Technology Class News

May - The beginning of the end

2010-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Where did all the weeks go? Summer vacation will soon be here.

Kindergarten classes completed their ZooPhonics slide show in Kid Pix. I recorded each student's voice into their slide, and put the slide show together. Each class has seen their slide show. Big Thinkers Kindergarten is a popular Kindergarten program. This month we have worked on forming simple words by choosing the correct letter, and on telling time. Kindergarten classes worked on what things are living and what is non-living. In computer technology class, they did a lesson on that topic which included learning to press the Shift Key, while typing a letter to make a capital letter.

1st grade classes completed the animal groups lessons in computer technology class, as they finished those animal groups in their classrooms. Then, each student was given a different sentence about an animal group. They drew a picture to go with their sentence. When they finished their slides, I put the slides together into a slide show. It's very cute. They completed an activities in the Big Thinkers 1st Grade program on counting money and working with simple fractions.

2nd grade classes have been working on their computer keyboarding skills. They have learned the fundamentals of proper keyboarding, and will continue this early in the year in 3rd grade. They were also introduced to a math skill, graphing coordinates, by using some Internet websites with interactive games and activities. These are Graphing Moles at http://funbasedlearning.com/algebra/graphing/points/, Billy Bug at http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BillyBug/bugcoord.html, and Fun Brain What's the Point at http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BillyBug/bugcoord.html.

3rd grade students finished work on their Power Point about a famous person. They did some very nice work. Mrs. Conroy's class did a power point earlier in the year, so that class did a digital story about a famous person. The digital story was done in PhotoStory3, then converted into a movie to be played in windows media player. Each 3rd grade class also played a game to practice the Internet safety lessons they learned during our i-safe curriculum. The game can be downloaded from http://www.carnegiecybercadets.com/.

4th grade students finished a Power Point slide show presentation about Michigan. They study about Michigan during the year. They also learned about Internet safety using our i-safe curriculum and a new interactive game. This online game allows them to practice the Internet safety skills they've learned. The game can be downloaded from http://www.carnegiecybercadets.com/. The game was created by Carnegie Melon University, and is excellent for learning, is lots of fun, and is motivating for the students.

Have a great summer!

April - Spring Break and Beyond

2010-04-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you had a wonderful "vacation" away from routine. Now, it's back to school for us all.
Kindergarten classes worked in a program called Alphabet and Numbers, but only in the Alphabet section. Students have been learning to recognize low case letters. In this program, students solve several different types of questions, such as beginning letter sounds, recognition of low case letters, and what letter is missing. Students also did an activity with Earth Day in mind. Students will decide what is trash and what can be recycled in our Big Thinkers Kindergarten program. Students will also begin to record their voices into their ZooPhonics slide. Then,I'll put together the slide show. Hopefully, it will work for me to convert the slide show into a QuickTime movie for families to enjoy.

1st grade continued to work on animal groups this month. Generally, each animal group takes about 2 weeks to complete in the classroom. During the last week of the animal group, we do a corresponding lesson in tech class using a Kid Pix template. This month,during the weeks the class was not ready to do the tech. lesson, we learned more about recycling using our Big Thinkers 1st Grade program, and did some subtraction work in our Math Workshop program. During the last week of April, classes began the Kid Pix animal group slide show. Each student began to draw a picture to depict a particular sentence.

2nd grade classes began using Ultra Key this month. This is our keyboarding program. They will learn proper keyboarding posture and fingering, beginning with home row keys. Work in keyboarding will continue for several weeks.

3rd grade classes continued adding facts from their famous person report into their power point slides. They learned how to do a Word Art title and how to copy/paste pictures from the Internet. They cited the websites used on the Bibliography slide. This reinforces what they learned in i-safe about intellectual property. The power point presentation takes several weeks to complete. Mrs. Conroy's class worked on fractions in our Math Workshop program. They added their title and picture to the power point title slide, then saved it as a jpeg. to use as the title in their digital story.

