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Computer Lab News 0910 – 8th Grade

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Wow, what a year it’s been! 8th Grade has been really busy in the Computer Lab this year. Here’s a recap of what they’ve done:

September: 8th Grade started the year listening to President Obama’s Back to School speech and setting goals for the new school year and contributing to a VoiceThread about those goals.  They then created self-portraits and a resume, reviewed how to format papers for English and Science Labs and did a short Keyboarding assessment to gauge where they were in their keyboarding skills to start the year.

October: October kicked off with a review of basic Internet Safety and the month ended with creation of Leaf people in KidPix and writing of Bio Poems for their Leaf people.

November: During November, 8th grade created their very own Home Pages on the Computer Lab wiki and set some safety rules for themselves on those pages. As November came to an end, 8th Grade created turkeys in KidPix to celebrate Thanksgiving.

December: Since December means Christmas, one project completed during December was a rewrite of the Twelve Days of Christmas with a partner using Scribblar to collaborate on the project. This project kicked off with a really fun rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas used as inspiration:

January: 2010 started out with a few catch up days for those students who hadn’t completed their Wiki Home Pages or other projects. 8th Grade then began creating short videos to educate younger students about Internet Safety. They used PowerPoint to put together slides which they exported as images and then created the video using Animoto.

February – April: There was more work on the Animoto videos and then alternate versions were created using Flixtime and PowerPoint uploaded to the web at authorSTREAM and finally Windows MovieMaker uploaded to SchoolTube. At the end of the project, all completed versions were posted to the wiki and the students compared the tools that they had used. More than 50% of the class said they could see themselves using both Animoto and Flixtime for their own projects at home. Here’s what they had to say about the different tools they used:

Easiest To UseFastest To Use0910AFP-FlexibleBest Music ChoicesEnjoyed The Most

Also during this time, 8th Grade participated in World Math Day, helped 7th Grade out with a survey project they were doing and voted for their favorites of the videos they had created.

May: May was Keyboarding time. 8th grade spent five classes working on their keyboarding skills. As 8th grade moves on to high school and then college, they’ll be called on to do more and more typing so we like to spend some time on refreshing keyboarding skills.

Now, it’s nearly the end of the year and 8th grade is working on their final project which will be previewed at the Graduation Breakfast!

If you would like to see some of 8th Grade’s completed work, you can find it in our Safari Scrapbook on the Computer Lab Wiki.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 8th Grade

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The first 8th Grade Social Studies podcast was completed. Unfortunately, one group’s recordings got corrupted somehow so this group is not included in the podcast. As I listened to the completed podcast, I discovered a few errors in the information included in the podcast that were not caught before the recording. Can you find them? I will be reviewing these with the class after Easter break. You can subscribe to all St. Martin’s Podcasts from iTunes at http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=309479240.

As teenagers and soon to be high schoolers, 8th Graders tend to have more access to social networking and other sharing sites on the Internet. 8th Grade spent some time creating interactive PowerPoint presentations about thinking before you post online. When these were done, they uploaded them to St. Martin’s Computer Lab SlideBoom account and then embedded them on our wiki where you can see their presentations. 8th Grade will be viewing all of these and voting for their favorites after Easter break.

8th Grade also participated in World Math Day in the Computer Lab on March 3rd. World Math Day is an International event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 8th Grade answered 2,983 questions correctly during World Math Day and each 8th Grader received a participation certificate from this event. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

Did you know that 3/14 is Pi Day? It is and in celebration, 8th Grade completed an extra credit Pi Day Trivia Hunt.

8th Grade has also begun a new Social Studies related project. They were each assigned a President and read that President’s Inaugural Address. They then posted their analysis of the address. After the Easter break, they will use Wordle to create a pictorial representation of the Inaugural Address and then re-analyze the speech. Both analyses (see the discussions tab) and the pictorial representations will be available on the 8th Grade Social Studies wiki.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 7th Grade

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7th Grade just completed a 12-class Keyboarding Boot Camp. The goal of these classes was to improve keyboarding technique which will in turn improve keyboarding speed. The average increase in speed during the 12 class session was 17.52%. Some 7th Graders have learned extremely bad keyboarding habits and it is a struggle to correct these. Grading for these classes was based on correct technique and not on speed so it was a challenge for those in the class who have bad habits ingrained. I would encourage you to encourage your child to practice keyboarding at home even though these series of lessons are complete. As with anything, the more you practice, the better you get. Your child will only have to type more as they continue with their education and the better they are at touch-typing, the easier this will be. Here are some keyboarding lesson sites they could use at home if you do not have specific keyboarding software on your computer:

