First Grade

Stickybear typing is coming to an end for the year.  They have been introduced to the home row keys and have been practicing their typing skills for the past eight weeks. I showed them how to get to my blog on the SSJ website with parent assistance.  I have a free typing program that they can use over the summer to keep up with their skills. Any typing program will be a great tool to have and use over the summer.
The students will be introduced to the KidWorks Deluxe Program.  This program is used in Second Grade Computer class.  It is a great program for building creative writing and reading skills. The students will be writing a journal of their Second Grade Memories. Each month will consist of three good sentences about what took place at school during that particular month. They will be creating their own sentences. The program has kid-friendly design tools, which students will be able to illustrate their stories with free-hand drawings and more. Students can hear their stories read aloud by the computer. The Journal will be printed when complete.
They will also be taking their last STAR Reading and Math Test for the year.
http://www.kidztype.com/

 Second Grade

The students have been working for several months on their Second Grade Memories Journal in the Kid Works Program. They will go through their journals and check for any mistakes and when completed they will be printed. The journal consists of three typed sentences and a drawing to go along with the sentences. The sentences are created by the students. They have to type about three events that happened each month at school and a drawing to go along with the sentences using both drawing and sticker book tools.
Stickybear Typing - The students will conclude the school year with the Stickybear Typing program and their scores will be recorded. The Stickybear Typing program allows users to sharpen typing skills and achieve keyboard mastery. Stickybear Keypress, a program within Stickybear Typing, allows typing practice from the simplest drills in home key position to complex exercises that require the full keyboard.
A good typing program provides immediate feedback for incorrect keypresses and allows a student to progress automatically through levels as each is mastered. Each of the program's 30 levels introduces the student to the keys covered in the lesson, and then offers practice using them. The lower half of the screen displays the keyboard; as keys are highlighted one at a time, the student must press the corresponding key on the computer's keyboard. A correct keypress prints the letter at the top of the screen. Incorrect keypresses make a low "bloop" sound, and the letter doesn't appear. At the end of each two screens of typing practice, the student gets a progress report which shows the starting level; current level, number of words typed per minute, number of errors, and corrected words per minute.
They will also be taking their last STAR Reading and Math Test for the year.
I have added a free typing program that is online and would be of great benefit to use over the summer to stay fresh with their typing skills.
http://www.kidztype.com/

Third Grade

The students will continue to work in Microsoft Word. They will be working with the tools on the font tab. They will know how to use the underline and italics. They will be introduced to the text highlight color, and change case, grow and shrink font and the sort button on the paragraph tab.  The last tool introduced will be WordArt. The students will learn how to insert WordArt, a decorative text that can be added to a word document.  WordArt is found on the Insert tab under the Text Group.  The students will be able to change font, font size, color, text direction, stretch the title, skew the text, apply a gradient, a 3-D effect and insert a picture. The students learned how to take a picture and add many special effects, frame styles, remove backgrounds, and crop. They will spend the last several weeks of class practicing their typing skills in the Sticky Bear Typing Program. It would be advantageous if students could practice their typing skills over the summer. There are many free programs available online. They will be using the Ultra Key Typing Program in fourth grade and it is available for purchase in the computer lab. This program is used through seventh grade.
They will also be taking their last STAR Reading and Math Test for the year.
 

Fifth Grade

The students are researching their state and with the information they will create a state brochure. They have learned how to set up columns, column breaks, page breaks, and text boxes. The students have worked with ruler tabs, bullets and symbols. All these tools will be incorporated into their brochure. They will end the year with the introduction to Excel. They will learn why the program is helpful in so many ways from organizing information, calculating math problems to creating charts and graphs. They will be introduced to a spreadsheet and new vocabulary.  The students will learn how to enter data into a spreadsheet, format data, and use basic functions to calculate basic math problems, identify cell references correctly and write basic math formulas. By learning how to use the various tools in Excel, these skills will enable the students to be able to use the computer more efficiently in doing their assignments and various projects throughout their classroom curriculum.

SUMMER TYPING

The students have just completed many of the UltraKey lessons in this typing program and will continue working with this program to improve their typing skills until the end of the school year. They are encouraged to spend some time at home practicing their typing skills so in preparation of their daily use next year with the Chromebooks. I have placed a link on my blog to the typing club which is a free on-line program.
This program is for first through third grade.   http://www.kidztype.com/

Common Sense Media
A great website - commonsensemedia.org
“Their mission is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.” Please take a minute to look at their site.

Why Do We Need A Technology Lab?
1. A technology teacher provides a structured curriculum with complete and specific instructions in computer skills that are taught in a lab environment. This enables the students to become more confident in their technology skills and it improves technology use in the classroom. It validates the importance of the subject being taught.

2. In a lab, students have the opportunity for hands on experience to learn about new applications and review past lessons. This is a great advantage to students so they can become more confident in their technology skills.

3. Technology labs free classroom teachers so they can focus on their goals and not loose valuable instruction time teaching computer skills.

4. Structure, consistency, and repetition build skills each year whether it is a new application, documents, presentations, or understanding and increasing their time and accuracy in mastering keyboarding.

5. The importance of the technology lab offers student support, skills, and the knowledge they need to use these skills beyond the classroom.