Newsletter Archive - 2/9/26

Dear Families,

The students had a wonderful time on our trip to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum! Thank you to our chaperones for joining us and helping make the day such a success. 

The Food Drive box outside KA and KB was overflowing by the end of last week. Thank you to all who searched your kitchens for items to donate. The students were proud to contribute to Grandma’s Love and to know that their efforts would help provide meals to children in our community.

Please remember to mark your calendars for the Lower School Readathon, Kindergarten Family Literacy Night, the Valentine’s Day Family Dance, and Dress Like a Book Character Day. See below for dates and details. With the short week coming up for President’s Day and Lunar New Year, this update will also cover the week of February 18th. We wish all our families celebrating Lunar New Year a joyful celebration! Thank you, as always, for your support and partnership.

Important Dates

• February 13 - Valentine’s Family Dance @ 3:45PM

• February 16 - School Closed: President’s Day

• February 17 - School Closed: Lunar New Year

• February 18 - United Voices - 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

• February 21 - Readathon Begins (Feb 21 - Feb 27)

• February 24 - 100th Day of School!

• February 24 - Kindergarten Family Literacy Night, 5:30 PM

• February 26 - Deadline to enter the Women’s History Oratory Contest

• February 27 - Dress Like a Book Character Day

• February 28 - PolyCultura, 1:00 - 3:00 PM

• March 6 - Community Shabbat Dinner. Please register here, as space is limited.

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. On Friday, February 13th, students are invited to bring valentines to school. To make preparations a bit easier, you’ll find a class list here. We ask that any child who would like to share valentines does so with the whole class to avoid hurt feelings. As a reminder, no food or candy may be brought into school. Stickers, crafts, and the like are welcome.

2. The 100th Day of School is on Tuesday, February 24th. Each child should bring a “100 Collection” for our “100 Museum” on this day. It can be as simple as 100 pieces of pasta or 100 stickers. Items can be displayed on a poster or brought in a bag. The students will display their 100 items at their table spots, and we will do a “museum walk” to admire our collections. 

3. February is Black History Month. Throughout the month, students will share their My Story posters, and we’ll explore the rich history and celebrate the numerous contributions of remarkable African American individuals to our society. We’ll learn about leaders, artists, musicians, scientists, and athletes such as Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Carter G. Woodson, Alma Thomas, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Chuck Berry, Katherine Johnson, Jackie Robinson, and more. 

4. Women’s History Oratory Contest: Submit by Thursday, February 26

We’re excited to announce our 5th annual Women’s History Oratory Contest. Any student can enter, and every Nursery, Pre-K, and Kindergarten student who enters is a winner. Click here for all the details.

5. We warmly invite families to join our classroom in February to celebrate Black History Month or the Lunar New Year. 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. Please email your child’s homeroom teachers if you are interested. 

6. Our annual food drive will be from Monday, January 26-Friday, February 6, 2026, to support Grandma’s Love, an organization dedicated to combating childhood hunger in Brooklyn. This year, we are doing a special project with cereal boxes, a highly popular yet costly food item. We encourage families to donate cereal in addition to the other non-perishables on the list. Sign up to volunteer to drop-off on February 12th by emailing sely@polyprep.org.

7. Register for Jammin’ June and Math Camp

Registration for June Camp programs at Poly Lower will open on Monday, January 26, at 10:00 AM. Learn more here about Jammin June, Robochef, and Math and Motion! Space is limited. Register is first-come, first-served.

8. It’s COLD outside, and we will still be going outdoors for recess as our protocols allow. Please be sure your child comes to school with SNOW PANTS (if possible), a hat and gloves or mittens so they can spend time outside comfortably and have the opportunity to move their bodies. In addition, please send your child to school with an extra pair of indoor shoes. We may go to the park even in inclement weather, and having a change of shoes helps prevent mud, dirt (and other surprise park finds!) from being tracked back into the building and onto our classroom rugs.

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

Social Emotional Learning

• What is kindness? 

  • RA: Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller 

• What does it mean to be “smart”? Can we be smart in different ways? How can I help my brain grow? What can I say to myself when something feels tricky?

