Week of 12/12

 The main business of this week is all things Nutcracker! We will be practicing daily this week, so there will be no centers. I still could use 1-2 people to help with costuming and makeup on Wednesday morning. If you are available for this, please email me, otherwise we won't have makeup. I will need help right at the start of school.

This Week's Special Events

Holiday Spirit Week:

This is another schoolwide Spirit Week. Participation is always optional, but the children really enjoy seeing each other dressed up:

Monday: Festive hat day

Tuesday: Tacky Sweater Day

Wednesday: Class t-shirt day (We won't be able to participate until after the Nutcracker-- pack your t-shirts in your backpack)

Thursday: Flannel Fun

Friday: PJ Day

Nutcracker:
A reminder about clothing for the Nutcracker: please remember to dress your children in the clothes suggested in the letter sent home in the Wednesday envelope two weeks ago. Children should come to school dressed in these items on Wednesday. Girls who are wearing leotards can wear something over the top of their leotards when they arrive and change into their ballet shoes for the performance. As a reminder, here is the list:

MARIE/FRITZ: Bathrobe/pajamas & slippers
NUTCRACKER/SOLDIERS/TROPAK DANCERS: White Shirt & Dark Pants w/ dark shoes
MICE/MOUSE QUEEN/CHOCOLATE DANCER BOYS: Dark Shirt & Dark Pants & dark shoes

CHOCOLATE DANCER GIRLS: Black leotard or t-shirt, black tights or leggings (skirt provided)
SUGAR PLUM, RIBBON CANDY, FLOWERS: Light colored leotard/light colored tights/ballet slippers or light colored shoes-- leotards with tutus attached are fine & encouraged for Sugar Plum Fairies & Flowers, especially. Ribbon tutu provided for Ribbon Candies.
COFFEE DANCERS: Light colored fitted shirt w/ leggings or more form-fitting pants OR leotard w/ no tutu (we provide the Harem pants)
TEA DANCERS: Shirt doesn't matter so much (will be wearing jacket we provide) dark pants, dark shoes.

Please borrow whatever you need to borrow-- we don't intend for anyone to have to buy anything. We still have several leotards and a few pairs of ballet slippers in the classroom that are also available-- let me know if you need to borrow. I will send them home with children who want to borrow one on Monday. Please email me to let me know you'd like to borrow one.

Please arrive promptly in the cafeteria for the Nutcracker, as we intend to start the show right at 9:15. Also, please do not try to come early and save seats. We will be keeping the doors locked until about 10 minutes before the performance. If you do not have a visitor's badge from the office, you will need to get one before entering the cafeteria for the performance. As a reminder, you can check in with the office to get a visitor's badge anytime during school hours between now and the date of the performance. Once you have your badge, everyone will be directed to line up behind the marked cone that will be placed near the front entrance of the school until the doors are open. There are plenty of seats for everyone, so no need to stress!

Nutcracker Photography:

We want everyone to enjoy the performance, so please refrain from standing (blocking views) and blocking the aisles. It is no fun to watch a performance with a raised camera in front of you blocking your view-- I've had this happen to me at several performances, and I ask that you refrain from this behavior. If you want to take pictures, please go to the back row or off to the side. 

On another photography note, we will have Ms. Howe (Mrs. Grist's student teacher) at the performance recording a video of it on an iPad. She & I will also be taking photographs of the children in their costumes before the performance. You will have access to these photos & the video, so that you can spend your time on Thursday enjoying the performance. The only tripod that will be set up for videos is ours-- there simply isn't space in the cafeteria for multiple tripods, so please leave your tripods at home. 

Front Row Tickets Auction:
Finally, we wanted to let you know that the Home & School Club will be auctioning off 4 pairs of front-row tickets to the show. The online auction will open at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday and will close at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. All money will go to the enrichment programs that HSC supports. It's a win-win! Get front row seats AND support Alta Vista's enrichment programs. Look for the link to the auction on Sunday morning!

Holiday Party:
We will have our holiday party and gift exchange on Friday the 16th. This is a pajama party! Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas as we enjoy a fun breakfast and crafts. Please also remember to send in your gift for the gift exchange by Wednesday. Thank you! It can say From, your child's name, but not who it is for.

Center Help
Thank you for such wonderful parent support in centers for all of 2022. There are still spots left for those who are interested in joining us for centers in early 2023. Please see the Sign-Up Genius to sign up.

Upcoming
When we return from Winter Break on January 3rd, we are having a special district-wide week called "Smart Restart." Basically, it's a week of activities to get children excited about returning to school. We will be doing some hands-on projects and having time to play to ease our way back into school.

Happy Holidays and enjoy your break!

Reminders
**P.E. is every FRIDAY-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness (this week we are in Room 2 so shoes that are easy to take off and on).
**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week. (Even though we will not go to library this week, we are still going to return our books)

**Panda t-shirt day is Friday each week (canceled this week for PJ Day)

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 12/14: Nutcracker Performance @ 9:15

12/19-1/2: Winter Break

Week of 1/3: Smart Restart

Monday, 1/16: No School: MLK Day

Monday, 1/30: No School: Professional Development Day

Week of 11/14

 Panda Parents, 

I hope you are all enjoying a long weekend. In the upcoming week, we will continue parent-teacher conferences through Thursday. I have enjoyed meeting with many of you so far, and have gained some great insights about your children from you. Thank you for meeting with me and being such active participants in your child's education. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you this week. If you need to check your conference time, you can find it on this document. Please note that this sign-up can no longer be edited. If you need to reschedule your conference, please email me. 

For this week, early dismissal at 1:15 continues through Friday.

There will be no classroom centers again this week, due to the early dismissal. Centers will resume on Tuesday the 29th. There are volunteer spots available for December!

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

Monday is Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. This is a schoolwide event. Please help us acknowledge the difference made by this young kindergartener by wearing purple and/or walking to school. 

