Download Warren L. Miller Elementary April Newsletter

Warren L. Miller Elementary
April Newsletter
Multi-Age Excitement!
First Year:
Now that Spring has arrived, Kindergarten will begin to learn about the
weather! Students will be reading various informational and narrative
texts about the many different types of weather. Throughout the
month students will also be observing weather patterns, making
predictions about local weather (just like meteorologists), and learning
about weather tools. To conclude the unit, students will be given the
task to design and build a structure that will reduce heat (or increase)
the warming effect of sunlight onto an area. We are excited to use
our Community Garden (located on the back playground) as our safe
“area” to try out this experiment! As the month of April nears its end
we will begin to learn about the environment and how we can REDUCE,
REUSE, & RECYCLE! Mathematically, we will be learning how to
subtract and measure. It will be a busy month of learning and growing!
Second Year:
First graders have been busy learning about light and sound. We have
conducted some experiments to see how sound waves travel. The
students also got to make their own kazoos. This allowed the students
to experiment with the vibrations sound makes. They were also able to
adjust the pitch of their voices. We will be working and experimenting
with light. They will be able to tell you the sources of light that we
experience throughout the day. They will also be able to identify the
types of materials that light can travel through and the types of
material that reflect light. First graders are also working hard on
mastering addition and subtraction facts and identifying and counting.
money.
2nd Grade
Second grade writers are moving on from writing informational texts
to opinion writing. We will start by discussing opinions and reading
various examples such as book reviews, movie reviews and
restaurants reviews. Students will then be writing their own reviews
based on their very own opinions of things they like or dislike!
In math we are starting addition with regrouping followed by
subtraction with regrouping. Please continue to practice telling time,
counting money and addition/subtraction facts at home. Also please
continue reading EVERY night! It really helps!
3rd Grade
Third grade students have been working extremely hard to memorize
their multiplication facts. Keep up the hard work! In class students are
learning how to solve multiple step story problems involving all 4
operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.) In
reading students just completed their novel study of Stone Fox by
John Reynolds Gardiner. They are studying parts of speech including
nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Please continue read 20 minutes each
night.
4th Grade
Imagine the year 2050. In a secret location somewhere in North America fourth grade
students have become co-directors of a secret lab that has been experimenting with
DNA and cloning species of plants and animals. There was an earthquake in a nearby
town while they were away on some classified business. They were unaware that their
lab was a mess. Samples from plants, mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, insects and
amphibians were all mixed up and scattered on the floor. A kind janitor cleaned up and
put the samples back where he thought they belonged and everything looked just the
same when they returned. Then 6 Months later, the results of their first cloning
experiment are revealed. “OH NO, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT! It doesn’t look like
anything I have ever seen on this earth before!”
Fourth grade students are busy in the makerspace creating new and unusual
species from structures they ‘borrow’ from species today. After they complete a male
and a female of their species they will write all about them in writing class.
In math , fourth graders have just finished up the fraction unit. They are now learning
about measurement, this includes time. There are many ways to reinforce the learning
by allowing them to cook with you, build things with you ( or by themselves) which
involves measuring, also discuss telling time. Using quarter of , quarter after, half past
are good language builders for our time unit. Also looking at digital time and having
them tell you how many minutes before / after the hour it is.
5th Grade
Our writing is out of the world! Students have been writing opinion
essays and creating claims to present evidence for or against having
students travel into space. While researching many articles, students
were careful not to use bias and present counterclaims in their
writing. What do you think the majority of our fifth graders decided?
No way...space is too dangerous!
5th grade science is also traveling to space...sort of. Students are
exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum by analyzing its different
frequencies and the energy these waves provide. Students are
creating models and simulations of the wave frequency they chose to
learn more about. The models range from x-ray machines to
homemade prisms to night vision goggles and nuclear weapons.
6th Grade
Spring has arrived! With spring comes the sixth graders’ opportunity
to prepare their rockets. They will be guided through a series of
lessons dealing with forces. The students will apply this knowledge
by designing a rocket. They will be asked to improve upon an
existing rocket design. They might choose to increase altitude or add
a payload etc. It’s up to them!
