Week of 11/6

I am looking forward to meeting with everyone in the upcoming two weeks! Remember that for the next two weeks (except Monday, 11/6), dismissal will be at 1:15 daily. Please keep in mind that the ENTIRE school is dismissed at this time so car traffic and foot traffic will be heavier. If you need to check your conference time, you can find it here. Please note that this sign-up can no longer be edited. If you need to reschedule your conference, please email me.  

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 Thursday, when you return your child's Wednesday envelope. Please allow your child to lead this project. We are not looking for Pinterest-perfect turkeys and would much prefer to see child-created projects.

 

Parking Lot Gate (this is a note from Mrs. Bailey and the kinder team, I don't think it really applies to our class since we enter through Gate E on the other side of the garden, but it's good information for safety).

Did you know that there is a protected walkway up to the kindergarten gates? When you are walking both to and from school, it is much safer to use this walkway, which is protected by yellow bollards, and is right next to the school garden. Rather than having your children walk through a parking lot behind cars that may be backing out, encourage a safe habit by using the protected walkway. If the parking lot gate is closed, please do not open it so that you can walk in this way. Please go to the protected walkway.

In Class This Week

Language Arts

This week, we will begin the labeling unit in our writing program. Children will be encouraged to draw pictures and add labels to them to help facilitate independent writing. As children develop as writers, we ask for your support in allowing them to sound out words on their own. If they spell a word phonetically and end up writing "morkr" for "marker," this is the first phase of learning to write and spell independently, and please encourage those attempts! 

Our letters this week are Pp and Jj. These are both letters that drop down to the "worm line." To help your child with correct letter formation, please look at the Home Support letter. Our sight words this week are me and be.

What would a teacher do? For my own kindergartener, I've printed out all the Home Support Fundations letters so far and I've stuck them in a binder, along with a list of the sight words that we keep adding to. I have my son say the letter names taught so far, their sounds, and the picture keyword we use in class that starts with that letter sound. I also have him finger trace and write the letters. We also do some of the activities listed in the home support letters- like word rhyming. We make it silly by coming up with real words for rhymes and made up nonsense words. We don't do ALL of these things in one sitting. I pick and choose and we only spend about 5-10 minutes daily... almost daily. :) When we read at night we try to go on word hunts for sight words, in addition to talking about the stories we read.

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, as well as counting objects up to 10.

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 Cat makes up her mind, there is no stopping her. 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.

  

**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 walk-a-thon shirts

* Class spirit days on Fridays. Wear your Purple Pugliese's Pandas shirts. 

 

This Week's Helpers & Activities
Monday: No centers, dismissal at 1:40
Tuesday: Conferences begin. Dismissal at 1:15
Wednesday: Library @ 9:10 (Sara & Asma), Dismissal @ 1:15
Thursday: Turkey Project due, Conferences, Dismissal at 1:15
Friday: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Upcoming Events

11/7-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences-- dismissal @ 1:15 daily

Thursday 11/9: Return Turkey Trouble project in Weds. envelope

Friday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

11/20-11/24: Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, 12/19 @ 9:15 am: Nutcracker Performance

12/21-1/3: Winter Break

Week of 10/30

We are looking forward to some Halloween fun on Tuesday! I hope you were able to make it into the Alta Vista office last week to get a visitor's pass for the parade, if you are planning on coming. If not, I highly recommend that you go into the office on Monday, either before school or after school (until 3:00). If you do not get a visitor's pass prior to Tuesday morning, you will most likely miss the parade. Please plan accordingly! 

More Halloween Info

Children should come to school in their costumes, as we won't have time to get 23 children changed into their costumes for the parade at 9:00. After the parade, children will be going straight to recess. At this point, costumes should be removed to avoid spilling on or damaging costumes during recess & lunch, and I encourage you to take costumes home with you if you are on campus for the parade. If you are not coming for the parade, please send your child with a bag for their costume, especially if it won't fit inside their backpack. Please have your children wear a layer under their costume that they will be comfortable wearing for the remainder of the day. 

Conferences

This is the last full week of our regular school schedule before conferences begin on Tuesday, 11/7. During the two weeks beginning 11/7 and ending on 11/17, 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 called Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano. In this book, 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 be 11/9. We will be making this project into a class book to share with all the families, so encourage your children to take their time on the project and have fun with it!

What We're Learning this Week

Language Arts:

We will introduce the letters Ee and Rr. To help your child with correct letter formation, please see this week's Fundations Family Letter. Our sight words this week are at and and. 

Math:

We are wrapping up Module 1, Numbers to 10. Students should be able to recognize and write numbers 0-10. They should be able to count, order, and draw up to 10 items.

**Library books are due by Tuesday each week

This Week's Helpers & Activities

Monday: Centers (Lydia & Aida)

Tuesday: Halloween parade at 9:00, Halloween Party at 12:20 (Rachna & Rebecca organized parent volunteers for this event, thank you!)