Friendship Feast

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our Friendship Feast on 11/18 at 10:00.  A few reminders:

• Similar to the Halloween parade, you must go through the office & scan your license to enter campus. You may want to come in earlier this week when you're on campus in the morning or during conferences to pre-register and get your sticker. Although the line won't be as long as for Halloween, since only kindergarten is involved in this event, you still want to allow plenty of time to get through the office (if not pre-registered) since we will be doing a brief performance right at 10:00.
• Please do not enter the cafeteria before we bring the children in, unless you volunteered to help with setup! They will be forming a large open rectangle for their performance of a couple of songs. It will be best for you to wait until we get in position so that you can choose where you stand around the outside of that rectangle, based on the location of your child.
• Please remember to label all dishes & servingware that you bring to this event, especially if you have to leave early. If you stay until the end, please take your dishes with you when you leave. Thank you!
• Please do not send in any dishes with peanuts or tree nuts. Thank you!
• It's a Friday so students can wear their class panda t shirt!

Language Arts

This week, we will wrap up the introduction of all letters with Qq and Zz. If you notice that your child does not recognize all upper & lower case letters, as well as know all letter sounds, please provide additional reinforcement at home. To help your child form this week's letters correctly, please see the Fundations Family Letter. In this week's newsletter, there is also an activity to review all letters and their sounds. Our sight words this week are run and big. For a list of the 21 sight words (also called high frequency words) we've introduced so far, as well as all words we'll be studying this year, please see the class website. Again, if you notice that your child is not able to read these sight words, please continue working on them at home.

I LOVED seeing all the disguised turkeys turned in. They are so great! This week, children will be sharing the turkeys that they disguised. They will do a little presentation in front of the class where they will talk about their turkey. After Thanksgiving, we will begin circulating a book of all the turkey projects so that you can enjoy them at home with your child.

Math
In math this week, we will continue reviewing all concepts we've covered so far. We will begin a new unit on measurement after Thanksgiving.

Nutcracker
Looking ahead on your calendars at this busy time of year, I wanted to make sure that you all mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 14th at 9:15 a.m.-- our performance of The Nutcracker. This is an annual kindergarten favorite. If you are heading out of town that week and your child won't be at school on the 14th, please let me know so that I can plan parts accordingly.

Reminders
**P.E. is every Friday-- please send your children in shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness. (PE is canceled this week due to the shortened days, but will resume after Thanksgiving Break)
**Library is every Wednesday. Please send your child's book back to school by Tuesday each week

**Panda t-shirt days are every Friday.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Art Vista at 10:20-11:30 (Lia, Mariola and space for one more helper on the sign up!) Dismissal @ 1:15

Tuesday: No centers, dismissal @ 1:15

Wednesday: Library (Bora & Mariola), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: No centers, dismissal @ 1:15

Friday: Friendship Feast @ 10:00, no centers, dismissal @ 1:15 

*** A couple of parents have asked if they can check their student out for the day after the Feast and that is fine. Please let me know ahead of time and you will also need to sign them out at the office on the day of.

Upcoming Events

1/14-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences continue

Friday, 11/18: Friendship Feast @ 10:00

11/21-11/25: Thanksgiving Break

12/12: Art Vista

Wednesday, 12/14: Nutcracker Performance @ 9:15

12/19-1/2: Winter Break

Week of 11/7

Panda Parents,

Anyone else's kids wake up at 5 am today?!  I hope you are enjoying the weekend and I hope you enjoyed an extra hour of sleep or the status quo.   

I am looking forward to meeting with everyone in the upcoming two weeks! I really enjoy parent teacher conferences and connecting with families. Remember that for the next two weeks, dismissal will be at 1:15 daily. If you need to check your conference time, you can find it on this document. Please note that this sign-up can no longer be edited. If you need to reschedule your conference, please email me. 

You may have heard that one of the Pandas will be joining the TK class starting this Monday. The class and I had a brief discussion about this. Your children will still see the former classmate on the playground during snack recess and lunch recess. We discussed that we will NOT ask the former classmate questions about her move to TK. I answered that question for them in a simple manner during our class conversation. We WILL continue to say hello and play with this classmate at school and at extended care. Some of the classmates were sad about this on Friday and a couple pandas were absent. Our discussion revolved around how her birthday makes her almost a whole year younger than many of the pandas and that the school made a mistake. To fix the mistake, the school decided it would be best for her to join the TK class.  Thank you for your help in coaching your child to be kind and to move forward regarding this matter. 

Special Family Project

I am excited to see all the decorated turkeys this week! You can start sending those in on Monday, but no later than Wednesday. Remember that Wednesday envelopes will go home on Tuesday the 8th this week, so if you'd like to send your child's turkey back in the envelope on Wednesday, that would be perfect.

Classroom Help

After some discussion with the Kinder team, I've added a few more dates on the Sign-Up Genius for centers in December. We've decided to do an additional week of centers in December, the week of 12/5. Please see the Sign-Up Genius if you are interested. As always, thank you so much for volunteering at centers and making small group instruction possible.

Friendship Feast

Thank you for signing up so quickly to help out and bring items for our Friendship Feast on 11/18 at 10:00. Several people were very generous with their time and food donations! If anyone who signed up for multiple things would like to drop out of an item, that would be totally fine. The Sign-Up Genius is for the ENTIRE grade level, so there are plenty of people to fill the slots. Please let me know if you are unable to join us for the Feast so that I can pair your child with another family to get help with going down the buffet line. Thank you!

In Class This Week

Language Arts:

We are about to wrap up the introduction of all letters when we introduce the letters Xx and Yy this week. The only letters remaining are Qq and Zz. If you notice that your child does not recognize all upper & lower case letters, as well as know all letter sounds, please provide additional reinforcement at home. To help your child form this week's letters correctly, please see the Fundations Family Letter. Our sight words this week are yes and no. For a list of the 19 sight words (also called high frequency words) we've introduced so far, as well as all words we'll be studying this year, please see the class website. Again, if you notice that your child is not able to read these sight words, please continue working on them at home. Note - this can be done with flashcards but not necessarily as a flashcard thing. You want to discuss what the letters say (refer to better alphabet song). All the sight words taught so far are decodable. 

Math

This will be a review week in math. Children should continue working on counting to 100 by 1s and 10s, counting on from any given number, and writing numbers legibly and correctly to 20.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please return your child's library book by Tuesday each week.

