Newsletter Archive - 1/5/26

Dear Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope you had a restful and joyous winter break filled with family, fun, and special moments. After two weeks away, we’ll take some time this week to ease back into our routines and learning. We’ve missed the students and are excited to welcome them back to school. 

As we start the new year, we're excited to share that our kindergarteners will be embarking on a journey of understanding and reflection centered around the impactful words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The time is always right to do what is right.” For our Fairness and Justice unit and in honor of Dr. King's birthday, January 15th, we are learning and incorporating elements of his life, teachings, and legacy in our discussions and activities. Our goal is to enlighten the children about the purpose, contributions, and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as other activists and advocates. Through age-appropriate conversations and reflections, we are fostering an environment where our kindergarteners can appreciate the values of equity, equality, justice, and compassion that Dr. King and others championed.

We encourage you to engage with your child at home, extending these conversations to reinforce the significance of Dr. King's legacy. If you have any questions or would like additional resources, please feel free to reach out to us. As always, we thank you for your partnership.

Important Dates

• January 5 - School Resumes

• January 8 - Health (Lice) Check

• January 9 - Makeup Picture Day

• January 12 - ATHL: Play Like A Champion Parent Workshop - 7-9pm (Register here) 

• January 16 - Poly Pep! Day and Oasis Night

• January 19 - NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• January 20 - NO SCHOOL Professional development 

• January 23 - Jammin June & Poly Math Camp Registration Opens

• January 26 - Food Drive and Used Book Sale begins 

• January 29 - Used Book Sale - Parent Shopping Day 

• January 29 - United Voices 3:45PM - 5:00PM

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. We warmly invite families to join our classroom in January to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. For planning ahead, if more than one family would like to participate, we would be delighted to connect families for a shared presentation so students can hear from multiple perspectives.

2. Hurricane Melissa Relief - A thank you message from Ms. Shirley and Ms. Ely:

With deepest gratitude, thank you to all—faculty, staff, and families—who so generously supported our hurricane relief effort for the people of Jamaica. Your kindness showed up in so many meaningful ways: donating much-needed supplies, helping sort and pack items, spreading the word, and offering encouragement every step of the way.

Because of this incredible outpouring of support, we were able to pack and ship 13 jumbo barrels filled with essential items that will bring comfort, care, and hope to those impacted by the hurricane. 

Thank you for your generosity, your time, and your hearts. Your support truly made a difference.

With sincere gratitude and appreciation to you all,

Ms. Shirley and Ms. Ely

3. Send in Gently Used Books for our LS Book Sale by Friday, January 23

We are currently collecting gently used books for our upcoming book sale. We are also collecting used bags/totes so that we can offer our shoppers a bag with purchase! Please drop off books for babies, kids, and adults, as well as used bags, in the library or by the security desks any time before Friday, January 23. Contact Kristen Robb (krobb@polyprep.org) with questions, and thanks for helping to make this annual event such a success! Click here for a printable flyer.

Please read below for this coming week’s learning goals and a few pointers for what you can do at home:

Social Emotional Learning

• Revisit our September Hopes and Dreams

  • Are we moving toward our hopes and dreams? Do we want to revise them?

• Review our Class Promises 

  • Why did we create and agree to these promises in September?

  • How do these promises keep us safe and happy and ensure that we keep learning? 

Reading

• Story Elements

  • This week, we are beginning our work on story elements, the building blocks that help us understand and talk about stories. We will introduce key elements such as characters, setting, problem and solution, and plot. Our focus this week will be on characters, especially identifying the main character, and talking about what characters do, say, and feel in fictional stories as the plot unfolds and problems are solved.

• Word of the week

  • The sight word of the week will be was. Create a BINGO game where your child has different BINGO cards with different sight words, including “was.” Call out sentences or show pictures related to the words and then mark the corresponding sight words on the BINGO cards.

• Syllables

  • We are learning about syllables. Syllables are the parts of a word, the number of "chunks" or “beats” that a word breaks into when you say it. Students have been taught to segment words into syllables by clapping them out or placing their hand under their chin and counting the times their chin drops when saying a word.

• Rhyming

  • We are learning that words rhyme when the middle and ending sounds are the same.

  • Rhyming words and word families help children discover many common word patterns.

    • Here are the word families we have taught thus far: -an, -at, -ad, -ap, -ag, -op, -ot, -og

    • This week, we will be introducing short e word families: -et, -eg, -en

• S-T-R-E-T-C-H words apart, sounding out each letter (particularly consonant, vowel, consonant 3 letter words) then joining them back together to read the word.

