January 2018
WARREN L. MILLER NEWSLETTER
KINDERGARTEN
What will the weather be like today? That is an excellent question to ask a kindergarten student as we kick off our weather unit in January. We will be monitoring the types of weather and temperature and relate it to how it changes what we wear and what activities we do. We will also discuss why “weather forecast” are important in keeping us safe and informed.
FIRST GRADE
The first grade students are excited to kick off their Opinion Writing Unit with a collection of their favorite things. Each student has brought in a bag of their favorite things to learn how to rank, state opinions, persuade, and disagree. Some items that have been brought in include: seashells, matchbox cars, hair bows, stickers, and rocks. First, students will rank each of these items from their favorite to their least favorite. They will write their opinion about each object and give reasons and examples of why that item won “Best in Show.” Students will then switch collections with their writing partner, try to persuade their partner to share their opinion, and learn how to disagree with a differing opinion. We can’t wait to share the results of our favorite things!
SECOND GRADE
Our informational reading and writing began with a focus on the traditions of Hanukkuh and Kwanzaa. Children learned the basic history of these holidays as well as the traditions families enjoy. We read informational articles as a Close reading activity to highlight key facts and details. Our readers realized how text features such as headings, captions, bold words, photographs, and diagrams help us better understand informational text. Students had the opportunity of writing a mini expert book about Hanukkah as a whole class or individually. Mrs. Strange’s class wrote books about their Christmas memories and traditions. Children were interested in learning that the family traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are very different but also have some things in common. We had a month of enjoying many wonderful books that brought meaning to our holiday season.
Graphing was the focus of math. Children collected data to create and read graphs. Many agreed the graph to show where families got their Christmas tree was the most interesting one to make. We compared data on bar and circle graphs by using the words more than, fewer than, greater and less.
We continued the 2nd grade holiday tradition of giving diapers, baby clothes and other items to the Seeds of Hope program in Wellsboro. Second graders and their families made it possible for us give several boxes of baby items to help other families. What a great way to show we care for others!
THIRD GRADE
ELA: We have been exploring the different parts of informational texts. Students will have the opportunity to include some of these features in their informational books that they continue to write in Writer’s Workshop. Third grade will also start looking at text structures and seeing how texts can be written in different ways.
Math: Third grade students have been working hard with multiplication and continuing with division. Have your child practice their multiplication facts at home! Fluency with these facts will be helpful for them in the future.
FOURTH GRADE
During the month of December, fourth grade students placed over 200 books under the fourth grade holiday tree! The books have been added to the classroom libraries and will add some great new variety to students’ reading. Thank you to all of the students and families that donated books.
In ELA class, students have been enjoying the switch to studying nonfiction text. Recognizing how nonfiction writers use paragraphs, text structure, text features, and details has allowed students to enhance their own nonfiction writing.
Many fourth grade students are pushing hard in their nightly reading at home to meet the 10 Book Challenge! They have until January 17, the end of the marking period, to read 10 books in order to qualify for the 10 Book Celebration.
FIFTH GRADE
It all "matters"...solids, liquids and gases, that is! Students are exploring properties of matter such as mass and solubility, as well as the phase changes, which include melting, freezing, condensation and evaporation.
SIXTH GRADE
This month we are using our robot coding background from challenge number one of problem solving to challenge number two, which is to prepare our robots to compete. We must equip our robots with offensive and defensive movements.
Peppermint Peak, our coordinate grid town, has been created. We have everything from ice skating to candy for our little community. We will use this 3d creation to interact with our coordinate grid skills.
ART
This is a great time of year to work with clay! Firing up the kiln keeps the art room nice and warm in the cold months of winter. Students love the change in working three dimensionally and get to add to their knowledge of ceramics and pottery each year. Kindergarten gets introduced to clay in the form of texture tiles. It is a great way to teach them about actual and implied texture (rubbings).
First grade takes a tile and makes it into a clay slab by joining it into a pocket with texture. The artwork now has beautiful aesthetically pleasing textures and form.
Second grade learns how to create geometric forms (sphere, cone, cylinders) and pinch, squeeze, and combine them into the complicated overall form of a creature.
Third grade learns about pinching into a pot and the bisque firing process as well as glazing. The history of primitive cultures use of clay is explored.
Fourth grade uses a multi-step clay piece using their own stamps to create a wall hanging pouch. The history of butterstamps and functional handmade items from Pennsylvania is explored.
Fifth grade learns about coil pottery and the individual Navajo artist, Maria Martinez. They also learn about more experimental techniques in glazing a piece.
Sixth grade creates a slab constructed container with relief symbols and geometric patterns. We discuss the symmetry, balance, and highly ornate style of ancient Egyptian art.
TITLE I
The following is a quote from “Reading is Fundamental.”
“Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. ... Even after children learn to read by themselves, it’s still important for you to read aloud together.”
The WLM Title I team agrees!
LOST AND FOUND
Parents, please have your children check the lost and found for any items that they have misplaced at any time during the year. Parents may sign in at the office and check the lost and found first thing in the morning or right after school. The weather is always changing and often not consistent and many clothing items show up in the lost and found throughout the school year.