FA2 vocab week 4 software

THIS WEEK:

*Formatting Activity 2
*Formatting Activity 3
*Learn new keys:  the numbers (across top of keyboard)
*Speed Test
*Technique grade
*Vocab quiz #4 (list is SOFTWARE)

One note from last week (this will be important as we go forward and continue to work on Formatting Activities) - once you submit a formatting activity and I grade it if you do it correctly you will NOT get an email in return; however, if there is some part of the activity that you do not complete correctly I will be sending you an email with details on what you didnt do correctly.  In most cases you do not need to respond to these emails - I just send them to you so you know why you got the grade you got.  There may be an occasional case where you need to resend me something, and if thats the case Ill mention that in the email.

This is another week of vocabulary, and this weeks vocabulary list is on software.  If you have vocab definitions to complete they should be posted by Tuesday night.

We are going to start today with working on Formatting Activity 2.  When we do these activities they will be embedded on the blog (you can see it below); on most days I will be discussing with you what you need to do to complete the formatting activity correctly, but if I see people working on the assignment while I am talking and explaining how to complete the formatting activity I will be taking 10% off of your grade.  Do not start working on these activities until I tell you to start.


Activity 2.pdf

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Continue Internet Safety project vocab definitions due by tomorrow week 4

We will continue working on the Internet Safety project today.  You should be gathering information and forming what you gather into a cohesive movie.  If you have questions about Go Animate! I will do my best to answer your questions.

This is a vocabulary week - definitions are due on the Wikispaces page by tomorrow night.  This weeks theme is Software.

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Fourteenth Week

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

Fifth, fourth, and third grade are learning to login to NetTrekker through Fulton Countys 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 weve learned in first grade this year.

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

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Week 3 vocab learn P and V

This is another week with vocabulary, so those people who are responsible for posting definitions on the Wiki spaces website should have that done by Tuesday night.  Again, it is completely realistic to post definitions for all of your words for the rest of the semester, and if you want to get all of yours done tonight that would be perfectly ok.  You dont have to wait until the week your definitions are due to post the definitions - you can post them early.

We will have another week of technique grades this week as well - continue to concentrate on the little things as this will have a lasting impact on how well you key and how fast you improve.  I have been very pleased with Congos work on technique - an overwhelming majority of you do a fantastic job of listening and doing what is asked (in terms of technique) and it is paying off!

Today we are going to learn the P (R4) and the V (L1).  After these two letters we are left with only the Z and the Q (in terms of letters) to learn.

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Vocabulary introduction beginning week 2

This week:

Vocabulary
Create Wikispace accounts
Create a Classmarker account
Review of all keys learned
Learn N, G, Left Shift key, period (.)
Technique grade 

TODAY:
We are going to begin by talking about the vocab words and vocab lists for the class.  If you go to the vocabulary page on the blog youll see a variety of information - well be covering this today.  Additionally, youll need to have access to the wikispaces page so that you can submit vocabulary definitions (thats already been done by me - you will need to verify by checking your gmail, and well do that in a little bit).

The vocabulary for this class is really split into 2 parts - on one hand you will be responsible for knowing all of the vocabulary words for any given week, and you will demonstrate your knowledge by completing a vocab quiz.  On the other hand you will be required to find definitions for the vocab words and post them to the wiki for everyone to study off of.  This "research process" will be graded, just as the vocab quizzes will be graded (our first vocabulary quiz will be this Friday, and it will be taken online on a website called Classmarker).

When you post a definition to the Wiki, your definition should be easy to understand.  Sometimes, after finding a definition, you will see that the definition that you have found doesnt help you to understand what that vocab word means (or is).  Therefore, find definitions that are easy to understand, and if you cant find one that makes sense please see me so I can help you write an easy-to-understand definition.

Additionally, if you have a vocab word that is an acronym (GPS, WWW, or FAQ) then please include what the letters stand for (for example, WWW stands for World Wide Web, and when you enter your vocab definition on the wiki make sure to include that).
This will seem a little foreign to begin with, but we will be talking about this every day between now and the end of next week, which is when your first quiz will be.
You could set up a calendar reminder in Google so that you receive an email - this way you will be reminded several days in advance of when you need to have a definition posted on the wiki.  And, since you already know the words that you will be asked to define, you could find a definition for each of your words and save those definitions in a Google Doc - then when it is your week all you have to do is copy from your Google Doc to the Wiki.

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Computer Science Education Week Day 1

Happy Computer Science Education Week!

Here are a couple of videos to celebrate:

• Grace Hopper Explains a nanosecond
• CSEd Week Videos - Todays Theme: Computer Science and Entertainment

Here in the lab we are doing recruitment activities all week. Tomorrow we are inviting freshmen in to visit. The plan is to show off some student work, then have some of the Finch Robots out for folks to try using the Snap interface.

Today the Intro to Programming kids will be starting a Careers in Computer Science project and working on some animations.

We also have ice cream.

