What Have the Educators at Lincoln Elementary Been Up To?

Our Wheaton Warrenville Education Association, WWEA, members are always looking for great ways to engage students academically and take an active role in the community. Let's take a peek at the efforts of our educators at Lincoln Elementary in CUSD200 this school year.

Giving Thanks!

Mrs. Kristine Skelly-Sterns’ Primary Instructional Class cooked a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast composed of crockpot turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, vegetables, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie on Thursday, Nov. 17 as a culminating activity for their fall unit. In the days leading up to their feast, they learned about the first Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. On the morning of their feast, they prepared many traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Not only were they able to practice their culinary skills, but they were also able to incorporate many new vocabulary words as well as Math skills into their cooking activities. The children learned how to set the table and how to use good table manners. Everyone had a memorable time!

Hands-on Science: Plan, Design, Create

“The 4th grade’s science experiments on erosion, weathering, and deposition have been awesome,” said fourth grade teacher Cynthia Heilingoetter. All of their fourth graders created landform relief maps/models of landforms to highlight the various geographical features found worldwide. “Here was our creation day,” Mrs. Saporito stated, adding, “My cartographers are creating a three-dimensional map of landforms on an uninhabited island they discovered after their plane made an emergency landing. Weathering, erosion, and deposition of soil have been identified.”

Appreciating Culture: A Primary Source Trip to Cuba

Intermediate Resource Teacher Ms. Lopushonsky became the primary source for Mrs. Potas' third grade EL students when they began writing on Cuba. The five students constructed unique and thoughtful questions when they visited her classroom in order to get a first hand glimpse at Cuba, since she just returned from there. Questions on technology, schooling, people and food provided a closer look at the island. Ms. Lopushonsky even gave each student a Cuban coin and shared her photos from her summer trip. What a wonderful experience for all of them. Interviewing a primary source provided a more authentic feel to their writing. The scholars are compiling the interview questions as a narrative to insert in a travel brochure that they are creating online. In addition, Mrs. Potas’ class did a compare and contrast on Cuban school versus ours that will also be used. They are still acquiring additional information from the Time For Kids brochure they are reading. We’ll see if they convince you to visit Cuba, the land of plantations, horseback riding, old American cars, music, color and highlands….

Technology Treasures: Lincoln Participates in “Hour of Code”

During the week of Dec 5th-9th people all around the globe participated in “Hour of Code.” The students at Lincoln participated as well, endeavoring the wonder that is coding a computer to do exactly what you want. Under the guidance of Mrs. Sarah Peterson, Library Learning Center Director, 1st grade practiced with an unplugged "If...then..." game, while 2nd-5th grade students practiced using various online modules to explore what it is like to be a computer programmer. If you're interested you can try coding anytime of year, just travel to hourofcode.com.

STEM Presentation Takes Center Stage at District 200 Student Excellence Foundation Breakfast at Lincoln

Lincoln School was proud to host the Student Excellence Foundation breakfast in November, which came served up with an impressive STEM presentation by Lincoln School third graders! Having prepared for a week of lunch times with third grade teachers Mrs. Karen Ringas, and District 200’s Mrs. Bridget Moore, the students utilized the engineering cubes gifted to them by the Student Excellence Foundation to create an indestructible tower. Given only tape, string, straws and paper, the ambitious students created an 18” tall tower that would withstand the force of a strong wind (simulated by using a big fan). A tennis ball, then, was balanced atop the tower. Just imagine the strength of this engineering design! Third Grade teacher Mrs. Bonamasso is pictured with the others above in the last image. This experiment connected the forensic motion unit with the extreme weather unit. Local mayors, superintendents and board members were among those in this dazzled audience.

Thank you, Lincoln Elementary Educators, for your consistent dedication to creating engaging lessons that encourage our students to explore, collaborate, and learn in a safe and active environment.