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)