  • RA: The Smart Cookie by Jory John

Reading

• Story Elements

  • We will continue learning about story elements, the building blocks that help us understand and talk about stories, including key elements such as characters, setting, problem, solution, and plot. Our focus will be on the problem and solution of a story, identifying what the problem is, how it is solved, and how the solution helps move the story forward.

• Word of the week

  • The sight words for the next two weeks are how and are. Play Sight Word Memory Match. Make pairs of cards with the focus words how, are, and other sight words. Place them face down and play a memory-matching game. Each time your child flips a card, they must say the word aloud. Matching words reinforces recognition and recall.

  • Learned sight words: and, the, a, I, to, do, he, me, she, we, my, you, your, was, said, of, like, have

• 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, -id, -ig, -in, -ip, -it 

    • This week, we will be continuing short u word families: -ug, -ut, -un

• 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. 

Fundations / Handwriting 

• Blending sounds

  • Tapping out sounds to blend

• Review of lowercase letters 

  • Review all of the lowercase letters

  • Review of uppercase letters E, F, G, H

• Fundations At Home Pack for Unit 2

  • The Fundations Home Fundations Home Support Pack Unit 2 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 3: How-to Books: Writing to Teach Others

Bend 1: How-to Writing…

1. Tells what to do, in steps

2. Numbers the steps

3. Has a picture for each step

4. Has labels that teach

• We are learning how to edit our work for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling! Students are encouraged to check the word wall for “trick words” and to tap out unfamiliar words and write a letter for each sound they can hear. 

Math

Compare Numbers to Ten 

• MIF School-to-Home Connections 

• comparing two sets of objects using the same

• comparing two sets of objects using greater than

• comparing two sets of objects using less than

• comparing two numbers to 10

• identifying 1 more or 1 less from a number 

Social Studies

• We are continuing our Fairness and Justice unit. 

  • Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer

    • What makes a family a family? What does love look like in a family? How does your family show love?

  • The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko

    • Who makes laws? What happens when laws are unfair? How do people help make change? Why is it important that everyone has the same choices? 

  • 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 anti-racist read-aloud this month is It’s OK to Be Different by Todd Parr. This book celebrates the many ways people are unique, highlighting diverse families, personalities, appearances, abilities, and talents, while encouraging children to love, accept, and appreciate themselves and others.

  • Our focus for the month is perspective-taking, understanding what it means and why it matters. Students are encouraged to consider multiple perspectives as they engage with history, literature, and current events, helping them build empathy, deepen understanding, and recognize how our actions can affect others.

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.

• February is Black History Month. At home, you can read books, listen to music, or discuss Black leaders, artists, and changemakers. Invite your child to think about how these individuals used their ideas, talents, and voices to shape the world. 

• Brainstorm ideas for our How-to Writing unit with your child. Orally rehearse everyday tasks in four simple steps, such as making the bed, making a sandwich, brushing your teeth, etc. Practice keeping each step clear, simple, and in order. 

• Read aloud your child’s favorite books — the benefits are endless! Listening to stories builds language and listening skills, supports thinking and imagination, and helps children develop empathy as they connect with characters and emotions. Reading together is also a meaningful way to bond with your child.

• Rainbow Writing: To practice letter or number formation, provide a sheet with letters or numbers lightly outlined. Your child can trace over them multiple times using different colored markers or crayons to create a “rainbow” effect. You can do this activity with our learned trick words, too. 

• Make a Rhyme Chain: Start with a word (e.g., "cake"), and take turns coming up with rhyming words. Keep the chain going as long as possible, adding a silly story or phrase for extra fun.

• 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, was, said, of, like, have

• Top It: Play a game of Top It using a deck of number cards. Each player flips over one card, and the player with the larger number says, “___ is greater than ___,” and takes both cards. If both players flip the same number, each player flips over another card. This game is a fun way to practice the math language greater than, less than, and equal to.

• Comparing Amounts: In everyday moments, ask your child, “Do we have more __ than __? Are there fewer __ than ___?” Examples of items to count and compare could be fruit or vegetables in the kitchen, types of shoes, and stuffed animals or toys. Have your child practice using the phrases “more than,” “fewer than,” and “the same.” 

• Fine Motor Skills: Practice fine motor skills with exercises like beading, buttoning, and 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.