Technology Time's Up!

As the end of the year races towards us, students are busying working to get their projects finished so we have had to resort to special measures! It turns out that we can squeeze two classes in the Tech Lab - here you can see the 4th Graders working on their Lego Animations and 3rd Graders continuing with their English Spanish Dictionaries, while Keyon auditions for the role of Tech Teacher. Meanwhile in 2nd Grade the students have pretty much finished their Butterfly Lifecycle PowerPoints - we just need the caterpillars to get a move on so that we can include photos of the Butterfly Release Party - and 5th Graders are busy building their Kodu games!

My favorite time of year is here...

...and no I don't mean Teacher Appreciation, although that is AWESOME!, I mean 4th Grade Lego Animation time! This is such a fun project and the students look forward to it enormously. We started with a brainstorming session this week and we will be making our sets next week. Some students would like to bring their own Legos (or similar sized posable characters) in from home. This is fine with me, but I have explained that I do not want them to bring in big expensive models, and I do not expect you to go Lego shopping. I have a Lego supply at school that students who do not have their own Legos can use! The photo is nothing to do with the project - it is one of the lovely bouquets I was given for Teacher Appreciation week!

2nd Grade Technology

In their homeroom classes the 2nd Grade students are reading a book called 'Pickle - The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by local author Kim Baker. In tech the students visited the author's web page and were excited to investigate the secret part of the site. I would share the link with you but the code of conduct prohibits anyone over 20 entering! I apologize in advance if there is any pranking this weekend!

5th Grade 3D Drawing Videos

In their Tech lessons, the 5th Grade students used Sketchup, a 3D drawing program to create a model of their dream house. They then used Screen-o-Matic to create a walk through demo video of the house they made. I have uploaded some of their creations to our drop box so that you can have a look at them at home. You will need to copy and paste the link below in to your browser.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1983wy6godjx7n2/lkQzEzsASu

Typing Kudos!

Congratulations to Anna who this afternoon became the first Second Grader to complete Type to Learn 4 at CHA! Several students are following close behind so I am hoping to post news of their success before school is out. Well done Anna!

The Big Bus

Kindergarten and First Grade students have been enjoying the new Internet-based games called "The Big Bus."  Thanks to a CHAPTER grant, we were able to enjoy some new, age-appropriate activities in the Tech Lab.  Students have been enjoying the literacy and math games.  There are spelling, reading, and listening challenges as well as sorting, counting and math challenges. 

 

Penguin Power Point Presentations

For the past few weeks, the first grade students have been working diligently on their PowerPoint presentations on penguins.  Using the information from their reports completed in class, the first graders learned how to add text, pictures, and transitions to a four-slide presentation.  Next week, I should have the presentations loaded into a drop box so that you all can see their hard work!

Another Fun Week in Technology

This week the Second Grade students who had Technology with me had fun creating whacky experiments using the Crazy Machines. The students had to either make something move or blow up and most managed both. I believe there are versions available in the Apple and Android app stores.

Third Grade students have been working on their 'Rocks and Minerals' PowerPoints. The purpose of this project is to showcase what they have learned in their science lessons with Mrs. Box. Last week they made a bare bones skeleton comprising the seven slides they will need, this week they added their fact sentences, and when we get back from break we will be adding images, transitions and animations.

Fourth Graders have been working on their Solar System Spreadsheets. Students are using the Kids Astronomy website to gather all sorts of data about the planets in our solar system. Last week they created a data table and this week they learned how to create charts. When we get back from break they will output their worksheets to a printer or PowerPoint so that we can share them with you.


 
 

Finally, Fifth Graders have been working on the Dream Houses they are designing using the 3D drawing program Sketchup. When we get back from break they will be downloading accessories form the 3D warehouse to complete their designs, and the final step will be to use Screen-O-Matic to create animated presentations so that they can share their designs with you.

CHA Joins the Hour of Code

More than 14 million people took part in this week's Hour of Code, including all our CHA students and a number of their parents by the sound of it! Organized by the Partovi brothers and sponsored by a wide range of tech companies as well as the President, the purpose was to show students that coding can be fun and rewarding. If you want to have a got at home you can find everything you need here http://mrsmorlidge.com/Technology.htm

Rainbow Fish in Kindergarten

Kindergarten students in Library and Technology have been focusing around the character Rainbow Fish.  We have been reading various books starring this unique fish and playing a problem-solving game in Technology called "Rainbow Fish and the Whale."  Rainbow Fish and his friends have be swallowed by a hiccupping whale!  It is Rainbow Fish's job to free his friends.  Students must use their mouse to help Rainbow Fish with this task.  It's challenging for some of the students, but they do enjoy it when they accomplish a task!