Wednesday: Library @ 9:30 (Kristi & check in/out needed), Dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Centers (Lauren & Yuni)

Friday: Music class, ***Friday afternoons we have been going to the Occupational Therapy room, room 2, next door. This is a fun space for children to get their wiggles out and play on the equipment. Students do need to be able to remove and put back on their shoes, so please have your child wear shoes they can take off and put back on independently.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade @ 9:00 (get your visitor's pass ahead of time!!) and class party in p.m.

11/7-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences-- dismissal @ 1:15 daily

Thursday 11/9: Return Turkey Trouble project in Weds. envelope

Friday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

11/20-11/24: Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, 12/19 @ 9:15 am: Nutcracker Performance

12/21-1/3: Winter Break

Week of 10/23

 Hello families, 

Thank you for your kindness with the substitute teacher. I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom! There are several events this week, so please take a look at the daily activities. 

Please check the sign up genius for classroom volunteering. There are still spots available and we need additional helpers this week! 

Book Fair

The Book Fair begins next week! There are special kindergarten hours on Tuesday the 24th at 1:40-2:30. Only kindergartners and TK students will be in the book fair (with parents) at that time, since the rest of the school is still in session. If you can't make it on Tuesday, you'll have to brave the crowds on Wednesday, or return to school on Thursday or Friday at 2:40. The children do not go to the fair during class time, since they need to be with a parent to purchase books.

YSI Presentation

Our Spiders, Insects, and Other Arthropods presentation will happen on Tuesday morning. We are excited for this hands-on presentation, and look forward to adding to what we've already learned about spiders, as well as learning more about different arthropods.

Picture Make-Ups

If you were not satisfied with your child's school pictures, or if they missed picture day, Generations School Photography will be back on Friday the 27th for make-ups. Please let me know if you'd like your child to take a make-up picture so that I send them down.

Halloween Parade

The Halloween parade will be on 10/31 at 9:00 am. ALL PARENTS MUST ENTER CAMPUS THROUGH THE OFFICE AND OBTAIN A VISITOR'S BADGE. As you can imagine, there will be many people on campus that morning (over 400) and the best way to enter campus seamlessly would be to get a visitor's badge ahead of time. You can do this by going to the office between 7:30 am and 3:00 pm, beginning on Monday, 10/23. Bring your driver's license and ask Chitra for a visitor's badge for the Halloween parade. If you do not get a visitor's badge ahead of time, you risk missing the parade, since the line will be very long on Tuesday morning. Our class party will be in the afternoon, separate from the parade, and we only need a very limited number of parents to join for that, since it will be just like our classroom centers, but Halloween-themed! Thank you to our room parents Rachna and Rebecca

Conferences

Thank you for signing up for conferences so quickly! I think we have nearly everyone on the schedule now. Within a few days, I will turn the conference sign-ups into a "view only" document. After I do that, if you need to make any changes to your time, please contact me. 

In Class This Week

Last week we reviewed and practiced letters, sounds and printing, due to the short week with a sub. This week we will study Dd and Ss in Fundations. It's a good idea to spend a little extra time with your child on these letters, since they are some of the most commonly reversed letters. Tips to help your child with letter formation can be found here. We do have three new sight words: a, I, and go. When studying the words a and I, it's important that children clearly understand the difference between a word and a letter. I tell them that a word has a space before it and a space after it, so you can use this same language at home 

In math, we will also continue working with the numbers 0-10. This week's focus is on more than, less than, and equal.

This week, we will be studying pumpkins. We will weigh, measure, and dissect pumpkins in math & science, and read both fiction and non-fiction books about pumpkins. We will also read the book Creepy Carrots and design our own Creepy Carrots. 

**Please return library books every Tuesday

This Week's Helpers & Activities

Monday: Centers (Hseu-Hwang & one more parent needed!), Begin getting your passes for Halloween parade

Tuesday: Return library books, Centers (Rachna & Roshan), Special TK/Kindergarten Book Fair Hours (1:40-2:30)

Wednesday: Library (Reader-Srudhy & need a check in/out person!), Dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Centers (Lauren & Yuni)

Friday: Music class

Upcoming Events

10/23-10/27: Book Fair

Monday, 10/23: Begin getting visitor's pass for Halloween Parade

Tuesday, 10/24: Special Kindergarten hours @ Book Fair: 1:40-2:40

Tuesday, 10/24: YSI Presentation: Insects, Spiders, and other Arthropods

Tuesday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade @ 9:00 (get your visitor's pass ahead of time!!) and class party in p.m.

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

Friday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

11/20-11/24: Thanksgiving Break

Week of 10/16

I hope you all enjoyed your first walkathon. I was so impressed by the walking stamina of the Pandas! I took some photos of the school day event. They are in our shared google photo album for the class. 

This is a short week due to our Fall Break on Thursday and Friday. I hope you are able to enjoy some family time. Remember, I have a substitute teacher, Mrs. Kimber, for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. 