4th grade classes continued working on their power point presentations on our beautiful state of Michigan. They continued getting information from the Internet as well as pictures. They must cite their sources on their Bibliography slide. When they finish entering their information, they will add transitions, animation effects, and some will record their voices into their slides.

March Madness!

2010-04-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten classes enjoyed using our Big Thinkers Kindergarten program this month. They continued to use this fun and educational program to add birds, do a maze, put alphabet letters in correct order and work on telling time to the hour. Each Kindergarten class created a ZooPhonics "slide" in our Kid Pix program. Each student finished a slide template with their assigned ZooPhonics letter. They added "stickers" that have the same beginning letter. When students finish recording their voices into their slides, I'll put all the slides together into one slideshow.

1st grade classes continued the study of the animal groups in their classrooms. As each class studied an animal group, we did an activity in computer technology class using Kid Pix to process what they have learned about that animal. These activities are done using a template which is different for each animal group. Between animals, some classes finished learning about Internet safety within our i-safe plan. Additionally, some classes worked on their addition and subtraction skills in our Math Workshop program.

2nd grade continued with our i-safe Internet safety lessons. We had discussed personal safety last month. We continued this safety topic in March. Students saw a video from http://www.netsmartz.org/ entitled "Know the Rules" which discusses 4 basic rules for Internet safety. Then, students did an activity in Kid Pix using a template in which they typed these 4 safety rules, added a picture of a computer, and colored Clicky the robot (optional). 2nd grade classes finished i-safe with computer security and an activity that answers the question - Why is the World Wide Web called a web? I show them a picture of a spider web, with a picture of computers with lines drawn from each to the others, looking like a web. They get the idea. Then they color in continents on a globe in Kid Pix and draw lines from place to place, showing how email and Internet connections are like a web connecting the world.
This month students also did some Internet research on a dinosaur for a classroom report. They used a website http://www.enchantedlearning.com.

Our 3rd grade classes have begun a power point presentation about a famous person (biography). They have done a report for their classroom. They will use the information about their person as the facts for their power point. In March, they have done the initial set up for the slide show. They have inserted 5 slides, done backgrounds on each slide, and added titles for the slides. Mrs. Conroy's class did power points earlier in the school year. We learned more about power point using the one previously done. Then students created a title slide for their biography in power point. We will later save that title as a jpeg. to be used as a title picture for a photostory digital story. The digital story about their famous person will be converted to a quicktime movie. We've been in the beginning process this month.

Our 4th grade classes made an invitation card using Microsoft Publisher. Mrs. Boersma's and Mrs. Kaminski's classes created invitations to the upcoming Grand Friend Day in May. Mrs. Duffy's, Miss Burn's, and Mrs. Johnson's classes created invitations to their Special Person Day also in May. Classes also began a power point. All 4th grade classes will be doing the power point on the same topic - Michigan. 4th grade classes have been studying about Michigan this year. The power point will continue over a number of weeks. Students will learn more technology skills of using the Internet to locate information, then to put that information into the power point. They will also cite each source on the Bibliography slide, which reinforces the concept of intellectual property.

February Hearts

2010-03-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten classes created a Valentine for their parents this month in Kid Pix. They worked on a template of 2 hearts. They added a picture inside one of the hearts and a message "I love you" to the other heart. Kindergarten students have been working on their ABC's. During the month of January classes visited the www.starfall.com website to learn more about the sounds of the letters. At the end of each letter lesson, there's an activity for them to do. Students love this website. We have been working on beginning letter sounds. We also use the Big Thinkers Kindergarten program to choose several items that begin with a particular letter. This one is very cute and fun for the students. Students also spent some time solving a maze in Big Thinkers. This one got interesting as students also needed to feed some animals the proper food as they solved the maze.

