What We Did This Week (and Last) – March 12

Apologies for the missing update last week.  Yearbook deadlines are getting to me.

First graders took a break for some math games last week and this week started preparing for their Solids and Liquids project.  It’s similar to their snowman project except this time they’ll be taking pictures with digital cameras instead of drawing them.  We learned how to use the cameras this week and spent some time roaming the hallways taking pictures for practice. Next week, we’ll take them out again and look for solids and liquids in the building to take pictures of.

Second Grade posted their Map Projects to the wikis last week.  Check them out and see if you can answer their questions using North, South, East, and West directions.  Played some math games last week to let everyone catch up and next week we’ll be starting a couple new exciting projects.

Third graders posted their Simple Machine games to their wikis last week as well.  They are playable online so visit the site and see if you can win the game.  This week, we started working on our Illinois Brochure project.  Each student will be making a 3 page travel brochure for the state of Illinois.  Each brochure will have 5 paragraphs about a different feature of Illinois along with corresponding images.

All fourth grade students now have access to MyAccess so many of the fourth grades are starting to answer writing prompts there.  The African American History project continues and many students are now startng to enter information and images into their wikis.

What We Did This Week – February 19

Lots and lots of projects finishing up this week and next.

Most of our first graders have now finished their How To Build a Snowman comics.  I’m having a little trouble getting them all online but I’ll find a solution soon.  In the meantime, here’s a sample from Mrs. Scofield’s class.

Second graders are finishing up their map projects as well.  They still need to give them to their classmates as quizzes but we should have them online for all to see shortly after conferences.  Here’s another sample for now.

Map Project

Third graders are finishing up their Simple Machine games. These should be online shortly after conferences as well but for now, you can try playing this one from Ms. Cardella’s class.

Simple Machine Quiz

Mrs. Pfeil’s class finished their African American Hero presentations.  They can be found on her class wiki right now.  They worked very hard and did a great job.  Look for a different version of the project from 4 other 4th graders to be posted starting in a couple of weeks.

Don’t forget to have your 3rd and 4th graders visit the Tripp School Study Blog.  We may take a break from it next week during conferences but it’s being updated every week until ISATs next month.

What We Did This Week – February 12

Many first graders are now finished with their How To Build a Snowman comics. I should be able to have them online for viewing in a couple weeks.

Second graders are starting to finish their Map projects. Look for these to be posted to the wikis in a week or so and be ready to answer some questions.

It’s a good week for finishing projects. Many third graders are finished with their Simple Machine Games. As soon as everyone is done, we’ll post them to the wikis for everyone to play.

In fourth grade, Mrs. Pfeil’s class are on their second week of African American History presentations. We are recording their speeches along with their slide shows and show have them online soon. Possibly next Friday. Mrs. Handwerker’s class continues to practice their expository and persuasive writing skills. The rest of the fourth grade is starting their African American History project this week and will soon begin publishing their work to their class wikis.

Don’t forget to visit the Tripp School Study Blog each week. Links can be found on the 3rd and 4th grade pages of this site.

What We Did This Week – February 5

Don’t forget to check out the Study Blog if you’ve got third or fourth graders at home. It will be updated by the end of the day every Friday with new videos and activities to reinforce the concepts your children are studying at school.

First graders started putting their pictures together into a comic book page in Comic Life this week. We downloaded the template file from the web and exported pictures into the correct panels.

Second grade started an exciting new map project. Each student will use downloaded icons to create a small, 9 block city map, with a corresponding map key. Next week, they will begin writing questions about their maps to create an activity for their classmates to complete.

Third graders are putting the finishing touches on their simple machine games. Many students have assigned their buttons and are just waiting to proofread with a teacher. I hope to have these online at the end of the month.

In fourth grade, Mrs. Pfeil’s class began their Heroes of African American History presentations. We are recording the audio to go along with their slide shows and should have them online in a couple of weeks. Some of the other fourth grade classes are beginning this project this week but will take a different approach to the final product. Look for our very own mini African American History Wikipedias to launch very soon.

What We Did This Week – January 29

First graders finished illustrating their How to Build a Snowman comics and will start putting the pictures in order and writing in the captions next week.  Look for them to be posted online in mid to late February.

Second graders are finishing up their geography activities this week. I’ll be removing the link from the second grade page early next week but will leave the page up for those who would like to play at home. The activities can be found here.

Third grade is almost ready to start assigning correct and incorrect answers in their Simple Machines game.  This project should be finished in a couple of weeks.

Most of the fourth grade classes are finished with their Rock Riddles.  I hope to have some of them posted online next week.   Mrs. Pfeil’s class is putting the finishing touches on their African American History presentations this week and will begin presenting them in the lab next Friday. Mrs. Handwerker’s class took a virtual tour of the Underground Railroad.

