Mr. Funke's Blog

It’s been a big week  with some classes finishing and other starting big projects.

1st grade started preparation for a big solids and liquids project.  This week they learned how to use our class set of digital cameras and roamed the hallways practicing taking pictures of different things.  Next week, they’ll use the cameras again for the first day of the project.

2nd grade had a blast using our iPod touches to complete a scavenger hunt in the hallways.  We placed 8 clues in different spots in the building using QR Codes.  Then, using a QR code scanner on the iPods, students followed the clues until they had decoded a secret phrase.

Click Here to Watch a Video of Our QR Code Hunt

3rd grade finished working on their geometry wiki projects in class this week.  We are moving on to a new simple machines project next week but students are allowed to continue working on their geometry wikis at home if they wish.  Their wikis are linked on the 3rd grade page of this site.

4th grade put the finishing touches on their rock riddles. Look for them to be posted to their wikis and hanging in their hallway soon.

1st graders prepared for an upcoming project on solids and liquids with a quick Kidspiration sorting activity.

2nd graders put the finishing touches on their Map projects. Look for them to be posted to the wikis very soon.

3rd graders continue to work on their geometry wiki projects. Hopefully, everyone was successful in adding the symmetry entry by themselves at home.

4th graders continue to work on their rock riddles. Some classes are finishing up this week. Look for them in the hallways and on the wikis when everyone is done.

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a relaxing break.  We’re starting a bunch of new projects in computers this week.

Kindergartners continue to practice logging in. They’re getting better and better each week.  This week we taught them how to log out of the computers when they are done as well.  Soon we will start creating projects to save and print.

1st graders played some more math games this week.  Feel free to play them at home. They are linked on the first grade page of this web site.

2nd graders started a new map project this week.  Each student is using a template in Pages and some pre-selected clip art to create a 3×3 map with a key.  When the locations are placed on the map and the key is created they will then generate questions for their classmates to answer (how do you go from _____ to _____?).

3rd grade is starting a geometry project on their class wikis this week. Each student will create a geometry almanac on the wiki featuring a definition of a geometric shape and a picture of where that shape can be found in the real world.  Feel free to let them work on this project at home if they’d like.

4th grade began working on their rock riddles this week. Each student was assigned a secret rock to write a riddle around.  This week we began research but soon each student will create a page in Comic Life for his/her riddle.

First graders continued playing Math games on my web site.  If they’d like to play at home, the games can be found here.

Second graders spent one last week learning about maps and landforms on the web.  The games and videos can be found here.

Third grade had some choices between writing, keyboarding and Study Island this week.  I hope to start a more formal writing/research project when we return from break.

Fourth grade spent one final week with the Tandys in Google Earth.  They will begin African American history and Rock Riddle projects when we return from break.

1st graders learned how to find Mr. Funke’s web site and played some math games online. We’ll be oing this from time to time throughout the year. See if your child can remember how to find my site and play them at home.

2nd graders are doing some map and landform activities online. Using a combination of Brainpop and Discovery Education videos along with a couple of direction and compass games we’ve started using technology to reinforce the concepts they are studying in their classroom. Look for a couple of fun new activities related to these topics when we return to school after Winter break.

Third graders are learning how to log in to and use Study Island. Study Island is an ISAT prep site that lets your students read short lessons and take tests on the concepts they are learning in school. This site can be used at home but please don’t have your child test on subjects he/she hasn’t learned about in class yet. The classroom teachers can use the data Study Island collects to help them prepare lessons and units throughout the year.

4th graders are finishing up their road trip with the Tandys. As they finish, they are working in MyAccess to better their writing. When we return in January, we’ll begin our rock riddle and African American history projects.

1st graders are putting the finishing touches on their family webs. Look for them to be posted online soon.

2nd graders are working on their word processing skills again and are beginning to publish some of their work on paper.

3rd graders are publishing their past work to their class wikis this week. Go to our wiki pages to see their Charlotte’s Web puzzles and their prairie food chains.

4th grade continues its road trip with the Tandys in Google Earth.

First graders are getting close to finishing their family web projects. This week, some of our classes used Photobooth to take pictures of themselves for the center of their family web.

Second graders used Kidspiration to do an Urban and Rural Community activity this week.

Third graders finished their final Charlotte’s Web activity this week. Look for their Wordles, word searches and crossword puzzles to be posted to their wikis soon.

Fourth graders began a road trip with the Tandy’s this week. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be using Google Earth to follow the Tandys on their trip around the Northeast region of the United States.

First graders started learning how to use Kidspiration in preparation for an upcoming family project. This week we did a short A and short I vowel sound sort.  Students saved and printed their work on the color printer to take back to the classroom.

Second graders continue to work in Pages on their word processing skills.  We worked on paragraph formatting and some classes moved on to spell check and editing their work.

Third grade finished up their food chain comics. Next week we begin a 3 week unit on Charlotte’s Web which all the students have been reading in their classroom.

Fourth grade continues to learn how to use MyAccess to work on their writing skills.  Most students are now entering the editing phase of the process and are having to evaluate and rewrite portions of their work to improve their writing scores.

First graders continue to explore our treasures web site. Feel free to go through the activities with your child at home. There is an easy to use link on the front page of our district web site. Just make sure to focus on the stories your child is reading in class that week or has read previously. Please don’t skip ahead.

2nd graders are learning all about word processing this month in Pages. We’re starting with the basics and learning some new vocabulary like cursor and font. Students are learning how to move their cursor around the page and make changes to the font size and style. We’ll be discussing appropriate ways to make capital letters and spaces between words as well as punctuation.

3rd grade is almost done with their prairie food chain project. Look for them to be posted to our class wikis very soon.

4th grade continues to move forward with their writing exercises in MyAccess. We’ve just added a new additional writing block for each fourth grade class in our second computer lab to give them more time to work with the program.