1st grade began study of the animal groups in their classrooms. As each animal group was studied, in technology class, they accomplished a corresponding activity using a template in our Kid Pix program. This will continue through April. We also began the i-safe Internet safety program. We discussed community and personal safety on the Internet. We played music and danced to songs that are provided by the i-safe program. Students did an activity in Kid Pix that used the words from one of the songs with a picture of i-buddy, the i-safe mascot.

2nd grade created a valentine card in publisher. They learned to insert clip art to the card and type in text boxes. A few students needed to finish recording into their power point slide. I put all the slides together into one class slide show. I sent it to the classroom teachers for them to send home via their email lists. Classes began the i-safe program on Internet safety. This is a program set up under the direction of the Dept. of Justice. We discussed community, in which rules to stay safe in our community and rules to stay safe on the Internet are compared. We also discussed personal safety while using the Internet, including 5 tips for kids from the FBI. Students saw a couple of videos from a website http://www.netsmartz.org/ that go with our topics of Internet safety.

3rd grade classes finished our i-safe Internet safety program. This month they were introduced to excel spreadsheet. Then students did a word scramble puzzle in excel spreadsheet about computer security. The puzzle took a couple of classes to complete. Classes have also learned about personal safety using the Internet. They saw videos and played appropriate games on http://www.netsmartz.org/. They were also introduced to intellectual property, learning to cite sources they use in reports.

4th grade continued to work on spreadsheets. In January, classes entered data about the number of different animals belonging to members of each class. They have formated or changed the original setup of the spreadsheet (adding rows, changing column width, etc) and doing a formula to add a column. In February, some classes needed to add a pie chart depicting the data, including a label and per cent of each type of animal. They continued to complete the spreadsheet by adding a conclusion, after examining the data and chart. Each student's conclusion was different. They printed these spreadsheets. Any student who finished, worked with an online madlib, done in excel. They also did some keyboarding in UltraKey. Mrs. Kaminski's class had finished the Pets spreadsheet earlier. This class spent February in UltraKey, our keyboarding program.

January - A New Year

2010-02-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten students drew a very cute snowman using the Kid Pix program and printed it to take home. Some classes visited a wonderful website filled with activities called Poisson Rouge (Red Fish) at http://www.poissonrouge.com/. We finished the month in our Big Thinkers Kindergarten program comparing sizes of objects. There are several levels of difficulty, so that adjustments can be made for each child.

1st grade classes began the month with practice on the food pyramid. Classes have learned about the food pyramid in Dec., so we do a Kid Pix lesson in which the students choose foods that are in particular food groups. 1st grade classes are learning to tell time to the half hour. In our Kid Pix program, students draw in the clock hands and stamp the numbers on a digital clock on a template of 4 clocks. Next, is practice with the sounds ch, sh, wh, and th. Students typed the letters at the top of the page and drew lines to separate. Then, "stickers" pictures of things that begin with those letters are placed in the correct section of the page. Two classes used our Big Thinkers 1st Grade program to choose if a particular sound of a word is heard at the first, middle, or last part of the word. It's presented in a game show format, and puzzle pieces are revealed as each correct answer is given. The other two classes will do this in Feb.

2nd grade classes have continued to work on their Wampanoag Power Point slide. After finishing their facts, students learned to change the font, the font size, and font color. Then, they worked on recording their voices into the slide. I'll be checking all the slides and putting all slides together into a Power Point slide show for each class. I'll email it to the teacher, who can then email it to you. 2nd grade students studied the seven continents in Dec. and January in their classroom. During the last week in January, students who were finished recording into their slides, were able to visit a website with an age appropriate power point about the Continents, then play the Continents game by dragging the names of the Continents onto the corresponding Continent.

3rd grade classes began our i-safe Internet safety curriculum this month. We discuss netiquette, computer security, personal safety, and introduce intellectual property. This is a process that takes several weeks to finish. We began this month with netiquette. Students learned about good manners on the Internet. We began learning about Cyber Security. Students learned that they should ask an adult before opening emails, especially attachments. Sometimes attachments contain viruses. They learned about the importance of anti-virus software, and played a game on http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexFL.htm.

