APRIL

First Grade

The students were introduced to the Stickybear Typing Program several weeks ago. They have been learning about the keyboard, correct hand position, and how the typing program works. 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, and number of errors. The students will be concentrating on the home row keys until the end of the trimester.  I encourage the students to practice these keyboarding skills at home using any type of program or any of the free programs that are available on-line. I have placed a link on my blog to the typing club which is a free on-line program.  http://www.kidztype.com/

Second Grade

The students are working very hard on their Second Grade Memories Journal in the Kid Works Program. They know the components of the writing portion of the program and know to how to access the Edit Menu and use the Copy and Paste buttons. They know where the Home, End and Arrow Keys are on the keyboard. The journal will consist 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. Along with the all the manipulation of the tools in the program, they are also working to improve their typing skills. The journals will be printed in booklet form and they will take them home at the end of the school year.

Third Grade

The students continue to learn more about the tools in Microsoft Word. The know where to find the Spelling and Grammar tool which is now under the Review tab on the ribbon and how to use it when editing a document. They know how to retrieve some documents from one drive and save them in another drive. Students know how to change font, font size, font color, bold and center. They have been working with inserting clipart and manipulating it into their document by making choices of sending it behind or in front of text using the wrap text tool. The new tools introduced are the rotate button with clipart, the correction tab which allows images to be sharpened, softened, brightness and different contrasts of color applied to images.  Once the image has been adjusted, they will be able to apply different picture styles to their image, change border colors and thickness.  They will be working independently on assigned in-class projects for several more weeks.  Once I feel the students are comfortable with Word, formatting, and inserting pictures, I will introduce them to Power Point.  Power Point is a multimedia presentation using visual and graphical applications for creating presentations. In Power Point you can create, view, and present slide shows that combine text, shapes, pictures, graphs, animation, charts, videos, and much more. Once they are familiar with Word, tabs, and ribbons - then Power Point will be easier to understand. The class will be introduced to some of the tools in Power Point, they will fill out a questionnaire about their interests and from there they will create a Power Point entitled “All about Me.”

Fourth Grade

The students are still working on developing their keyboarding skills with continued practice in Ultra Key Typing. Ultra Key builds good typing skills, speed and accuracy through structured lessons. The students will learn about record keeping and will be recording their typing scores. I also have a free typing program listed on my blog that students can use at home for extra practice.  The students will be working in Microsoft Word reviewing the ribbons, inserting images and spell checking documents.  They will take those documents and download them into Google Docs and apply some of the same processing skills using the Google Docs toolbar.  They were introduced to Google Draw and practiced inserting shapes and images, changing colors and backgrounds, changing order of the image, editing the image and saving it to a Google Doc.  They learned how to do a Google search, change color of images, review copyright, and learned how to narrow a search.

Fifth Grade

There are many tools to learn in Microsoft Word. Students were introduced to tables.  The students have learned how to insert a header, create and customize a table, work with the ruler within the custom table, select different cells, insert clipart, bullets, symbols, and type with different fonts, sizes and change direction of the font. Students will also be able to view under the Tables Tool the Quick Table templates of Microsoft Word. By learning how to use the various tools in word processing, 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. Fifth grade ends the year with a state project which is done in the classroom and technology lab. Fifth grade will be assigned their state before Easter.  They will be introduced to the many tools used to create a custom brochure, format three columns, insert pictures into text boxes, and work with many different bullets and symbols.  They will work independently on their three column state brochure. When completed and printed they will present it in mid-May to the entire school.   

Catholic GEM (Going the Extra Mile)

April’s Christian quality: Wisdom

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

~Proverbs 3:5-6

This month's Christian quality is WISDOM, which means having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; applying the quality of being wise. We grow in wisdom by studying, listening, remembering past experiences and applying our good judgment in our future experiences. We also grow in wisdom by studying the Holy Scriptures.

Please talk with your children about what it means to acquire wisdom.

You can show WISDOM by

·      Attending Holy Mass

·      Listening to the homily and the scripture readings during mass

·      Studying the scriptures, and applying what we learn to making decisions

·      Using the simple test of “What would Jesus do?” choosing our actions

·      Remembering experiences that were once difficult, and applying what we learn for the future

·      Listening MORE than speaking – God gave us TWO ears and only ONE mouth!

·      Asking questions and seeking council from wise people we know and respect

 Common Sense Media Bulletin Board outside the Computer Lab

Please take a minute and read what is going on in Cyberspace. There are so many things changing on a daily basis. Please talk to your children about Facebook. There are 500 million registered users. There are approximately 7.5 million kids under 13 on Facebook. Facebook isn't supposed to be used by children under 13. This also applies to students under 13 who are not of age to make u-Tube videos.
 

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.

Happy Spring!