Hello All,
It's been a busy and productive month in all grades. I want to first say thanks to all the parents/guardians in grades 3-5 who are making sure that their child is keeping up with those weekly typing logs. It's very important that they reach those typing benchmarks by the end of the school year. To find out about those benchmarks, please feel free to come by.
Kindergartners wrapped up their Animal program which involved a series of lessons and activities about various animals and their habitat. They even created their own habitat and loved placing humming birds in the arctic! Creative minds...what can I say! Kindergartners are handling the mouse clicking with much more confidence and ease then they were at the beginning of the year. Due to this, I will have them getting acquainted with our web-based typing program TTL4. They will have their own username and password to log on. The instructions to obtain the program at home is on your child's teacher's classroom website.
First Graders are wrapping up their unit of programming with MicroWorld's Jr. The final addition to their program was having their own voices recorded onto their creation. Along with their colorful turtles doing acrobatic movements, the students enjoyed adding their voice to it. We had a long discussion on what was appropriate to say and what not and in the end, we had lots of hip hop singers in the First Grade!
Second Graders are about to wrap up their introductory unit of programming with Alice. Students created animation with multiple objects and learned about logic through conditions and sequencing. Students will present their programs to their peers on the smartboard. Second Graders really enjoyed Alice. I encourage you to download this free program and have your child continue to explore the many facets of this wonderful language!
Third Graders are about to wrap up their unit of Scratch. They have completed their Scratch projects where they had to create a program that involved one sprite from the library, one sprite that was edited, one sprite that was created, background, either imported or created, and sound (their own voices). Along with those basic requirements, they could add any other animation they desired. Students will begin to present their work on the smartboard. Scratch is a free download and I encourage you to take advantage of it and have your child continue to explore and create!
Fourth Graders had fun with a math simulation called Hot Dog Stand. This program reinforced their mathematical reasoning skills and many were so successful that they completed the most advanced levels and made tons of money with just a hot dog stand. Can you imagine that! Students received an initial budget of 500.00 and with that they had to search for best suppliers, set prices, keep inventory and hope for customers. They had a ball with this simulation. Stay tuned for their next unit of Web Designing!
Fifth Graders have started their own photo story using Photo Story 3. They first got acquainted with our new Kodak digital cameras (really neat) and how to handle them. Then their assignment was to walk around campus and take photos of their memorable moments so that they can come back and create a digital story. Photo Story 3 allows you to import pictures, edit them, add sound and special effects to create a great digital story. This will be a great keepsake! Stay tuned for those. Also Fifth Graders will be using VoiceThread to record Spanish assignments giving by Mrs. Brodahl. VoiceThread is a great tool where a whole group can have discussions on one page. Students will begin recording in the lab this week so make sure to ask your child about it. Also they will be able to log on to VoiceThread at home so that you will also be able to hear their beautiful Spanish skills!
Please contact me if you have any questions. Take care.
Rasha Sachdeva