4th grade classes began working on spreadsheet. We took a survey and count of pets owned by the class members, added the data to the spreadsheet, added a header, formatted or changed the spreadsheet as needed (adding rows, changing column width, etc) and did a formula to add a column. Students created a pie chart and placed it below their data. Next, they began a conclusion of their own from the pie chart. This is a MEAP skill - to draw a conclusion from a chart or graph. Students merged and centered cells,typed a conclusion,then prepared to print. Some students printed in January, but most will print in February.

December - Technology Fun!

2009-12-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

This was a short month due to snow days and Holiday Break. We continued to learn with technology and link to core classes when possible.

Kindergarten students have been getting more comfortable using our laptops. They practiced choosing what is different in a series of pictures. They began in a simple lesson on the Internet - http://www.funbrain.com/oddballs/index.html to choose which animal, shape or machine is different. Then we moved to our program Big Thinkers Kindergarten to choose which of 3 dolls is different. Some of these are tricky, so they need to look closely to be observant. Students had some fun during our last class together in Dec., decorating gingerbread cookies on a fun website, http://www.theoworlds.com/christmas. They were also able to build a snowman at http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/snowman/load.htm?f. The students choose hats, scarves, and etc. for their snowman, then listen to the 10 little snowmen song.

1st grade classes worked on math skills in our fun Math Workshop program. They spent several classes in the "bowling alley" clicking on the answer to addition problems as they receive bowling pins, so the very silly gorilla could bowl. Students had some fun during our last class together in Dec. They created beautiful snowflakes that could spin, rotate, snow, melt and more at http://dinosaurdesign.com/SnowflakeFactory.htm. They were also able to build a snowman at http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/snowman/load.htm?f. The students choose hats, scarves, and etc. for their snowman, then listen to the 10 little snowmen song.

2nd grade classes have begun their Wampanoag Indian power point slide. They completed the Internet research in Nov., so are working to type facts onto a power point slide as well as learn to change font, font size and color. When the slides are complete, I will put all of each class's slides together to create a class power point slide show. During the last class of the month, we built a snowman online at http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/games/index.html. Students answered questions to reveal changes to their snowman. At http://dinosaurdesign.com/SnowflakeFactory.htm, they created beautiful snowflakes that could spin, rotate, snow, melt and more. The snowflake works well with symmetry that was being discussed in the 2nd grade classes.

3rd grade students have studied the characteristics of plants and animals in the classroom. In technology class they played an interactive game to review and learn about plant and animal characteristics at A Touch of Class http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/class.html

Both 3rd and 4th grade classes were able to have a little creative fun during their last class in December. "Make a Flake" at http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/ is great for very creative snowflake design. Students can save their designs to view in the online gallery (by number only).

3rd and 4th grade classes are finishing up on their unit in keyboarding. This has been very important time spent in using proper fingering and learning the keys to improve their speed and accuracy when typing. We have only 30 minutes each week for technology classes. This month, the snow days impacted our keyboarding time. For extra keyboarding practice, I encourage students to try an online keyboarding game for additional practice. After break, both grades will need to move on to accomplish our technology curriculum.
As with all Internet websites, please check these in advance. Sometimes websites move or change. Some keyboarding websites to check are:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/typing/

http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/typing_spell/typing.htm

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/Business/Keyboarding/Index.html

http://www.customtyping.com/goalie_demo.htm

http://www.powertyping.com/fog/foggies.html

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/copypractice.php

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/games/game_type_me.html

November - Thanks to Technology

2009-11-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to technology at Knapp Forest, our students learn skills that allow them to more efficiently use computers in our world.

This month Kindergarten students began by using our Big Thinkers Kindergarten program to practice additional skills in identifying patterns, working in 3 levels depending on skill. Students worked on additional math skills using stamps in our Kid Pix program. They stamped a number, drew a dice with the correct number of dots, then added the correct number of picture stamps. This month students also drew a turkey in our Kid Pix program.