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. 

Language Arts

Due to the short week, we will be reviewing our Fundations letter names, sounds, and handwriting. 
We will also study two new sight words this week: am and can. You can find the sight words we've introduced on the classroom website. Go to the tab called "High Frequency Word Listg."

Math

We will continue working on numbers 0-10. Children should be able to recognize, understand the value, and write these numbers.

Centers

Our first week of classroom centers went so well! Thank you for supporting small group instruction by coming in to join us at center time. I've added a few new dates to the center/library schedule to bring us up to the end of 2023. Check out the Sign Up Genius here. 

Halloween

Alta Vista will be celebrating Halloween with a costume parade that includes ALL of our TK through fifth grade students. The Halloween Parade will be on Tuesday, October 31st at 9:00 AM. During the school day, all visitors (Grandma and Grandpa too) must check into our office through our Visitor Management System. Safety remains a top priority for our school and district and the check in process takes a couple of minutes for each guest. The Halloween Parade has always been a popular event and we are expecting quite a crowd. To help expedite the check in process on Halloween, please help us by pre-registering into our Visitor Management System prior to the 31st. It's a simple process:

1. Stop by the office with your driver’s license anytime beginning the week of Monday, October 23rd, between 8:00 and 3:00. Let Chitra 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.

**Library books are due on Tuesday each week

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Centers (Nikta & Hseu-Hwang)

Tuesday: Return library books, Centers (Rebecca & Sara Frances)

Wednesday: Library (Rachna & Sara Frances), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: NO SCHOOL: Fall Break

Friday: NO SCHOOL: Fall Break

Upcoming Events

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

10/23-10/27: Book Fair

Tuesday, 10/24: Special Kindergarten hours @ Book Fair: 1:40-2:40

Tuesday, 10/24: YSI Presentation: Insects, Spiders, and other Arthropods

Tuesday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade & Class Party

11/7-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences 1:15 Dismissal for entire school

Friday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

week of 10/9

 This is a jam packed newsletter. Please read all the way through. Thank you. :)

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 knows if they have snack from home or need a school snack.
• Make sure your child knows if they have lunch from home or need a school lunch. 
• Make sure your child is getting plenty of sleep! They were all very tired by the end of last week.

A big thank you to the volunteers who coordinated and assisted in our first clay project last Friday! The class enjoyed getting their hands dirty and are excited to glaze their sweets tray next month. 

I wanted to let you all know about some days I will be out of the classroom. Your child may have mentioned earlier this year that they had a substitute because I was at "teacher school". They were right! One day I was at an all day training with other Alta Vista staff members for PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions for Success). It is a three year roll out to the school and community and we are in year 1. I will be out 4-5 days for PBIS training this school year.Of course there will also be days this year when my own children are sick and I need to stay home, in addition to teacher assessment/report card days. By contract, teachers are alloted a certain amount of days during which we can get a substitute teacher so that we can assess students and/or do report cards. Just FYI. :) 

I will also be out of the classroom next week, Oct. 16,17,18. My father passed away a week before the school year started. There are some family events and appointments I need to tend to during those days. The class will be in good hands with an Alta Vista parent as the substitute teacher, Rebecca Kimber. She offered to come by the classroom this Friday afternoon to meet the class, so that they feel more comfortable with her the following week. Mrs. Brehmer, our wonderful classroom aide will still be in class as usual on Monday and Tuesday (she is off Wednesdays). Thank you.

Centers Begin

We are excited to welcome parents into the classroom for centers this week! If, for some reason, you are ever 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 plan to come to campus at about 12:15 so that you can check in at the office first. Remember to bring your driver's license so that you can be scanned through the Raptor system to get your visitor's badge. Then head down to Room 1, and just enter the classroom through either door and wait at the back while I explain the centers to the students (and you). 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. I try to make it work so that you work with your child, but sometimes it doesn't work out! We look forward to seeing you on your center day!

Walkathon

We are so excited for the Spooky Sprint on Friday! This is Alta Vista's biggest fundraiser, and a true community event. We will start the walking at school between 9:00 and 10:00, but any kindergartners who would like to come back and continue walking are invited to do so after school on Friday (2:40pm) with an adult (parent or friend's parent) accompanying them. The event continues until 6:00, and there will be additional booths and fun at that time, such as the Haunted Hangout and Crazy Hair. Come out and join in on this fun & worthwhile event, which supports Alta Vista's enrichment programs. If you are free and would like to walk with the class during our morning walk time 9-10am it's always nice to have more adults stationed along the track or walking with kiddos. I'll take the first 5 parents who email. :)

Spirit Day

Thursday the 12th, we will have our first school wide Spirit Day, in advance of the walkathon. Participation in these days is totally optional, but always a fun way to show your Alta Vista spirit. This Thursday's Spirit Day is a "Rainbow of Spirit." Kindergartners should wear red for our part of the rainbow. 