  • TypingWeb.com – Lessons, Graphs to track progress, typing games. This site requires registration and can be ad free for a $5 one-time donation. You can customize the look of your background and some other features.
  • GoodTyping.com – 27 lessons. This site requires registration.
  • FreeTypingGame.net – This site has lessons, games & speed tests. We often use this site in class to test speed.
  • PowerTyping – Simple typing lessons where you can type to music to encourage rhythmic typing. Records your WPM on each lesson and assigns a grade.
  • Sense-Lang – A simple site with lessons starting with the home row. This site also allows you to paste text from anywhere and practice typing using that text. This is a nice feature since it practices real typing rather than just random words or letter combinations.
  • NimbleFingers – This site has online typing tests and a typing program you can download called Word Wacker. This is a free to try program.
  • E-Learning For Kids – May be a little young for most middle schoolers but it is a fun animated course.
  • Dance Mat Typing – Fun Characters and songs to introduce Touch Typing for children 7-11 years old from the BBC. This might be a little young for most middle schoolers but it has fun characters. No speed feedback until all lessons are completed.

As part of these lessons, 7th Grade played various keyboarding games at the end of each class. They enjoyed some of these and may like to play these at home to practice their keyboarding skills:

7th Grade also participated in World Math Day in the Computer Lab on March 3rd. World Math Day is an International event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 7th Grade answered 3,841 questions correctly during World Math Day and each 7th Grader received a participation certificate from this event. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

Last but not least, the 7th Grade Altered Snowflakes and Poetry presentations are now shared on the Travel Scrapbook on our wiki. Check these out when you get a chance.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 6th Grade

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6th Grade completed their Christmas Around The World presentations and has shared them online. Just as movies are awarded Academy Awards, 6th Grade voted and awarded the best of their Christmas Around The World Presentations.

The A Room With a View Project continues with pictures and reflections added for February and March. In addition, 6th Grade spent some time looking at some of the other school’s A Room With a View pages and completing a questionnaire about what they reviewed. Here are the A Room With a View pages they visited:

6th Grade participated in World Math Day in the Computer Lab on March 4th. World Math Day is an International event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 6th Grade answered 3,501 questions correctly during World Math Day and each 6th Grader received a participation certificate from this event. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

6th Grade is currently finishing up a 12-class Keyboarding Boot Camp. The goal of these classes is to improve keyboarding technique which will in turn improve keyboarding speed. Grading for these classes is based on correct technique and not on speed. I would encourage you to encourage your child to practice keyboarding at home even after these series of lessons are complete. As with anything, the more you practice, the better you get. Here are some keyboarding lesson sites they could use at home if you do not have specific keyboarding software on your computer:

  • TypingWeb.com – Lessons, Graphs to track progress, typing games. This site requires registration and can be ad free for a $5 one-time donation. You can customize the look of your background and some other features.
  • GoodTyping.com – 27 lessons. This site requires registration.
  • FreeTypingGame.net – This site has lessons, games & speed tests. We often use this site in class to test speed.
  • PowerTyping – Simple typing lessons where you can type to music to encourage rhythmic typing. Records your WPM on each lesson and assigns a grade.
  • Sense-Lang – A simple site with lessons starting with the home row. This site also allows you to paste text from anywhere and practice typing using that text. This is a nice feature since it practices real typing rather than just random words or letter combinations.
  • NimbleFingers – This site has online typing tests and a typing program you can download called Word Wacker. This is a free to try program.
  • E-Learning For Kids – May be a little young for most middle schoolers but it is a fun animated course.
  • Dance Mat Typing – Fun Characters and songs to introduce Touch Typing for children 7-11 years old from the BBC. This might be a little young for most middle schoolers but it has fun characters. No speed feedback until all lessons are completed.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 5th Grade

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5th Grade continued to work on the Time Zone Experiences project. Most of the time assignments have been completed and you can see what each 5th Grader has done on our Time Zone Experiences page and most of the students have added their information to the Time Zone Experiences wiki too. This project has been a bit of a struggle because the students are learning new concepts and many new skills. I think they’re doing a great job so far. Currently they have started working on their assigned month for the Month by Month portion of the Time Zone Experience project. When these are completed they will also be shared online.