**Remember to wear shoes and clothes appropriate for fitness on Fridays.

**Panda t-shirt days are every Friday.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: dismissal @ 1:15

Tuesday: No centers, White envelopes go home, dismissal @ 1:15

Wednesday: Library (Lia & Jose), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: NO SCHOOL: Professional Development Day

Friday: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Upcoming Events

1/7-11/18: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, 11/9: Return completed turkey project to school

Thursday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Staff Development Day

Friday, 11/11: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Friday, 11/18: Friendship Feast @ 10:00

11/21-11/25: Thanksgiving Break

Week of 10/31

Hello parents, 

I hope those pandas got some good rest last night after the walk-a-thon. I know I did!

In case you would like to volunteer in the class, there are some openings for the end of November. I will add dates for 2023 in December before the winter break.

If you read this in time and need something to do later today, check out the Helping Harvest Community Event that Union School District is hosting at Dartmouth Middle School today from 3-6PM. Here is more information about it. My family and I will be there. 

We had a great time at the walkathon on Friday and I was so impressed by the walking, running, skipping stamina of our Pandas! Thank you to our room parent Lia for putting together our walkathon banner. You can find photos of our walkers and the banner in the shared google album I emailed Friday after school. 

We are looking forward to more fun on Monday at both the all school parade at 11:00 and our class Halloween party at 12:15. Big thank yous to Jennifer, Jedy, and Lia for planning a fun party. Jedy and Jennifer were in the classroom after school on Friday decorating! And thank you to those who have donated items/funds and their time to the party. The pandas will have so much fun!  Hopefully, you were all able to register in advance for the parade, because the line may be quite long on Monday. Everyone at the parade must have a visitor's badge, and must come through the office to access campus. Thank you for keeping our campus safe.

More Halloween Info

Children should come to school in their costumes, as we won't have time to get 24 children changed into their costumes for the parade. After the parade, children will be going straight to lunch. At this point, costumes should be removed to avoid spilling on or damaging costumes during lunch, and I encourage you to take costumes home with you if you are on campus for the parade. Please have your children wear a layer under their costume that they will be comfortable wearing for the remainder of the day. I do understand that your child may want o wear their costume all day to be festive for the party. That is ultimately up to you/your child. I would consider wearing some Halloween festive clothing under their costume to wear to the party and maybe just a costume accessory for after the parade.

**Thanks to Olive's family in Mrs. Grist's class in K2, there will be a balloon arch in the kindergarten yard (by the gate where we exit) for Halloween photos. If you'd like to take a photo of your child under the balloon arch, you can do that in the morning before school (I'll extend morning tub time and be lenient with marking students tardy on this day) or you can take pictures right after the parade. I will also take pictures of the children during the party. 

Conferences

This is the last week of our regular school schedule before conferences begin on November 7th. During the two weeks beginning 11/7 and ending on 11/18, dismissal will be at 1:15 daily. If you need to check your conference time, you can find it on this document. Please note that this sign-up can no longer be edited. If you need to reschedule your conference, please email me. 

Special Family Project

In this week's Wednesday envelope, we will be sending home a turkey for your child to "disguise." This project goes along with a book we will read in class called Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano. In this funny tale, the turkey does not want to become Thanksgiving dinner, so he disguises himself in many different costumes to avoid getting caught. Your children will receive their own turkey to disguise, along with directions for this project, in their envelope. Examples of this project can be found here and here, but please let your child lead this project with their ideas on how to disguise the turkey. We love seeing these projects year after year and look forward to this year's editions!

Please note, the projects are due back in the following week's envelope, which will go home on a Tuesday due to the staff development day and holiday on 11/10 & 11/11. Therefore, you will return the project in your child's envelope on WEDNESDAY 11/9.

In Class This Week:

Language Arts:

We will introduce the letters Vv and Ww. To help your child form these letters correctly, please see the Fundations Family Letter. Our sight words this week are be and we.

Math

We will wrap up our module on shapes this week, and we will continue to review all concepts introduced so far as we near the end of the trimester. Children should continue working on counting to 100 by 1s and 10s, writing numbers legibly and correctly to 20, and counting on from any given number (ask your child to sing the I Can Count song that we do in class).

Kimochis

We still need to finish up our introductions of Cat from last week. Then we will move on to learning the first Kimochis® Key to Communication: Get someone’s attention. Your child will learn that when we want to get someone’s attention, it is important to call that person’s name. This alerts the person to look. If your child waits for the person to look or make eye contact before speaking, it increases the odds that the people communicating will really listen to each other. Sometimes calling someone’s name is not enough. Your child will learn to use a gentle tap on the shoulder to get attention. When your child knows that the listener is ready to listen, the likelihood of having a positive connection is increased. These are the three communication habits your child will learn: 1. Call the person by name. 2. Wait for eye contact before speaking. 3. Use a Communication Tap (a gentle tap on the shoulder two or three times) to gain attention or eye contact. Now it’s time to speak because we are both focused on the communication interaction.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please return your child's library book by Tuesday each week.

**Remember to wear shoes and clothes appropriate for fitness on Fridays.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Halloween Parade at 11:00 and party at 12:15 (hosts: Jedy & Jennifer. Center leaders and crowd control specialists: Lia, Mariola, Amy, Chu, Jessica, Antonio) 

Tuesday: Long Centers (Danielle & Andrea)

Wednesday: Library (Lia & Apsara), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes, long centers (Jose & Vidya)

Friday: PE with Ms. Amy, wear comfy clothes and shoes!

Upcoming Events

Friday, 11/14: Art Vista Lesson 10:20-11:30 There is still an open slot to help on the sign up genius.

11/7-11/18: Parent-Teacher Conferences, dismissal at 1:15

Tuesday, 11/8: White envelopes sent home a day early

Wednesday, 11/9: Return completed turkey project to school inside white envelope

Thursday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Staff Development Day

Friday, 11/11: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Friday, 11/18: Friendship Feast @ 10:30 Families welcome!

Week of 10/24

 Panda Parents, 

There is a lot going on in the upcoming weeks with the walkathon, a spirit week, and Halloween. Apologies for the long email, but there are many important details. In a quick summary:

• Please register for the walkathon to help earn money for AV's enrichment programs. All kids will participate this Friday, but only those registered are eligible for prizes.
• There is a spirit week this week leading up to the walkathon
• If you plan on attending the Halloween parade at 11:00 on 10/31, you must register in advance to be on campus-- details below

Walkathon

The Mummy Mash Walkathon is this Friday, 10/28! All kindergarten students will participate at school on Friday between 10:30 and 11:30 and do as many laps as they can. All students will receive a t-shirt to keep track of their laps, but in order to be eligible for prizes, you must register your student & pay the $40 registration fee. This money all goes to support Alta Vista's enrichment programs, so it's a win for all! For more information about prizes, and to sign up, please see this flier. 