• One-to-One Correspondence or Finger Point Reading

• One-to-one correspondence is the ability to match written word to spoken word while reading. Pointing, or one-to-one correspondence, helps beginning readers make text-to-word connections. This also helps students with directionality, visual tracking, and keeping their place while reading. We will continue to practice this skill while reading our mini-books. 

Fundations / Handwriting 

• Letters x and y

  • Recognizing lowercase letters and sounds of qu and z

  • Writing lowercase letters qu and z

  • Review: t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j, l, h, k, v, w, 

• Fundations At Home Pack for letters for x and y 

  • The Fundations Home Fundations Home Support Pack Unit 1 Week 12 Support Pack provides you with the “why” and the “what” regarding our reading program, Fundations. The Fundations Home Packet also provides you with the language that the teachers use when forming their letters. Please use the same language when instructing and practicing with your child at home.

Writing Workshop

• Unit 2: Writing for Readers

  • Bend 1: Make Writing Easy to Read 

    • Leave spaces between words.

    • Make pictures that help with the words.

    • Write a letter for each sound.

    • Use capital letters to start sentences.

    • Put a period at the end of every sentence. 

• We will continue to practice the rhyme, When you think you’re done, you’ve only just begun. Children often say they are done, but we ask them to add more details to drawing, labeling, and writing.

Math

Flat and Solid Shapes

• MIF School-to-Home Connections 

• Name and identify flat and solid shapes by their specific attributes

• Compare the similarities and differences between flat shapes and solid shapes

• Use position words such as “above” and “below” to name the relative positions of shapes

• Use attribute blocks to create new shapes and use pictures to create new flat shapes 

• Identify a sequence of shapes that form a pattern 

• Determine the similarities and differences when observing patterns formed using flat shapes and solid shapes           

Social Studies

• We are moving on to a new Social Studies Unit on Fairness and Justice. 

  • Our focus will be on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    • In our Fairness and Justice unit, the students learn about Dr. MLK, Jr. and other leaders for equity and equality. They reflect on what fairness and justice means to them and how they could make positive changes in the world.

Anti-Racist Read Aloud: 

• Our school-wide anti-racist read-aloud this month is Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman. This story celebrates imagination, confidence, and courage while reminding children that everyone deserves the chance to try new things and follow their dreams. 

  • Our focus for the month is on fairness, understanding what it means and why it matters. We talk about fairness as treating people with kindness and respect, giving everyone what they need to be successful, and making sure everyone has a turn and a voice. We’ll explore fairness through classroom discussions, stories, and play, helping children notice when things are or aren’t fair and how they can take action to make things right. By practicing fairness, we build a classroom community where every child feels seen, included, and valued. 

What You Can Do At Home

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - When addressing our students about the life and impact of Dr. King, it's inevitable that questions about his death may come up. It's crucial for us to handle these inquiries with honesty and sensitivity, emphasizing the celebration of his remarkable life and mission. We aim to underscore the significance of his dreams, teachings, and the positive changes he initiated. If your child has questions about Dr. King's passing, we suggest offering truthful and age-appropriate responses, focusing on his enduring legacy rather than delving into the details of his death.

• Read aloud your child’s favorite books – The benefits are endless! Listening to stories boosts language development, enhances listening and social skills, fosters cognitive growth, and nurtures creativity. It’s also a wonderful way to bond with your child and encourage empathy as they connect with characters and emotions.

• I Spy with Sounds: Play a sound-focused version of "I Spy." For example, say, "I spy something that starts with the sound /y/ or ends with /x/," and let your child guess objects around them - like yam or box.

• Playdough Letters: Roll playdough into thin strips and shape them into letters. 

• Rhyme and Draw: Give your child a word (e.g., "tree") and have them draw a picture of something that rhymes with it (e.g., a bee). 

• Spelling: Have your child practice spelling learned sight words in shaving cream or sand: a, the, and, I, to, do, he, me, she, we, you, your 

• Shape Hunt: Encourage your child to find objects around the house that match solid shapes (e.g., a cereal box for a rectangular prism, a can for a cylinder, a ball for a sphere). Have them sort the objects by shape and discuss their attributes.

• Building with Shapes: Use household items like blocks, boxes, or even kitchen containers to build towers, bridges, or creative structures. Talk about how the shapes fit together and which shapes make sturdy bases.

• Fine Motor Skills: Practice fine motor skills with exercises like beading, buttoning, zipping. Foster independence and build confidence at home by encouraging your children to peel their own oranges, open a snack, clean up after themselves when they eat, and practice tying their own shoes and zipping their own jackets.