Alta Sierra Elementary

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Eagles are Kind, Responsible, and Respectful

All about Mrs. Kelley

I feel so happy to say I have loved my last 35 years of teaching! Each grade level I've taught in the past (1st-5th) has been filled with wonderful experiences and happy memories, but I have to admit I am over the moon loving Transitional Kindergarten! This will by my seventh year working with TKers. Their enthusiasm for life, as well as their eagerness to soak up all the new things around them, make them a joy to be with each day! I am one very lucky teacher!

A little about myself:
After teaching a few years out of state, I moved to California in 1989, and besides two years teaching in Indonesia, I've been so happy to call Grass Valley home. Education is a family thing, because my husband, Tom, is a school counselor. I have three grown children (Brian, Kyle and Kaity) who have fond memories from the years they also spent at Alta Sierra School!  We love the mountains and being at the ocean as well. Time away from school usually takes us one place or the other. In the winter I love snowboarding, and during the summer time camping and finding trails to walk are some of my favorite things!
 

Posts

TK Week of November 1st-5th

This week your TKer spent extra time thinking about Inny Inchworm (I), noticing when someone is surprised or scared, and practicing their tracking skills to 20.
 
Wow! Tkers love spinach - at least most of them do! Our local farm, Sierra Harvest, gave us some extra big spinach leaves to try, and most of our cuties thought they were delicious! (Maybe the side of ranch dressing had a little to do with it. :)
 
Today was an extra fun day with Mr. Dillie playing Squirrels and Hawks. It involved yarn balls (nuts), running, and lots of laughs!
 
FOOD DRIVE - Alta Sierra School will be having a local non-perishable food drive from November 8th-22nd for our local food bank. The focus is Thanksgiving Foods, but anything would be helpful. (They are also asking for cans with a pull-off lid.) Thank you so much for you help!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER:
November 11th-12th - Veteran's Day and Teacher Professional Development (No School)
November 24th-26th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)

TK Week of October 25th-29th

What a fun way to end a great week! Your TKer got to start the day by leading our Halloween parade! We had the cutest fairy, mermaid, skeleton, pterodactyl, lady bug, bunny rabbit, doctor, ninjas, and super heroes ever! After library time, we got our painted pumpkin bags, so we could go Trick-or-Treating! Pumpkin carving and a delicious cupcake treat were also highlights to our day.
 
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Halloween weekend!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER:
November 11th-12th - Veteran's Day and Teacher Professional Development (No School)
November 24th-26th - Thanksgiving Break (No School)
                                  

School Halloween Fun!

Hello! An email from Mr. Bivens should have come today telling you about our school Halloween Parade this Friday. This year we are going to have parents who would like to see all the fun costumes meet us down on the field by 8:15. The plan is to have parents spread out along the edges of the field, so we the students can parade by in a big circle. They'll then go up to the lower field to parade for each other.
 
If you are okay with your cutie wearing his/her costume all morning that is great with me. If you would like her/him to change after the parade (and our TK trick-or-treating fun!) that is great also - just send your TKer to school with a change of clothes if that is best (and let me know, so I can make sure it happens).
 
I'm sure your TKer is excited! Only two more days until School Halloween!

TK Week of October 11th-15th

We had another great TK week, although it wasn't the same with so many TKers out sick! I'm crossing my fingers that after a week of Fall Break we will all be together again!
 
We thought a lot about pumpkins this week, and how they grow from a seed to a big pumpkin ready to carve. We even saw a real pumpkin on the vine this week when we were on a garden scavenger hunt.
 
We had extra fun with Honey Horse's H this week. Have your TKer help you think of some words that start with H, and let them teach you how to make an H. A crayon is great, but how about on a plate of salt, with Playdoh, or outside in the dirt?
 
