Kindergarten B

Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see you all at Open School Night last week! For us, the highlight was watching the students beam with pride as they shared their learning with you. They should feel incredibly proud of how hard they’ve worked. We are just as proud of them for all the ways they’ve grown this year in Kindergarten: as learners, friends, and members of our community.

From mastering their lowercase letters and solving addition number stories to writing research-based nonfiction books and independently navigating conflicts, these soon-to-be first graders have grown so much. They are more than ready for next year. It has been a joy and a privilege to be part of their learning journey.

Thank you for your partnership throughout the year. It truly takes a village, and we’re so grateful to be part of yours. Wishing you all a joyful and restorative summer!

With Gratitude,

Marya and EJ

Important Dates

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

• June 9 - Changemaker Day

• 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 - NOON DISMISSAL 

• June 23 - LS Reports Posted 12:00 PM

Here are some important reminders for the week:

1. A Note From Ms. Robb: It's time to return all library books. The last round of overdue notes will be sent home early next week, but in the meantime, please check shelves, under the beds, and any place library books might be hiding in your home, and send any recovered books back to school ASAP. If you have any questions, please stop by the library or email me at krobb@polyprep.org. 

Thanks, and have a great summer, full of books and fun!! 

2. Changemaker Day: We are excited to announce that Protest and Changemaker Day is coming up on Tuesday, June 9, serving as a meaningful day of community, learning, and student-led action originally created in 2022 by Head Pre-Kindergarten Teacher and Lower School Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Coordinator Olugbala Williams. This year, our Nursery through Grade 4 community is uniting around the critical issue of the banning of children’s books, connecting classroom curricula and our Anti-Racist Read Aloud (ARRA) pillars to empower students to become real-world changemakers through civic engagement. 

To support our grade-specific service and advocacy projects, donations can be dropped off during the week as follows: 

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten require children’s trash pickers for a Prospect Park environmental cleanup.

3. Bring Backpacks: Please make sure your child brings their backpack every day! We’ll be sending home lots of their work, projects, and supplies as we wrap up the school year. 

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. 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

• For the remainder of the school year, our social-emotional learning will focus on reflecting on our growth—both socially and academically—throughout this year in kindergarten.

Reading

• Word of the week

  • Word of the week: For the remainder of the year, we’ll be reviewing all the sight words we've learned this year in kindergarten. 

    • Play sight word BINGO

    • Choose books that contain the sight words your child is learning. Encourage them to find the words as you read together.

• 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, or, for, our, saw

Fundations / Handwriting 

• We’ve made our way through all of the lowercase and uppercase letters! We’ll continue to practice and review for the rest of the school year. 

Math

Subtraction 

• School-to-Home Connections  

• In this chapter, your child will learn about subtraction. Skills your child will practice include:

  • subtracting by taking from and taking apart

  • using subtraction facts to 5 to subtract

  • counting back to subtract numbers to 10

  • writing and solving subtraction sentences

Social Studies

• June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the beauty of diversity and the importance of kindness, acceptance, and love. This month, we’ll read many stories including Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer and And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Learning about diverse families and identities builds empathy, respect, and a stronger sense of connection to the world around us.

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

• Summer Workbooks: Have your child complete the pages in their summer math book and Wilson Fundations Student Practice book. 

• Pride: Celebrate Pride Month by reading books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, talking about different kinds of families, exploring what it means to be yourself, and celebrating the people you love, however your family is made.

• Rainforest and Ocean Unit: Explore books about the rainforest (KA students) and the ocean (KB students). Support your child’s curiosity about these exciting topics! 

• Authentic Math: Use everyday life to create addition and subtraction stories with tangible objects. (e.g., We have nine apples. We’re going to eat two for lunch today. How many will we have left?)

• Math Walk: Identify 2D and 3D shapes while out and about. 

• Skip Counting: Find organic opportunities to practice skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s (coins, objects, etc.)

• Sight Words: Have your child practice spelling learned sight words in shaving cream or sand. Alternatively, you can have your child “rainbow write” the words. Have them trace over each word three times, using a different color each time: a, the, and, I, to, do, he, me, she, we, you, your, was, said, like, have, how, her, are, has, see, what, who, our, for, or, all, they, saw

• Fluency: Have your child read a decodable book aloud to practice their fluency. Our “Fantastic Four of Fluency” strategies to keep in mind: phrasing (aka “scooping”), expression, punctuation, and rate (not too fast, not too slow). Take turns reading pages together and model expressive reading yourself.

• Decoding: When they come to a tricky word, use the phrases, “Sound out each part,” “What sound can ___ make?” and “Could this be a trick word I know? What word would make sense here?” 

• 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!

• Phonemic Awareness: 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.

• Journal Writing: Encourage your child to write in a journal about their summer adventures. Let them use fun pens and stickers! 

• Authentic Writing Opportunities: Have them write postcards to family and friends, or help you with a grocery list! 

• 5 Senses Poetry: Encourage your child to use their five senses to write a poem about an object or their surroundings. Remind them they can include a simile, alliteration, or descriptive words to make their poem extra powerful! 

• Independence: Continue to promote independence (tying shoes, opening containers, solving problems)

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

• Growth Mindset: Remind them of the growth mindset words we’ve studied all year: empathy, optimism, flexibility, persistence, and resilience. Encourage risk-taking!

• 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!