News from Mrs. Lipski

April - May Highlights

Mrs. Lipski and the LEAP students of grades 3-5 would like to extend a rousing, "Congratulations!" to Mrs. Hanssens Wieczorek for being named the PAGE Gifted Educator of the Year! We are all very proud of her and want her to know that she inspires all of us! Thank you for all that you do for us in LEAP!

Mrs. Lipski would also like to extend a hearty, "Bravo!" to the 4th and 5th graders who participated in the 2008 Reading Olympics competition at Hatboro-Horsham High School on April 14th. Through a great deal of determination, extensive reading, and super teamwork, our Rockin’ Readers did a terrific job! Congratulations to: Team Captain Esther Moon, Cecelia Stoltz, Clayton Frances, James Soulges, Gabby Cassidy, Carly Latta, Alyssa Roberts, Kris Buckley, Sami Nigro, Andy Nyholm, Kendra Woywod, Jeff Davis, Jordyn Harris, and Stella Makris. You rock!!

Third Grade Highlights:
The third graders are completing their study of genetics and heredity with the culmination of a unit on Reebops. The students carefully selected chromosome pairs to define their baby Reebop’s genotype, and then constructed the baby with marshmallows and other assorted items. Each baby had its genotypes and phenotypes recorded before a second generation was created. Students analyzed the results with questions like this: "If a Reebop female with a red nose and a Reebop male with a yellow nose marry and have children, what genotype and phenotype for nose color will their children have?"

The final aspect of this unit of study will be the examination of a fictitious crime scene where DNA has been left behind. Utilizing observational skills, examining physical evidence, and listening to eyewitness accounts of the bank robbery all contribute to determining which suspect is the guilty party. It’s like our own UMIS CSI!

Parts have been distributed for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and players are busy learning their lines for our grand performance at Museum Night on May 19th. We hope you will come and join the merriment along with the King and Queen of the Fairies as the third graders share this Shakespearean comedy.

Fourth Grade Highlights:
As you enter room 230 on Museum Night in May, you will be transported to another time in the land of ancient Egypt thanks to the creativity of the fourth graders. They have recently completed funeral masks by combining plaster, paint, and a great deal of creative enthusiasm. The masks form a strikingly beautiful display on our classroom wall; one which you will find most impressive. Research on the pyramid enigma is almost at an end. Students will combine their research to form a presentation which they will share with their classmates.

Parts for various famous lines and scenes from various Shakespeare plays are on the agenda for the next month or so. Students will share famous quotations from plays such as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest, just to name a few. Our own Queen Elizabeth will be helping us to understand the time in which she lived, and actors and actresses will bring to life the days of Elizabethan England.

Final presentations are being made for the remainder of our Giraffe Hero nominees, and voting will occur in early May. The heroes will be notified of their election into the Giraffe Hall of Heroes, and they will be honored at an assembly program where fourth graders will give speeches to share the accomplishments of their heroes with the rest of the student body. This is the second phase of the Giraffe Hero Project which all of our Intermediate School LEAP students participate in over the course of their three years here.

Fifth Grade Highlights: 
Fifth graders are busy preparing for the videotaping they will be conducting of Shakespeare’ s Hamlet. Because of PSSA testing and many Tuesdays missed at school, this class has really had a hard time meeting as often as they should. Due to their determination, they are almost ready to begin taping. The final cue cards were created recently, costuming was finalized, and the day for filming is finally upon us! Students will act, direct, and film the play over the next few weeks. Visitors will be able to view it on Museum Night, where a TV will run the film a number of times during the evening’s events. You don’t want to miss this one!

Students are spending a great deal of time and effort on their community service project. This is the final phase of the Giraffe Hero Project where students become heroes themselves through service to others. This year, the class voted to collect donations for the Montgomery County SPCA. All of our students are animal lovers, and they felt strongly that they could truly make a difference to some of the 11,000 animals that pass through the Montgomery County SPCA yearly. They formed committees and set out to realize their vision. Starting with a presentation to Dr. Waters, to making flyers, writing announcements, and creating posters, each student worked towards their goal of collecting as much as they could to help animals in need. During the UMIS Literacy Fair, these same students sold baked items to the public which were donated by our wonderful LEAP parents. Thank you to all who baked and donated items to be sold. More money was raised to contribute to the fund, as well as a large quantity of dog and cat food, towels, blankets, toys, and leashes. The students will be appearing before the school board on April 29th to present the outcome of their project, and will then evaluate whether or not they feel they accomplished all of their goals. What a fabulous group of students they are! Kudos to all of you!