Leading up to the walkathon this week, we have daily spirit days THIS WEEK. Spirit days are totally optional, but are a way to show our Alta Vista pride. Here are the daily themes:

MONDAY: Jersey/Sports Day

TUESDAY: "Tacky Tourist" Day

WEDNESDAY: "I Woke Up Like This" Day

THURSDAY: Neon Day

FRIDAY: Alta Vista Spirit Day

Going forward, I'd like to start having us wear our class t-shirts every Friday, (not mandatory-- just for fun) showcasing our class spirit!

Halloween Parade & Party

As you may have already read in Mrs. Bailey's Vista Views newsletter, all parents who plan on attending the Halloween parade on 10/31 at 11:00 MUST register to be on campus. It is recommended that this week, you go into the office to scan your driver's license into the Visitor Management System. Here are the steps:

1. Stop by the office with your driver’s license anytime during the week of Monday, October 24th during school hours (8:00-2:45). Let Salina know that you would like a visitor’s sticker for the Halloween Parade.

2. Keep the sticker in a safe place until the day of the event. You will need to wear the sticker in a visible place on your shirt when you come for the parade on the 31st.

3. There will be two lines on the morning of the event. One will be for those who have pre-registered and have their sticker on. They will have their stickers checked and let in through the gate closest to the office. The other line will be for those that have not pre-registered for the event.

Please note, if you are unable to pre-register and pick up a sticker during the week prior to the parade, we anticipate a long line the morning of the event. It can take up to 2 minutes in some cases to check in each person. We highly suggest you come early so that you don’t miss the fun. No adult will be allowed on campus without a visitor’s sticker from the office. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we prioritize keeping students safe during school-wide events.

Hallowen Party:

Thanks to Jedy & Jennifer, we have a party all planned out from 9:15 to 10:30 (followed by recess, then the parade). If you are interested in donating supplies at the party, we still need a few items. Please see the sign up spreadsheet (thank you to our room parent Lia for creating the amazing sign up!)  Please note that we only need 8 total parents at the party to help run the centers. All other parents are invited to the parade at 11:00. Thank you for helping keep things as routine as possible in our classroom on this very exciting day for the children.

Parent Teacher Conferences

If you haven't had an opportunity to do so yet, please see this document to sign up to meet with me for your child's conference. Just a reminder that conferences are for parent(s) only so that we can talk openly about your child’s progress, and there is one conference per child. 

In Class This Week

Language Arts:

We will introduce the letters Hh, Ll, and Kk. To help your child form these letters correctly, please see the Fundations Family Letter. Our sight words this week are he and we.

We have been working our way through a drawing unit, using shapes to draw people, houses, playgrounds, and this week-- vehicles. Drawing a picture provides a pre-writer the opportunity to plan, brainstorm, and develop new ideas. When a child draws a picture, he/she is telling a story. "Picture writing" is an important first step in the writing process. When pre-writers use picture writing, they are expressing ideas through illustrations. As their literacy skills develop over time, the picture will serve as a plan for their writing. A picture sparks ideas, provides details, and serves as a framework for a piece of writing.

Math

We will continue our module on shapes. This week , we will continue to focus on 3D shapes. The shapes we study are sphere, cylinder, cube, and cone. Children should be able to identify how many faces, edges, and vertices these shapes have. Parent tips for this module can be found here. 

Kimochis

This week, the Kimochis® Character named Cat will join our classroom to teach children about the feelings curious, cranky, and sorry. Cat is the Kimochis® Character who knows what she wants, when she wants it, and why she wants it!  When the group needs a leader, Cat is always ready to help. She loves to be in charge, but she can be a little bit bossy. Cat may seem mean on the outside, but on the inside, she is very sweet. Cat has lots of bandages to help her redo times when she makes a mistake and hurts someone’s feelings. Children who have a temperament like Cat’s can benefit from learning how to lead in strong, kind ways. They also need to practice following positive leaders, rather than always being the leader themselves. This week, your child learned how to say, “Talk nicely” when others forget and use bossy talk.

**Library is every Wednesday. Please return your child's library book by Tuesday each week.

**Remember to wear shoes and clothes appropriate for fitness on Fridays.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Math Centers (Pavani & Jedy)

Tuesday: Long Centers (Mariola & Yufi))

Wednesday: Clay Glazing @ 8-10 (Apsara, Martina, Pavani, Vidya)

Library (Bora & Amorette)

dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes, centers (Apsara & Mariola)

Friday: Walkathon @ 10:30,  PE in room 2 

BIG week, so expect some tired pandas!

Upcoming Events

Friday, 10/28: Alta Vista Walkathon

Monday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade at 11:00

11/7-11/18: Parent-Teacher Conferences early dismissal at 1:15

Thursday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Staff Development Day

Friday, 11/11: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Friday, 11/18: Friendship Feast @ 10:30 - more info. coming soon, but book your calendars

Week of 10/17

 Field Trip

Our field trip to Prusch Farm is this Wednesday! Children should come to school at the regular time, when we will start off our day with our usual routines. All students will board the bus so that we can leave at 9:30. Parent chaperones (Pavani, Andrea, Jennifer, Jedy), please arrive at school at about 9:10, sign in, get your volunteer badge, and come down to the classroom. Even though you are driving separately, I will need your help to get everyone all packed up and onto the bus. Reminders for the students:

• Please send a snack and a lunch. We will eat snack before we leave, but we will be picnicking at Prusch Farm for lunch. The following students ordered a cafeteria bag lunch: Chantel, Marijan, Anjali, Aaron, Kai, Conrad, Melina, Elma, Zoe, Julia, Jacob. Everyone else needs to bring a lunch 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 should wear their class t-shirts. 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 do walk around the farm and will probably also visit Prush Farm's playground.
• Dismissal time on Wednesday is 1:15, as usual on Wednesdays

Walkathon

The Mummy Mash Walkathon is coming right up on Friday, 10/28. All kindergarten students will participate at school on Friday between 10:30 and 11:30 and do as many laps as they can. All students will receive a t-shirt to keep track of their laps, but in order to be eligible for prizes, you must register your student & pay the $40 registration fee. This money all goes to support Alta Vista's enrichment programs, so it's a win for all! To clear up some confusion about the permission slip: TK and K students do not need to submit the permission slip to come back at 2:40 and walk. This is because if they come back to school at 2:40, they will be accompanied by an adult. Grades 1-5 need to submit the permission slip because some of them may just be continuing to walk after their bell rings at 2:40, and need parent permission to stay on campus. For more information about prizes, and to sign up, please see this flier.  Thank you to our room parent Lia for assembling our monster crafts on our banner to decorate the walkathon path. 

