Newsletter Archive - 5/11/26

Dear Families,

Our ocean and rainforest units are in full swing, and the students are brimming with curiosity about the incredible animals, plants, and ecosystems we're exploring. From the depths of the ocean floor to the towering canopy of the rainforest, the children have been asking the most thoughtful questions and making connections that never cease to amaze us. 

We're excited for Carousel Day this Thursday, a special time for our community to come together and celebrate all the joy and growth of this school year. 

Finally, thank you for your wonderful participation in Teacher Appreciation Week. Your kind words, generous gestures, and heartfelt support remind us every day why we love what we do, and we are so grateful to be part of such a warm and caring community.

Important Dates

• May 13 - United Voices - 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

• May 14 - Nursery, Pre-K, and Kindergarten Carousel Day, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

• May 16 - Packout Day - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

• May 20 - K Field Trip to the NY Aquarium

• May 22 - School Closed: Professional Day

• May 25 - School Closed: Memorial Day

• May 27 - School Closed: Eid al-Adha

• June 3 - Last day of Spring enrichment

• June 4 - NOON DISMISSAL - OPEN SCHOOL NIGHT

• June 5 - School Closed - Commencement

• June 8 - United  Voices - 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

• June 9 - Lost and Found Recovery Day

• June 10 - Poly PM: Last day of regular after school & Lost and Found Recovery Day

• June 12 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. Carousel Day is Thursday, May 14th. Here are some reminders:

• In the event of rain, we will cancel Carousel Day as there is no cover from the rain. However, every family will receive free carousel tickets to enjoy on another day of your choosing.

• In the event that Carousel Day is canceled, in the past, the grade levels coordinated amongst themselves to pick alternative dates when groups of families could attend together, creating their own special carousel celebrations.

• We'll keep our fingers crossed for sunny skies, but know that either way, your family will get to enjoy this special tradition! If needed, we will make the call the night before.

2. Please see the letter below from our Service Learning Coordinatos about Packout Day!

Dear Lower School Families, 

The Lower School Packout Day is coming up on May 16 from 9AM-11AM! We will be packing bags of fresh produce to donate to local community fridges. Community fridges are an effective way to provide access to fresh healthy produce for those who are in need, and we are honored to continue to support One Love Community Fridge. 

Come and pack some bags of produce, and then take the bags to a community fridge if you are able! If you would like to help contribute to the event, we will need mesh shopping bags to pack produce! 

Please order and have them delivered to:

Sarah Ely

50 Prospect Park West

Brooklyn NY 11215

3.  As part of our rainforest study, students will be working on an exciting final project. For this activity, they’ll be designing and building their own imaginary rainforest creatures, using a mix of recycled materials. To support your child in this creative process, we’re asking for donations of any of the following items you may have at home by May 21st:

• Toilet paper and paper towel rolls

• Small boxes (e.g., tissue boxes, snack boxes)

• Bubble wrap

• Clean bottle caps, yarn, or other craft-friendly recyclables

4. We warmly invite families into our classroom to celebrate Arab American Heritage Month or Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Families are also welcome to connect with one another to combine presentations. We'd love for students to hear from multiple perspectives! Please email us if you are interested.

5. Please make sure your child has an extra pair of sneakers to keep in their cubbies. We will go to the park when we can and we don’t want to track mud through the building and in our classrooms.

6. 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. Registration 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 have been exploring the “feelings thermometer," a tool for identifying emotions and how they feel energetically in the body. We’ll explore tools for when we are in the blue, yellow, and red zones to help us get back to the green zone, such as breathing, movement, positive self-talk, and asking for help. 

  • Blue Zone: sad, bored, tired, sick, lonely

  • Green Zone: happy, calm, proud, focused, confident

  • Yellow Zone: worried, nervous, embarrassed, irritated, silly

  • Red Zone: angry, overwhelmed, scared, agitated, jealous 

• We will also focus on Ubuntu, a powerful idea from parts of Africa that means “I am because we are.” To help students understand this concept, we will read I Am You: A Book About Ubuntu by Refiloe Moahloli. Ubuntu teaches us that we are all connected and that our actions affect others. When one person is kind, it spreads kindness. When someone needs help, we support them because we are part of a community that cares for one another. In simple terms for our classroom, Ubuntu means: we look out for each other, we include everyone, and we work together. By focusing on Ubuntu, we aim to build empathy and a strong sense of belonging, helping students see that each of them plays an important role in making our classroom a kind and connected community.

Throughout the week, we will practice Ubuntu by:

• Helping classmates when they need support

• Using kind and respectful words

• Sharing materials and taking turns

• Noticing when someone feels left out and inviting them to join

• Celebrating each other’s successes

Reading

•  Nonfiction Text Features:

  • Purpose: Non-fiction books teach us and give us information 

  • Nonfiction text features help locate important information in a text

    • table of contents, headings, photographs, captions, diagrams, labels

• Comprehension skills:

  • Reading with fluency and expression

    • For kindergarteners, fluency means that children are developing the ability to read smoothly and effortlessly, by rereading and “scooping words or phrases together.”  This skill is foundational for comprehension, allowing them to understand the meaning of the words and the story they're exploring.

