W.L. Miller
April 2021 Newsletter
Kindergarten
This month our students will become the teachers in writing! They will create their very own “How To” book to share with others. We will continue to work on sentence structure and word building.
Students will begin to discuss and explore what resources the Earth gives us including land, water, and air. We will also begin exploring and discovering how humans and animals impact the Earth, the good and the bad!
1st Grade
We are continuing to work on realistic fiction in writing class. Students are creating characters and taking them on an adventure! We are creating our own boxed series using decorated cereal boxes!
In math, students are identifying 2D and 3D shapes as well as their attributes. We are working on halves, fourths, and thirds!
Please continue to check your child’s folder and reading bag each night!
2nd Grade
We will continue comparing books based on genres. Students will practice forming opinions on what they read. Students will be introduced to open and closed syllables.
Students will continue to dive deeper into how Earth’s land and shape can change.
Second grade will continue learning attributes of 2D and 3D shapes this month. They will practice dividing shapes into equal parts.
We will continue working on opinion writing. Students are practicing stating their opinion and giving reasons to support it.
3rd Grade
The Pennsylvania State Standard Assessments, better known as PSSAs, will be administered at the end of April.
Third grade students are often nervous as this is their first year taking the tests.
Here are some tips for success:
Tell your child that you know they will do a great job!
Get to bed on time the night before
Eat a good breakfast
Be on time for school - the doors open at 7:45 am.
Send a snack and a water bottle with your child.
4th Grade
Math
Fractions, fractions, fractions! 4th graders can’t get enough of fractions! Please have your child practice measuring out ingredients when making dinner. This could mean doubling a recipe which would give lots of opportunity to double fractions or multiply them.
Science We have begun to study ENERGY! Students have discussed sound energy travels through vibration and will continue onto learn about light energy, water, and eventually onto electrical circuits! Reading Students are getting ready to begin their research to write a nonfiction book. This has required students to learn all about nonfiction text features and practice using them by looking and identifying them in great books!
5th Grade
In ELA…
Readers are analyzing debatable topics and gathering evidence to support their claims. Focusing on animal rights, conservation, and endangered species, the nonfiction readings have been a great source of debate. Writers will soon be using evidence to write persuasive letters on a topic that they feel passionate about.
In Science…
We are studying matter and interactions. This involves testing different phase changes such as melting and freezing, as well as exploring properties of matter which include magnetism, absorbency, and elasticity. We’ll also study the law of conservation
In Math…
Students have been focusing on mean, median, mode and range. They are also working hard to master their multiplication facts
6th Grade
3.2.1...Blast Off! Students have been working on building their rockets in Science class. Our designs are out of this world.
In ELA they have been doing some Argumentative writing to explore the possibility of colonizing other planets. In Math we are working with expressions and equations to isolate variables, and graph inequalities. Next we will start collecting data to calculate mean, median, mode, and interquartile range.
Art News
We can discuss so many topics in art that I often hear students say “I thought this was art class!”
First graders were learning about overlapping and spatial perspective through making artworks of cheeseburgers and cooking up a crazy sandwich. Ask a first grader how to properly order their own custom burger at a restaurant some time!
Second graders were learning about rainbows, light and how fast light travels while starting a weaving.
Third graders are making patterns and symmetry in weavings and have learned how fabric is made.
Fourth graders talked about The Beetles, popular culture and Rohrshach’s ink blots while creating symmetrical mixed media collages inspired by 60’s artist, Peter Max.
Sixth graders are learning about history and the medieval period by looking at illuminated manuscripts.
A goal I always try to reach with art class is that it is fun, but also that students take away more learning than they expected to.
Physical Education
Physical Education classes at Warren L. Miller are continuing with outdoor activities. As the weather slowly begins to warm, classes will be participating in a variety of activities. Four-square, spikeball, lacrosse and pirateball will be a few of the activities students’ will participate in this month. Students will also continue to complete warm-up laps at the beginning of each class. During this time, students have been working on pacing and gradual improvement of their fitness levels.
Please continue to send students to school with sneakers, hats and active clothing so they can participate in class comfortably. Thank you for your cooperation!
Library
Happy April!
Spring has finally arrived and brought us some much needed sunshine. This month students in K-2 will be working on Scratch Jr., which is a coding program for younger students. Third grade will be learning Scratch. Students in K-1 will also be working on fairytale retellings; this month we will work with Cinderella, Goldilocks, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Students in 2nd-3rd grade will be working on their typing skills with typing.com
Grades 4-6 are beginning a project that will last the rest of the year. They have been assigned groups and will create a newscast together. They will be working on research skills, working with the a children’s news article website called Newsela. This month 4th grade will be learning about plagiarism and putting things in their own words. Fifth grade will work on citing sources. Sixth graders will work on evaluating the reliability of sources.
Any questions or concerns? Email me at cwood@southerntioga.org.
Music
Students in K-6 have been busy listening to, learning about, and voting on some of our favorite songs for the past month. We are finally down to the final 2 - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Working 9-5 by Dolly Parton. Ask your child which song they voted for and stay tuned to find out which gets voted as our favorite!
WLM Band Families
Please keep checking the band Google Classroom for lesson information. Let Ms. Thomas know if you have any questions.
6th Grade Band Families - There is special information for you in the Google Classroom with marching band information!! 😊
Questions? Email me at sthomas@southerntioga.org
Title I
Building comprehension with read alouds
Children learn when they make connections between what they read and what they know. One way families can help is to “think aloud” (talk through one’s thought process) as a story is read aloud.
Think alouds include:
Connect the book to your (or the child’s) own experience.
Connect the book to others your child has read.
Connect the book to big ideas (ex. This story helps me understand that we are all special if our own way.)
Guidance
I am so excited to be back in the classroom having Guidance classes with 4th-6th grade students. The 4th grade is going to be working on Taking Responsibility and the 5th and 6th grade students will be working on Peer Pressure. The 5th and 6th grade students will be preparing to go on to 7th grade and learn ways to say no to anything that might cause stress or harm to them.
Reminders
May 4-6 Math PSSA grades 3-6
May 11-12 Science PSSA grade 4
Prepare for the assessments by getting a good nights rest prior to testing and eat a nutritious breakfast on the mornings of testing. Please make every effort to ensure that your child is in school for the assessments. If you have any questions regarding the test, please contact Patricia White.
email pwhite@southerntioga.org
phone 570-662-2192
6th grade promotion ceremony-mark your calendars
Date: Friday, June 4, 2021 (rain date Monday, June 7th)
Location: WLM bus loop-outside in the sunshine
Time: 1:00pm
More information will be sent home as we get closer, please plan to sit together as a family, bring camp chairs for seating and masks will be required.