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Finish FA5 Alice tutorial Witch vocab week 8

Today you need to finish FA5 and hand it in - it is due before the end of the hour.  The instructions are still on last Fridays blog post if you need them.

Once you get done with FA5 you need to complete the Alice tutorial at the following website.  You should have already worked in Alice, but its been quite a while.  Therefore, go to the following website and complete the tutorial - this will help you in re-learning how Alice works.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/alice09/tutorialsAlice3/gettingStartedTutorials/witchCauldron/witchTutorial.pdf

As a reminder, there is a vocab list week, and it is list #8 - Technical.  We have a couple videos to watch on this subject this week - below is the first one.

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ITBS Week

Because of ITBS testing, I will only be seeing  a few classes in the lab this week. If you are in the following classes, LUCKY YOU!
Mr. Pratt
Ms. Story
Ms. Rancourt
Ms. Robinson
Ms. Thompson
Ms. Hamilton
Ms. Mullinax
Ms. Leclair
Ms. Johnson
Ms. Reisman

How do we use the Internet? Well be finding out in this weeks classes! Well also be using http://www.ixl.com/math/practice/ to practice what weve been learning in Math in unit 1.

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How does Computer Science fit with No Screens Week

You know how we all have that one Facebook friend, the one that is all granolier than thou about everything? I recently got into one of those discussions about kids and screens.

No screen week is April 29 - May 5 this year.

We are not a big TV family. I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Germany where we had one channel that showed American soap operas, but totally out of order. So TV was never a big thing for me. I just dont like the passive consumption of that much media, especially for small kids.

We currently do not have cable, and the kids watch in short spurts using Netflix. So we usually celebrate no-screens week at our house by turning of Netflix for a week and spending a few more minutes outside with the chickens.

Some things have changes in the last year. My girls are now 10 and 12. They have Kindle Fires and my oldest saved up this fall to buy her own Chromebook this fall. Technically these are all screens...so what to do?

After much discussion we have decided to draw a line between consuming and creating with technology. No Goodluck Charlie or Webkins, but CodeAcademy is OK. For us the kids are outside running around plenty, so more fresh air really isnt the point.

But is does make me think about the role of computer science in our relationships with screens. For too many kids in our country their entire relationship with screens is a passive one. Really, that is the magic of computer science. Like any art, it takes you from being a consumer of a product and puts you on stage as a creator.

And really, that is the point. With computer science, the screen becomes a tool for expression. There is a huge power in that.

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Eighth Week

3rd-5th -Its time to assess our keyboarding skills! After completing a lesson on Type2Learn, we will be visiting sense-lang.org to see how many words correct per minute we can type and compare our results to our first test from September. Im excited to see your progress!

1st -2nd - Weve worked hard learning how to access and navigate Discovery Education, Renzulli Learning, and the grade level blogs. This week we will review these great resources and learn how to save these sites to your favorites at home.

Kindergarten - We are really getting the hang of how to use the mouse and can name several parts of a computer (keyboard, mouse, monitor). We will continue to use the kindergarten blog and explore the list of reading sites. 

All students will be given a cheat sheet of websites. It will be attached to the inside of the front cover of the communication log. Also, their student numbers will be written on the cover. They will use their student numbers for their username and password on Discovery Education and Renzulli Learning.

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Second Week

Grades K-1:

How can I create with KidPix? We will try our best to use and control our mouse. Also, we will use KidPix to: choose/set background, choose/select stamps, type text, save and print.

Grades 2-5:

How can I use Word to open and format a document? We will be using Microsoft Word to format a document. We will practice the following: 

opening a file

selecting text

changing the font size and color

bolding, italicizing and underlining text

center-align text

inserting clip art

spelling check

saving

printing

How do you keyboard? We wil be visiting BBC Dance Mat Typing to practice our skills.

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First Week

How do the parts of a computer help us? Find out in this weeks lessons. What is keyboarding? How do you keyboard? Well begin to explore the proper way to keyboard.

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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. Theres 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. Theyve 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. Well 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. Were 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 schools 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! Were 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 schools website. This week we are practicing our combinations using illuminations.nctm.org.

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1st full week learning new keys

THIS WEEK:

Learn the following keys on the keyboard - H, E, I, R, O, T
Google - Add a signature and add a contact
Technique grade sheet

TODAY:
We will spend the beginning of the hour reviewing the home row.  After reviewing we will then add 2 new keys - the H and the E. 

What we are using is called a QWERTY keyboard (you should be able to find where QWERTY is on the keyboard); there is another keyboard called the DVORAK keyboard, but it is very uncommon (designed in the early 1900s; see image below).  The QWERTY keyboard has been in existence since 1870, but didnt become really popular until about 15 years later.  Ever since that time, however, it has been the standard for keyboard layouts.

The purpose of the QWERTY keyboards layout is to avoid having keys stick together as they were being typed - the idea was to have a layout in which you alternated using your hands often while typing - this helped to eliminate having the typewriter arms get stuck.  The DVORAK keyboards purpose was to have the most commonly used keys on the home row - thus your fingers moved less while typing, but the problem was that the keys got stuck more often.
 