5th Grade also participated in World Math Day in the Computer Lab on March 4th. World Math Day is an International event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 5th Grade answered 3,376 questions correctly during World Math Day. Each 5th Grader received a participation certificate from this event. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

There were a few days where most of the class was absent for band or choir or sports and on those days 5th Graders played various academic or Easter related games.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 3rd Grade

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3rd Grade continued to work on the Monster Project. They completed drawing and describing their monsters and these were posted on the Monster Project wiki. Our partner class from Lincoln Elementary Minot Public Schools in Minot, ND took St. Martin’s 3rd graders’ descriptions and tried to recreate our monsters which they then posted on our page on the wiki. 3rd Grade took their descriptions and tried to recreate their monsters and our redrawn monsters were added to their page on the Monster Project wiki. Check out the results and see who came the closest to the original monsters:

When we return from Easter break, 3rd Grade is going to continue with this project by reflecting on the results of the project. The reflections will be posted online when they are complete.

3rd Grade also practiced for and were encouraged to participate from home in World Math Day. This is an annual event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. Three of the students actually did and in fact the student with the most correct math answers during World Math Day was a 3rd Grader. The three students contributed 1441 correct math answers to the world record. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

For St. Patrick’s Day, 3rd Grade wrote and illustrated a short story about what would happen if they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. These were written and illustrated using WordPad and will be printed and sent home after Easter break.

As students completed work during February and March, they spent time using the educational software program, Jumpstart 3rd Grade.

Make sure you check out the Penguin Glyphs 3rd Grade created for the Winter Wonderland project. These are now available online.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 2nd Grade

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February once again brought Winter Wonderland activities for 2nd Grade. They created and recorded a Virtual Valentine and completed a Things I Love activity. The Things I Love activity gave 2nd Grade the opportunity to reinforce searching for and adding clipart to PowerPoint presentations and they also learned how to narrate a slide. All of the completed Winter Wonderland activities are shared on their Winter Wonderland page. If you haven’t seen these, you really should take a minute to check them out.

One of the activities that all classes were encouraged to do in March was World Math Day. This is an annual event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 2nd Grade was not in the computer lab either day we could have competed at school but they practiced in the lab and were encouraged to try to participate at home. Two of the students actually did and added 383 correct math answers to the world record. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

2nd Grade worked on their keyboarding skills by completing Level 1 of Dance Mat Typing. They also wrote and illustrated a short story about what would happen or what they would do if they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For this story, they used Wordpad and drew the illustration using the built in drawing tools in Wordpad. These have been printed and sent home. I hope you had an opportunity to see them. 2nd Grade also spent time using the educational program, Jumpstart 2nd Grade.

Computer Lab News: Weeks 21-29 – 1st Grade

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1st Grade began their work in the lab in February by finishing their Penguin Math Books. These and the completed Penguin Glyphs will be shared on their page on the Winter Wonderland Wiki very soon. For Valentine’s Day, 2nd Grade did some graphing of Valentine’s hearts in Excel. We visited the Necco web site to learn how Conversation Hearts are made. Each student then got a box of Conversation Hearts which they grouped by color and counted. Then each student entered their numbers in the Excel spreadsheet found on the Activities page to create their graph. All of the results were combined on to a single spreadsheet and you can see the results on the 1st Grade Winter Wonderland Wiki page.

Much of the rest of February and March concentrated on keyboarding with the continued Adventures in Keyboarding focusing on letters “H” through “P”. In addition to this, 1st Grade also played the following keyboarding games which they can play online at home too:

March also brought World Math Day which is an International event with students from around the world competing against one another in mental math games to try to set a world record for the most correct math answers in a 2 day period – 2 days because the event ran during the time that it was March 4, 2009 anywhere in the world. 1st Grade participated in this event on March 5th and helped add 953 correct math answers to the world record. Here are just a few statistics from World Math Day:

  • 204 Countries represented
  • 12,647 Cities/Towns participating
  • 38,058 Schools participating
  • 1,952,879 Students participating
  • 452,682,682 Questions correctly answered

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, 1st Grade did a project about rainbows. They first watched an online book about how rainbows are formed and then each 1st Grader created Rainbow Alphabets in Microsoft Excel. This helped them to learn about rows, columns and cells and a little bit about formatting in Excel. The Rainbow Alphabets have been printed and sent home.

To celebrate Easter, 1st Grade first brainstormed ideas about Easter and we used an online tool called Wordle to create a picture of their ideas:

Wordle: 1st Grade Easter

After creating the Wordle, each 1st grader then drew an Easter picture in KidPix. These will be shared online soon.

In addition to everything else, 1st Grade also worked in Jumpstart 1st Grade this month.