HOOT#33!

WOW! The school year is coming to a fast and exciting end! This is our last newsletter for the year!

I am packing up the classroom this week.
Please bring any / all  boxes (from Supersave, Smith's, CID's, any source you can think of) to help move to the Manzanares campus.

Tickles, our gecko friend is looking for a summer home. If any of you could take care of him, please let me know! (Some years a couple families split up the time helping with that.)

Monday (tomorrow) afternoon we will be having Field Day at Eco Park from 1 to 3 pm. Pick-up will be at the regular time at school, or you can take your child home from the Eco Park after the activities. Please check with your child about having tennis shoes, water, and sunscreen for field day. There will be lots of relay races! Feel free to join in the fun, if you like.

We will be going to the park this week -- maybe every day! Please check in with me in the morning about times, if you wish.

Spirit Week!
Monday - TISA Dragon Day- wear orange & green to show your TISA pride!
Tuesday - Superhero Day- dress like your favorite superhero! 
Wednesday - Wacky Hair or Hat Day- wear your favorite crazy hat or do your hair extra wacky!
Thursday - Aloha Day- Say farewell to a great school year and hello to summer! Hawaiian, beach & summer attire!

I am attaching a summer reading list to this newsletter via email.
I would also like to share your favorite books, educational apps and web links. Please send them to me and I will compile them in an email to share.
My favorite site for audio books is https://archive.org/
I recommend that you start a summer journal/sketchbook/scrapbook with your child for those precious memories!


Photos from a fun field trip to Ghost Ranch with first grade last Thursday

Thank you so much, Amy, Carolyn, Erica and ​Don for sharing your photos!

bone casting


T-rex tooth


Exploring paleontology


Tinwork


Playtime and picnic


Friends







Thank you for sharing your precious child! Wishing you all a blissful summer!

HOOT#32

Last week was jam-packed with activities.

TISA Glam Trash! Wow! That's one fabulous way to make recycling glamorous! Thanks to Megan Avina for rocking that festival!

Explora's last workshop was last Monday: "Mirrors."

Lots of sensory fun making play dough with Edemia and CoolAid!



The last Art Club was last Tuesday! Till we meet again next year!



MONDAY and WEDNESDAY: Weather permitting we'll go to the park (Filemon Sanchez or Eco Park) a couple times this week (plan on leaving at 1:00, but that might change, depending on the weather).

WEDNESDAY: Cubby clean-up: your child's belongings will be going home.

THURSDAY: field trip  to Ghost Ranch!
Please fill out field trip form
Chaperons:  Carolyn, Heather, Alexandra, Lisa, Emily, Jessica/Mike
Check list (your child will create it at school and share it with you). It will include items such as tennis shoes, sunscreen/sun hat, sack lunch (double the regular dose of food AND lots of water), layered clothing (wind/rain), an extra T-shirt and pair of pants, fingerknitting yarn. I suggest that you pack it all into one backpack/tote bag.
Thursday is also pizza day (children will get their pizza after field trip).

Have a great week!

HOOT#31

You are like no other -- a Mother
Hope you are having a Sunday filled with the delights of love!

School education surveys:
If you haven't done so yet, please return the survey and place in purple folder on top of cubbies. It's your chance to voice your opinion in an easy-peasy way!
Nice napkin holder from end-of-year celebration -- waiting for its rightful owner in class

International Folk Art Museum
The field trip to explore Asian traditions was fun! The children got to create their own personal emas, (Japanese-style wooden plaques to express a wish that they have). Thank you for joining us as chaperons! We look forward to our last field trip with you on May 19th to Ghost Ranch!











Angelina and Aurora got to celebrate their birthdays together this week! That was super-special!




PLEASE BRING:
boxes (for campus move) and recyclables (for Glam Trash)




Homework:
We'll be exploring the following letter combinations: oo, ee
We'll be having lots of outdoor activities and movement, but please help carry the torch of learning all the way through the end of the year!

