1/3/2014 January 3, 2014Happy New Year to all! Third graders ended 2013 as budding computer programmers and they seemed to have a lot of fun in the process. We joined in on the national Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week December 9-15 where millions of students, actually around the world, found out what coding was all about and experimented with a variety of coding programs and tutorials. We kicked off with the Code Stars video which got the students thinking about what a career in computer programming might be like and how important programmers are now to every day life. The program we used in third grade was Kodable, which is a free app for the iPad. This app allows students to explore the concepts of programming logic, sequence, conditions, loops, functions, and debugging, all in a fun but challenging environment. Some of the students said they downloaded it on their home iPads as well. After our coding activities each third grader received a certificate for participating in the national Hour of Code. The experience was not only fun but a great exercise in problem solving and logical thinking. I will probably sign out the iPads on another date to allow them to continue the activity. Next on the agenda in 2014, learning to cut, copy, and paste as well as some very useful keyboard shortcuts! 11/7/2013 November 7, 2013In addition to working on keyboarding skills, we have also been developing a project that involves a variety of skills. This is our Wild Thing project and it will soon be published for everyone to see. We used the Build Your Wild Self website, also a tile on our webmix, to create unique wild characters that were a combination of several different real wild animals. Students then saved their completed image by using the snipping tool because the site doesn't actually allow the image to be saved, only printed. Before they came in for the next class I took each of their images and placed it on a PowerPoint slide and removed the wild thing image background so only the creature was visible. When the students came in they found their slide and set to work to explain each of their wild parts. They did this by typing the name of the animal into the Google search box on our webmix and then finding usually the first option. I explained how often the first few sites on a search page are advertisements and they should steer clear of those and go below. We looked for the Wikipedia entry for the animal because Wikipedia offers copyright free images that we can use. They learned to right click and copy the image and then right click and paste it onto the slide. (We will learn keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste in the coming months.) We talked about the difference between moving and re-sizing the image, and that we only use corner handles to re-size They also learned to insert a text box for the animal's name. The slide was saved as a jpeg image and will be uploaded to their blog page where they will write a little story about their "wild parts". Stay tuned for that. 10/10/2013 october 10, 2013Third graders now have a published blog post with a "dot" of their own creation representing their "mark on the world". I would invite parents (pretty please), to make a comment to your child's blog. Just a sentence would do to let them know that what they write is being read by others. It is their first venture communicating with the outside world and they will be sharing several of their projects and demonstrate their learning throughout the year. Please be conscious of privacy issues and use only a last initial, or simply "Dad" or "Grandma" as you encourage them in their writing. All comments are reviewed by me before they go live. Once students had their first experience with publishing we talked about how much easier it would have been if they had been able to type the words in more quickly. That led to a discussion of keyboarding and good techniques, as well as the need for practice. The last two weeks they have been working in the Type to Learn 4 program, and doing a great job with it I might add. The program begins with a pretest and then an A and a B lesson to familiarize the student with all areas of the keyboard, before beginning actual lessons with the home row keys. I would encourage all families to take a look at the information on Keyboarding that I have provided and consider downloading the program free of charge to your home computer. All instructions are on that page and it is the same web based account the student uses in school, so the progress is continuous from home to school. After about 20 - 25 minutes of practice, which I think is enough for them in one sitting, they switched to a site to review math skills. This site is Arcademic Skill Builders and can be found as a tile on the cougartech webmix. This site forces them into developing rapid recall of facts because there are fast paced games where they compete with anonymous students from all over in a race to the finish. They can also start their own game that others can join. This site will be especially useful as they begin working on learning multiplication facts. Finally, I would like to comment on grading. The first quarter ends on Friday, November 1, and I have just posted grades in PowerSchool. Unless there is a very unusual circumstance, all students in grade three will receive a G for their work in the computer lab. Why? My philosophy is that at this age level they are all giving it their best shot, trying hard, and really want to succeed. They are enthusiastic, ready to learn and to take on new challenges. And in my opinion that is a "good" thing. There are many new skills that will be tackled, from keyboarding, to cut/copy/paste, to saving to a network location, to blogging, to using headers and footers. Some will grasp it more quickly than others, and some will need a little extra help, but they all will succeed at their own rate. I do not want any student to come away with the idea that he or she is "not good at" technology. I will help them as best I can to see that technology tools can make our work easier, help us to learn more, and also to have fun. 9/12/2013 September 12, 2013Today I introduced students to the story of The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. I didn't have the book but we watched an animated version of the story. This book and its theme have developed into a celebration called International Dot Day. The theme of the story celebrates creativity, courage, and collaboration. After watching the story and also seeing how students in one school used iPads to create "digital dots," third graders made their own creative dots using KidPix. They exported their image to the desktop and next week they will upload it to their existing blog post. It is a symbol of their "mark on the world" and the creativity inside each of them. 9/5/2013 September 5, 2013This week I taped a small paper inside each student's assignment book. When they lift up the paper they will see 3 of their accounts with usernames and passwords. The Successnet is for the math textbook and Mrs. Olson will be adding that information shortly so you can access the math text online. I believe science may be included in that access but I am not positive for third grade. There are also 2 blank lines, one of which may be used for First in Math when students receive that log on information, so feel free to add the username and password on a blank line if you wish. The students have published their first post and almost everyone finished. Please feel free to write a comment to encourage them. Next week we will talk about the time it took to type the three sentences and how much easier it would be if we knew where all the keys were without having to hunt them down. This will lead us into our venture into formalized keyboarding, which you can read about on the keyboarding page, or hang on until the next post for more information. We will also learn about The Dot by Peter Reynolds and how we can "make our mark on the world" in observance of International Dot Day. 8/30/2013 August 30, 2013Third graders had their first technology class on August 29. There was a lot to learn about for our first class but we will continue to review in the coming weeks until class procedures are second nature. The students' home page for browsers has been set to our Cougartech Webmix and from there they need to click on the tab for grade 3. The third grade tiles are pictured above. The tiles on the webmix will take them easily to sites we will use often. In addition, there is a tile for each student leading directly to his or her blog page. We will used the blog to showcase learning across the curriculum. When your child begins to post content, please visit the blog and leave a comment now and then. We protect our students' privacy by not using last names, so when you sign your comment use "Mom", "Mr. J." or some other nickname that would not divulge the student's identity. All posts and comments are reviewed by the teacher before they go live. In addition to protecting identities, we will also be working on the importance of keeping passwords secure. This is the first time students will have their own password to enter a school account and it was overwhelming for them to have to remember a word and number combination. I don't expect them to remember it for the next class, and I will give them help as needed, but gradually it will become easy for them. This same word/number combination will be used when they log into the Type to Learn site and also for the SuccessNet site for using math and science texts online. You will hear more about that from Mrs. Olson. An important focus for third grade is developing keyboarding skills. Although we will do many more activities than keyboarding, we will spend time on it. The best way for them to develop the skill, however, would be for them to be able to continue practice at home. This is possible because parents can download the same program for free and students can continue their progression at home. Please review the details for downloading Type To Learn 4 on your home computer. Internet permission forms will be distributed at your Back to School meeting with Mrs. Olson. Please return those forms as soon as possible. It is a two-sided document. Feel free to subscribe to the page using the RSS feed at the top of the page. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via Schoolnotes or directly via [email protected]. |