Author Visit

Also on 10/12, we have author Trudy Ludwig coming to Alta Vista to read one of her stories and have a Q & A session with students. For more information about her and her books, visit trudyludwig.com

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 11 letters and sounds. The letters your child should recognize & know the sounds of are: Aa, Bb, Cc, Ff, Gg, Ii, Mm, Nn, Oo, Tt, and Uu. This week, we are introducing another vowel, Aa, as well as another consonant, Gg. If you notice 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. I print them out and have them in a binder at home to work with my Kindergartener. 

Our sight words this week are on and not. This week we will begin studying spiders and arthropods in preparation for our YSI Presentation on October 24th. We will read both fiction and nonfiction books about spiders. 

Math
On Monday, we will have now introduced all numbers 0-10 and seen how they look on a 10 Frame. We will continue counting and writing numbers this week. I have noticed that many children need additional reinforcement on correct number formation. All numbers should be written by starting at the top and moving downward. Please work with your children to ensure they are forming their numbers correctly. 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. Bug is the Kimochis® Character who is thoughtful and very careful. He is very smart and loves to talk. But Bug is afraid of change, and because he is a caterpillar, this is hard for him. Although Bug is afraid, he secretly dreams of flying, but it is hard for him to try new things. 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 our lesson, your child learned 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.

**Remember to send in your child's library book by Tuesday each week so that s/he can check out a new book on Wednesday

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: Centers (Yuni & Joe)

Tuesday: Return library books, centers (Asma & Rebecca)

Wednesday: Library (Lydia & Kristi), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Rainbow Spirit Day (wear red), Return white envelopes, author visit @ 1:00

Friday: Spooky Sprint from 9:00 to 10:00, Music class, Spooky Sprint continues after school (2:40 to 6:00)

Upcoming Events

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Tuesday, 10/24: YSI Presentation: Insects, Spiders, and other Arthropods

Tuesday, 10/31: Schoolwide Halloween Parade & Class Party

11/7-11/17: Parent-Teacher Conferences ENTIRE school is 1:15 dismissal

Friday 11/10: NO SCHOOL: Veteran's Day

Week of 10/2

 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 because on these 1:15 dismissal days 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+ 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. A retired kindergarten teacher gave me the advice of not adding any new after school, extra-curricular activities during the first few weeks of extending the day, as kiddos will need to come home and decompress. If you've never heard of The After School Restraint Collapse, click on the link to read more. It's hard work for children of all ages to "hold it together" all day and meet academic demands, so of course when they get home to their safe space and safe people, *some* students may be exhausted and have some BIG feelings. They might need a little bit of space before telling you about their day. 

Lunch will be from 11:30 to 12:15.  Children will be supervised by yard duties at that time, and will eat first and then play on the playground. A few take-aways from our lunch on Friday:

1. Please make sure your child knows which items are for snack and what is for lunch. Separate boxes within the lunch bag would be helpful OR two separate bags entirely.  Some students today were out of food at lunch, and then we had to send them through the hot lunch line.
2. Please understand that microwaves are NOT available if your child packs a lunch from home.
3. If your child packs a lunch or snack from home that needs utensils, please provide those in your child's bag.
4. In general, students still need a lot of practice at opening their own snacks and food wrappers and containers. When children are at home with you, please let them attempt to open snacks & show them how to do this, rather than doing it for them. There is a lot of pride in children when they are able to do things on their own!

For those who are getting hot/school lunch:

1. Please go over the menu (found on the "Nutrition" tab on the Alta Vista website) with your child, and have them make their choice with you so that they know what they are getting once they are in line. 
2. Practice "ordering" an item, using a clear and confident voice. At the very least, your child needs to be able to point to what they would like. Have children practice at home, restaurants, and even when pretending they're at a restaurant.
3. Children have a choice between white milk, chocolate milk, or their own water bottle. Please go over this choice with them as well. If choosing milk, you should have them practice opening a carton on their own. This was very difficult for many today.

Language Arts
Last week, we started practicing one of our Daily 5 reading center activities- Read to Self. This week we will introduce 2 more Daily 5 activities: Lexia Core5 &  "Word Work." Word Work is a variety of literacy games that we use to reinforce phonics, sight word recognition, and comprehension skills. In the next couple of weeks, we will be able to fully launch Daily 5. 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 literacy centers. Your children will be receiving lessons targeted for their ability level in a small group instruction setting. Lexia Core5 is a district sponsored reading app done on the iPad. Students will take an assessment on the app this week that will place them at a level appropriate for their learning. Students will meet the prescribed amount of minutes throughout the week during Daily 5 centers. 

In Fundations, we will introduce the letters Cc and Oo. The letter c is important in handwriting, because many letters start with the "magic c," as we call it. The letters a, d, g, o, and q are all "Magic C" letters. Parent tips for this week's letters and concepts can be found here.
 