February - March Highlights

Congratulations to the Intermediate School members of the First Lego League Team! We are very proud of the following fourth and fifth graders who competed recently in this competition and earned special honors: 

Carly Latta, Alyssa Roberts, Kendra Woywod, Jeffrey Davis, and Andy Nyholm

Third Grade:
The Reebops are coming! The Reebops are coming! What is a Reebop, you ask? Reebops are imaginary creatures who help third graders learn about Heredity and Genetics. After an initial project called “Genetics with a Smile”, students will be creating a gene pool for their own personal version of a Reebop. Utilizing their knowledge of dominant and recessive alleles, students combine genes to create their own creatures.

During this unit, students will also be planting Wisconsin “Fast Plants” to help them understand heredity through the study of plant genetics. These junior scientists will be recording and analyzing data as they enjoy watching the plants grow over the next month and looking for particular traits to emerge. 

Plans for learning our parts for our Shakespearean presentation will begin during February and March. Students will participate in scenes from various plays including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.

Fourth Grade:
Fourth graders are delving into research through a web quest called “Investigating an Enigma."  For this project, the Internet, resources from the library, and other periodicals will be used to formulate a theory about how the pyramids of Giza were built. Students are learning how to paraphrase, take notes, and combine research to come up with a final presentation that their peers will evaluate. 

Students have completed the mummification of “Pyrus Mallus” and are now preparing tombs for their mummies. Utilizing Modeling Magic, students have created and painted their own “tomb treasures” to display along with a sarcophagus and other related items. Colors have been specifically combined to give their artifacts an ancient look and the realism is astounding!

The Giraffe Heroes Project is another focus of the fourth graders this month. Each student will be searching their community for a local hero to nominate to the “Hall of Heroes” in our school. After determining specific criteria, students locate and nominate a hero that they believe fits all of the qualities of a true hero. Students present their heroes to their classmates in a formal presentation, and the students vote on whether or not the nominee fits all of the precedents. If you have a nominee in mind or know of someone who might qualify, please email their name and address to Mrs. Lipski.  Thank you for your support!

 Fifth Grade: 
The final few career presentations are being completed this month in the fifth grade LEAP class. Students shared their research and then received some constructive comments from their peers. It was interesting to see the wide variety of careers that were selected; hopefully, this research has caused our students to begin thinking about a career that fits their personalities and attitudes! 

The fifth graders are trying their hand at writing a sonnet following William Shakespeare’s lead. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem containing three quatrains and a couplet. The unique rhyming scheme and the use of Shakespearean language makes for a very challenging yet thought provoking exercise! Stay tuned, for we believe “Thou’st will be impressed!”

Students will also be making selections for the plays they want to dramatize at the end of the school year. It looks like Hamlet and The Tempest are in the running for most popular choices. Students will make decisions, plan the scenes, and learn the lines just like in Shakespeare’s era!

Finally, the fifth graders are involved in brainstorming ideas for their community service project for this year. Students select a project, plan it out, and implement the project in an effort to become heroes themselves. There are a number of ideas being explored at this time; voting will take place soon, and then the project is underway. Good luck to all the students in this most challenging endeavor!

Math Updates:
Grade 3: Students are finalizing their “Into the Unknown” algebraic unit with the construction of undersea laboratories. Students determine an algebraic rule for their designs and construct cubes to build the structures. Each group must be able to tell the number of needed cubes for ten elements in the design.

Grade 4: Students are working with fractions and balance scales. Equivalences and adding, subtracting, and finding common denominators will be a part of this study.

Grade 5: Fifth graders are working with integers. They are learning how to add, subtract, and compare both positive and negative integers along with continued work on algebraic expressions.

December 2007-January 2008

Grade 3:
The third grade continues to make progress in their study of the brain. Students utilized the website “Neuroscience for Kids” to try various experiments with long and short term memory. Our study is now focusing on neurotransmission and how we are able to build our intellectual abilities. The students will be creating artistic versions of a neuron utilizing various media, as well as sharing their Power Point presentations for review by their peers. We’ll continue reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a younger student’s version, and will begin planning how we want to share a part of the play at Museum Night.

In Math, students are working with balancing equations through the use of balance scales and sea animals. Students collect “sand dollars” as they complete assignments correctly and on time, and for participation in class activities.