EXTRA MASKS IN BACKPACKS - With runny nose season, extra masks in backpacks are a really good idea. Thanks so much :)
 
Notes went out yesterday about Alta Sierra Spirit Wear T-shirts/sweatshirts going on sale, but it was a little late for our Thursday Folders, so I took a picture of the note, and I'll email it to parent's. The time to order ends October 28th, so I wanted you to know about it before coming back from vacation. T-shirts are $8 and sweatshirts are $28. Ordering takes place on our altasierra.prsd.us website. (Payments are made at delivery time.)
 
DATES TO REMEMBER
October 18th-22nd - Fall Break (NO SCHOOL)
November 11th-12th - Verterans Day/Teacher PD (NO SCHOOL)
 
 
 
 

TK Reminder

Two Reminders:
 
*Parents Club is hoping Jog-A-Thon pledges can come tomorrow (if you were planning on participating, but haven't had a chance to turn it in yet).
 
*Library is tomorrow.
 
I hope everyone has a nice evening!
 
PS - I hope you enjoy the short video of our TK cuties at the Jog-A-Thon last week! (It's in your inbox from [email protected]).

TK Week of September 27th-October 1st

What at great TK week!
We had lots of fun playing with Francy Fish (F). See how many words you and your TKer can think of that start with Francy's sound. Can your cutie make an F for you?
 
We also played with our domino "cars" as we touched and counted the dots to find out what number it should be parked in. Lots of touch counting (tracking) is great practice at home too.
 
With the beginning of Fall, we've been thinking of apples! We went on a virtual field trip to an apple farm, and have been reading some fun apple books. With a slice of Granny Smith in one hand and a slice of Pink Lady, we noticed how how they each smelled, crunched, and tasted. When asked which they liked best, most decided both! Another apple taste included caramel apples. ALMOST all TKers gave this a big thumbs up!
 
We ended the week with a Jog-a-Thon! It was filled with happy music, bubbles, LOTS of smiles, super fast runners (just ask your TKer), and Otter Pops! Donation envelopes are in your cutie's backpack. Thank you so much!
 
IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR A TK CONFERENCE TIME THAT WAS SENT THROUGH SIGN-UP GENIUS, PLEASE SIGN UP THIS WEEKEND. I WILL SEND YOU A ZOOM LINK AS SOON AS I SEE YOUR TIME. (MONDAY IS PRETTY FILLED UP, BUT THE REST OF NEXT WEEK IS VERY OPEN.)

TK Week of September 20th-24th

We had another week of fun with our Orange is a Carrot Song. On Monday we got to hear the story of Little Blue and Little Yellow. Then we each got our own Little Blue and Little Yellow (Playdoh). They hugged and hugged until they were a whole new color! Ask your TKer what that color was!
 
On Thursday we ended our colors with Red is Cherry Pie, so of course we needed to make our own delicious cherry pie! Ask your cutie how you could make cherry pie at home.
 
Your TKer came home with their own Orange is a Carrot book today. Be sure to have them take it out of their backpack and read it to you. I guarantee you're going to love it!
 
We also worked with Lizzy Lizard's L this week. Let your cutie show you how to make an L, and have fun together thinking of words that start with the /l/ sound.
 
WE STILL NEED ONE MORE VOLUNTEER FOR THE JOG-A-THON NEXT FRIDAY (10/1). THE FIRST ONE TO EMAIL ME GETS THE LUCKY SPOT. (Don't reply to this Edlio email. I won't get it until the next day at about 6:00pm. INSTEAD, use my email - [email protected].)
 
Have a wonderful weekend!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER:
*Friday, October 1st - JOG-A-THON (Thank you for collecting pledges)
*Monday-Friday, October 4th-8th - PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
(I'll be sending out conference sign-ups through Sign-up Genius on Monday,   Sept. 27th)
*Wednesday, October 13th - PICTURE RETAKE DAY
*Monday-Friday, October 18th-22nd - FALL BREAK (No School)
 
 

Thursday Folders!