We will introduce our first sight words this week! Your children will be exposed to over 40 sight words this year. Using the phonics knowledge they already know, sight words will be taught through "orthographic mapping." This means that children will listen to how many sounds they hear in a word and then apply their phonics skills to "map" out those sounds. Each week, when we introduce new sight words, they will only contain sounds that we've already learned through the Fundations curriculum. This week's words are it and in. You can find the sight words we will be introducing 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 numbers 6-10 and doing various activities practicing PRECISION when counting.

Music & Art

Our music program begins this week! Thanks to your generous donations to the Home & School Club, they are able to support our enrichment activities such as funding the music program. We have music class every Friday with Miss Emory.

We had our first Art Vista lesson last week. We started with looking at prints from professional artists, followed by a lesson on the aspects of shapes and lines of those prints. Thank you to Asma (Ibrahim's mom) and Shereen (Lily's mom) for coordinating these lessons.

*Remember to return your child's library book by Tuesday each week

*Classroom centers start next week! The Sign-Up Genius can be found here.

We need a library check in/out person this week 9:30-9:55 on Wednesday!
 

This Week's Helpers & Activities:

Monday: first day of our extended day schedule

Tuesday: Return library books!

Wednesday: Library (Roshan & check in/check out needed!), dismissal @ 1:15

Thursday: Return white envelopes

Friday: Music with Miss Emory

Upcoming Events

Monday, 10/2: First Day of our Extended Day: 1:40 dismissal begins

Friday, 10/6: First Music Class

Friday, 10/6: First Art Vista lesson

Thursday, 10/12: Author Visit Assembly - Trudy Ludwig

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon ---> Register here!

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Week of 9/25

 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 (containers, packing, lunch boxes, etc), 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 many kiddos at the beginning, but they are ready for it!

We are also looking forward to our "practice lunch" day, this Friday the 29th. I haven't heard from anyone that they aren't able to come, so I look forward to having everyone stay until 12:20 on Friday. Remember that if your child is trying out a school lunch, please go over the menu choices with them ahead of time, which can be found here. 

Parent Volunteers

*** Library book reader and book check in/check out needed this week! Here is the link to our class sign up. Thank you so much! There are some instructions on the signup genius link above, but feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Library is 9:30-10. 

With just two weeks left before we launch classroom centers, I also 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!

In addition to future library spots, there are still many center helper spots still available. Your help with centers allows me to work with a small group of children at a time, on specific skills at their level. I know it's hard with busy schedules, work conflicts, childcare for younger children, etc. but if each parent can make arrangements to come into the classroom to help at least once or twice this year, we should be all set! I appreciate your help! Grandparents are welcome too!

Language Arts

We are beginning the 3rd week of the Fundations program this week. So far, we've introduced the letters and sounds of: Tt, Ff, Bb, Mm, and Nn. This week we will introduce our first vowels: Ii and Uu. 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 print awareness and rhyming skills, which we've also been working on in class. 

Math

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

 eureka_math_grade_k_module_3_parent_tip_sheet.pdf

"Students will begin to observe and analyze the world around them mathematically. They will count, order, and draw up to ten objects. They will eventually work toward an understanding that each successive number names a
quantity that is 1 more, and that the number before is 1 less."

**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.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 9/27: Trip to the Library (helpers needed)

First Art Vista Lesson at 10:30 

Friday, 9/29: "Practice Lunch" dismissal at 12:20

Monday, 10/2: First Day of our Extended Day: 1:40 dismissal begins

Friday, 10/6: First Music Class

Friday, 10/6: First Art Vista lesson

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Week of 9/18

Thank you for bringing your children back for the afternoon assessments. These 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 this week. If you need to check the schedule, you can view it here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. When you arrive for your assessment, please wait by Gate E (the gate we enter through in the morning). I will meet you there and let you in when you arrive. If you need to reschedule your child's time, please email me.

Be Seen & Heard Assemblies

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 Wednesday, 9/20. 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 if you have any further questions about this assembly.

Language Arts

In language arts, we continue introducing letters and letter sounds, along with the handwriting of those letters, using the Fundations program. We have introduced Tt, Bb, and Ff, which are all "sky-line letters" and this week, we will introduce Mm and Nn, which are "plane-line letters." If you'd like more information about the formation of these letters to support your student at home, as well as posters that are similar to the ones we use in the classroom, please read this week's home support letter. 

We will wrap up our drawing unit this week. Once we extend our day, we will begin moving onto labeling our pictures using phonetic spelling. We encourage children to sound out words on their own using their knowledge of phonics, and we encourage you to do the same. Rather than spelling words for beginning writers, have them listen for the sounds they hear in that word. If they spell "goat" as "got" at first, that is ok! This is a stage in writing, and we want the focus right now to be on developing their independence as writers.

We will also begin rolling out our Daily 5 literacy centers this week. Daily 5 "is a literacy framework that instills behaviors of independence, creates a classroom of highly engaged readers, writers, and learners, and provides teachers with the time and structure to meet diverse student needs." Children are placed in differentiated groups and cycle through different literacy centers each day, which includes meeting with me for small group instruction.

