HOOT#20

February 16
Our next Harwood Field Trip is tomorrow (Tuesday)
We are leaving at 9:45
returning to our campus at 1:15
Pick-up will be at regular time.













February 23 (1pm)
Marimba workshop with two soulful Kombucha Marimba players from Dixon!

March 1 
TISA is getting its own mascot! Creative juices are in action! Kindergarten is going to create watercolor submissions for the mascot contest to be judged in March.

March 2  (8:30-12)
is our annual TISA Read-a-thon!

Please pick up all read-a-thon  information from your child's folder.

March 8, 3pm (Tuesday before spring break):
Kinder's Shadow Puppet Performance with Kombucha Marimba from Dixon! Nancy and Cathy will be playing classic African folk tunes between story sets. All family members welcome!

HOMEWORK:
Please continue to read with your child every day. You are welcome to use the reading log or the reading response sheet, or go on a "sound hunt" to help with phonics skills and comprehension. How about hunting for ending sounds (final sounds) this week in story words?

letter Qq -- remember this helpful jingle, "q + u stick like glue"

Q path: start high up in the middle, swing into a magic c, then make an o. Frog jump down to add a tail.
q path: start in tunnel, make a magic c, then make an o, slide down, and make a hook (we use the rounded hook font).

Tuesday (due Wednesday):
Create an "itsy-bitsy Q book" together. Please pick up the page in the door pouch.

Wednesday (due Thursday):  play a game, bring a game (card game, board game, counting game). Any game! The important thing is that it can be used for counting. If you can't find one around the house, make one up!
We will be having a game day on Thursday

HOMEWORK FOR PARENTS
Please follow this link below to fill out the required parent survey. I ask that each parent please fill one out. Would you tread kindly... it affects my teacher evaluation. You and I have the hardest jobs we'll ever love. Thank you!

https://voicenm.org/survey/parent/0b3ddba95392a134

February 14     SWEETEST SCHOOL DAY EVER!  (overheard and confirmed)
Thank you for your tasty contributions to our party.
We made Valentine's Wonder Spinners and chocolate covered strawberries.... oh my!
We had so much fun with the thauma-tropes that we invited the third graders over to make their own.

HOOT#19

Thank you all for attending parent-teacher conferences. I am looking forward to visiting with your family, if you haven't had a chance to see me yet.

Explora's first visit to kinder was fun!  We studied HIDE AND SEEK (animal mimicry/camouflage) with Victoria.

Upcoming dates:
February 11 (this Thursday): Valentine fun! -- treats (except for candy) welcome!

February 16 (next Tuesday): Harwood field trip
March 8, 3pm (Tuesday before spring break): Shadow Puppet Performance

Homework:
Please continue to read with your child every day. You are welcome to use the reading log or the reading response sheet, or go on a "sound hunt" to help with phonics skills and comprehension.

Tuesday (due on Wednesday): create a Dd collage using letters and images from magazines/newspapers, or draw your own pictures.
Wednesday (due on Thursday):
find the missing numbers and write them where they belong (worksheet on door pouch)
OR Write a number riddle. E.g. "I am thinking of a number. It is between 7 and 10. It is an even number. It is the sum of 4+4."

Whole Schol Assembly on MONDAY

Time to Celebrate!

From the Director's Corner

"Student of the Month
Welcome to our  first whole school assembly celebrating our Student of the Month and Honor Roll Students. Judge Ernie Ortega will be speaking. Please join us for our first of many celebrations. The event will start on Monday February 8, at2:00 and be held at the Guadalupe Gym. All student from both campuses will dismiss at regular times from the Manzanares Campus. Elementary parents please take note of the change. "

We will be celebrating three outstanding kindergarten students this month

Kaylyn Staley

Quintin Lefthand

and Seamus Campbell 

There will be students of the month every month, which will give an opportunity for each child to be celebrated for their individual accomplishments in time.

Please note: kindergarten students will be picked up from TISA's upper grades' campus on Manzanares street at 3:30pm. Also, please find the location of the Guadalupe Gym attached.

