Hello Parents, 

This week in Kindergarten, students will participate in a community service Beach Cleanup Project on Monday, February 27th as part of our ocean conservation studies. Students will be off-site all day on Monday, February 27^th. As mentioned previously, Choice Lunch will need to be canceled and a disposable snack and lunch will need to be provided. Please have your child put his/her lunch in our class bins on Monday morning. Adults will be carrying the lunches in backpacks and we will be taking public transportation to the beach. Please be sure to send your child to school in comfortable walking shoes, layered clothing, and with sun screen applied to expose skin. The weather at Ocean Beach can be unpredictable and it is likely that it will be a bit chilly.   

As a means of simulating how difficult it is for millions of people to obtain potable water, On Tuesday, February 28^th all students at Alta Vista will participate in Water Day. The water at school will be “turned off” and students will be required to walk to a designated location in the building carrying a “water bucket” in order to access drinking water. In addition, together, students and faculty will tally the total number of times the toilet is flushed in the day and will then calculate the total gallons of water used daily, weekly, and monthly at AVS. As part of this learning, we will gain further appreciation for the natural resources we use each day, particularly water.

We will wrap up our Water unit in Science this week and begin to prepare for our next unit, Ecosystems. As part of this preparation, students will make a pirate map, and begin to gain in their understanding of geography and directionality through the use of a compass rose.

In math, students will learn to play a new game, “Sink or Swim.” In this game, students will become familiar with “mental math” addition skills up to 12 and begin to identify even and odd numbers.

In writing, students will continue to develop their craft as writers by writing several “Small Moments.” We have thus far learned that when writing a “Small Moment:”

1. Writers think of something that happened to them.

2. They picture it in their minds.

3. They sketch it on the paper.

4. They write words.

As a means of supporting this process at home, I encourage you to tell stories with your children. Talk about events that have happened in their lives asking them to recall what happened first, second, third, etc. Have children remember the details of the event. It may be helpful to ask, what did it look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, feel like? The ability to construct stories in the mind is one of the most fundamental means of making meaning for children.

In reading groups, students will begin work with distinguishing the syllables in words. We will learn that all words have at least one vowel and that when we find a syllable we can figure out where the vowel goes.

I look forward to taking our learning outdoors this week!

-Lili

The Current Event schedule is as follows:

Homework for the Week:

Monday:

Write or draw an illustration telling/showing something you enjoyed about today’s beach cleanup.

Tuesday:

List all of the things that you use water for at home and write a tally mark for each time you do it this evening. For example, if you flush the toilet 3 times tonight, you will write: 1. Flush the toilet lll

Wednesday:

Tonight your task is to commit to conserve at home by brainstorming practical ways in which to conserve everyday water usage and other natural resources. As a family, decide three ways to conserve resources in your household. Examples could include: taking quicker showers, turning off the lights when you’re not in the room, turning off the water while you brush your teeth, using cloth instead of paper napkins, and/or starting a compost bin. List your commitments in your homework binder.

Thursday:

Tonight your homework is to visit the following website and practice your addition and subtraction facts. Have fun!

http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm