Warren L. Miller Elementary School
September Newsletter
Mrs. White-Principal
One of our new initiatives this year is the Positive Office Referral. We are using this referral to recognize students who are taking an active role in contributing to our school community in a positive way. Students who come to the office with a positive referral place a handprint on our community tree in the office window. They also get to have breakfast with a group of students and me and we discuss how we can make our school community a better place.
Kindergarten
Look around…. You will be able to see things that are living and non-living. Living things eat, breathe, move, grow, reproduce, respond, and produce waste. We have been learning to classify things as living or non-living and to justify our claim. Some students had the chance to compare earthworms to gummi worms and explain which were living and which were non-living and why.
First Grade
The first grade students have really enjoyed learning about the metamorphosis and life cycle of a butterfly. We were able to watch our tiny caterpillars (or larva) munch away on milkweed and grow bigger and bigger each day. We learned that a caterpillar sheds it skin 5 times before it goes into its chrysalis! This is called molting. After the caterpillar’s final molting phase, we had shiny green chrysalises hanging from our habitats. This stage of the life cycle is called the pupa stage. For two weeks, we have observed each chrysalis turn from a shiny green color to black...and then the butterflies began to emerge! They quickly flapped their small, wet wings and soon they stretched out and dried. Today we will release our first butterflies to begin their great migration to the South, where it is warm.
Second Grade
Second grade is off to a great start! We have been spending the last couple of weeks getting to know each other through class meetings and team building activities. We’ve started our unit on writing personal narratives and we will be reading many different types of stories as we learn elements of stories in reading class. In math we are reviewing our math facts as well as learning to break numbers apart, teen numbers, identifying and counting coins. Please continue to practice working on coins, time and math facts at home. Remember to read every night for fifteen minutes. This is going to be an awesome year!
Third Grade
Third grade is having a great start to the school year. In math we are learning the different forms of a number through place value, as well as comparing and ordering numbers to the thousands place. In ELA we are diving into character traits. The students are having fun identifying their own character traits, as well as the character traits found in our readings. Students should be reading 20 minutes each night. We would like to thank you for reviewing and signing your child’s planner each night.
Fourth Grade
This year is off to a great start. The students are quickly learning the expectations of fourth grade. Math class is reviewing place value and has extended to millions. Reading, extending and writing 6-digit numbers is exciting. This week, they will be adding and subtracting those same size numbers. Please practice multiplication facts as much as possible, as being fluent will help ease some stress.
English language arts has the students close reading and looking for clues to answer questions. Fourth graders are expected to read 20 minutes every evening, please encourage this as it builds the “reading muscle” ( as Mr. Hoover would say).
Science has begun its daily bell ringers, so please look for them each evening.
Fifth Grade
Science tools and measurement is the topic of 5th grade science right now. Our students are reviewing the purpose of tools such as the graduated cylinder, meter stick, and the triple beam balance. We found out that our class pet, Phoenix the gecko, has a mass of 11 grams! Very soon, we will study the microscope and observe different science samples including pet hair, cheek samples, and findings from our nature trail.
ELA classes are off to a great start and readers are excited to kick off literature circles! During literature circles, readers have the opportunity to make book and role choices. Students are ready to read and direct their own book clubs. Writing workshop is off to a great start as well, and writers have already started setting their own writing goals. We can’t wait to see the growth that they show this year!
Sixth Grade
Where were you on September 11, 2001? In English Language Arts the students are learning how to read for understanding and to get information by reading about the events on that day. We call this close reading because we read the selection more than one time. The students have discussed how this is a good skill for their next six years of school!
Guidance
We are all set and ready for another great year at W.L. Miller Elementary School. As a part of the counseling program, it is important to get to know the new kindergarten students. I was able to visit with each class and introduce myself and my two special “friends”, Twiggie the Turtle and Fantana the Frog. Both of my “friends” told their own stories of entering kindergarten and coming to see the School Counselor. Each one came to see the counselor for different reasons, but both were able to find solutions that made kindergarten feel like a safe and healthy place to be. All of the children that attend Warren L. Miller are always welcome to visit the school counselor.
Physical Education
Students in Physical Education classes started the school year with some cooperative team-building activities. It is always exciting to see students interact with new classmates while completing challenging activities! Kindergarten, first, and second grade students have already spent a lot of time on our climbing wall and have practiced lots of locomotor skills and balancing activities. Students have also been reminded to remember to wear sneakers and comfortable clothing to PE class each day. We’re going to have a lot of fun this year!
Music
Music is sounding off this year on a good note! Robert M. Sides was here last week for a meeting to discuss with parents options for band instrument rentals and purchases. If your students are interested in playing an instrument, Robert M. Sides has many options available. Our legendary and premier Miller Singers group had auditions for 5th and 6th grade students who are willing to use their singing voice and to have fun.
Title I
Happy Fall from Mrs. Gaugler, & Mrs. Wilcox!
Reading to your children every day, builds reading skills, increases vocabulary and best of all, sends a message that reading is fun! Try to read regularly. Every day may not be possible in your family life, but try to aim for 10 to 15 minutes per day, perhaps during bedtime routine or curl up for a snuggle when you first get home from work.
Take turns picking out the book. Your child will benefit from hearing the same story time and time again. Have your child participate by turning pages, finishing sentences, supplying rhyming words to complete a nursery rhyme, etc. Be playful by changing your voice sounds for each character. You may decide to use a goofy voice for a beaver or a deep booming voice for a horse. Use family names in place of character names within a story. The great news is that you don’t have to be an expert reader. Your child will love when you take the time to read with them.
Library
Art
Art picks up right where life leads! When children come to art class the inspiration and subject for what we make usually comes from exactly what is going on outside at this time of year or is related to what students are learning about in their classrooms.
The art curriculum also teaches students how to use the elements and principles of design, but in a way that grows in depth and scope with each new year.
The large year long big ideas that we use to explore techniques, media, tools and materials at each grade level are:
Kindergarten - Introducing!
1st Grade - Self, Family, and Favorites
2nd Grade - Animals and Habitats
3rd Grade - Landscapes and Communities
4th Grade - Abstraction and Artists
5th Grade - Observation and Gesture
6th Grade - Art History and Technologies