging and it takes far too long. Thank you for your help with this!
3. Please try to purchase valentines that do not have candy attached. I know those can sometimes be hard to find, but there are good choices with stickers, play tattoos, and other non-food goodies.

**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 Bulldogs t-shirts to show your school pride.

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers @ 12:20 (Aida & Fiorella)
Tuesday: Art Vistas, Centers @ 12:20 ( Marianne & ?)
Wednesday: Library (Aida), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Sean & ?)
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Monday, 1/29: No School: Teacher Work Day
Wednesday, 1/31: 100th Day of School
Monday, 2/5: Snow Day
Wednesday, 2/14: Valentines Exchange
2/19-2/23: President's Week Vacation
3/4-3/12: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Week of January 16th

I hope you are all enjoying the long weekend. This week, we will hit the half-way mark (90th school day) in our kindergarten year. This is where the kindergarten curriculum really takes off, and your continued support with the curriculum will be especially important at this time. Reading to your children and asking them questions about what they are reading, helping them blend and read/write short vowel words (eg: hop, can, rat, etc.) and reinforcing math facts and sight words is really important at this time.

*We are in need of 1 more center helper for Tuesday as well as other dates in January. If you are able to help, use this link to sign-up. Your time is greatly appreciated.

Language Arts
We will begin reading many snow-themed stories for the next couple of weeks, and do writing projects and crafts around this theme. The culmination of this theme will end with "Snow Day" on Monday, February 5th. Children will come to school dressed up in any winter gear they have, and we'll have some snow-themed fun!
Our sight words this week are this and that. Our emphasis in Fundations will continue to be blending sounds to read and write words with fluency. This week, we will also begin instruction on the formation of upper case letters, covering two letters per day. As I said last week, the Fundations Parent Letter has a lot of great tips on ways to encourage blending, as well as guides to correct formation of the upper case letters.

Math
We will continue with Module 4 this week; just the addition portion of this module will last up until President's Week Break. Parent tips for this module can be found here. I do recommend that you look these over, because there will be some new vocabulary for those of you who do not have older students who have done the Eureka math program. Of particular importance are the words "compose" (finding numbers that add up to a given number-- like 3 & 2 compose 5) "decompose" (take apart a number-- like 5 can be 4 & 1 OR 3 & 2) and number bonds (a model to show mathematical thinking).

**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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride.

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: NO SCHOOL: MLK Day
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Kristen & ?)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Ryan & Naira), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Grace & Hyunkyung)
Friday: Music

Upcoming Events
Monday, 1/15: No School: MLK Holiday
Monday, 1/29: No School: Teacher Work Day
Wednesday, 1/31: 100th Day of School
Monday, 2/5: Snow Day
Wednesday, 2/14: Valentines Exchange

Week of January 4th and 8th

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation & are rested and ready to get back into the swing of things on Thursday! We are still in need of 2 center helpers for Tuesday 1/9 and 1 center helper for Thursday 1/11. Please use the link below to sign-up. Your time is greatly appreciated!

Center Help

Smart Re-Start
We will ease into our first few days back with some fun Fairy Tale STEAM activities. We will build structures that the "Big Bad Wolf" (AKA a hair dryer!) can't blow down, and we will try and find a material to cushion Humpty Dumpty from his fall off the wall. The district calls this week a "Smart Re-Start" to get the kids excited about returning to school.

Language Arts
Next week, we will introduce two new sight words, the and she. We will begin Unit 2 of the Fundations program. The main focus of this unit is blending sounds to read words. We start with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) three-letter words. We encourage the children to "tap" or "chop" these words into their individual sounds (see the parent letter for explicit directions on how to reinforce this), and then blend those sounds together to both read and spell the words. In this unit, we will also be reviewing the formation of several upper case letters each week. There is only one parent letter for all of Unit 2, which can be found here. There are many valuable resources and ideas for supporting the reading of CVC words in the Unit 2 parent letter, and I encourage you to check it out.

During the week of 1/8, we will be studying bears. We will write about different attributes and habits of bears and do a few bear-themed crafts.

Math
We will begin Module 4, Number Pairs, Addition & Subtraction to 10. This is a core module in kindergarten, as it provides all the foundational skills to be successful at addition & subtraction. This module will continue for many weeks. Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Kimochis
Next week, your child will learn the second Kimochis® Key to Communication: Use a Talking Voice. This key helps children stay aware of how they use the tone and volume of their voice. Sometimes when we have upset feelings, it is easy to yell or use a tone of voice that makes the situation worse instead of better. The lesson will teach your child how to use a Talking Voice rather than a defensive, aggressive, or Fighting Voice. When we feel upset and are able to use a Talking Voice, we raise the odds that others will want to understand our feelings and resolve conflicts. Your child will also learn how to pay attention to the tone of voice of others as a way to understand the emotion behind the words.

Our Social Studies lessons in the TCI program will also focus on solving problems with others in more effective ways.

**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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride.

Week of 1/8 Helpers & Activities
Monday: Centers (Aida & Brian)
Tuesday: Centers (?)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Phil & Gina), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers (Janelle & ?)
Friday: Music @ 12:30

Upcoming Events
Thursday, 1/4: School resumes
Monday, 1/15: No School: MLK Holiday
Monday, 1/29: No School: Teacher Work Day
Wednesday, 1/31: 100th Day of School