Newsletter Archive - 3/2/26

Dear Families,

We had a beautiful and meaningful Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month celebration, led thoughtfully by United Voices students. The children sang Lift Every Voice and Sing with pride, reminding us all of the importance of honoring Dr. King's legacy and celebrating Black history—not just in February, but all year long.

As we move into March, we are excited to begin learning about Women’s History Month, exploring the incredible contributions of women throughout history and why their stories matter. 

With only three weeks until spring break, our days will be packed with fun and engaging activities, including preparing our Flat Selves for their journeys, along with lots of learning and laughter!

Important Dates

• March 2 - Spring Enrichment Registration Opens, 10:30 AM

• March 3 - Deadline extended to enter the Women’s History Oratory Contest

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

• March 9 - Pajama Drive Begins (March 9–13)

• March 11 - United Voices, 3:45 PM–5:00 PM 

• March 13 - Conference Sign-Ups Shared in Pulse

• March 13 - Wear Pajamas to School Day

• March 13 - POLY PM: Last Day of Winter Enrichment

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

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

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. 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. 

2. We are excited to welcome some of our families into the classroom this week to share about Ramadan. Experiences like these are a special part of our classroom community. They give children the opportunity to learn directly from one another’s families, explore different traditions, and ask thoughtful questions. At this age, cultural sharing helps children build curiosity, understanding, and respect. As we listen and learn together, students often discover that while our traditions may look different, many of our values—family, kindness, gratitude, and community, are very much the same. We’re grateful to the families who are helping bring these experiences to life for our class.

3. In celebration of Black History Month, we are excited to announce a special building project related to African American inventors that our students will engage in over the next few weeks. The children will create and learn about the significant contributions of African American inventors in a hands-on and engaging manner. To make this project a success, we kindly request your support in providing the following items: 

• toilet paper and paper towel rolls

• tissue boxes

• egg cartons

• cereal boxes

• other small recyclable materials

Please send in the items with your child by Friday, March 6th, so that we can begin this exciting project.

4. 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

• 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 main idea of a story.

• Word of the week

  • The sight word of the week is has. 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, how, are

• 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, -ug, -ut, -un 

    • This week, we will be continuing short e word families: et, en, eg, ed

• 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 K, L

• 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,” tap out unfamiliar words, and write a letter for each sound they 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

•  Women’s History Month 

  • We are learning about Women’s History Month to celebrate the incredible contributions of women throughout history and to help children recognize the impact of brave, brilliant, and determined women who have shaped the world. Through engaging stories and discussions, we are introducing influential figures like Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space; Jane Goodall, a groundbreaking primatologist; Maria Tallchief, a trailblazing Native American ballerina; Malala Yousafzai, a champion for girls’ education; Yuri Kochiyama, a civil rights activist; Katherine Johnson, a pioneering NASA mathematician; Maya Angelou, a powerful poet and author; and Amanda Gorman, an inspiring young poet and leader. By learning about these women and many more, we encourage children to see the importance of courage, perseverance, and using their voices to make a difference.

• 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.

• We are continuing our Fairness and Justice unit. 

  • George Washington Carver

    • This week, we’ll explore the story of George Washington Carver, who was born enslaved, taught himself many things because he loved learning, and grew up to become a scientist who used plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes to help farmers and their communities. 

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

• 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 words like first, next, then, and last.

• Sight words: Turn our learned sight words into a game of memory or go fish! Make a set of cards by writing each sight word twice: a, the, and, I, to, do, he, me, she, we, you, your, was, said, of, like, have, how, are

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

• 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.