1st grade students have begun using a program, Big Thinkers First Grade to do a type of puzzle using a grid to help them place shapes to form a picture. This provides additional work with spacial relationships which can be quite challenging. Students also drew a turkey as an illustration for a poem using our Kid Pix program. Students began to work on addition in our Math Workshop program in the "bowling alley" gaining a bowling pin for each correctly answered addition problem. When 10 pins are earned, the gorilla bowls. Students love this fun way of doing math.

2nd grade classes have been busy doing Internet research about Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims. They have been preparing to begin working on a power point slide in December. Classes study the Wampanoag Indians this month in their classrooms. In tech class, students visited a wonderful Scholastic website. Students can go through phases of life comparing the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims daily life. There's great pictures as well as audio on the website that reads the text to the students. The website address is http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/daily_life/
Another website with good information is from Plimoth Plantation. The website address for this is http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html. There's audio on this website as well as learning activities.

3rd and 4th grades are continuing to work on keyboarding using our UltraKey program. They are learning the fundamentals. 3rd grade students will concentrate on building accuracy this year. They must achieve 95% accuracy to pass a "skill check" in the program. The speed is only 5 words per minute. Speed comes with accuracy. 4th grade students must achieve 95% accuracy with 10 words per minute in order to pass a level. They can't move on until they pass each level. We will be concentrating on keyboarding now until Holiday Break in Dec.

Mrs. Kaminski's class has not begun working on keyboarding yet. They have been doing Internet research during tech class. The class has just begun working on a spreadsheet, which will continue during December.

October - Technology can be scary at first...

2009-11-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

This month Kindergarten students have been working with color, shapes, and patterns in their classroom. We extend this work in computer technology class. We use a software program, Big Thinkers Kindergarten, which has a component that addresses all three of these. Kindergarten students also began to practice typing their first names. I have the keyboards set to type in all caps, since they are working with capital letters in the classroom. They continue to type their first name in Kid Pix several times. It is an important step for them to find all the letters of their name on the computer keyboard. They type their name on each lesson in computer technology class before printing. This month Kindergarten classes also drew a pumpkin and practiced with Halloween "stickers" in Kid Pix - resizing and moving them.

First Grade students did the following: They typed the number words from one to ten and draw tally marks next to each word. They had been learning how to spell number words in the classroom as well as learning how to illustrate numbers by drawing tally marks. They also drew a clock as they work on telling time. The clock is an extension of learning in the classroom. As we approach Halloween, students illustrated the 5 Little Pumpkins poem. That means that they will drew a picture to go with the poem. All of these lessons were done using Kid Pix, and were printed to bring home. Most classes began to work on spacial relationship puzzles in our Math Workshop program. Students move and flip the pieces to fit on the shape. They learn, while having fun. When completed properly, the puzzle animates for them!

Second Grade students continued to work on spacial relationship puzzles in our Math Workshop program. They have been studying about plants in their classrooms. In technology class, they did a 4 section page in Kid Pix, in which an apple tree was depicted in each of the 4 seasons. As we approached Halloween, students drew a picture to illustrate their choice of 2 Jack Prelutsky poems.

Third Grade classes finished doing media center searches by title, author, subject, and keyword, using the Knapp Forest Library webpage. They answered specific questions that required them to perform each type of search. I checked these, then gave the sheets to Mrs. Doctor so that she could see how they are doing. Then, they were released to use the computers in the media center to do book searches. After searches,they began UltraKey, our keyboarding program. They will work on keyboarding until December break. Keyboarding is an important skill, as it speeds up their work time in nearly everything, making them more productive. It is a life skill.