Don’t forget to visit the Tripp School Study Blog.  It’s been updated for the week with new movies and activiites to help your child reinforce the concepts we are studying at school.

What We Did This Week – January 22

It’s been a busy week filled with new projects.  The biggest project this week is the Tripp School Study Blog which launches today.  This blog is designed for 3rd and 4th grade students.  Together with the classroom teachers, we will be providing links to videos, games, and activities that reinforce subjects and concepts being taught in the classroom.  The blog will be updated at the end of each week until the beginning of ISAT testing this spring.  Please take the time to visit it with your children and have them use it a couple times a week.

First graders continue to work on their How to Build a Snowman project.  Most classes are now finished with 3 of their 4 illustrations and should have the final project finished in a couple of weeks.

Second graders will use their lab time this and next week to do some online Geography and Map Skills activities.  We have a selection of Brainpop and Discovery Education Streaming videos for them to watch as well as some fun continent and compass games for them to play.  This will all lead into an exciting outdoor P.E. project this Spring.

Third grade began working on their Simple Machines project this week.  This year, they’ll be using Keynote to create a short quiz game about simple machines and their real life applications. Look for this games to be posted to (and playable on) the class wikis when they are finished in a few weeks.

Some of our fourth graders continue to work on their Rock Riddles.  A few students finished up this week and I expect most classes to be finished by the end of next week.  Mrs. Priestley’s class continues to make good use of MyAccess to create, submit, and evaluate their writing projects while Mrs. Pfeil’s class is nearing the end of their African American History project.  Look for those presentations to be posted to the class wikis in mid February.

What We Did This Week – January 15

Apologies for the missing update last week.  The flu hit the Funke household pretty hard and I was out most of the week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlkinney/434703149/

First graders started working on their How to Build a Snowman project this week.  They started by doing a little pre-writing in their classroom, outlining how to build a snowman in 4 steps beginning each sentence with FIRST, THEN, NEXT, or LAST.  This week we started our illustrations. Most classes were able to get one picture done but a couple were able to finish 2.  When all the pictures are finished, we’ll be putting them together into a comic book page using Comic Life.

Second graders are finishing getting their journal entries posted to the class wikis.  I hope to have them posting more projects throughout the rest of the year.  Next week we’ll be moving on to some online geography activities.

Third graders practiced Study Island some more while some students put the finishing touches on their Charlotte’s Web projects.  Next week we’ll begin our Simple Machines project.

Fourth graders started working on their Rock Riddle project last week. Each student is assigned a different type of rock and uses our Rock Resources page to find interesting facts he/she can turn into clues.  Each student write’s four clues for his/her rock and then uses Comic Life to create a Rock Riddle page which will hang outside the classrooms upon completion. I hope to have these posted online as well when everyone is finished.

Third and fourth grade parents, look for a new learning blog to be launched at the end of next week to help your child prepare for ISATs later in the spring.  I’ll post more details here at the end of next week and a note will most likely go home as well.

Rock Riddles

I’m testing out a new little plug in for Word Press with our 4th grade Rock Riddle project.  Wischmeyer, Priestley, Zucker, and Gruebnau’s classes will all be creating rock riddles using the web site linked below for research.  These riddles will hang outside their classroms near the end of the month.

Rocks.

What We Did This Week – December 18

1st graders had a little fun this week playing all of the different games they’ve learned in EM Games so far. When we return from Winter break, we’ll be working on sequencing with a How to Make a Snowman project.

2nd graders are finishing up their first writing project. Mrs. Lamour’s class has already posted theirs to the class wiki. You can find them in the class wiki link on the right side of this page.

3rd grade finished up their Internet safety unit. We’ll be returning to the subject again in 2010 with a couple of special lessons focusing on more specific parts of the curriculum. Look for some exciting projects as well as we move into Simple Machines and Government when we return from break.

4th graders used Study Island this week. Your child should have brought home a note on Thursday with all the passwords to our online resources to use at home. Study Island is on that list if you are interested in having your child use it at home. Please be sure to use at the classroom teacher’s discretion.

What We Did This Week – December 11

First graders learned a new game in EM Games called Penny, Nickel, Dime Exchange. The object is to get more dimes than the computer by gathering as many pennies as you can and exchanging them for nickels and eventually dimes.

Second graders continue to work on publishing stories. Some of them may make it to the wikis be the end of next week but after break for sure.

Third graders started their Internet safety unit which we hope to finish up next week.

Fourth graders logged into Study Island again to read some lessons and take some quizzes. As ISATs approach in the Spring, we will be asking them to use this site more and more.

Third and Fourth grade parents, look for a note to go home this week with log in information for some of our online learning resources which can be used at home.