Hello All,
Welcome back from Mid-Winter break! I hope you all had a restful time with family and friends. Here's what's been happening in our Mouse Pad:
Kindergartners have completed all three of the Sunburst certificate programs, Senses, Plants, and Animals. Here students completed nine levels of questions pertaining to the senses, animals and plants. Once completed, they were awarded a certificate. If your child did not complete all three, no worries, as we will revisit this as the school year continues. These programs are great not only for the subject knowledge but for enhancing the hand/eye coordination with the mouse. In the next few weeks Kindergartners will be introduced to our school wide web based typing program.
First Graders completed their unit on map making skills with Neighborhood Map Machine. They loved creating maps and solving mysteries using the program's compass and clues! Students are now learning about Kidspiration. This is a great visual learning tool that helps students organize and categorize information, brainstorm ideas, make connections, and share their thoughts. Currently they are using this software to create a web all about themselves. They are incorporating pictures, text, sound and links. They love the recording piece. Please ask your child about it.
Second Graders completed their programming unit with Alice. They culminated the activity by sharing their animated programs with their peers. It was great seeing such enthusiasm and creativity as they were sharing. Students then moved on to Inspiration. This is the advanced version of Kidspiration that they learned last year. It's also a great tool for developing ideas and organizing thoughts. Thus far, students are also working on an all about me web. They have taken their digital photo and have incorporated it into their web. Right now they are exploring with the software's animated symbols, importing graphics, and using multicolor symbols (they love adding color to their work)!
Third Graders are currently in a programming unit and are learning all about Scratch. They are so excited about this because this is what Vista 5th Graders are using at a more complex level. Scratch is a great programming tool developed by MIT and it teaches the students the fundamental ideas of coding by using a drag and drop method. It allows students to create animated sprites and assimilate video components such as voice, sound and background. Students have been getting familiar with the tools as well as playing some of the software's pre-installed games. For students who want to continue this at home, you can download it free. Please scroll down to the Scratch link to the right of this blog.
Fourth Graders completed their photo editing unit using picnik. They created a beautiful pencil sketch of themselves and they are currently displayed in the Mouse Pad. Students then were introduced to a math simulation software that helped them run a business. Here they were able to use their business sense as well as their math skills to advance to top level. Please ask your child about this particular program!
As usual please email me if you have any questions. Take care.
Rasha Sachdeva
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Mouse Pad Update!
Hello Everyone,
Welcome back from Winter 2012. I hope you all enjoyed the surprise week off from the snow! I had a great time sledding with my sons and drinking plenty of hot chocolate. Hope you created some wonderful winter memories with your family.
All grades have been very busy since the start of the New Year. Here's a recap:
Kindergartners have been introduced to the Sunburst Senses program. This takes off from the lessons about the senses from their homeroom classrooms. The program has nine lessons all about the five senses and once completed, they get a customized certificate. They've started with the sequence game, the matching game and creating your own portrait which includes inputting pictures from the five senses. They are now about to begin the nine lessons to obtain their certificates. This program really helps them develop their hand/eye mouse coordination and reinforces the five senses.
First Graders have been introduced to the Neighborhood Map Machine program in which they put their knowledge of map making skills to the test. The program uses x and y coordinates and the compass. Students first created their own maps and then they solved mysteries embedded within the program. They loved searching for treasure and aliens! Students were grouped together to solve mysteries and they showed great teamwork skills. I was amazed to see how polite and encouraging they were to their teammates.
Second Graders are continuing with the Alice program. We have lots of great programmers in 2nd Grade. They have learned to have more than one object move at the same time. They have incorporated music, speech bubbles and their own voice recordings. They are all writing more than 10 lines of code! Their project is to create an animated video which includes speech bubbles, voice recordings and music and then they will share their finished product with the class using the smart board. I can't wait for that!
Third Graders were introduced to Google Earth, a navigation software that lets you go to anywhere on earth as well as the Sky, Mars and the Moon. Students started off with finding OWS, then from there they went home and then they went to India to visit the Taj Mahal. They had loads of fun especially seeing their homes. Students then went to the sky to identify constellations and then they visited Mars and the Moon and placed their mark on it! Ask them how they did that..... Next, they will be introduced to Scratch programming. Stay tuned for that.
Fourth Graders were introduced to a photo editing website called picnik. This is a great site for introducing basic photo editing. Students uploaded their picture and made edits that would certainly surprise you! Students added lighting effects, text, stickers, and some were happy that they could remove those unwanted blemishes! Have your child show you the website. It's great fun to use and it's free!
Grades 1 - 4 have been practicing TTL4 as well for 10 minutes each week. I do encourage you all to download TTL4 so that your child can continue practicing at home. Instructions can be found on your child's teacher's website. Kindergartners will be introduced to TTL4 later on this school year.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Take care!
Rasha Sachdeva
Welcome back from Winter 2012. I hope you all enjoyed the surprise week off from the snow! I had a great time sledding with my sons and drinking plenty of hot chocolate. Hope you created some wonderful winter memories with your family.
All grades have been very busy since the start of the New Year. Here's a recap:
Kindergartners have been introduced to the Sunburst Senses program. This takes off from the lessons about the senses from their homeroom classrooms. The program has nine lessons all about the five senses and once completed, they get a customized certificate. They've started with the sequence game, the matching game and creating your own portrait which includes inputting pictures from the five senses. They are now about to begin the nine lessons to obtain their certificates. This program really helps them develop their hand/eye mouse coordination and reinforces the five senses.
First Graders have been introduced to the Neighborhood Map Machine program in which they put their knowledge of map making skills to the test. The program uses x and y coordinates and the compass. Students first created their own maps and then they solved mysteries embedded within the program. They loved searching for treasure and aliens! Students were grouped together to solve mysteries and they showed great teamwork skills. I was amazed to see how polite and encouraging they were to their teammates.
Second Graders are continuing with the Alice program. We have lots of great programmers in 2nd Grade. They have learned to have more than one object move at the same time. They have incorporated music, speech bubbles and their own voice recordings. They are all writing more than 10 lines of code! Their project is to create an animated video which includes speech bubbles, voice recordings and music and then they will share their finished product with the class using the smart board. I can't wait for that!
Third Graders were introduced to Google Earth, a navigation software that lets you go to anywhere on earth as well as the Sky, Mars and the Moon. Students started off with finding OWS, then from there they went home and then they went to India to visit the Taj Mahal. They had loads of fun especially seeing their homes. Students then went to the sky to identify constellations and then they visited Mars and the Moon and placed their mark on it! Ask them how they did that..... Next, they will be introduced to Scratch programming. Stay tuned for that.
Fourth Graders were introduced to a photo editing website called picnik. This is a great site for introducing basic photo editing. Students uploaded their picture and made edits that would certainly surprise you! Students added lighting effects, text, stickers, and some were happy that they could remove those unwanted blemishes! Have your child show you the website. It's great fun to use and it's free!
Grades 1 - 4 have been practicing TTL4 as well for 10 minutes each week. I do encourage you all to download TTL4 so that your child can continue practicing at home. Instructions can be found on your child's teacher's website. Kindergartners will be introduced to TTL4 later on this school year.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Take care!
Rasha Sachdeva
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Happy Holidays from the Mouse Pad!
Hello Everyone,
I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy Holiday season. May you use this time to relax and connect with loved ones! See you all next year!
Rasha Sachdeva
I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy Holiday season. May you use this time to relax and connect with loved ones! See you all next year!
Rasha Sachdeva
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