    • Expression in reading adds a special touch to the storytelling experience. When kindergarteners are reading with expression, it means they are infusing their voices with different tones, pitches, and emotions. It's like bringing the characters and events to life through their voice.

• Word of the week

  • The sight word of the week is or/for. Play Sight Word Memory. Choose 6-8 sight words and write each word on two index cards to create pairs. Arrange all cards face down in an array for a game of memory.

• 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, his, see, what, who, all, they

• 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 Y, Z

  • New digraph: ck (rule: ck is used when you hear the /k/ sound at the end of a word with a short vowel sound, such as luck, back, sock) 

  • Digraphs: ch, sh, th

• 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

• As children learn to identify and describe common nonfiction text features such as headings, labels, and captions, they will begin to create their own text features to accompany their writing. This could involve drawing a picture and adding a simple label or caption to describe it.

• The children will also be introduced to the concept of “taking notes” by encouraging students to jot down keywords or phrases while reading non-fiction texts or listening to information about ocean animals. They will learn how to focus on important facts or details. After taking notes, students will transform at least one note or sentence fragment into a complete sentence during each writing activity. These pieces of writing will become nonfiction books about the students’ ocean animals of interest.

Math

Addition

• MIF School-to-Home Connections 

• Skills your child will practice include: 

  • adding by putting together and adding to

  • using addition facts to 5 to add

  • counting on to add numbers to 10

  • writing and solving addition sentences

Social Studies

• May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This month, we’ll read My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits and Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis. AAPI Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In our classroom, we will explore themes of identity, belonging, family, and community, helping students understand and appreciate both similarities and differences among people. Learning about diverse cultures builds empathy, respect, and a stronger sense of connection to the world around us.

• May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, and in kindergarten, we approach this important topic in ways that feel safe, simple, and empowering. Just like we talk about taking care of our bodies by exercising, eating healthy foods, and getting enough sleep, we also talk about ways we can take care of our minds and brains. We introduce ideas like sharing our feelings with people we trust, taking deep breaths when we feel upset, practicing kindness to ourselves and others, and making time to rest and play. Our goal is to help children understand that caring for our mental health is just as important as caring for our physical health, and that there are many small, everyday things we can do to feel strong, calm, and connected.

Anti-Racist Read Aloud

• Our anti-racist read-aloud this month is We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, a powerful story about Indigenous communities protecting the earth's water from pollution. The book connects beautifully to our current theme of agency—the idea that we all have the power to make a difference and stand up for what matters. Through this story, we will discuss how the young protagonist takes action to protect something precious, and we'll talk about ways we can use our voices and actions to care for our earth and our communities. We're excited to hear the children's ideas about how they can be protectors of the environment!

What You Can Do at Home

• AAPI Heritage Month: Read books or watch shows that feature Asian American and Pacific Islander characters and stories; Look at a map and find countries in Asia and the Pacific Islands; Talk about your family's traditions and what makes your family special; Explore different foods together and discuss where they come from; Encourage conversations about names, identity, and what makes each person unique.

• Comparing Quantities: Encourage your child to practice counting and comparing numbers in everyday situations at home. During snack time or meal prep, ask questions like "How many more strawberries do you have than I do?" or "Which bowl has fewer grapes?" You can also sort laundry, toys, or blocks by quantity to make math a natural part of your daily routine.

• Story Retelling: After reading a book together, ask your child to retell the story using the Five Finger Retell strategy. Hold up each finger as a guide: 👍 Thumb = Characters, ☝️ Index finger = Setting, 🖕 Middle finger = Beginning, 💍 Ring finger = Middle, 🤙 Pinky = End. Try acting it out with stuffed animals or drawing a quick picture for each part!

• Fluency: When your child reads aloud at home, encourage them to use their voice to match the punctuation and the mood of the story — whispering during a suspenseful part, speeding up during an exciting chase, or pausing at a period. Take turns reading pages together and model expressive reading yourself.

• Sight Words: Have your child practice spelling their sight words by forming the letters with playdough, building them with letter magnets on the fridge, or tracing them in a tray of salt or sugar. Words to practice: a, the, and, I, to, do, he, me, she, we, you, your, was, said, like, have, how, are, has, of, her, his, see, what, who, all, they.

• Identify the Vowel: Give your child a short word (like hat, big, or cup) and ask them to "roller coaster it" — slowly stretching the word out to hear the vowel sound in the middle, at the top of the roller coaster. You can use your hand to physically ride the roller coaster sound up and down as you say each part of the word together.

• Math Walk: Take a walk around your home, backyard, or neighborhood and turn it into a math adventure! Count objects you spot along the way — flowers, windows, parked cars, birds — and create simple addition problems: "We saw 3 butterflies and 2 bees. How many insects did we see altogether?" Use fingers, rocks, or sticks to help solve each problem.

• Fine Motor Skills: Build hand strength and independence at home through fun, purposeful activities! Try beading bracelets, buttoning shirts, lacing shoes, or zipping up a jacket. Encourage your child to peel their own orange, open their own snack bag, and clean up after themselves at mealtimes. When they're ready, practice tying their own shoes — a big milestone worth celebrating!