I'm so sorry! About an hour ago I looked over and saw everyone's Thursday Folder STILL in our blue bucket! I laid them out on the desk by our name cards, so if you bring your TKer in the morning I can hand you the important papers, and your cutie can put the folder back in the blue bucket. Pictures came back, and they are in their envelops too. So cute!
 
If you can't come by in the morning for drop off, no worries at all! I can just put your TKer's envelope in their backpack.
 
Have a great night!

Please Bring Library Book Tomorrow (Thursday)

Hello Parents!
I just found out our librarian won't be at school on Friday, so I am hoping I can find a time tomorrow to visit the library (fingers crossed). In case we can, can you please have your TKer put their library book in their backpack tonight, so it's ready to come to school tomorrow. Thank you!

TK Week of September 13th-17th

We have had another great TK week! We've met all of our ZooPhonic sound friends, and next week we get to start focusing on one letter a week, while still having fun with all the others as we play and learn.
 
We have had lots of fun with orange (is a carrot), yellow (is a pear), purple (is a plum), and brown (is a bear). Pudding, yogurt, and paint helped us discover what made some of these colors. Ask your TKer to tell you all about it!
 
Today we had a great time dancing, skipping, and hopping to the music, and then running to a star as fast as we could. The BEST part of PE, though, was seeing a huge toad on the grass! We got to be scientists who were very still and could notice his bumps, eyes, and his moving mouth. We even said, "Bye, Toad!" when he decided it was time to walk back to his home.
 
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

TK Week of September 7th-10th

Wow! With a holiday on Monday, the week seemed to just fly by! We're continuing to learn about more ZooPhonic friends, and we now know our friends up to Vinnie Vampire Bat (V). Let your TKer show and tell you about the new friends learned this week.
 
This week was about shapes! We sorted them, read about them, sang and learned poems about them, and had fun playing shape Bingo. Talking and playing with shapes at home would double the fun!
 
Picture day was adorable. I can't wait to have you see their first school pictures!
 
On Friday our superintendent, Mr. Clark, came to our classroom to say hello and meet us. We thought he was really nice, and he even taught us how to say thank you in sign language! See if your cutie can teach you. :)
 
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1ST - JOG-A-THON  I'm so sorry to say that we can now only have three volunteers/spectators per class. The first three to email me at [email protected] will be the ones I put on my list. It seems like we should say only one volunteer per household/family. Thank you so much for understanding the craziness of this year. I will be sure to send pictures!

TK Reminder

Just a quick reminder that your TKer's paper library book needs to be returned tomorrow morning, so a real library book can be checked out.
 
Also, it's PE day with Mr. Dillie, so remember to have your cutie wear close toed shoes with straps or closed heels too.

Picture Day is Tomorrow

Hello Parents,
I wanted to remind everyone that Picture Day is tomorrow. We are scheduled to be the first group at 8:05. Your TKer's first school picture is going to be adorable!

TK Week of August 30th-September 3rd

TK had another great week! We have been meeting more of our ZooPhonic friends. We now have been introduced and played with our friends from Allie Alligator (A) to Niguel Nightowl (N). Ask your cutie to show and tell you about some of his/her favorites.
 
Today we got to be extra tricky when we were outside with Mr. Dillie. With hula hoops and a partner, we figured out how to get from one line down to another. See if your TKer can tell you how she/he did it!
 
Yay! We also got to meet Mrs. Alsonso, our librarian! She gave us each a paper practice book to take home. Please read and talk about it with your cutie, and then have him/her carefully put it back in her/his backpack, so we can put it in our library bucket. (Mrs. Alonso asked us to please not color it.) All TKers with turned in practice books get to check out a real book next Friday. I can't wait to see what book everyone chooses!
 
I hope everyone has a wonderful three day weekend!
 
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Monday, September 6th - LABOR DAY (No School)
 
Wednesday, September 8th - PICTURE DAY! (ORDERS CAN BE ONLINE OR BROUGHT TO SCHOOL)