Power Point, Edmodo, and Weebly

Third graders have been working hard on their power point presentations.  They chose three of their favorite things to create a presentation about.  They then added slides and text to the presentations, changed backgrounds, searched for pictures via Google Images, and inserted those pictures into their slideshows.  Some students were able to move on to using transitions and animations.

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Fourth graders are finishing up with their longer Power Point presentations, and I have been busy each class period circulating to grade the presentations.  The students have done an awesome job on these!

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Fifth grade classes completed a two to three week process of discussing and writing about what it means to do one's Personal Best.  We are now adding our new band students to our Edmodo groups.

Next week:  Begin researching podcasting in preparation for creating our own podcasts.

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Sixth graders have been hard at work researching their chosen topic.  They have completed their writing, submitted it via Edmodo assignments, and have been searching for videos and pictures to include on their web page.  Monday we begin assembling our Weebly site.  Once complete, we will officially invite all in the blogosphere to check out the finished product!

What have we been up to in technology?? K-3

Hello, friends!  Sorry that my posts have been far and few between.
Here is an update on what the students have been learning in technology lab.

• KINDERGARTEN:  Every week I locate a few new educational activities/games for our youngest KCSMA knights to explore.  Almost all of the students have learned how to double-click to open the Kindergarten folder on the desktop, and then double-click the game that they want to play.  Through this, not only are they learning technology skills but also reading, to read the titles of the games in the folder, which are always simplified to be easy to read and remember. If a student chooses to want to paint or type instead, that is always a choice.  My objective is to keep them engaged for the full 45 minutes, and they are always happy when that is happening!  **Starting Thursday, we will explore Microsoft Paint in preparation for this 9 weeks' technology standard:  Use drawing tools to create an original illustration or picture story.
  
• FIRST GRADE:  My objectives for First Grade at this time are very similar to those of Kindergarten, as we have to work less on classroom procedures with first graders.  Also, the games are more difficult and challenging and incorporate more math and reading skills.  First graders are more prone to being able to assist their peers with troubleshooting.  We have also been able to practice shutting down the computer correctly at the end of each technology session.  **Starting Thursday, we will be exploring Microsoft Paint's features, in order to create a picture that tells a story.  We will extend this later in the year to create a concept map on Paint.
  
• SECOND GRADE:  Second graders have really been enjoying the various games that I have located for them to practice math, reading, and technology skills.  I have to say the most popular has been Fun Brain Math.  What I really like about this site is not only all of the math games but the reading as well.  So many students choose to sit and ready chapters of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" during some of their technology time.  They have also enjoyed the Mad Libs section of this site.   ***Starting Thursday, we will be creating a brainstorming map about Fall on bubbl.us.  Students will be encouraged to attempt to create a brainstorming map on their own.  (This is the 2nd grade technology standard for this 9 weeks)
  
• THIRD GRADE:  A few weeks ago, we started a bit of Internet research, just to get our feet wet.  We will continue with this in different subjects at intervals throughout the year.  I have also realized that breaking a technology lesson into chunks is the way to go.  The key is to keep it fun and rewarding, to keep them interested for lifelong learning.  **Starting Thursday, Third grade will be learning/practicing how to search for an image and then saving it to a folder on the hard drive.  We will then insert this image into a document and write about it.  (2nd 9 weeks' technology standard in Third grade:  "Uses appropriate keywords and search strategies to locate information (text and pictures) online")
  

2nd 9 weeks upon us

And so begins the 2nd 9 weeks of school.. already?!?  Wow, that flew by!
This round of specials will extend all the way until October 30th, due to early release for conferences next Mon., Tues., Wed. 

Let's flip it and start with 6th grade:

6th:  My 1st 9 weeks connections class moved on to different and new things.  Congrats to 3 of my students for making over a 100% on their 9 weeks final grade in technology!  They have received a voucher good for one chicken biscuit and drink next Friday for Chick Fil A biscuit day.
I have been given a great group of students with which to trudge through the ever expanding world of technology this 9 weeks.  We have started with blogging on Kidblog.  We are also hoping to explore Edmodo this 9 weeks.  Permission forms went home yesterday.

5th:  We are continuing with blog posts, changing avatars, posting pictures in our blog, etc.  This will continue through until Oct. 29th, when we will move on photo editing with Picasa.  6th graders will also learn to use Picasa at this time.

4th:  We are continuing, again, with blogs, with changing our avatars, adding photos to post, and the importance of Netiquette.  We will also move on to explain the important of utilizing correct spelling and grammar in blog posts.

3rd:  Third grade is doing a tiny bit of Internet Research this round and next round of specials, just to get our feet wet in going to a search engine and finding a reliable web site.  The topic is U.S. Government and reflects what they have been learning in class.  We work for half of the period, and then explore educational activities for the second half.

2nd:  Second grade has been practicing their math skills in the wonderful world of FunBrain Math.  So much more fun than flashcards and worksheets!  I wish this had been around when I was their age!

1st:  First grade gets to explore their science specials time and concept mapping, and then move on to Michael Michael Go Recycle.  It is amazing how this game has spanned the grade levels!

K:  Kindergarten starts out with a game testing their number sequence knowledge as well as mouse abilities on one of my favorite websites:  funschool.kaboose.com.  This game is called "Stacker" and is one of a handful of awesome games for the younger students.


ON ANOTHER NOTE:
We are in the process of receiving awesome, brand new headphones for the lab, courtesy of donors through donorschoose.org!!!  I am so so excited that the headphones will be reliable and I hope much better than these that I purchased at the beginning of the year as a temporary measure.  The headphones I have that are still in good condition will go to various teachers throughout the school who need headphones for their classrooms.

That's all I have for now!  Thanks for reading and as always, for supporting Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy!!!