Saturday, March 9, 2013

Computer Class Update: Week 20

Let me introduce myself, I am Mrs. Noralyn Pridgeon and I will be substituting for Mrs. Winstanley while she is on maternity leave.  This past week, I job shadowed with Mrs. Winstanley with the first and third graders.  A couple of weeks ago, I job shadowed with Mrs. Winstanley with the second, fourth, and fifth graders.  I am looking forward to working with your children and teaching them technology.

Now, for your update: here is what we have been up to and what we are working on next week....

First Grade
Project #7: Using a Word Processing Program
The first graders pretended that they were newspaper reporters and created an article in Microsoft Word.  Some of the items we learned about in Microsoft Word were:  Font size, big and small, Caps Lock, Pressing the Enter Key once or twice to create blank lines between sections, the Space Bar, and. the Eraser Key, also known as the backspace key or back arrow keys.  Next week, we will be adding onto our newspaper articles. 

Online Practice: www.scootpad.com
When students finish their assignments, I continue to have them work on scootpad.com to practice their reading and math skills. This is a great website you are welcome to work on at home as well.

Second Grade
Project #8: Google Earth 
The second graders learned about Google Docs this week.  Google Earth lets you take a virtual journey to locations in the work, explore 3D buildings, imagery, and terrain.  You can also find places and local businesses.  Next week we will be creating a document in Google Docs and beginning our project with Google Earth.  Please send back your child's copy of the signed Google contract next week.  Thanks!
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Third Grade
Project #5: Computer Components
The 3rd grade students started learning about the various components of a computer including input, output and storage devices by reading three different articles.   Input devices include:  Keyboard, mouse scanner, digital cameras, joysticks and video game remotes, touchscreen, and microphones.  Output devices include:  monitor, printer, speakers, DVD or CD-Rom, and headsets.  Storage devices include:  floppy disks, DVDs or CD-Roms, Flash and Thumb drives, and hard drives.  Below are the three websites:

Input devices:  http://www.ehow.com/list_7274509_10-computer-input-devices.html

Output devices:  http://www.ehow.com/about_5300348_examples-output-devices-computer.html#page=0

Storage devices:  http://www.ehow.com/about_5377264_computer-storage-devices.html

Fourth Grade
Project #4: Class News and Project #5 State Symbols Site
The fourth grade students were not seen by Mrs. Winstanley this week, since they were given an opportunity to go and see the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) perform.  Next week we will finish final editing and print out our class newspaper.  Students will began to create a website about state symbols for the 50 states.    

Fifth Grade
Project #4: Our Digital Footprint Project #5 Super Digital Citizen
The fifth graders were not seen by Mrs. Winstanley this week, since they were given an opportunity to go and see the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) perform.  Next week, we will finish final editing of their Digital Footprint project.  Students will begin to create a digital superhero with exemplary attributes and are able to solve digital dilemmas in a responsible way.

Typing: Second - Fifth Grade
We have also been working on our typing skills. I am stressing to the students the importance of using the correct fingers while typing. This has been a bit of a challenge for some of the students. Please check out the Typing Practice tab for online resources your child can use to practice their typing at home as well.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Have a great weekend!