Newsletter Archive - 3/16/26

Dear Families,

Pajama Day was filled with excitement and cozy fun in our classroom! The children loved coming to school in their pajamas and sharing the special day together. A huge thank you for all new pajama donations to Beyond Bedtime. Your generosity helps bring comfort to children in need, and it reminds us that even something that may seem small, like a cozy pair of pajamas, can help a child feel safe, cared for, and ready for a good night’s sleep.

Thank you to the families who have already signed up for their parent–teacher conferences. If you have not yet had a chance to schedule your conference, please do so as soon as possible. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s kindergarten experience and celebrate the growth and learning we’ve seen so far this year. 

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and restorative Spring Break filled with rest and special time together.

Important Dates

• March 19 - Last Day of Classes before Spring Break - No After School Programming

• March 20 - School Closed: Eid al-Fitr. Spring Break begins

• April 6 - Classes resume

• April 6 - Spring POLY PM Regular and Enrichment begins

• April 8 -  Lice Check

• April 10 -  Women’s History Oratory Contest Judging

• April 10 - RESCHEDULED: Kindergarten & Grade 1 Family Dance, 3:45 PM

• April 16 - Afternoon In-Person Parent-Teacher Conferences - No After School Programming

• April 17 - School Closed: Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences 

• April 20 - School Closed: Professional Day

• April 23 - Grade 1 Parent Preview - 1:00 PM

• April 24 - United Voices - 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

• April 24 - Grandparents and Special Friends Day 8:45 AM - 11:45 AM

• April 28 - RESCHEDULED: Kindergarten Family Literacy Night - 5:30 PM

• April 29 - Kindergarten Spring Celebration - 8:45 AM

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. If you have not completed the Flat Stanley Destination Questionnaire, please do so by Monday, March 16th so we have enough time to mail out the Flat Friends before Spring Break. This will help us plan where each Flat Friend will travel and make sure everyone is ready for the adventure ahead.

2. The Kindergarten & Grade 1 Family Dance will now take place on April 10th at 3:45 PM. The dance is a short, sweet affair. We’ll have decorations, a photo station, and good tunes. There is no dress code for the dance; come as you are, wearing what you would normally wear to school. 

3. 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.

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

Social Emotional Learning

• We will continue to talk about the importance of being curious and not judgmental. When we don’t know something about someone, it can be easy to make assumptions, but those assumptions are often incorrect. Instead, we are practicing being curious: asking questions, listening carefully, and learning more about one another’s experiences and perspectives. Through stories, discussions, and classroom activities, students will learn that everyone has their own story, and taking the time to understand each other helps build a kinder and more respectful community. We encourage children to remember that when something feels different or unfamiliar, it’s a wonderful opportunity to wonder, ask, and learn rather than jump to conclusions.

Reading

• Five Finger Retell

  • Students have been learning a strategy called Five-Finger Retelling to help them think about and talk about stories. Using their fingers as a guide, children practice retelling the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and the ending of a story. This strategy helps students strengthen their comprehension by encouraging them to recall key details and explain what happened in their own words.

• Word of the week

  • The sight word of the week is his. Play Sight Word Go Fish. Using index cards, make three of four cards with one sight word. Shuffle the sight word cards and deal 5 cards to each player. Place the rest face down in a pile. Players look at their cards and try to make matches of the same sight word. If they have a match, they place the pair down. The first player asks another player, “Do you have the word ___?” If the player has that word, they give the card to the person who asked. If not, they say “Go fish!” and the player draws a card from the pile. If the drawn card matches, the player places the pair down. Players take turns asking for words. The player with the most matching pairs at the end wins.

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

• 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.

Fundations / Handwriting 

• Blending sounds

  • Tapping out sounds to blend

• Review of lowercase letters 

  • Review all of the lowercase letters

  • Review of uppercase letters M, N

• 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

• Letter Writing

  • Children will explore the five basic components of a friendly letter. They are learning to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a structured and personalized manner. Our focus is on teaching them the essential elements of a friendly letter: the heading (short date), greeting, introduction, body, closing, and signature. 

Math

Numbers to 20 

• MIF School-to-Home Connections 

• Students will learn to group up to 20 objects by making a 10 and ones. Students will learn that numbers are composed of tens and ones.

• Students will extend their knowledge to order numbers within 20. They will learn to find missing numbers by counting on and back.

• Students will decompose numbers to 10 for numbers up to 20. Breaking down numbers into tens and ones helps students see the groupings, relationships, and patterns in numbers.

Social Studies

•  Women’s History Month 

  • We’ll continue learning about Women’s History Month, exploring the incredible contributions of women such as Jane Goodall, Greta Thunberg, Gladys West, Marsha P. Johnson, and Wangari Maathai, along with many others. We will discuss the important ways these women helped shape our world and how their work was sometimes overlooked or credited to others, specifically men. Learning their stories helps us understand why it’s so important to recognize and celebrate their achievements.

• Children will acknowledge and celebrate a woman in their own lives, whether a mother, grandmother, teacher, or family friend, by sharing why this person is important to them. Through this personal connection, we hope to help them appreciate the many ways women shape our lives and communities every day.

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

• Over the break, keep those skills strong! Have your children read for ten minutes each day. They can also keep a small journal and write their rose, bud, and thorn for the day. This will help them continue practicing their reading and writing skills while also encouraging reflection about something positive (a rose), something they are looking forward to (a bud), and something challenging (a thorn). 

• Encourage your children to practice counting and comparing numbers in everyday situations, like at the supermarket. Ask questions such as “How many more apples do we need?” or “Which snack has fewer pieces?” to help them apply math in real-life contexts and strengthen their number sense. 

• March is Women’s History Month. At home, you can learn more about the women in your family and honor the people who care for you by trying some of these ideas: 

  • Read books: Read books about inspiring women. 

  • Ask questions: Talk with a parent, grandparent, aunt, or another grown-up about the women in your family. What were they good at? What did they love to do?

  • Share a story: Ask someone to tell a story about a woman in your family who was brave, kind, creative, or helped others.

  • Look at photos: Look through family photos and learn about the people in them.

  • Say thank you: Write or dictate a short thank-you note to a woman who helps you at home, school, or in your community.

• Story Retelling: After reading a book, ask your child to retell the story in order, using the five finger retell strategy. The thumb represents the characters in the story, the index finger represents the setting, the middle finger represents the beginning of the story, the ring finger represents the middle of the story and the pinky finger represents the end of the story.

• Sight words: 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, like, have, how, are, has, of, her

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

• Number Hunt & Match: Write the numbers 11 to 20 on sticky notes and hide them around the house. Have your child find them and place them in order on a number line. For extra practice, give them a set of objects (e.g., buttons, blocks) to count and match to each number.

• Build and Count: Use LEGO bricks or blocks to build towers representing each number from 11 to 20. Encourage your child to count out loud as they stack. You can also challenge them to create two towers that add up to a specific number, reinforcing simple addition. 

• 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.