Grade 4:
Students are learning many new skills as we proceed through our unit involving ancient Egypt. They wrote informational essays on the Nile River and its influence on the culture of ancient Egypt after research and viewing videos on the UnitedStreaming website. Students are conducting an experiment using the Scientific Method to mummify apples and determine the best desiccants. Lots of higher level thinking goes into the interpretation of data and evaluating the results, as well as lots of fun! As a result of our recent trip to the University of Penn Museum, students will begin a research project on “Investigating an Enigma.” They will learn how to extrapolate information from their research, take good notes, and examine a number of theorists’ questions about the construction of the pyramids. Members of collaborative groups will take on various roles including: Geographer, Theorist, Historian, and Archaeologist.

In Math, fourth grade LEAP has applied their skills in collecting data, making line plots, and finding percentages with our apple mummification experiment. Students will use mathematical data to support their conclusions.

Grade 5:
Now that student resumes are complete, fifth grade LEAP students are researching various careers that are compatible with their personalities and attitudes. After this research, students will present the information to their peers and be evaluated on their presentations. Fifth grade has concluded the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. Students are now completing various texts for Reading Olympics and preparing questions for the upcoming practice sessions. One of the books this year is Shakespeare’s Secret!

In math, fifth grade is delving into fractional parts in a unit called Bits and Pieces. This directly coincides with what they are learning in their regular classrooms, but on a more challenging level.

All of the LEAP students here at the Intermediate School wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

November 2007

The third, fourth, and fifth grade LEAP students took a trip to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire on Friday, October 5th, to set the stage for learning about William Shakespeare and Elizabethan times. We all had a fabulous time, and enjoyed every aspect of our living history lesson. Thank you, parents, for supporting us as we begin our in depth studies this year! 

3rd Grade:
Third graders continue to study the brain and learning. Students constructed clay models to identify major parts of the brain, created metaphors to illustrate the many wonders of the brain, and are comparing the human brain with a computer. They’re also using many new websites on the computer to research functions of each brain part. Students viewed a video about the brain to help prepare their own Power Point slide shows. As we continue this study, students will conduct a number of experiments that deal with memory, learning, and other wonders of our brain.

In math, we are delving into “The Unknown” with our study of algebraic reasoning. Students are using pattern blocks, coins, and dominoes to create algebraic equations.

 4th Grade:      
Fourth graders are completing a series of surveys that help them recognize their strongest multiple intelligences. Integrating this study with math, students collected data and then created bar graphs that reflect the information. They are now in the process of comparing each others data to draw some inferences about the group as a whole. Students are also beginning a study of ancient Egypt by examining the importance of the Nile River and how it influenced the culture of ancient Egypt. They will utilize Big6 research techniques to learn about everyday life, pharaohs, and the great part the belief of an afterlife had on the Egyptians. A field trip experience is planned to visit the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology in late November. Students will visit the Egyptian Galleries as well as the special exhibit highlighting the capital city of Amarna. After viewing the mummies and other special artifacts, students will create decorative masks and dioramas of the tombs that they will learn about.

In math, students were recently introduced to an enrichment activity that deals with collecting data, drawing graphs, and interpreting the median of various data collections.

 5th Grade:
In fifth grade, students are completing posters that reflect their personalities and attitudes. Each student completed a number of personal style inventories before transferring the information to an artistic poster. They will continue to use inventories to find out more about their own personalities. The next step will be to research various careers that may reflect their personalities, write a resume, and create a personal business card. Students will share their research with others in the LEAP classroom. Shakespeare is also on our agenda for this month, beginning with examining quotations from his works. Students will try their hand at writing like Shakespeare, and learn more about theater at the time his plays were written.

In math, students are working on enrichment activities that extend their thinking in using factors and multiples in problems dealing with ferris wheels, locust cycles, and picnic planning. We are also continuing our work with pre-algebraic thinking and solving equations with more than one variable.

September/October 2007

Students in the Intermediate School LEAP Program will be delving into some very engaging topics over the course of the next month. Each grade level will be participating in a one hour math extension class per week. Third and fourth graders will be utilizing materials from the Mentoring Mathematical Minds Project and fifth graders will begin learning pre-algebraic topics. Third graders have started their study of the human brain and will have many interesting facts to share with parents as the weeks progress. Fourth graders will begin their study of Multiple Intelligences and work on an individual project based on their strongest intelligences. Fifth graders will examine their own personalities and attitudes through a Psychology for Kids unit. We’ve all settled into our new classroom (Room 230) and are looking forward to a year of discovery, challenge, and fun!

The following websites directly
relate to topics in Mrs. Lipski's class: