Computers 09-10
Kindergarten
Our littlest learners have been
developing small motor coordination and
mouse skills by learning to paint and
draw with a program called "KidsWorks"  
We are beginning word processing by
writing full sentences about the caring
for the earth to add to our Project
Lorax wall.  The students already know
how to make capital letters using the
red shift key and will now add
punctuation and the proper use of the
space bar to their skill set.  In addition
to writing they will be illustrating their
stories.  In January my little Olympians
used the circle tool to create the
Olympic rings and completed their
drawings by typing Go USA.  Reader
Rabbit 1 has helped them identify
beginning, middle, and ending sounds as
well as matching simple three-letter
words to their picture.  We became
great friends with Kermit the Frog,
Fozzie Bear, and all the other Muppets,
as we explored the "Muppets ABC's" and
"Same & Different".   We begin each
year with alphabet/keyboard recognition
and small motor skills.  Using a program
called "Kids Time" the students first
identify letters of the alphabet then,
both type the letter on the keyboard
and click on the letter using the mouse.  
More small motor skills follow as the
children learn to drag pairs of objects
across the screen.
Colored stickers assist the students to
find the right keys.
Next up:  Shapes
8th Grade
As their time at Assumption draws to an
close the Class of 2010 is working hard to
create a few more projects.  Recently they
researched their birthdays using both
WorldBook online and Fact Monster to see,
aside from their birth, what other
important events happened on that day.  
Now, they are using Seussville to spearhead
our Project Lorax Wall with viable
suggestions as to how a young teen can do
something to make the earth a better
place.  During this year they reflected on
their "Top 10 Moments of the Past
Decade", imagined how Jesus would use
today's technology to spread his word, and
wrote letters to Dr. Martin Luther King
filling him in on the happenings of the
2000's.  For social studies class they
completed Publisher projects featuring one
of our US Presidents.  Special attention is
always given to editing their writing; an
editing checklist assures they hand in well
written work and helps prepare them for
high school.  
7th Grade
Internet Safety Classes began April 15th.  Today (5/6)
we will be discussing password safety and what not to
use as your password.  The first topic of discussion was
digital permanence, what goes on the web - stays on the
web. Next up was Social Networking, we even created
our own rules for staying safe while posting on-line.
For more information go to PowertoLearn and click on
Home Version  
An intense study of the winter Olympics, its sports,
history and the city of Vancouver provided the bulk of
the materials for 7th grade to create cool projects.
TimeLine Projects were the centerpiece of the Olympic
staircase.  Publisher booklets describing each sport, its
venue, the athletes, and schedule were on display as
well as databases featuring US male and female
athletes and spreadsheets displaying the US Medal Count
5th Grade
We've been so busy creating
Olympic word searches using
spreadsheets and then PowerPoint
Presentation for Holy Week.  We
are going to have a lot of fun
creating M&M's spreadsheets
complete with "sum" and Average"
formulas. Hummmm which color M&M
will have the most, can't wait to rip
open the bags to find out.  Since we
began PowerPoint in 4th grade and
we able to master its finer points
at the beginning of 5th grade and
have now progressed to Publisher   
and created some great looking
Martin Luther King projects.  
Next up:  Creating charts to easily
view information on a spreadsheet.
6th Grade
Will be combining their knowledge of the many different
programs and researching on the Internet to spearhead the
Pennies for Peace program.  Using PowerPoint and the Pennies
for Peace website the sixth graders created very powerful
posters that will be used in our penny campaign.  Next, they
created timelines depicting Greg Mortenson's life.  
PowerPoint presentations telling the story of the Pennies for
Peace program are almost complete and will soon be
presented to all the students in the school.
Next up:  Using full sheet sticker paper to decorate
classroom jars for the collection and working on our
PowerPoint presentations to show to the rest of the school
4th Grade
After reading and discussing The Lorax the
students used PowerPoint (shapes, wordArt,
text, and pics) to create signs displaying both
"needs" and "wants"
Other PowerPoint projects included 2010
Winter Olympic signs and Happy Easter
posters.  During the year these 4th grade
have gotten excellent at using our on-line
encyclopedia to research, some topics included
Veteran's Day, Advent, and the Epiphany.   
Next up:  PowerPoint Animation
2nd Grade
ClockWorks and MoneyWorks reinforced math learned in the
classroom, levels are adjustable to tailored the program to the
individual needs of each child.   After mastering Math Blaster and
Spellbound, we began to write stories using KidsWorks.  My
favorite story of the year was created in January for the
Epiphany, as these little children wrote stories about what they
would bring to Jesus if they visited him with the Three Kings. We
also used the drawing part of the program to draw pretzels for
Lent We focused on math next using Base 10 blocks to help
counting w/ regrouping and creating complicated mosaics.
Next up:  Earth Day Stories
FYI: Math Blaster begins with addition and subtraction but has
higher levels for multiplication, division, fractions, decimal and
more.  
Spellbound not only has built in word lists but teachers can also
import their own spelling words into the program.  
3rd Grade
Third grade means Student Writing Center, changing fonts, colorful
graphics, plus copying and pasting.  The Pretzel Prayer was typed and
then beautifully displayed on the wall during Lent.  A pretzel was also
created to illustrate the history of a pretzel, hands folded in prayer.
 ClockWorks and MoneyWorks reinforced math learned in the
classroom, levels are adjustable to tailored the program to the
individual needs of each child. Advent stories filled up the month of
December with personal accounts of how the children would be opening
their hearts to Jesus.  We followed up the stories by practicing
sentence parts using Reader Rabbit 3.  A little small motor
coordination came next as the students were asked to use the mouse
and drawing program to create block letters for signs rooting on the
USA in the Winter Olympic Games.
Next up:  The Lorax and how even a third grader can help the earth,
stay tuned for how!
1st Grade
Writing sentences, then paragraphs, is a big part of
first grade computers.  Using colored keys such as
the blue enter key, yellow space bar.... the
students quickly learn how to use the keyboard to
create stories.  They now can illustrate the stories
using the drawing part of the KidsWorks.  We are
now working on Earth Day, Arbor Day and The
Lorax. Some other illustrations included pretzels for
Lent, Leprechauns for St Patrick's Day peace doves
in honor of Dr Martin Luther King and the Olympic
mascots, Miga, Sumi, and Quatchi.  Working closely
w/ Mrs Kingsley we used Reader Rabbit 2 to
practiced our short vowels.  ClockWorks and
MoneyWorks reinforced math learned in the
classroom, levels are adjustable to tailored the
program to the individual needs of each child.
Next up:  Writing a whole paragraph
School-wide Highlights
2010 Winter Olympics
Letters to the soldiers
Pennies for Peace
Pen Pals with Father Cassian
Classroom Frogs
The Lorax
Thank you for entrusting your children to us!