Meet Mikio - Master Agent!

I am delighted to announce that CHA 5th Grader Mikio today completed Type to Learn 4 - Agents of Information. As students progress through the program they are promoted to different grades, with Master Agent being the ultimate accomplishment. Mikio has put  a lot of effort into his keyboarding to achieve this goal. Congratulations Mikio!

A bit of a mixed week in Technology!

As we all know, Technology is wonderful when it is working, but a little frustrating when it isn't! This weeks' plans had a to be a little flexible while we worked around a defunct network switch. Second graders are continuing to work on the KidPix Landform Slideshows that will reinforce what they have been learning in Social Studies. Third graders have been working on their 'All About Me' timelines. Using Microsoft Word and incorporating text boxes, shapes and word art students are creating a pictogram that will depict the main events in their lives so far. Fourth graders finished off their Islandwood movies and if you are a parent of a fourth grader you will be notified how you can share these videos at home. Fifth graders continued to work on their HTML pages. Usually html coding is something we only spend a little time on before I show the students how to use Expression Web to generate the code, but this class is really enjoying writing the code themselves so we are spending a bit longer on this topic! Here is a screenshot of the website Ethan and Mikio are working on!

Technology

One of the fun aspects about Halloween at CHA is that you never know who will stop by the Tech lab for a lesson! This week Second Grade students chose which landform they will b creating for our slideshow and used Google Earth to view their place on the planet. The Third Graders worked on their PowerPoint slides for the Veteran's Day Assembly. Fourth Grade students learned how to add captions and music to the Islandwood videos they are making using Windows Movie Maker, and finally Fifth Grade learned how to install some educational apps on the new Surface RT's.

First Graders Try Some Physics Concepts

Using the program, Crayon Physics, first graders have been practicing their mouse skills, problem solving, and helping one another.  One of the benefits of this game is that no one student will solve the puzzles the same way.  We all draw our lines, boxes, and anchors differently using a mouse.  The purpose of the game is to have the ball drop onto a star.  Sometimes you have to make the ball fall the right way, other times you have to think of a solution to make it seemingly travel uphill.  The students have a lot of fun thinking of different solutions!

5th Grade Surfaces in Technology!

Using the Mouse in KidPix 3D

One of the first skills Kindergarteners and First Graders develop in Technology is using the mouse.  Even though we have new touch screens in the Technology Lab, using the mouse helps students develop fine motor skills and understand spatial relationships.  This skill is used in the drawing program, KidPix3D.  The Kindergarteners were asked to create four shapes: a square, a triangle, a circle, and a rectangle, each a different color.  First graders were asked to use the "bucket" tool in which they have to click on a color, then click on a certain part of an outline picture.  They will continue learning how to manipulate the mouse and learn other skills in this program in the upcoming weeks.

Third Grade Tech September 2013

In Tech this week the Third Graders have been finding out what is inside the computers. Armed with screw drivers, and a reminder to 'lefty loosey, righty tighty', they set about removing and replacing the internal components of some old P.C's. We had a lot of fun, and found some enormous dust bunnies!

What Wonderful Wallpaper!

In Technology 2nd and 3rd Grade students have been designing their own desktop wallpapers. They quickly discovered that it is a lot more fun using a drawing program when you can use your finger rather than a mouse!

Welcome to our beautiful new Tech Lab!

We will be experiencing Technology in a whole new way this year. Over the summer we were able to upgrade the Tech Lab with brand new Dell OptiPlex 3011 All-in-One Computers thanks to the wonderful support and generosity of our amazing parent community. I can't wait to start the new year, it's going to be a good one!

More Keyboarding Kudos

Congratulations to our latest Type to Learn 3 Graduates! Aubrey becomes the first 2nd Grade Girl in CHA history to complete the program, and Rishi becomes to the first CHA student to finish the course in a funny wig! Well done both of you!