ComputerLab

Parents:

I wanted to  take this opportunity to say "Thanks" for allowing me to teach your children.  I have always loved working with children and hope they have enjoyed computer lab this year.  I believe they have worked hard, learned a lot, and are ready to forge ahead in technology.  I am attaching a slide show the first graders worked on for the teachers and staff at Austell Primary.  It was shown at our Teacher Appreciation Luncheon and was the source of entertainment there. I hope you enjoy it as well. 

I have sent the children's login number home for them to practice over the summer for next year.  This number will be used throughout their elementary, middle and highschool years.  Might as well learn it now. 

Debi Stockwell

Computer Lab

Download Teacher appreciation slide show

Well, we have 6 more weeks to work hard reaching our goals in the Computer Lab.  The First graders are working hard and learning new things every week.  They are currently helping to  make advertisments for Spring Fling.  They are using Microsoft Power Point to type in information and inserting images to complete their advertisment.  They are asking a lot of questions and going beyond their goal.  If they have access to a computer at home, let them show  you what they know!

Check out some of our work:Download Austell primary school    

Download Come to our spring fling atCALEB

 

Our Kindergarteners are working on their graphing skills.  They are learning to organize thier information, create a graph and then tell me what information they learned from the graph.  They continue to work hard each week.

Welcome to 2009

School is back in session and the Computer Lab is busy with new skills to learn.  The children have done an amazing job this year in the lab and I am very proud of them.  We work hard and have fun doing it.

First graders will be working on graphing applications in the next 9 weeks.  We have already begun to explore The Graph Club and I see some teachers have already signed up to come in the lab when there is free time available. 

Kindergartners are learning about the special keys on the keyboard and we are working on their typing skills.  By the end of the 9 weeks they should be able to type something up and insert a picture to go with it.  They are eager learners.

They have already taken their STAR test and can begin to take their AR tests.

I will also be including a Tip of the Week each week until the end of the school year.  These tips are just simple little things like the maximize and minimize tools.

Here are a couple of websites you can visit with your child:

 

http://www.funbrain.com/

 

We only have three more weeks to work on our current goals.  The students are really working hard and have came  a long way since we started Kid Pix in Kindergarten and Kidspiration 3 in First grade. 

First graders have been working on a story web and sentences about what it takes to be a great president in response to our Book of the Month My Teacher for President. 

Kindergartners have been drawing pictures to tell a story or responding to a story using illustrations.  We drew pictures of our favorite costumes, an illustration of their favorite part of The Hallo-Weiner and things we were thankful for. 

Coming up this week, we are working on story webs about the Book of the Month in First Grade, Fancy Nancy.  We will be focusing on the elements of a nnarrative using this book.

Kindergartners will illustrate the story Snowmen at Night using Kid Pix.

Here are a few websites you may like to visit with your child during the winter season.

http://resources.kaboose.com/games/online_winter_games.html

 

 

http://www.fvsd.ab.ca/stm/winter_sites.htm#poems

 

 

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/

 

 

http://www.kidsites.com/sites-fun/activities.htm

 

 

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/winter/#

 

 

 

 

We only have three more weeks to work on our current goals.  The students are really working hard and have came  a long way since we started Kid Pix in Kindergarten and Kidspiration 3 in First grade. 

First graders have been working on a story web and sentences about what it takes to be a great president in response to our Book of the Month My Teacher for President. 

Kindergartners have worked on making pictures to tell a story or responding to a story using illustrations.  We drew pictures of our favorite costumes, an illustration of their favorite part of The Hallo-Weiner and things we were thankful for. 

Kidspiration 3 and KidPix

Wow!  Our 1st graders are really getting the hang of Kidspiration 3!  They have made a web about themselves, added pictures and have written sentences using their facts.  We are focusing on correct sentence formation while we are at it.  (Starting with a capital letter, spaces, ending our sentence with correct punctuation.)  Next week we are going to make another storyweb about The First Thanksgiving using prior knowledge and information from a slideshow on the Scholastic website.  We will then add pictures to personalize it and write our stories.  Your children are eager learners and I enjoy working with them. 

As for our Kindergarteners, they are learning how to use the KidPix software and are doing a fabulous job! I read the book All By Myself by Aliki to reinforce the word "independent".  Then the children drew a picture of something they can do all by themselves.  We have some very independent children.  We also read the book Hallo-Weiner by Dav Pilkey and they illustrated their favorite part of this funny book.  The students are getting lots of practice using the different tools in KidPix.  We will continue to make illustrations and picture stories focusing on the stories they write in the classroom, stories I may read to them and The First Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to see what they have in store for me!

The first nine weeks of school are coming to a conclusion.  The children have settled into the computer lab routine and have really came a long way.  The first graders can now log on to the mac.  They are able to open KidPix and draw different types of pictures using the drawing tools, stamps, stickers and animation.  They have even exceeded expectations by using the ABC tool to lable or write about their picture.

Our Kindergarteners are experts on using Starfall.  They know to look for hotspots on the site and use the arrows to navigate the site.

We will begin to work on the next 9 weeks standards starting Oct. 13th.  1st graders will be working in Kidspiration 3 using brainstorming/webbing applications to plan and/or organize information.

Kindergarten will learn how to use KidPix to draw illustrations and /or picture stories.  They will learn to print these and exit the program. 

Exciting times are ahead!

Sept. 8th-12th

       This week in the Computer Lab, the First Graders are drawing pictures of their favorite landforms.  They are taking what they have learned in the classroom and incorporating that into the skills they have learned in the Computer Lab.  Judging from their drawings, they are learning a lot in the classroom.

Kindergarteners are learning to look for clues to navigate the different programs.  They are working together and doing a lot of peer tutoring.  And all the time they are learning so much!

Sept. 2nd-5th

First, I would like to say what a pleasure it is getting to spend time with your child.  Each time your child comes into the computer lab, I learn a little more about them and their individuality.  They are beginning to wave to me in the hallways and smiling those wonderful smiles.  They make me feel good about what I do.  Thank you for allowing me to get to know your child.

Last week in computer lab, we learned how to navigate on KidPix.  This is a software program that is used to draw pictures and use your creativity using a lot of different tools.  We learned about drawing with crayons, pencils, markers, paintbrushes etc.  It is a lot of fun and the children really love it.  It also helps develop their mouse skills and hand/eye coordination.  Working with the Book of the Month,  Brand New Kid by Katie Couric, the first graders were encouraged to draw a picture of something they could do to make a new classmate feel welcome at school.

Our kindergarteners were allowed to explore the program and create different things using the drawing tools.  What fun!

This week, the first graders will begin to become familiar with different keys on the keyboard using Microsoft Word.  We are mainly working on the shift, Caps Lock, return, delete and spacebar keys.   As curiosity takes over, we are finding ways to make our font bigger and changing the color of the font.

The Kindergarteners are making their self-portrait and signing their work using KidPix.  Maybe you will get a chance to see some of their "technoart"  at Open House.  They are doing a wonderful job!

We are having a great time working and learning together. 

August 18-22

This week in computer lab, we have been learning about Internet Safety.  You may want to remind your child of the rules for Internet Safety.

1.  Never send anyone your picture over the internet

2.  Never give out personal information like:                

• Your name
• Age
• Address
• Phone Number

3.  Never promise to meet anyone on the internet

A good website for you and your child to visit and learn about internet safety is:

www.netsmartzkids.org

We have also been working on our mouse skills.  We are playing games to help us manuver the mouse, click and click and drag.  They are fast learners!  Everyone is doing a great job!

First Grade classes has  begun to take their first Star Test of the year!