The gym is at 243-303 Don Fernando (west/behind Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, at the corner of Don Fernando and Manzanares).

We all look forward to you joining us on Monday for this ceremony.
Jutka

Way to go, Kaylyn! 

Congratulations, Quintin!

Keep up the great work, Shea!

HOOT#18

Most of our parent-teacher conferences got buried in a blizzard. Thank you all for being willing to reschedule. I had a chance to meet with seven families and look forward to seeing everyone in the next week or so.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE RESCHEDULE TIMES
Thank you so much for considering these available times for your conferences. 

11:00-11:30  this Friday (Feb 5) ASHER

11:30-12:00  this Friday (Feb 5) AURORA​

1:00-1:30 this Friday (Feb 5) Angelina

1:30-2:00 this Friday (Feb 5) KARA​

2:00-2:30 this Friday (Feb 5) ANGELIQUE

    ​2:30-3:00 this Friday (Feb 5) BERNICE

3:00-3:30 Tuesday (Feb 9) QUINTIN

3:00-3:30 Thursday (Feb 11) AZALEA (Julian)

Homework:

Make every night a reading night! (Please use reading response sheets or the reading log -- on door pouch.) Read a story, poetry, a chapter book, a magazine every day for 15-20 minutes. 

Wednesday: play a game (dice game, card game, board game with family/friends) -- use your math skills!

LETTER OF THE WEEK (and continuing on to next week):
Dd 

D: (start upper left -- cross over) Slide, frog jump, swing

d: (start in tunnel straight up) swing, climb, slide, bump (remember NOT to lift up pencil)

Blends to practice this week at home: dr, tr

http://www.guruparents.com/support-files/preschool-letter-worksheet-dr-sound.pdf

Word family practice for home: 

https://www.myteachingstation.com/ed-word-family-match-letter-and-write-the-word-in-color

Sight word practice this week for home:

http://www.education.com/slideshow/kindergarten-sight-words/

Would like extra handwriting practice with tricky letter d? Get a "d" sheet in class! (Remember: first the dog, then the leash!)

http://www.themeasuredmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lower-case-ds-of-all-sizes.pdf

EXPLORA is coming to TISA kinder, thanks to an amazing donation starting this week!

2/3 - Do animals play hide and seek/growing pains 

2/25 - Exciting Electricity/bodies in motion

3/7- Family Science Activities

3/28 - Beautiful Bubbles

4/4 - Forceful Magnets 

5/9 - Mirror Mirror on the wall 

Check them out here: http://www.explora.us/en/ and here: https://www.facebook.com/ExploraScienceCenter

HOOT#17

Homework:
Do on Monday (Due on Tuesday): practice letter naming and reading short words / nonsense words
Do on Tuesday (due on Wednesday): draw/write or show 3 things to make with eggs
Do on Wednesday (due on Thursday): write down the ingredients for a simple recipe that uses eggs (use numbers for how much of each ingredient you need)


Letter of the week: Ee
Uppercase: start in left corner (crooked), slide, frog jump, cross, hop, cross, hop, cross
Lowercase: start in the middle of the tunnel,  whoops, swinging

DIBELS -- reading assessment
benchmarks assessed on Wednesday: letter identification, first sound, sounding out all sounds in words, nonsense words, vocabulary (matching word and picture)

Parent-Teacher Conferences with Students, next Monday and Tuesday

I commend you all for being so mindful
of your conference time!
Since students are participating in the conferences,
school is not in session and childcare is not available
on conference days.
Please let me know by January 27th (Wd)
if alternate arrangements need to be made for your family.

I look forward to seeing you and your child.

If you have yet to do so, you are welcome to sign up in class or online: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0449ada623a1fe3-tisa1

Pizza Thursday!
Our next pizza day is Thursday 1/28.  Please hand in your money to your teacher no later than Tuesday morning, 1/26.  

Don't forget to include: Name, Grade, # of Slices, Cheese or Pepperoni, and  Amount Enclosed
(cost is $2/slice)

Sponsorships are still available! 

