Newsletter Archive - 3/9/26

Dear Families,

The much-anticipated Slime Time Assembly was everything the children hoped it would be! We even had special appearances from Baby Blue and Blue Devil, along with Mr. Meek—who, in fact, did get slimed!!

We are also grateful to the families who visited our classrooms this week to share about Ramadan. The children enjoyed listening to Lailah’s Lunchbox and writing notes about acts of kindness they plan to do in the near future. As they complete their acts of kindness, they will decorate their own kindness jars. In the spirit of charity and gratitude, the children also used golden coins to vote for a community organization they felt should receive a donation. While they cast their votes, we’re happy to share that all three organizations, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), CAMBA, and Grandma’s Love, will receive a donation!

Kindergarteners will also begin reading Flat Stanley this week. Students will create their own “flat selves” and send them off on exciting adventures! We can’t wait for our Flat Friends to return so we can learn about all the places they’ve traveled.

Important Dates

• 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

• 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

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. Kindergarten is beginning our Flat Stanley project, and the children are very excited! Each student will create their own Flat Stanley to send on an adventure. Their flat selves will travel to a friend or family member in another place, who will help document the journey and send their flat self back with stories about where the flat friend visited. To help us get started, please complete the Flat Stanley Destination Questionnaire and return it by Friday, March 13th. This will help us plan where each Stanley will travel and make sure everyone is ready for the adventure ahead!

2. The Lower School is again hosting our annual Pajama Drive from Monday, March 9 through Friday, March 13 (Pajama Day!)  in partnership with Beyond Bedtime (Formerly the Pajama Program). Beyond Bedtime provides children facing adversity with the materials, education, and support they need to wake up ready to thrive. We support them every year by hosting a Pajama Drive to contribute to a local shelter or organization in need of pajamas. Please drop off a new pair of pajamas to the school between Monday, March 9 and Friday March 13. The drop off box will be located in the vestibule. If you prefer to order online and have it shipped to the school, feel free to address the package to Sarah Ely, 50 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

3. 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. 

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

• We will 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.

• We are also focusing on the topic of “Love”—exploring familial love, love for friends and classmates, and love for our community. We’ve been discussing the many ways our actions demonstrate love, whether through compassionate words, acts of kindness, or artistic expression. As we continue these conversations, we will now shift our focus to self-love—what it means, why it’s important, and how we can affirm and care for ourselves. Through reflections, discussions, and fun activities we will help children recognize their own strengths and practice positive self-talk as a way to nurture self-love.

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 her. 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

• 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

• 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 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

• 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

• 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.

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

• Comparing Numbers: Play a game of “Top-it” with a deck of cards. Take turns turning over one card each. Whoever has the higher-value card gets to take both cards. Have your child use the language, “6 is greater than 4,” “3 is less than 5,” or “7 is the same as 7”  while playing. 

• 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.