This short week (yay for Fall Break!) was all about wrapping up some unfinished projects, but I do want to take the opportunity to point out something COOL Mrs. Darsey and Mr. Morton's first grade class is trying out: BLOGGING! Mrs. Darsey is especially excited about getting her students reading and talking about their reading this year, so she came up with the idea to encourage her children to write blog posts about the reading that takes place in their classroom. You can see the class blog here. We took time in computer this week to talk about what blogging is, share an example of a blog that Lovett students used last year, and to begin crafting our first posts. Way to go, first graders!
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In first grade this week we worked hard to finish up our farm pictures...but not before adding a final detail to them--an attention box! Since by the time we had computer class together again the children had already been on their field trip to the Southern Belle Farm, we took the opportunity to add a section to our pictures where we could document our favorite part of the trip. We talked about the techniques that authors, illustrators, and web designers use to get their audience's attention (using bold colors, adding shapes around the information, using large font, etc.), and we tried out those strategies in our farm pictures. Here are a couple of examples of some finished work: Notice how Alex used a bright blue box to draw attention to her favorite part of the trip--the hayride! Laura decided to use spiky callout boxes to draw the reader's eye to what she enjoyed best--taking home a pumpkin! We celebrated "pattern day" (a Mrs. Bullock-coined term) in two of the second grade classes this week. Did you notice that Thursday was October 11, 2012...otherwise known as 10/11/12? We thought that was such a cool numerical pattern that we traveled around the Lower School in search of additional patterns. We used our four Tuff Cams (like the one pictured here) and snapped photos in groups of four or five students. During our next class, we'll work to edit and annotate our photos using the application, Preview. In third grade this week, we began using our Writers! A "Writer" is a portable keyboarding device that is checked out to our third grade students each year. The children use them to practice their typing skills in preparation for the fourth and fifth grade laptop program. Every third grader is expected to complete level one on the device, which requires them to pass 116 keyboarding lessons. Getting acquainted with the Writer and building good keyboarding habits such as proper posture and finger placement are tough skills, but our third graders always experience great success! Writer lessons are completed at school at the discretion of the classroom teacher. Should your child be interested in practicing his or her keyboarding skills at home, I recommend the following online resources: Level One of Dance Mat Typing
Keyman Game (like PacMan) Keyboard Revolution (use the arrows to select a lesson) Typing Learning Games for Kids (numerous activities) First Grade - HelenIn computer class this week, Helen started working on a project in Doozla all about farms, and she did a fantastic job! She is a gifted artist! Check out our newsletter to see her work. Second Grade - KaciAt the end of her computer class this week, Kaci walked around and made sure to close out of all running applications on her classmates' machines. Thank you for your help, Kaci! Third Grade - CharlesWe started a cool, new project in third grade computer classes this week, and Charles worked very hard to complete the first part of his project--the script. He should be very proud of his diligence and work ethic. With first grade this week, I focused on beginning to teach the children how to read a website. We talked about how websites have an "address" (we called it a "URL") just like they do, and that a web address won't actually take them to a live page online unless they enter it correctly. We practiced with the website www.southernbellefarm.com since they have a field trip to the Southern Belle Farm in McDonough next week. From the farm website, we talked about reading headings and recognizing the navigation bar and links. We found the link called "school field trips," and read through what they could expect as part of their fall field trip. I know they are looking forward to it, and I sure wish I could go with them! To get the children thinking about farms, our activity this week involved making a modified K-W-L using Doozla. We split our Doozles in half, used the left side of screen to jot down or draw things that we already know about farms, and we used the right side of the screen to record things we wanted to find out about farms or the Southern Belle Farm in particular. Here are some examples of works-in-progress: With third grade this week, I began a character project using Voki. The word "voki" is a combination of the Latin word "vox" (which means voice) and the Norse word "loki" (which means prankster). Our Vokis will be online characters to which we will eventually add our voices. Here is the Voki that I created to introduce the project to my students: The work we did this week involved using Stickies to get a script written. The children have each chosen one of the following approaches for their Voki project: 1) to brainstorm 3 attributes for their character and give evidence from their book in support of those attributes 2) to explain how their character changed from the beginning of the book to the end 3) to give examples of what their character does and doesn't like, what his/her problem was in the book and how it was resolved. My hope is that this project supports all the hard work the children are doing in reader's workshop around the study of character.
