Thursday, May 12, 2011

Fourteenth Week

This week and next week in the computer lab...

Fifth, fourth, and third grade are learning to login to NetTrekker through Fulton County's student portal. They are conducting a basic search and learning to navigate the site.

Second grade is going on a geo solid shape hunt! Take a look at the second grade blog to see our geo solid slideshows. The students used digital cameras to capture images of real geo solids. We then reviewed the pictures as a class and each group explained why each object represented each solid figure. If we disagreed, then we decided against using that picture in our class slideshow.

First grade is learning how to power on a computer and login as a student. We are also using the first grade blog to apply what we've learned in first grade this year.

Kindergarten is practicing their money skills using games from J's Math page. The link for this site is on the kindergarten blog in the math section.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Thirteenth Week

Whew! I can't believe this is only the thirteenth time I've seen each class. They have grown SO much already! See for yourself - just take a look back at the archived posts from previous months.

Fifth grade students are responding to articles on TweenTribune.com. Take a look at some of the articles and read our text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections in the comments section. Our usernames start with our first name and end with our homeroom teacher's last name.

Fourth grade is continuing to work on a data webquest. The link is posted on their grade level blog. We are finding the median, mode, and range of a series of data about shark attacks in different states over a period of 11 years. We are using Excel this week to express the data in the form of a graph.

Third through fifth grade students are continuing to improve their typing skills using Type2Learn for the first 15 minutes of every class in the lab. We're keeping track of our wcpm progress using the sense-lang.org typing test. You'll find the link on the right side of this blog under LESSON LINKS.

Third grade students have a new site added to their grade level blog - AAAMath.com! We are using this site to help build fluency with our multiplication and division facts. The site provides practice for basic facts, times the students, calculates the percent accurate, and can produce printable record sheets to track progress.

Second grade students are creating an instructional video to teach the world about understandings from their recent fraction unit in Math. We are creating paper sliding videos that the students record and narrate using the flip camera.

First grade students are continuing to build their understanding of adding two 2-digit numbers wihtout regrouping. Last week, we created a word problem, illustrated, and narrated it using Pixie. This week, we are completing an activity in Pixie to apply our skills and using the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives to further explore adding tens and ones with manipulatives.

Kindergarten is also using Pixie this week! Currently, the students are learning about money (coin names, identifying characteristics, values)with their teachers, so we applied our newly learned skills with a Pixie activity. The students sorted coins by name and typed in the value for each. Our work was printed, so we could use this resource in the classroom and at home.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Twelfth Week

Fifth grade students are responding to articles on TweenTribune.com. Take a look at some of the articles and read our text-to-self connections in the comments section. Our usernames start with our first name and end with our homeroom teacher's last name.

Fourth grade is working on a data webquest. The link is posted on their grade level blog. We are finding the median, mode, and range of a series of data about shark attacks in different states over a period of 11 years. We will then use Excel to present the data in the form of a graph.

Third grade is continuing to work on their word problem solving skills using http://www.thinkingblocks.com/TryIt.html . During week 11, we practiced modeling our solutions to addition and subtraction word problems. This week, we are going to model our solutions to multiplication and division word problems.

Second grade has just finished up their persuasive performance assessments and will publish them with a Voki! We will create a character, background, and record ourselves reading our final draft. The Vokis will be posted on the second grade blog, so check back to see their hard work!

First grade is also working on solving word problems. We will be using Pixie to write a word problem, illustrate it, and record ourselves reading the word problem and explaining the solution. It may sound like a lot, but Pixie makes it easy!