Picture Make-Ups

Picture day make-ups are on Friday, 10/21. If you would like your child to participate in a picture retake, either because your child missed picture day or were dissatisfied with your child's picture, please email me. I will only send those students whose parents emailed me down to the cafeteria for retakes.

Conferences

Only about half of our class families have signed up for Fall conferences. If you haven't had an opportunity to do so yet, please see this document to sign up to meet with me for your child's conference. Just a reminder that conferences are for parent(s) only so that we can talk openly about your child’s progress, and there is one conference per child. 

In Class This Week

Language Arts:

We will introduce the letters Jj and Pp. To help your child form these letters correctly, please see the Fundations Family Letter. Our sight words this week are and and to. Our literature this week will be pumpkin-themed, both fiction and non-fiction, in preparation for our trip to the pumpkin patch.

Math

We will continue our module on shapes. This week's focus will be 3D shapes. The shapes we study are sphere, cylinder, cube, and cone. Children should be able to identify how many faces, edges, and vertices these shapes have. Parent tips for this module can be found here. 

Kimochis

This week, the Kimochis® Character named Bug will join our classroom to teach children about the feelings left out, shy, brave, and scared. Children who have a temperament like Bug’s, benefit from learning how to be brave in order to manage shy and scared feelings and try new things. It is helpful to tell your child that bravery means you might feel afraid, shy, or unsure, but you can still get yourself to say and do something that is right or try something new. In this week's lessons, your child will learn to use positive self-talk to help Bug take his wings out and fly. This self-talk tool will help your child manage emotions and develop confidence and resilience.

Great Shake-Out

This Thursday, 10/20, Union School District is participating in the Great Shake-Out.  This is an event where people across California will be practicing earthquake safety. We will have an earthquake drill and practice exiting the building safely. I encourage you to talk with your children about earthquake safety at home and develop a plan in the event of an earthquake while in your home. 

**Library will be canceled this week due to the field trip. You can keep your books an additional week-- no need to return them until next week.

**Remember to wear shoes and clothes appropriate for fitness on Fridays. Our class decided that we will also wear our class tshirts on Fridays!

**There is still a need for more lunch time yard duties for TK/K from 11:30 to 12:15, especially on Mondays & Wednesdays. If you can help with this, please email Salina at nelsons@unionsd.org

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Math Centers  (Lia & Mariola) ***One center we will be painting! ***

Tuesday: Long Centers (Jose & Apsara)

Wednesday: Field Trip (see reminders above), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes, centers (Apsara & Vidya)

Friday: Wear class t shirt & PE 

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 10/19: Field trip to Emma Prusch Farm

Wednesday, 10/26: Clay Glazing 8-10am

Friday, 10/28: Alta Vista Walkathon

Monday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade 

11/7-11/18: Parent-Teacher Conferences dismissal at 1:15

Thursday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Staff Development Day

Friday, 11/11: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Week of 10/10

 Our first week of extended days went well! A few suggestions:

• Continue reminding your child what is for snack, and what is for lunch
• Go over the hot lunch menu with them in advance
• Make sure your child is getting plenty of sleep! Many were very tired by the end of last week.

A BIG thank you to the first week center volunteers and clay volunteers. The veteran kinder teachers (Mrs. Barbara and Mrs. Grist) prepared me for Kindergarten centers and shared lots of wisdom, but I really needed to see it for myself. Thank you to the center volunteers last week for your questions and feedback. I will send out a separate "what to expect" email for classroom centers.

Two other items I will send separate emails for that have come up: absent work and communication with me at the morning drop off. I realize both of these items were not discussed at the Kindergarten Back to School Night and this is the first elementary school experience for many of you, so that's up to me to communicate that. Apologies for the multiple emails, but thank you for taking the time to read them. 😁

This week, we will be making a craft to decorate our class banner for the Monster Mash Walkathon! We are so excited to participate in this school wide event on October 28th, which is Alta Vista's biggest fundraiser, and a true community event. We will start the walking at school, but any kindergartners who would like to come back and continue walking are invited to do so after school on Friday (2:40) with an adult (parent or friend's parent) accompanying them. Come out and join in on this fun & worthwhile event, which supports Alta Vista's enrichment programs. 

Conferences

Parent-teacher conferences are coming up quickly. Kindergarten conferences will begin on November 7th and end on November 17th. All conferences will be in-person in the classroom. Please note that during conference weeks, dismissal is at 1:15 daily, instead of 1:40. Conferences are for parent(s) only so that we can talk openly about your child’s progress, and there is one conference per child. Please see this document to sign up to meet with me for your child's conference.

Language Arts 
After this week, we will have introduced over half the alphabet! The letters your child should recognize & know the sounds of are: Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ii, Mm, Nn, Oo, Rr, Ss, Tt, and Uu. This week, we are introducing our final vowel, Ee, as well as Rr. If you are noticing that your child is having difficulty recognizing letters and knowing letter sounds, please provide additional reinforcement at home. Watching and singing The Better Alphabet Song is a great way to continually review letters and sounds. It is also important to keep checking your child's letter formation in handwriting. Reading the weekly Fundations Family Newsletter is a great way to support your child's learning. *** Don't worry about your child reversing lowercase b and d. It's very common at this stage and up to about 2nd grade. Majority of kiddos will outgrow this as they get stronger in reading and writing. Each child has an image similar to these on their name tag, which we have discussed a couple of times and will continue to do so all year.