Fourth Grade classes practiced doing media center searches by title, author, subject, and keyword, using the Knapp Forest Media Center webpage. They answerd some questions that required them to do each type of search for themselves. I checked these, then gave the sheets to Mrs. Doctor so that she could see how they are doing. Mrs. Duffy's class and Miss Burn's class began using UltraKey, our keyboarding program. Mrs. Kaminsky's class, Mrs. Boersma's class, and Mrs. Johnson's class have been working on research for their assigned habitat field guide. These habitat field guides have been researched in their classrooms as well.

September - Getting Started!

2009-09-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to a brand new school year! I am excited to have your children in technology classes. I've created this blog to help you to know what your children are learning in technology classes at Knapp Forest Elementary. This year, for the most part, I'll be posting entries at or near the end of each month.

All computer technology lessons throughout the year are integrated into classroom topics when possible. Lessons also follow the Forest Hills Technology Curriculum. The technology curriculum follows the Michigan and National technology standards.

During the first week or two of September all classes are getting the year started by going over computer technology class rules and parts and terminology of the computer. This is in accordance with their grade level.

Kindergarten students learn basic parts of the computer only. After that, they practice drawing using Kid Pix, a great software program for younger students.
After the first week's class, Kindergarten students play a game on the computer called Facetoons. This is a freeware game that is an update of the old potato head game. It's very simple, but motivates these young students to move eyes, noses, mouths, ears, etc. onto the different fruits to make a funny face that moves. This is a fun way to give students practice in "click and drag" with the computer mouse. It does make a big difference in their confidence level. During the next class, students will draw a simple face in our Kid Pix program. It's different to draw on computers than on paper.

1st grade students review computer parts and learn about laptops vs. desktop computers, hardware vs. software, and what menus and icons are. After computer parts and terms,1st grade students begin practicing typing their first name, holding down the shift key to capitalize the first letter. Students draw a face (self portrait) in varying degrees in Kid Pix. This is to reinforce the skills of click and drag using the computer mouse. Our tech curriculum includes teaching skills of drawing using drawing tools. 1st grade students begin typing their color words using Kid Pix. They will draw a small rectangle beside each word to color in later, after printing. They have been working on spelling color words in their classrooms.

2nd Grade students review computer parts and computer terminology such as icons, menus, and desktop. Students practice typing their first and last names using Kid Pix. They practice holding down the shift key while typing the first letter to capitalize it. 2nd grade students learn how to change size and font. Then, students have some fun with puzzles in Math Workshop, a wonderful math software program. As each puzzle is completed, it animates in some way. This is very motivating for the students. We spend some time in math workshop puzzles of graduating difficulty. This is good for sequencing and spacial relationships.

The 3rd and 4th grade classes learn additional computer technology terms such as desktop, taskbar, shortcuts, and more in depth about the menu bars. Fourth grade classes discuss uses of technology in our world including advantages and disadvantages.
Grades 3 and 4 create their own folders inside their teacher's class folder, on our kfe elementary network, which is part of our district's technology network. With their own folders in place, they are ready to save documents. 3rd and 4th grade classes practice logging in and logging off of the laptops. They need to practice this right away, since at Knapp Forest, teachers use the carts of wireless laptops in their classrooms.

3rd grade classes will review graphing coordinates in preparation for the MEAP. This is done with some interactive games on the Internet. I will begin to give 3rd grade classes practice on doing searches for media center materials using the Knapp Forest library/media center website. Each student will answer questions that require a title, author, series and keyword search. When they complete the instruction, they will be released to use the computers in the media center to do materials searches.

4th grade math begins with geometric polygons in Unit 1. In technology class, they will do a polygons lesson using Microsoft Word autoshapes. Students will create the shapes, then label each in a text box, with the proper name, and fill the polygons with a light shade of color. They will save and print these when complete. I give these to the classroom teacher. This lesson reinforces the study of geometric polygons as well as the learning of new technology skills. I'll also give 4th graders practice using our Knapp Forest library/media center website. Students will answer several questions requiring various types of searches - author, title, keyword, and series. This allows each student a chance to experience doing searches.