Just a few things to keep in mind as you are keying:

1. When keying your forearms should not be resting on your thighs.  Remember that your fingers are the only "things" touching anything - everything else on your lower arm should not be touching the keyboard, countertop, or anything else.
2. If you keep your keyboard at the edge of the countertop you will avoid having issues with #1 above.  This will also be a benefit when it comes to the technique sheet and grading.
3. The speed skins will move slightly as you are typing - I understand your frustration in this regard, but do the best that you can.
4. In order to be able to key at a proficient level you need to fight through the urge to constantly look at your keyboard (thats part of why we have the speed skins).  This will probably be a "weird sensation" - you are used to using your visual senses to help you accomplish what you do on a daily basis.  However, we want to get to a point where looking at your keyboard is not necessary.

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Internet Safety last week Vocab week 5 missing assignments

This will be the last week that you will be allowed to work on the Internet Safety project.  It will be due at the end of the hour on Thursday.

Additionally we have another list of vocab words this week - list #5 (it is the first of 3 Internet lists).  As usual the vocab definitions need to be completed by Tuesday night and we will have our quiz on Friday.

Lastly, I have printed out new missing assignments lists - if you havent checked Skyward recently you may want to look at the new sheets posted on the wall.

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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 teachers 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.

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Fifth Week

Third through fifth grade will be working on two programs, Type to Learn and Calculating Crew! We are all enjoying the typing program and are almost ready to take a typing test again to check our progress! Also, well be practicing our math skills using Calculating Crew which is a math program available on all of the computers in the main lab.

Second grade will be applying their graphing skills from their latest math unit using Graph Club 2.0. Well be matching graphs, creating our own, and printing some to take home with us!

First grade will be using Carnival Countdown and Zoo Zillions to apply their math skills and learn how to open and close a program.

Kindergarten will be reviewing KidPix (background, stamper, text) and creating a Thanksgiving decoration to take home with them.

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Thirteenth Week

Whew! I cant believe this is only the thirteenth time Ive 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 teachers 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. Were keeping track of our wcpm progress using the sense-lang.org typing test. Youll 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.

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Finish FA1 Vocab week 3

THIS WEEK:

*Learn new keys:  Z, colon (:), Caps lock key, Question mark (?), Tab key, 
*Speed Test practice
*Technique grade
*Vocab quiz #3 (list is WINDOWS)
*Formatting Activity 2


Today we will complete FA1 and submit that to me, via email, for a grade.  Before you send anything with your email we need to cover a few things regarding submitting assignments to me using your email.

1. When you submit an assignment through your email you must include the 5 parts to a proper email (email address, subject line, greeting, body, and signature).  Weve already covered this information so this should be a simple reminder.  However, if you do not have a signature in your email account you were probably gone the day we did that and you will need to create a signature (either ask a person sitting next to you or see me outside of class).
2. When you submit an assignment to me you will need to attach a Microsoft Word file - DO NOT ATTACH A GOOGLE DOC!  Usually what happens when you attach a Google Doc is you have to give me permission to see it, and some people will forget to do that.  More importantly, some of the formatting used in Word gets lost when the document is transferred over to a Google Doc, and then when I go to grade it your document will not "look" correct.  ALWAYS ATTACH A MICROSOFT WORD FILE!!
3. Save your formatting activities in at least two places.  My suggestion is to save them to your Google drive and to a flash drive.  DO NOT SAVE TO THE DESKTOP!!
4. I will show you how to upload a file to your Google Drive - if you have a bad memory take notes.  This is important and it is something you need to know how to do, not just for this class but for your future in this school district as there are many teacher who will expect you to have the skill of saving a file to your drive.  You also need to know how to download a file from your drive to your computer, so well go over that as well.

After completing this and emailing your FA1 to me we will review by going to the websites.  What I would like for you to do first is go to the Free Typing Games website and try 3 speed tests - were not going to record these, but lets just practice.  After doing those then you can go to any of the practice websites on the Website resources page on the blog and practice.  Make sure to keep your speed skin on the keyboard!

As a reminder this is vocab week #3, so if you are responsible for defining words for this week those need to be posted by tomorrow night (Tuesday, Sept. 16).  If you missed last weeks quiz on Friday you will need to come in outside of class time and complete it.

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Vocab week 8 FA10

This is a vocab week, so if you have definitions for week #8 those need to be posted on the wiki spaces page by Tuesday night.  Here is a video on what a Firewall is:

We are getting down to the nitty gritty here at the end of the semester.  We will start working on FA10 today, and once we get done with FA10 we will move on to formatting activities using Microsoft Excel, and will have FA11 due towards the end of the week.  Once we return from Thanksgiving break we will continue our work in Excel for a period of time before we end the semester with a large Word formatting activity in which you will be creating a pizza menu - it will be challenging but fun!

Below are the instructions for FA10:


Activity 10.pdf

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