Pi Day was a huge success with two students reciting over 100 digits
of Pi. The delicious pies brought in by the students were decorated to
perfection and made judging very difficult! We had everything from
“pizza pie” to a pie in the shape of the pi symbol. We just learned a
new version of “hey diddle,diddle” to help us learn and remember the
differences between mean, median, mode and range. We used those
central tendencies, as well as the measures of variability, to describe
data sets. We are also learning how to describe data in box-andwhisker and line plots. We will be finishing our last sixth grade unit so
we can review our past six units before math PSSA testing April 19th21st .
Guidance The 3rd grade Guidance classes have wrapped up the topic
of Career Exploration and are now working on Conflict Resolution.
The students have learned that the definition of Conflict Resolution is:
solving problems without ever having to fight. The students will
roleplay solving such conflicts as pushing, bossing, excluding etc.
They will be asked to solve these conflicts by using 1 of 8 options: 1.
Ignore; 2. Walk Away; 3. Use Humor; 4.Talk to the person; 5.
Compromise; 6. Use an I-message; 7. Change the subject; 8. Talk to
an Adult.
Art News
This year’s art show is May 12th, 2016.
It will be from 6pm -8pm in the WL Miller Gym and everyone
is invited. Work from all students in grades Kindergarten thru
6th will be on display!
Here are a few of the pieces from last year’s show:
Music Notes
Physical Education
Physical Education classes have been focusing on physical fitness as
we move into spring. Students in grades 3-6 will soon be completing
the PACER test for the third time this school year. PACER stands for
Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run and students are
encouraged to try to improve their score each time they run. The
PACER test is part of our physical fitness testing program here at
Warren L. Miller. The other fitness tests we will soon be completing
include the push-up test, curl-up test, and a sit and reach test. The
fitness tests are designed to test cardiovascular endurance, muscular
strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility. We will also discuss the
F.I.T.T. principle. F.I.T.T. stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time, and
Type when referring to exercise. Students are asked to think about
the physical activity they participate in and indicate how it applies to
the F.I.T.T. principle.
Field Day is right around the corner and is currently scheduled for
May 26. Students will begin preparing for field day events in April!
Title I
Vowel combinations are important for your child to learn. A few
samples are: Long a combinations are /ay/, /ai/, /a-e/. Examples are
day, rain, cake. Long e combinations are /ee/, /ea/. Examples are feet,
leaf. If your child knows these combinations automatically then they
will read more fluently. Keep Reading!
Library News
Greetings! This is Jennifer Nawri, your new librarian. I am very
excited to have joined the wonderful staff at WLM. In library classes,
students in most grade levels are starting research projects that
correlate with classroom topics of study. Students will learn about
the research process, using multiple sources of information,
evaluating and citing sources, and using information ethically.
Students are using the new library website to quickly access their
sources. Extra library classes are now computer classes where
students are learning about computer components, keyboarding,
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and internet safety.
Mark your calendars for the spring Book Fair during the week of May
9th-13th. Family night will be held on May 12th. I hope to see you
there!
Don’t forget to visit the WLM Special Area Teachers BLOG at
http://wlmspecials.blogspot.com
Cool links, upcoming activities and other news
● PTO meetings are held every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the
W.L. Miller library
● April 4 - TIGER 200 Pow-Wow
● April 12 - 15 ELA PSSA testing
● April 19 - 21 Math PSSA testing
● April 22 - 1st grade to Decker Gym
● April 26 - 27 Science PSSA - 4th grade only
● April 14 - Act 80 Day - 1:00 dismissal
● April 29 - 6th grade PMEA Chorus Fest
LOST AND FOUND- Parents, please have your children check the lost and found for any items that may
belong to them. Parents may also sign in to the office and check the lost in found first thing in the
morning or right after school. The weather has changed and many clothing items show up in the lost
and found at this time of year.
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
After 42 years, Campbell’s is closing their Labels for Education program. They will no longer be accepting UPC’s and
beverage caps after July 31, 2016. Campbell’s provides a merchandise catalog and accumulated points have been
used to get equipment for the gym. Please send in any UPC’s and beverage caps you have collected before the end
of the school year. I will be submitting the final collection in June after school closes. There has been no change in
the Box Tops for Education program so please continue to collect these and bring them in. They can be left in the
collection bin in the office or given to any teacher. Thank you for your continued participation in these programs.
Should you have any questions, please call me, Kathy Evans, at 570-549-7321.