Math

We will continue reviewing both 2D and 3D shapes. Children should be able to name and describe these shapes: square, rectangle, triangle, circle, hexagon, cube, sphere, cone, cylinder.

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!

Library Books

We had a great first visit to the library this week! Remember to remind your child to turn in their  library book by Tuesday at the latest, so that they can check out a new book when we go to the library again on Wednesday. This week, we have Sarah Frances coming in to read, but we need a volunteer for checking books in and out. Here is the volunteer sign up link! The link has been updated on the class website under the Volunteer tab.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 9/20: Be Seen & Heard Assembly

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night

Friday, 9/29: "Dry Run" of lunchtime procedures (more info to come)

Monday, 10/2: First Day of Extended Day (Dismissal at 1:40)

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break 

Week of 9/11

 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 this week. If you need to check the schedule, you can view it here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. When you arrive for your assessment, please wait by Gate E (the gate we enter through in the morning). I will meet you there and let you in when you arrive. If you need to reschedule your child's time, please email me.

Picture Day

Picture Day is this Friday the 15th. There is no need to pre-order-- you will receive a QR code in your child's backpack on Friday which will link you to the proofs and how to order.

Language Arts
We launched the Fundations program last week, and the children are doing so well with learning the routines and language of Fundations. A big focus is learning the correct formation of letters, hand-in-hand with learning their sounds. Handwriting serves to link visual processing with motor experience, facilitating subsequent letter recognition skills. The expectation is that by the end of the first trimester (early November) students know all their letters & sounds.

We used our Fundations journals last week to practice correct name-writing. Continue to encourage your children to write their name using only one upper-case letter. Check that they are holding their pencils correctly, as well as forming their letters correctly, by looking at the resources in this Fundations Home Support letter. We will share these home support letters weekly with you-- they are definitely worth checking out.

We will also continue with our drawing unit. This week, we will be working on drawing a school, park, and some different vehicles.

Math

This week, we will be introducing and working with 3D shapes. The 3D shapes we focus on in kindergarten are the cube, cone, cylinder, and sphere. Just like with the 2D shapes, students will be expected to name and describe the attributes of these shapes. Parent tips for this module can be found here. 

Classroom Centers & Library Time

Thank you for answering the call for center and library help! We still need a reader for our first trip to the library this Wednesday! Here is the link to the Sign-Up Genius. Please make sure you fill out the Volunteer Code of Conduct at least a week prior to the first time you volunteer. You only have to fill this out once. Every time you come to volunteer, you must check in at the office. Please bring your driver's license. Miss Chitra will scan your driver's license and issue you a badge to be on campus. You can then come either straight to the library, or straight to room 1, depending on what you are volunteering for. 

I am looking forward to starting up in the library this Wednesday! If you are a library reader, please bring a story with you that you'd like to share with the class that is no longer than about 5-10 minutes. Check-out helpers have instructions at the computer for checking in/checking out books. If you've never done this before, allow enough time to read through the directions so that you can be ready when the kids are checking out their books. 

This Week's Helpers

Wednesday: Library (Asma & we still need a reader!)

Upcoming Events:

Friday, 9/15: Picture Day

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night

Friday, 10/13: Alta Vista Walkathon

10/19-10/22: Fall Break

Week of 9/5

I hope you are having a nice long weekend. We will get right back into the swing of things on Tuesday, with after school assessments continuing next week, as well as the continuation of our drawing unit.

FYI - these emails are always posted on our class website in case you ever need to reference and searching your inbox is too cumbersome. :) The link to the class site is below in my email signature. 

Reminder: Please bring in those framed family photos to decorate our classroom and build a sense of community among families. Have your child practice showing who each person is in the photo too. More info about this at the bottom of this email. :)

Work coming home:

*** I did not send home Wednesday envelopes last week, but I will this week! Remember to bring it back to school the following day. Help your child to remember that on THURSDAYS they bring in their water bottle AND Wednesday envelope. There will be a bin to their left when they enter the classroom. Thank you! 

*** Please take the time to go through your child's work. It's a good exercise to go through it with your child too. Ask them to show you what they are proud of. My family just got a basket for our kindergartener to put all of his papers/Wednesday envelope work in. That way there is a consistent place for him to place his work and then he can put his Wednesday envelope RIGHT BACK in his backpack. We want to try to build that independence and good habits now!

*** Sometimes your child may have papers in their backpack other days of the week. These papers are part of our motor skills/play morning tubs. Some of the activities have a paper component and those go straight home. 