Free art education programming through this summer all over Santa Fe!



And remember, ART is the HEART of TISA!

HOOT#30

HAPPY MAY! Wow! This is what it looked like yesterday morning...

Well, let's move onto warmer waters..
The kinder show was great fun to watch! Please feel free to email me photos / footage to share on the blog.







The children created a character study before their show. Here are a few to share. Please send in your/your child's guess for the characters (all from the piggies and wolves play). If you enter your guess, you might win a prize!











Dr Seuss book : we had fun autographing each other's Dr Seuss dictionaries. If your child would like to collect more autographs (from classmates who were absent or from teachers), have him/her bring the book in this week.









Collaborative Art for Arbor Day -- Long Live the Trees!





















THIS WEEK IN KINDER:
Monday, May 2 -- Going to the park around 1:00pm -- Miss Jutka will be gone in the afternoon. The children will be with Debra Mason.
Wednesday May 4 -- field trip to International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe
Please fill out field trip form on Monday/Tuesday

FURTHER EVENTS IN MAY:
DIBELS -- last session: May 10-11
GlamTrash -- think dragons / princesses / knights in shining armor -- bring your recycle stuff to kinder (anything and everything from old socks, cardboard, straws, milk jugs, bubble wrap).
May 19: Field trip to Ghost Ranch (chaperons: Carolyn, Heather, Alexandra, Lisa).

Art Club Update:
THERE WILL BE NO ART CLUB during the last two weeks of school (May 17 and May 24).

Homework:
Worksheets will be printed for you by Tuesday morning. We'll be working on 3D shapes in math.
Math homework this week: have your child hunt for a different 3D shape to bring to school each day. (Shapes that were brought for homework will go home on Thursday.)
Math game: "trash/garbage" (card game played with a regular deck that you can learn on Youtube if your child doesnt' know it yet).

HOOT#29

Kinder has been writing up a storm lately. We had the second graders visit to read the books they wrote, which inspired us to expand our writing. Lots of stories to share, and more pages to come! One child started working on a chapter book, and another loves comic books. One child has filled the pages with dialogue and another is writing a maritime science book. Historical account and paleontologist adventures, a tea party with the sticker monster and a window into a princesses life... There is a season and a reason for all! The children are encouraged to sound out their words, and match sounds with letters as they write. So it happens with English (yikes!) that most of the time the words are not exactly spelled to the book. It is called invented spelling. It might seem messy, we sure love stapling (I got a bloody finger trying to remove all the renegade staples), but it sure is making the children in the class feel proud and independent. It is time to celebrate your child as an author!



































Events/Updates:
Tuesday morning: pizza money due
Tuesday 1pm -- Harwood and pizza money due
Wednesday: will go to Filemon Sanchez park (12:45-1:45)

Thursday: 3:30 -- Show time! THE FIVE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE THREE BAD PIGS -- This is kinder's last performance this year. Our end-of-year celebration will be topped off with an award ceremony for each student. Please remember to send costumes (labeled), balloons (for decorating), props THURSDAY MORNING -- and a dish for the potluck to follow! Charge your cameras and let me know if you'd be interested in capturing footage/stills of the performance and/or the children receiving their awards. I will also have access to the school's video camera that day, if someone would like to play with it.

Field trips:
May 4 (Wednesday) -- Museum of International Folk Art - Santa Fe
May 19 (Thursday) -- Ghost Ranch -- We are taking four chaperons: Lisa (Angelique's mom), Carolyn (Rio's mom), Alexandra (Aurora's mom), and Heather (Vincent's mom). (The reason we will be taking only 4 chaperons is because it's a combined field trip for two classes, and there is limited space on the bus. If you are interested in driving your own vehicle and not riding the bus with us, you are still welcome to come. Thank you for your understanding.)

The treasure chest was raided by us last week! All the bouncy balls are gone, THANK YOU!  We still have lots of pencils left. Any other items would be also great!