Our sight words this week are a and go. This week our stories will be from the author Aaron Reynolds: Creepy Carrots, Creepy Pair of Underwear, and Creepy Crayons.

Math
In math, we will begin a new module on shapes. We will be covering both 2D and 3D shapes over the next few weeks. We will learn shape names and attributes of those shapes. Children should understand how many sides, corners, faces, and vertices different shapes have. Going forward, most of our math involves hands-on activities in small-group centers, so you won't see as many math papers in the Wednesday envelopes. Parent tips for this math module can be found here.

Kimochis

This week, the Kimochis® Character named Huggtopus will join our classroom to teach your child about the feelings silly, frustrated, excited, and proud. Huggtopus (or Huggs) is our Kimochis® Character who is strong and affectionate, but she sometimes gets a little carried away with her big, friendly personality. She might hug too tightly or play too roughly, which upsets her friends. This can be confusing and frustrating to Huggs because she doesn’t know why her friends say, “Don’t bother me.” With Huggtopus, your child is learning to read social cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and sounds from peers. Huggtopus also teaches children how to celebrate our differences. Huggs is a six-legged octopus and is proud that she is so unique!

Rhythm & Moves P.E./Indoor P.E.
Just another reminder that students will have weekly P.E. on Fridays with either Rhythm & Moves or indoor P.E. in the OT Room. 

• Children should wear shoes and clothing appropriate for fitness on Fridays. 
• Shoe choice is extremely important, since when we go to the OT room, children will be removing their shoes and putting them back on again.
• Children need to be able to do this independently. I highly recommend slip-on/velcro sneakers every Monday, unless your child already knows how to tie shoes on their own (a great skill to start working on!)

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Art Vista Set A: Trains (Lia, Jessica, Dana, and Lior)

Tuesday: Return library books please, centers (Mariola and Andrea)

Wednesday: Library (Andrea & Bora), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes, centers (Bora and Mikyoung)

Friday: P.E.-- wear shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 10/19: Field trip to Emma Prusch Farm

Wednesday, 10/26:  Clay Glazing 8-10am

Friday, 10/28: Ala Vista Walkathon

Monday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade (time TBD)

11/7-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences (whole school dismissal at 1:15)

Thursday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Staff Development Day

Friday, 11/11: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Week of 10/3

 Our extended days begin on Monday! Our schedule for the remainder of the year will be:

• Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 8:15 to 1:40
• Wednesdays AND modified days during conference weeks: 8:15 to 1:15.**Please plan accordingly on these days as the rest of the school releases at this time, so parking will not be available on the street in front of our classroom.

I am looking forward to the additional time with your children. The first week or two will probably be very tiring for your students. Please make sure they get to bed early so they are well-rested and ready for their longer day.

Lunch will be from 11:30 to 12:15.  Children will be supervised by yard duties at that time, and will play on the playground before eating. When they are done with their lunch, we pick them up from the lunch tables and take them back to class. Please help us with this transition to lunch at school by reviewing all the tips in my previous email.

Drop-Offs & Pick-Ups

• Please DO NOT park in the parking lot by Gate F. This lot is closed every day between 7:45 am and 2:50 pm. The cones blocking the exit will be there daily during those hours, as this lot is a staff-only lot for safety reasons.
• Please DO NOT bring dogs onto the Alta Vista campus during school hours. The campus includes the parking lot and all areas near entry and exit gates. Several children are fearful of dogs, and this is preventing them from feeling comfortable coming to school.
• Please arrive on time. The gates close at 8:15 in the morning. After that, you will need to escort your child to the office, get a tardy slip, and enter campus through the office.
• If you exit campus after the gates have closed, please make sure the gates latch behind you. This is for the safety of our entire campus.

Rhythm & Moves P.E./Indoor P.E.
Beginning Friday, students will have weekly P.E. with either Rhythm & Moves or indoor P.E. in the Occupational Therapy (OT) Room, which is room 2 right next to us!

• Children should wear shoes and clothing appropriate for fitness on Mondays. 
• Shoe choice is extremely important, since when we go to the OT room, children will be removing their shoes and putting them back on again.
• Children need to be able to do this independently. I highly recommend slip-on/velcro sneakers every Friday, unless your child already knows how to tie shoes on their own (a great skill to start working on!)

Wednesday envelope help

I would love to have some help with filing student work and stuffing into the Wednesday envelopes. Ideally if that could be done while students are playing during Choice time on Tuesdays around 11:00. You would file student work into hanging file folders and then put all the work into their Wednesday envelope. You could even stick around to do playground/lunch yard duty (contact Salina in the office if interested in that nelsons@unionsd.org). I understand that it's hard to commit to an every week thing, so I could always put it on the classroom volunteer sign up sheet. Please email me if you would be interested in helping with this. I'm open to other days if that's better for your schedule, but Tuesday is ideal for them to be ready to pass out Wednesday. Thank you!

Language Arts
This week, we will introduce our final Reading Centers activity, the Work on Writing Center. The goal is that within the next couple of weeks, we will be able to fully launch Reading Centers (also called Daily 5, but I figured that name is confusing to kindergarteners). Once that happens, a small group of students will be meeting with me each day while the rest of the class is engaged in various other independent literacy centers. Your children will be receiving lessons targeted for their ability level in a small group instruction setting when with me.
 
Our letters this week are Dd and Ss. These are more difficult letters to form in handwriting, and it's really important to form both letters correctly to prevent reversals. Please check the Fundations formation guide for these letters, and reinforce this as much as possible at home.

Our sight words this week are am and can. You can find the sight words we've introduced on the classroom website. Go to the tab called "High Frequency Word List."

Math
In math, we will continue working with numbers to 10. This week, we will focus on the concept of "more" and "fewer."
 
Kimochis
This week, the Kimochis® Character named Cloud will join our classroom to teach your child about the feelings happy, sad, and mad. Cloud is the Kimochis® Character who can be moody, so sometimes it is hard for him to get along with his friends. When Cloud is happy, he spreads sunshine everywhere, which makes everyone feel fantastic! But when Cloud feels mad or sad, he might snap or yell. Because he has a hard time controlling his anger, he might do things that hurt feelings, even though he doesn’t mean to. Cloud helps children develop patience, tolerance, and understanding for friends who are still learning how to express upset feelings in positive, healthy ways.

Classroom Centers

We are excited to welcome parents into the classroom for center time beginning Monday! If, for some reason, you are unable to join us on your scheduled day (illness in the family, etc.), please email me as soon as possible so that I can put an email out to the class and get a substitute for you. Please arrive early (5-10 minutes before centers start) to allow time to check in at the office and have your driver's license scanned. Discuss with your child ahead of time that when you are in the classroom, you are another teacher, and will need to be helping all the students-- in fact, sometimes parents may not even be at a center that their child goes to on that day. Thank you for your help at centers-- this allows me to offer small group instruction in the afternoon.

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Centers (Aspara & Jedy)

Tuesday: Return library books, centers (Mariola & Maree)

Wednesday: First Clay Lesson @ 8:30  (Aspara, Yufi, Martina, Dana, Lior), Library (Stephen & Bora), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes, centers (Danielle & Chu Chu)

Friday: P.E.-- wear shoes & clothes appropriate for fitness

Upcoming Events

Monday, 10/3: First Day of our Extended Day

Friday 10/7: First Day of Rhythm & Moves PE Program

Wednesday, 10/19: Field trip to Emma Prusch Farm (permission slips will sent home in this week's Wednesday Envelope please return asap in the white envelope on Thursday or students can place it in the envelope bin on Friday)

Friday, 10/29: Alta Vista Walkathon

Nov. 7-18 Parent Teacher Conferences dismissal at 1:15 each day. Please plan your pickups accordingly. A sign up for conferences will be sent later in the next week or two.

Week of 9/26

Thank you for your help with donating toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, and egg cartons. We have enough, so no more are needed at this time. Thank you for helping with this.

We are just one week away from extending our kindergarten day! For those of you with students who currently go home at 11:35, I recommend that you practice with them on opening any lunch items that will be sent, as well as keeping them busy during the time period after lunch to build their stamina in staying focused all the way until 1:40. It is an adjustment for them at the beginning, but they are ready for it!

Parent Volunteers

With just one week left before we launch classroom centers, I just want to remind everyone the importance of completing the Volunteer Code of Conduct Form. It would be a great idea to do this now, if you have not already, so that you are ready to go whenever you are first volunteering (even if it's not for another month+). If you have not completed this form when you arrive in the office, you will not be permitted to enter campus. Remember, it must be completed a minimum of one week before volunteering so that it can be processed at the District Office level. Thank you for your cooperation with this. I've added a volunteer page on the class website for you to find the library and classroom volunteering. We could still use another adult or two for clay on Oct. 5th.

Library

Last Wednesday, we took our first trip to the Alta Vista Library! Every week at the library, children will hear a story read by a parent volunteer and then have time to choose and check out one book. Your children will bring home that book they select each Wednesday. This book is due back by next Tuesday at the latest. If it's easier for you to remember to send things on Monday, I can take the books on Monday as well. It's important to return the books by Tuesday at the latest so that they will be able to check out a new book at the library when we go each Wednesday.

If you signed up to read in the library, please choose a book that takes no more than about 10 minutes to read. Your or your child's favorite book, author or or series are always fun.

Language Arts

We are beginning the 5th week of the Fundations program this week. So far, we've introduced the letters and sounds of: Tt, Ff, Bb, Mm, Nn, Ii, Uu, Cc, and Oo. Capital letters were visually introduced, but we are only working on writing lowercase of the letters mentioned above. This week we will introduce another vowel, and another consonant: Aa and Gg. Please check in with your children and make sure they recognize all the letters we've introduced so far, as well as know their sounds. For helpful resources to reinforce learning at home, please check out the activities mentioned each week in the Fundations Family Letter. In this week's letter, there are some great ideas about how to build comprehension and story retelling skills, which we've also been working on in class. Ask your children to retell the story of Echo the Owl in the forest. This is a story we've been working on for the past 3 weeks, and hopefully, your children will be able to tell it to you in their own words. 

This week, we will continue with sight words on and not from last week. The sight words we've introduced so far are all composed of letters that we've introduced. This is intentional-- the science behind teaching reading shows that children need to be able to orthographically map these words (form letter-sound connections to spell/read) to truly retain them. You can point out sight words as you come across them when you read together. So far we have learned I, in, it. 

Math

In math, we will continue with the topic Numbers to 10. More information on this topic can be found here. I have noticed that many children need additional reinforcement on writing numbers to 10. Check out how your children are forming their numbers. All numbers should be written by starting at the top and moving downwards. Encourage them to practice correct number formation-- the quicker you break bad habits, the easier writing will become. 

Be Seen & Heard Assembly

As you have heard in communications from Union School District, the district will be hosting the "Be Seen & Heard" assembly virtually (we will view the livestream in the classroom) this Thursday. If you were not able to attend the parent information night they hosted, more information about the assembly can be found here. Here is a brief summary about the K/1st grade content: This assembly will address the dangers of child sexual abuse, the differences between a safe and unsafe touch and a safe and unsafe secret, strategies to stay safe, and how to identify trusted adults. The phrase “sexual abuse” is not used. Please refer to the message sent through ParentSquare on 9/18 if you have any further questions about this assembly.

**Remember to return your child's library book each week by Tuesday at the latest so that they can check out a new book on Wednesday.

Week of 9/19

 I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! 

Class Mascot Just FYI our class mascot is the panda (Mrs. Pugliese's Pandas). I'll let the class know this new information this week and we will read some books about pandas. I wasn't sure if the kinder teachers had class mascots, but when ordering our class tshirts I discovered they do! 

Thank you so much to those who have signed up to be a center helper in our classroom. We still have many slots to fill though! I hope you will consider coming in to help with a center. Whether you volunteer regularly or just once, it's a great way to meet your child's classmates and engage with what they are learning in class. If you have any questions about volunteering please let me know. If you haven't filled out your Union School District Volunteer Code of Conduct Form, remember to complete that at least a week before you first volunteer, to allow time for it to process. As of last week, Union School District is no longer requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to volunteer. You simply have to fill out the Code of Conduct form once, and do the daily symptom check each time you volunteer. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Language Arts
In language arts, we continue introducing letters and letter sounds using the Fundations reading program. We are introducing another vowel this week, Oo, as well as a consonant, Cc. Fundations uses a multi-sensory approach, emphasizing the correct formation of the letters while practicing them on a whiteboard and repeating aloud the letter name, sound, and key word (a picture that starts with the sound). You can get some valuable parent tips that include several ideas for practicing different skills with your child here. If you're also interested in further review of the letter sounds with your child, you can find the letter sound video we watch in class, called "The Better Alphabet Song" here. Our sight words this week are on and not. Previous sign words are I, in, it).