Afternoon Assessments

Thank you for signing your child up on my assessment schedule. If your child goes to extended care, I already began assessing them after lunch while they are at extended care, so three is no need for you to sign up. This will help me to best meet the differing needs of the students in my class during small group instruction. I was able to complete almost all of the assessments for extended care students last week, and I look forward to meeting with the rest of the students in the upcoming weeks. Please come to Gate E (our morning entry gate) at the time of your child's assessment. I will come out and open the gate for you. Keep in mind the rest of the school is dismissed at 2:40 pm and at 1:15 pm on Wednesdays, so please plan ahead for traffic and parking. If you need to check the schedule, you can view it here. Please note that you can no longer edit this document. If you need to reschedule your child's time, please email me.

Language Arts 

In language arts, we have been working on a drawing unit as a way to ease into the process of building kindergarten story writers. The kindergarten team started using this program last year, and we found that by teaching students how to draw, their written stories for the entire year were so much better. Often, we ask children to map out their stories first by drawing. If they get stuck in the drawing step, they can't fully express themselves in writing. Studies show that explicitly teaching drawing in conjunction with writing contributes to better literacy skills.

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.

  

Enrichment/Classroom Help Update
Thank you for answering the call for supporting our enrichment programs! All our positions are filled, and the informational meetings for launching Art Vistas, Room Parents, and the Clay program start next week. If you signed up for these programs, please look out for the emails about training sessions, and try to attend those. Later this week, I will also send out a Sign Up Genius for classroom center help and library helpers. Classroom centers begin the week of October 2nd, but library visits start next Wednesday the 13th. Our library time is every Wednesday, from 9:30 to 9:50 (if you can stay a few minutes after and help us get library books in backpacks that is nice, but if you need to leave that's OK).  We will have sign-ups for both a book check in/out person and a story reader. I hope to see many of you in the library! It's a fun way to help out with a very small time commitment. Parents and grandparents/other family members are all welcome as center and library helpers! If you plan on helping at all in the classroom, please fill out the Volunteer Code of Conduct at your earliest convenience, especially if you're thinking of helping in the library next week.

Thank you also for your continued donations to the C.A.G.E. drive to support our enrichment programs. If you haven't had a chance to donate yet, please consider donating by going to this link: https://altavistahsc.membershiptoolkit.com/home

Yard Duties Still Needed

We are still in need of yard duties for TK and Kindergarten (we are all out on the playground together) on Tuesdays, and Thursdays. TK/K lunch time runs from 11:30 to 12:15, so if you can spare 45 minutes to help at lunch, we need you! Please see Chitra in the office if you are interested.

Upcoming Events

Monday, 9/4: No School: Labor Day

Friday, 9/15: Picture Day!

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night

Framed Family Photos - I would love for every student to bring in a framed photograph of their family. This should be a 4x6 inch size, as there's not a lot of room in the classroom! This really helps with community building. I would also like for your child to practice a quick, informal presentation with their photograph. In this short presentation, they will tell us who is in the picture. I'm OK with the picture including grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. or it can just be parents and siblings. Here is a video of my example. Please bring a framed 4x6 family photo by next Friday, September 8th. I have a few spare frames in the classroom if you need one. You will get these back at the end of the year!

Week of 8/28/2023

 Hooray! We made it through our first 5-day week in kindergarten last!  Everyone is adjusting to the new routines well and making new friends. I hope your family had fun at the pizza and ice cream social last Friday if you were able to make it!

A reminder that even though the rest of the school has Back-to-School Night this Wednesday the 30th, we do not since we already held our night on the Monday before school started.

Apologies in advance for this long email-- there is a lot of new information at the beginning of the school year. Thank you for taking the time to read through it. I try to send out the emails on the weekend before the week, but the weekend got away from me! 

A couple of logistics:

• Birthdays - I have updated my birthday policy on my website. We are celebrating our first birthday tomorrow! 
• Elbow Pockets - I am teaching students to sneeze & cough into their "elbow pocket" instead of directly into their hands. We already wash our hands a lot throughout the day, so sneezing/coughing into elbow pockets saves a trip. It would be so helpful if you could help reinforce this at home. 
• Absences - Remember, parents can apply for an independent study when their child will be absent 3 days or more. The teacher and office needs to be informed of this at least two weeks ahead of time. When your child is sick or absent for other reasons, you need to call the school's attendance line: 408-356-3679. Emailing the teacher is definitely a courtesy, but optional. I do like to know because I care about your kiddo. :) A lot of kindergarten work is participation, so there won't be any makeup work sent home. I will get your child caught up on any projects,  if necessary, upon their return. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Framed Family Photos - I would love for every student to bring in a framed photograph of their family. This should be a 4x6 inch size, as there's not a lot of room in the classroom! This really helps with community building. I would also like for your child to practice a quick, informal presentation with their photograph. In this short presentation, they will tell us who is in the picture. I'm OK with the picture including grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. or it can just be parents and siblings. Here is a video of my example. Please bring a framed 4x6 family photo by next Friday, September 8th. 

Afternoon Assessments
In order to best support your children in their learning, I will be assessing them in the upcoming weeks so that I can group them appropriately for both reading groups and math groups. In order to do this, I will need you to bring your child back to school after dismissal for a one-on-one assessment. However, if your child attends USD Extended Care, please do not sign up for these assessments, because I can assess students at Extended Care next week.