In third grade this week, Mrs. Callaway--the director of Lovett's Academic Resource Center--visited with each computer class to teach them about learning styles and to administer a learning styles inventory. Every third grader took this survey and now has a detailed summary of the results, which includes suggestions for how s/he can be more productive in school and at home. As a teacher, these results are invaluable; they help me tweak my content instruction and delivery so I can better meet the needs of the diverse learners in the lab. Below is an anonymous example of survey results. If you would like a copy of your child's results, you are welcome to contact either Joye Callaway [email protected] or myself. First Grade - WalkerWalker was such a trooper this week in computer class! We were putting the finishing touches on our Dot Day drawings during her class, and her computer was just not cooperating. Such is technology! Walker wrote the same sentence three different times, and it finally saved on the page. Thank you for your positive attitude, Walker! Second Grade - BrooksBrooks did such a great job listening and following directions this week! We are learning how to use Dropbox in the computer lab (that's hard work!) and Brooks was able to do it by himself on his first try. Way to go, Brooks! Third Grade - SpencerSpencer was a HUGE help to me in the computer lab this week. He and his classmates are also learning to use Dropbox, and Spencer mastered the skill and then went around the room helping his friends complete the task that was asked of them. Spencer, you are a team player, thanks!
Ms. Carter has been working with the second graders on cleanliness and health. They've been talking about germs, where germs hide, how you can protect yourself from germs, and how you can prevent the spread of germs. In the computer lab this week, Ms. Carter and I worked together with the second graders as they put together personalized books filled with photos of "germs" and reminders for maintaining good health. The children used Pages for this project, which is not an application that they have much experience with just yet. We sure were proud of the progress they made with an application geared toward more advanced users! Here is a sample of our work, the Avoid Germs Handbook by Miles from Mrs. Johnston's class and G is for Germs and They're Everywhere by Montana from Mrs. MacEwen's class: In first grade this week, we talked about International Dot Day. Peter Reynolds is the author of the picture book, The Dot, and in celebration of the "birth" of this book, students and teachers all over the world join with Mr. Reynolds to celebrate Dot Day. The main character of the book, Vashti, has an experience in art class that teaches her about the power and creativity that lies inside her; once she discovers her own talent and begins to trust herself and her abilities, she passes that amazing feeling on to another character--she leaves a mark (or a "dot") in that character's life. It's a wonderful book worth checking out!
Our project this week consisted of creating our own Vashti-inspired dot drawings using Doozla. The children were encouraged to be original, use whatever colors they saw fit, and to add a thought about how they might "make their mark" on someone this year in the middle of their dot drawing. They were of course reminded to "sign it" at the culmination of class. We will take time next week to complete these drawings, but for now you can check out the first grade classroom teachers' links from this site to see some examples. First Grade - LoganIn computer this week, Logan was a brave speller and wrote "I will strive to do my best at all times" all by himself. Way to go, Logan! Second Grade - JulieJulie was a very focused worker in computer this week. She had no trouble finishing her tasks, and she did a great job following directions. We're proud of you, Julie! Third Grade - JackJack shared with us that he has been completing some of his digital passport activities from home. Jack, we think it's neat how you are learning how to use technology in a wise way, even away from school!
First Grade - Christian Christian helped Mrs. Bullock and his classmates by walking around the entire lab and pushing in chairs before leaving. Thank you for your help, Christian! Second Grade - Morgan Morgan shared the PC computer shortcut command (control/alt/delete) during class and reminded everyone that using shortcut commands when working on the computer can make a user more productive and efficient. Thanks, Morgan! Third Grade - Franki Franki remembered that the shortcut command for quitting an application in the computer lab is command Q. This is an important shortcut for third graders as they are required to leave the computer just as they found it when computer class is over. Thank you, Franki!
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