Math
In math, we will continue with the topic Numbers to 10. This week, we will have some math centers that focus on counting as well as number formation. More information on this topic can be found here.

SEL
Coming home in this week's Wednesday Envelopes are our Zones of regulation poster.  I hope your child can explain what the colors mean and you can hang your poster somewhere in your house so that you can start using that language to talk to your children about how they are feeling. This week, we will introduce our first Kimochi (Kimochi means "Feeling" in Japanese), Lovey Dove, who will teach your child about the feelings proud, kind, and friendly. Lovey is the Character who is sweet and nurturing. She is very wise and calm. She likes to cuddle and make everyone feel better when they are upset. But sometimes Lovey Dove worries. Children who have a temperament like Lovey’s can benefit from staying compassionate and learning to worry less. Lovey taught your child how important it is to greet people using their name and a “Friendly Signal.” Friendly Signals are communication tools, such as a smile, wave, head nod, or saying hello. Being friendly is a rewarding habit that children can learn to develop and use throughout their lifetime.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 9/21: First trip to the Library 

Thursday, 9/29: Be Seen & Heard Assembly

Monday, 10/3: First Day of our Extended Day

Monday, 10/3: First Day of Rhythm & Moves PE Program 

Friday, 10/29: Alta Vista Walkathon

Week of 9/12

 It was so fun to see many of you and your children at movie night. That was my, and my preschool age son Zachary's first AV movie night!

Please help me in welcoming new student Aaron Yang and his family. His parents are Albert and Martina. He will start in our class on Monday. A couple students asked if they could draw him a welcome picture over the weekend, so I said I would tell the parents this. I thought that was so thoughtful. :) If your child wants to draw Aaron a picture or write a note welcoming him to our class, they can bring it on Monday. 

Thank you everyone for bringing your children for their afternoon assessments. This will help me to best meet the differing needs of the students in my class during small group instruction. I am continuing to meet with students both this week and next week. If you need to check the schedule, you can do so here. When you arrive for your assessment, please wait by Gate E (the gate we enter through in the morning). I will meet you out there and let you in when you arrive. 

Language Arts
In language arts, we continue introducing letters and letter sounds and will introduce our first vowels this week, Ii and Uu. For information about the formation of these letters, please see the Fundations Family Letter. We will also introduce the sight words in and it. If you're also interested in further review of the letter sounds with your child, you can find the letter sound video we watch in class, called "The Better Alphabet Song" here.

We will also launch our beginning writing unit, which starts with teaching drawing. We will be working on directed drawings of people this week. As children take an interest in writing more, parents can support them by encouraging independent spelling. If your child asks, "How do you spell ____?" respond by asking them how they think it is spelled and refer to the better alphabet song. For example, if your child is asking how to spell "cat", you could say, "Let's think about the sounds we hear in the word cat and the letter sounds we sing in the better alphabet song. What letter says /c/?" and then "/a/ and /t/." Once you've heard the better alphabet song a dozen times you could sing, "_____ says /c/, /c/, /c/. ____ can also say /s/, /s/, /s/." It's ok if their spelling is not correct at this time! If they spell cat like any of these: c, ct, kat, kt, then that's great for right now!  We want children to go through the process of connecting sounds to spelling themselves at this age. Encourage your children in their writing by having them make lists or write notes to friends and family. They can also label their pictures (something we will work on explicitly during writing time in class soon). 

Thank you for returning those Wednesday envelopes. You might be wondering what are the papers that come home in my child's backpack on days other than Wednesday? Any papers that are a part of our morning tub play time activities go home that same day. They are usually cutting funny pictures, pokey pins, etc. Your child may also choose to draw or write during choice time, which can contribute to papers in the backpack. Any work in the Wednesday envelope is work your child turned in that I have reviewed. They are great discussion points to begin with when going over their classwork with them.

Math
In math, we will continue with the topic Numbers to 10. More information on this topic can be found here.

SEL

We begin our SEL (social-emotional learning) curriculum this week by discussing the "Zones of Regulation." If you'd like more information about the Zones, this website has a lot of good resources. Your children will make their own poster representing the Zones in class on Friday, which they will bring home. This is a great tool for you to use at home to encourage children to talk about how they are feeling. 

Picture Day

Picture Day is Friday, September 16th. There is no need to pre-order. Proofs will be emailed to you in about two weeks, and you can choose to order at that time.

Classroom Centers & Library Time

Beginning on September 21st, we will take weekly trips to the Alta Vista library. Children will check out one book each week, and return it the following week. You will need to remind your child  to pack that book into their backpack every Tuesday. :)  We also get to have a "guest reader" each week in the library, who reads a favorite story to the students before they check out books. A big thank you to Romeo's mom/our room parent, Lia for sending out a Sign-Up Genius later this week for library story readers (our library time is 9:30 to 9:50). Thank you to Jacob's mom, Bora, for volunteering to be our book check in/check out parent. We decided that since we only had one parent sign up to be the reader, we would open it up to everyone. I know it's hard for families to commit to an every week volunteer event. If you can come in once a month to read, or just once here and there, please sign up It's a fun, engaging way to get to know these kiddos. They LOVE listening to read alouds and from more people, that's exposure to a variety of different books. Look for that sign up genius later this week.

Classroom centers begin when we extend our day the week of 10/3. I run centers on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 12:25-1:40. I hope you will all be able to join us at least once for classroom centers! In order to volunteer this year, you must complete the Volunteer Code of Conduct Form, and either upload your vaccination card (if vaccinated) or provide a negative COVID test (if not vaccinated) 24 hours before volunteering. Information about the process for volunteering can be found here. I am looking forward to having parents in the classroom beginning 10/4. Please keep an eye out for the Sign-Up Genius!