For everyone else, please see this sign-up to choose a time during the weeks after Labor Day to bring your children back to school for a brief assessment. Meet me at Gate E (morning gate). While your child is being assessed, parents are welcome to wait on the lawn in front of the school, under the redwood trees, or wherever you are most comfortable waiting for approximately 30 minutes. 

Language Arts
We will begin launching the Fundations program in the upcoming weeks, which is a language arts curriculum that the kindergarten teachers at Alta Vista piloted for the district last year. It was such a success that the district has now rolled it out in grades K-2 throughout the district. A big focus of this program is learning the correct formation of letters, hand-in-hand with learning their sounds. Handwriting serves to link visual processing with motor experience, facilitating subsequent letter recognition skills. The expectation is that by the end of the first trimester (early November) students know all their letters & sounds. Please refer to the pencil grip posters and hand writing tips. You could even print them out and post them at home where your child writes and/or does art and coloring. 

We had several projects and games last week around learning each other's names. Continue to encourage your children to write their name using only one upper-case letter at the beginning, the rest lowercase.

Math
Over the next few weeks, we will introduce 2D (flat) shapes. Our focus in kindergarten is on the circle, square, rectangle, triangle, and hexagon. Not only do we learn to identify them, but we also learn about their attributes (a triangle has three sides and three corners). Parent tips for this module can be found here.

Kimochis

This week, we introduced our first Kimochi (Kimochi means "Feeling" in Japanese), Lovey Dove, who taught 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.

This week, we will be discussing "Zones of Regulation." We'll talk about how at different times, we feel different ways, but that all feelings are ok. We'll also discuss how if we get in the "red zone" (angry) or "blue zone" (sad) or "yellow zone" (silly) that our goal is to get back to the "green zone" as soon as we can. Again, it is ok to be in other zones, but we want our body to be feeling good in the green zone. On Friday, your children will be bringing home a poster with these 4 zones/feelings illustrated on the poster. I'd love it if you'd have them hang the poster somewhere in your house and use the same language at home. For example: "It looks like you're in the red zone. It's ok to be mad, but we can't be mean. What would bring you back to the green zone?" By working together and using a common language, I think it will help the students get a handle on their range of emotions and more easily be able to get back to the green zone.

Wednesday Envelopes

This Wednesday, you will receive your child's first "Wednesday Envelope." Since most communications from the school are now online, and most work in the classroom is hands-on, this will often only contain a few paper items of completed work from the classroom. Some Wednesdays I may not even send it home if there is not much to send. Please look over your child's paperwork to see any areas where your child may need additional support. Every Thursday, please return the empty envelope to school so that we can send their work home each Wednesday in that envelope. 

Snacks

I am noticing several students with too many snack items to manage during our 10 minute snack time. This week, we will start really tightening up our timeline, so please pack a snack that can be consumed in 10 minutes. Please also continue to work with your children on opening snack wrappers and snack boxes independently. Some of them have really fancy bento boxes that they are unable to open on their own and will need to learn how to do this, especially once we start staying for lunch. Cafeteria Snack - The school does provide a morning snack. Students walk to the cafeteria with the aide, Mrs. Brehmer, to get their snacks. On Wednesdays when Mrs. Brehmer is not here students can choose from any of the cafeteria cereal packages (or other shelf stable food) from the cafeteria that I keep in the classroom. 

AVHSC CAGE Drive

As presented at Back-to-School Night, the Alta Vista Home & School Club needs you! All the enrichment programs at our school need parent volunteers, as well as financial support. The kindergarten classes have a long-standing tradition of winning the CAGE Drive competition by getting the most families to join & support the AVHSC. Please support the wonderful enrichment programs at our school by going to this link.  

We will start having parents in the classroom for classroom centers beginning the week of October 3rd, when we extend our day. Look out for a separate sign-up for classroom centers when we get closer to that time. In order to volunteer on campus, you will need to be aware of and do the following. You may want to take care of this now so that you are ready to go in October!

1.    All volunteers need to complete the 2023-2024 Volunteer Code of Conduct. This has to be done once each year (but only once). It takes about one week to process, at which time your name will be added to our Volunteer Database.
2.    Every time you are coming onto campus, you will need to bring a photo ID, such as a drivers license or passport. This is used to check the Megan's Law database before any visitors are allowed on campus.

Yard Duties Needed

Another way to help us (either as a volunteer or paid position) is to help out with our lunch time yard duty. We are in need of yard duties for TK and Kindergarten on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We are all out on the playground together). TK/K lunch time runs from 11:30 to 12:15, so if you can spare 45 minutes to help at lunch, we need you!

Upcoming Events
Monday, 9/4: No School: Labor Day

Friday, 9/15: Picture Day

Friday, 9/22: Alta Vista Movie Night