Recent Happenings in Technology Lab Grades 4-6

The K-3 post was getting a little wordy, so I thought I would split the upper grades into a new post.

• 4th Grade:  As you know, we have been exploring the world of blogging for the last few months.  I can honestly say, I never expected it to take off like it did, although I was hoping that the students would enjoy it.  In fact, I had to turn off viewing rights for posts and comments temporarily, until I have a chance to catch up with reading and approving posts!  I am thrilled that students are practicing their typing skills in a context that is meaningful.  These students are also realizing the importance of writing for an audience. 
  
  So, the blogs will be utilized throughout the year.  However, we are going to move on starting Thursday to a few new technology concepts.
  
  The students are studying about European Explorers in Social Studies.  Therefore, we are going to implement technology into these lessons to approximate the distance between where the explorers set sail and where they made landfall, utilizing Google Maps.
  
  The week after the Thanksgiving break, we are going to place these numbers into Excel and create a graph.  I know this will be the first time many students utilize Excel, so I will make this as painless as possible with a ready-made document on each computer.  We will then create a graph that shows the differences between the distances covered by each explorer.  FINGERS CROSSED:  This is a lot to take on as fourth graders, but they are very smart and I know they can rise to the task.
  
• FIFTH GRADE:  I am in the process of getting 5th graders signed up for Edmodo, an online learning platform completely secure for elementary, middle, and high schools.  Once this process is complete, there will be no wondering what we are covering each day, as students will log on to Edmodo and a lesson will be there, or a directive of what to do next. 
  We have explored blogging as well in 5th grade, and last week we experienced a web tool called Wordle.  I am attempting to get Prezi accounts for all students, so that we can explore this presentation software.  In the meantime, we will implement Social Studies standards into a Google Maps/Excel assignment as in 4th grade. 
  
• SIXTH GRADE:  My small but powerful group of 6th graders that are in my class daily have been blazing trails with Edmodo, navigating online learning terrifically.  Yesterday they began planning their "All About Me" Power Point presentations utilizing Google Docs and Google Images.