Kindergarten will be using the FREE Sight Word Buddy program to practice identifying sight words. If you would like to download this FREE program at home, go to http://quiz-tree.com/sight-words-buddy.html .We will also visit a new link (http://www.sightwordswithsamson.com/sw/sight_words.asp ) on the kindergarten blog to get in some extra sight word practice.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades- part 3


By: Marilyn

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone - part 3


By: Juan

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades part 2


By: Marilyn

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades part 3


By: Gregorio

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone - part 2


By: jesus and juan

Fifth Grade Project - Grand Canyon part 2


By: Jaquwan

Fifth Grade Blog - Everglades part 3


By: Ricardo

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades part 2


By:Osvaldo

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone - part 1


By: Rubi and Aylani

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades Part 1


By: Maritza

Fifth Grade Project-Everglades-part2


By: Ricardo

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades Part 1


By: Osvaldo

Fifth Grade Project - Everglades part 1


By: Ricardo

Fifth Grade Project - Yosemite National Park


By: Jose

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Fifth Grade Project - Grand Canyon


By: Giovanni

Fifth Grade Project - Yosemite National Park


By: Jose Luis

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone National Park


By: Sam and Jordan

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone -part 3


By: Aylani and Rubi

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone National Park


By: Jordan

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone National Park


By: Jesus

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone National Park


By: Sam

Fifth Grade Project - Yellowstone - part 2


By: Aylani

Fifth Grade Project - Grand Canyon National Park


By: Jaquwan

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tenth Week

Third, fourth, and fifth grade students are continuing to build their keyboarding skills with Type2Learn. Students are encouraged to practice their keyboarding skills outside of their computer lab time with BBC Dance Mat Typing. There's a link on the right side of screen under "lesson links."

Fifth grade is working on a persuasive performance assessment. Each class is researching a national park, then using that information to persuade others to visit that park. They've each chosen to use one of the following tools to present their persuasive piece: Publisher, PowerPoint, Voki, or Word. Some students are writing scripts for commercials they will create using green screen technology. We'll be posting all of the projects on the fifth grade blog, so check them out in a couple of weeks.

Fourth grade is exploring Publisher and the different templates available within the program. We're creating personalized greeting cards for friends and family this week.

Third grade is continuing to explore and learn about Excel. This week we discussed how to select a graph to best display the data. Once we selected a graph, we explored all of the cool features to customize our graphs!

Second grade is previewing simple machines for their unpcoming Forces of Motion unit in Science. First, we discussed pushes and pulls and explained how clip art images illustrated a push, pull, or both. After that, they were introduced to four types of simple machinces and we discussed how they make work easier for us. Finally, they chose a partner and began to edit a PowerPoint template by adding text and clip art images to the slides. After previewing in presentation mode, we saved our PowerPoints. The second grade teachers will then allow the students who completed their presentations to present them to the class or another class during this unit.

First grade has mastered how to locate and interact with the first grade blog from the school's website. This week we are practicing our basic addition and subtraction facts with AAAMath.com! We know that in second grade we are expected to answer 100 basic addition and subtraction facts in 5 minutes or less. This website is a fun way to practice those basic facts! We're also learning about contractions with BrainPOPjr.com and Sadlier-Oxford.com.

Kindergarten has mastered how to locate and interact with the kindergarten blog from the school's website. This week we are practicing our combinations using illuminations.nctm.org.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Type2Learn Program

Our Type2Learn program is really helping to improve our keyboarding skills! We saw gains of 6-8 wpm on our typing tests!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Ninth Week

Happy Valentine's Day (a little early)! Fourth and fifth grade will be using Publisher to create valentines for friends and family.Using Text Layout, we will create a special valentine for our teachers.

Third grade will be inputing data about conversation hearts and creating a graph using Excel. We will also be using Text Layout to create a special valentine for our teachers.

Second grade, first grade, and kindergarten will visit Storyline Online via their grade level blog to hear the story Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch. In the story, Mr. Hatch shows his love and appreciation for his neighbors who in the end return the favor. We will enjoy some brownies (Mr. Hatch had brownie and lemonade parties for his neighbors) as we brainstorm all the reasons why we love and appreciate our teachers. Using Text Layout (http://www.festisite.com/text-layout/) we will create a special valentine for them.