Saturday, May 11, 2024

Week of May 13th

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 K1 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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride


This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday:
No Centers
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Amanda & Janelle)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30, (Ryan & Judy), Makerspace, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Amanda & Fiorella)
Friday: Music

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

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Week Of May 6th

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, gift cards, and flowers. My house looks amazing with all the beautiful flower arrangements!

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! A flyer that tells more about the cake decorating contest is attached.

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 Bulldog t-shirts to show your school pride

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: No Centers
Tuesday: Centers @ 12:20 (Brian & Amanda)
Wednesday: Library @ 8:30 (Kaela & Janelle), Makerspace, Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Centers @ 12:20 (Naira & Judy)
Friday: Music

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