Homework
Please help your child rehearse for Thursday's show. Practice makes perfect! (I will email you all the script.)
Homework has been so popular lately! To keep up with the boom, I created a packet for each child for the week. You are welcome to take it home tomorrow. Guidelines: pick and choose. A healthy dose is one a day...  I trust that your child will make time for outdoor play and bedtime reading. It's all about balance.

Happy spring (finally here to stay)!

HOOT#28

Rio and Mateo's chickies took a field trip to TISA! Bobbie, Tweetie and Hot Sauce were a bunch of fluffy fun!







The children made observations on the chickies and recorded their findings in their sketchbooks





AFRICAN SHADOW PUPPET STORIES -- PREMIERE A HIT!
Thank you for your enthusiastic support of our puppeteers. The two stories -- Anansi and the Sky God and How Rabbit tricked Lion --  were well received indeed!
A special "thank you" to all of you who made this production possible on Donors Choose.

We will be having an encore performance on Monday for TISA kids. If you'd like to attend, please let me know at drop-off, so I can give you the schedule (TBA).

Here is a back-stage peek at the process... I'd love to post your photos/video clips on our blog. Feel free to email them to me.

Upcoming performances:
WEDNESDAY, April 20, 3:15 in kinder room: FLAMENCO!  - Julia Fernandez, our talented and passionate dance teacher is inviting you all to the children's short flamenco presentation. Ole!
Suggested costume: Julia is requesting that your child wear / bring black and white clothing for the event.
THURSDAY, April 28, 3:30 in kinder room: THE FIVE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIGS -- John Biscello, Ashleigh Gryncer and Julia Fernandez collaborated on a silly twist on the traditional tale.
MAY 19: all day field trip to Ghost Ranch (please email me if you'd like to chaperon -- there are a couple spots left)

MISCELLANEOUS THINGS TO NOTE/DO:
April 19 (this Tuesday) our Going Green fundraiser is due
Please sign your photo permission slip in class for Donors Choose if you haven't had a chance to do so yet.
Tickles takes a summer vacation! Our class pet, Tickles will need a summer home from the beginning of June through the beginning of August. Please let me know if you are interested in helping with that.
Our treasure chest could use a last stash. Thank you!

BEHAVIOR -- spring fever alert!
As the temperature climbs higher and the days lengthen, the children are getting more boisterous, more distracted and more physical.
Here are a few things that you can do to keep this giddy, impulsive seasonal behavior in check:
Please talk to your child about why you value school and why you are sending her/him to school. How about sharing a story or two about your school experiences (the good and the bad) too? 
Remind your child to keep HANDS TO SELF (versus hitting, kicking, yanking, etc.)
When things get rough, USE WORDS instead of muscles.
Here are a few hints:
acceptable:"I am mad."     versus: "You are so mean!"
acceptable" "I don't like that."    instead of: "I hate you. I am not your friend."
acceptable  "Please stop."  not such a good choice: "If you don't stop crying, I will kick you."
acceptable  "How about.... (negotiating with an offer/suggestion)."  
Remember, it's OK to walk away to get help from a teacher.
Remind your child to stay safe (staying with the group)
Please ask your child to abide by school rules, listen to their teachers, and follow directions.
​Planning a family celebration for the end of kindergarten and thinking of a few incentives to keep up with the good work might also help.

REQUEST
This is the time of year when school lotteries are happening. I absolutely respect your decision regarding your child's schooling. However, switching schools is a touchy subject that creates confusion and sends mixed messages to the children, so I ask that you please keep that information confidential so it does not disrupt our class community.

THIS WEEK'S HOMEWORK (please get your copies in class):






Math:
What is the longest thing in your house? Can you measure how many feet it is?
What is the heaviest thing in your house? Can you weigh it?
What is the lightest thing in your house? What does it do when you blow on it?
Please write and draw what you find out.