Fantastic TISA Fundraiser this Saturday! I can't wait! 

Last week's amazing trip to the Harwood Museum 

PRINTMAKING with Jayne!

 We viewed the sculpture in front of the Harwood, which was created by John Suazo, Quintin's grandpa! 

HOOT#16

This week's homework:
Do on Tuesday (due on Wednesday): find the date for today on the calendar at home. Then show that number with tally marks (you can draw lines or use what you have at home)
Do on Wednesday (due on Thursday): find words or objects in magazines that have a K in them. Glue them into a K collage and bring it to school.

Reminders:
please bring back towels, placemats and water bottles for school.

Winter layers!
Kids are happiest dry! Waterproof footwear and waterproof gloves/mittens please.
Please remind your child to put on socks and underwear too!
And remember Murphy's rule: if it can get lost, mixed up or mismatched, it will. Labeling winter items is a great idea.

Letter of the week: Kk
(I call K the lazy letter because it always makes the hard K sound, but most of the time C is the one that ends up doing the job.)

Art club now on Tuesdays only -- the magic of felt: softening rocks!

TISA's fun fundraiser, January 30 at Taos Mesa Brewery.
Clan Tynker is a Santa Fe based circus/acrobat/magic troop. My children and I have been a fan of theirs for about a decade and have seen them at Holiday Fairs and Renaissance Fests. So exciting to have them just down the road!
Big Swing Theory is entertaining us absolutely for free after Clan Tynker. What a great winter evening!

DIBELS reading assessment date: January 27

And what have we been up to in the new year? Here is a photo journal of the first two weeks.

Tallying in math

Using Megabloks to blend sounds and create words

Rabbit's Snow Dance (story illustration)

A fluffy visit from Jasper's Mustache and Piano 

A super proud reader!

Birds of Peace -- in celebration of MLK Day

Birds of Peace

with our wishes on their wings.

What would make a more peaceful world?

Fun

no trash

family

petting doggy

unicorns

dinosaurs

beach

and of course, Taos Java!

HOOT#15

Welcome back to school!

Check us out in the paper!
Kinder and Miss Jutka were in last week's Taos News, thanks to TISA Talks' eager eighth-grade reporters, Alexis Salazar and Skylar Spriggs. Pond hockey, by the way, was all the rage during the break among the Taos Ice Tigers. Us, heroic hockey parents shoveled relentlessly until a giant patch of ice was uncovered for pick-up games and pirouettes on the pond in Des Montes, where Taos hockey started in the early '90s. Now that the ice got buried deep under some fresh powder, it's back to man-made ice.

Please welcome Samuel, the new student this week in class! We are all excited to meet our new friend.

Homework
Do on Monday (due on Tuesday):  Please practice winter gear skills (turning coat/sweatshirt rightside out, zipping, buttoning, putting gloves on).
Do on Tuesday (due on Wednesday): Can you help pair up and count socks/mittens/shoes/boots at home? How many mittens can you find? Socks? Does your family have more boots or more hats?
You can draw/make a picture/photo and write the numbers down.
Do on Wednesday (due on Thursday):  January DIBELS letter recognition and nonsense word sheets (hanging in pouch on classroom door)

Letter of the week:  R r
R: starts upper left (crooked start); slide, frog jump, swing to middle, kick/slant/diagonal
r: starts upper left in tunnel (crooked start); slide, climb, bend (remember not to lift hand when writing lowercase letters)

DIBELS testing will be happening between January 20 and January 29. Please refer to the DIBELS entry on our blog to familiarize yourself with the process. I will be assessing students on letter naming (goal: 60 per minute), first sound naming, reading three-letter nonsense words, and sounding out words.

FIELD TRIP!
Harwood Museum -- scheduled for January 19 (am).  Chaperons are welcome (gallery visit and monoprint workshop).

ART CLUB Schedule change:
The art club will be offered ONLY on Tuesdays beginning this week. We will be working with wool, starting with felting over rocks! If your child was in the Thursday section, you are welcome to switch to Tuesdays!