May 28, 2009

Just for Fun!

If you visit http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/
you can sign up to become a member of the Dairy Queen Fan Club. You'll receive a two for one coupon good for Blizzards! You will also get a coupon on your birthday.

Mulitplication Facts Practice
Two excellent sites for kids to practice their multiplication facts.
http://www.brainormous.com/online/loader_multiflyer.html
www.multiplication.com

This one has to be downloaded but it's free. Timez Attack is simple & helps with automaticity for facts.
http://www.bigbrainz.com/Teachers.php



Fractions
Here is a terrific resource for helping students explore fractions.
www.shodor.org/interactive

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Gaming in the Classroom

This week students will be exploring new sites that explore educational gaming. The sites listed are simulation games that mimic real life in some way.

Fifth Grade: Students earned a Surprise Thursday in which s/he is allowed to choose a favorite site approved by me!

Fourth Grade: Students finished and printed travel brochures for MI. They also explored http://www.citycreator.com/. This site allows students the ability to plan and build her/his own city.

Third Grade: Third grade visitd http://www.citycreator.com/ as well. This site is a wonderful tie in to the state-mandated social studies objectives.

Second Grade: Students explored Microsoft Paint.

First Grade: Students explored Microsoft Paint.

Other Great Educational Games to Try:
Scholastic's History Mystery
http://teacher.scholastic.com/histmyst/index.asp
http://www.electrocity.co.nz/
http://fantasticcontraption.com/
http://eduweb.com/pintura/al.html
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/
www.virtualfishtank.com/main.html
www.coolmath-games.com/lemonade

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Parent Resource: I recently found a site that I have been using with my own five year old twin boys. It is www.handwritingworksheets.com You can create and print out handwriting practice sheets for free! It has been very helpful for me in working with my own children.

Fifth Grade: Students completed typing special family recipes in PowerPoint. Check back for an update in a few weeks on our final product!

Fourth Grade: Students finished travel brochures for Michigan. I am amazed at how well students can navigate Microsoft Publisher. They also typed Haiku poems that were written with Mrs. Marshall. Their typed poems can be read on their wiki pages.

Third Grade: Students had a free choice Thursday. One great site to check out for grades 2-5 is http://www.kerpoof.com

Second Grade: Students visited www.highlightskids.com This is a terrific site for younger students. There are many games and actitivies that require reading, fine motor skill movement, as well as higher-level thinking skills.

First Grade: Students visited www.brainpopjr.com to play a variety of games in all subjects of the curriculum.

April 23, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and vacation. I have not been with students for three weeks due to Holy Thursday and spring break. Grades 2 and 3 will miss technology instruction this week due to an all-school Earth Day field trip.

Here is what will be covered in grades 5, 4, and 1.

Fifth Grade: Recipes from home are due. Students will use PowerPoint to type their special recipe. The following week students will write about the significance of the recipe they chose for a special and surprise class project!

Fourth Grade: Students completed research facts about the state of Michigan using approved Internet sites. This week students will take their facts and create travel brochures for Michigan incorporating the research. The brochures will be created using Microsoft Publisher.

First Grade: Students will visit Earth Day websites for kids. The approved sites are included.

http://www.earthday.gov/

http://funschool.kaboose.com/

http://www.planetpals.com/

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm

For Grades 3-5

http://www.recycleworks.org/kids/games.html

http://www.recyclezone.org.uk/home.aspx

http://www.squidoo.com/USA-Kids

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Fifth Grade: Students learned to use PowerPoint for word processing. Students learned to type in a recipe and make it look professional. PowerPoint is a great resource for creating handouts, typing stories, and/or reports!



Fourth Grade: Students uploaded Limericks that they wrote for St. Patrick's Day. Students earned a free choice (monitored) Thursday!



Third Grade: Students learned to use word processing utilities such as spell checker, grammar checker, and thesaurus to edit their writing.



Second Grade: Students used Microsoft Word to type Easter Bunny stories. Students used clip art to illustrate their stories.



First Grade: Students visited http://www.scholastic.com/ to view and play I Spy games. This site has excellent activities for younger students that provide practice for higher-level thinking skills.

March 12, 2009

Fifth Grade: Students have been learning about how to cite an Internet source. We have been talking about plagiarism as well. Students each chose a topic to research using the Britannica Online School Edition which has been purchased by the school. Once students chose a topic, s/he took notes and wrote a paragraph.

Fourth Grade: Students visited http://www.gigglepoetry.com/ to learn about Limericks. Each student created her/his own limerick. We will post them on our Class Wiki so look for them next week!

Third Grade: Students used Microsoft Word to create a recipe for a favorite sandwich. Students learned to type a heading, use a bulleted list, and spell check.

Second Grade and First Grade: Students visited www.sadlier-oxford.com/ to play a large variety of phonics games. This is an excellent site for grades pre K-6.

February 19, 2009

Fifth Grade: I did not see fifth graders today due to mass.

Fourth Grade: Students wrote paragraphs about their research topic for their Wiki pages.

Third Grade: Students finished their PowerPoint presentations. They turned out great!

Second Grade: Students visited http://www.nimblefingers.com/ to practice basic keyboarding skills. This is a free and good site for elementary students.

First Grade:

February 12, 2009

Reminder: Please make sure your child has a flash drive for computers so s/he can work on a project consecutive weeks.

Fifth Grade: Students earned a free choice Thursday today. They worked extremely hard on revisions for their letters to President Obama.

Fourth Grade: Students continued working on Wiki pages. Each student selected a topic to research today. Students learned how to properly document sources using the Internet.
Our wiki URL is: http://wikkimrswhite.wikispaces.com/
Please visit and see our progress!

Third Grade: Students continued work on their PowerPoint presentations describing their filed trip to Lansing, the state capitol. Next week students will finish and have the opportunity to view each other's presentations.

Second and First Grades: Students visited a fun Valentine's site with a variety of activities.
http://www.akidsheart.com/


Valentine's Fun!
http://www.kaboose.com/
http://www.paparomanos.com/
(Heart Shaped Pizza-This has become a tradition in our house every year!)
http://www.billybear4kids.com/
http://www.familyfun.go.com/
Fun Valentine's crafts and recipes for the entire family!

Week of February 5, 2009

Fifth Grade: Students completed letters to President Obama. They were sent off on Thursday. Hopefully students will receive replies. Most students wrote 2-3 drafts for a perfect letter. I noticed many students did not know how to properly address an envelope. This would be a great skill to work on at home.

Fourth Grade: Students worked on an Autobiography page for the class Wiki. Next week we'll be talking about topics students would like to research. They will be using appropriate search sites such as http://kidsclick.org/
www.enchantedlearning.com


Third Grade: Students began work on a PowerPoint about their field trip to the state capitol. Students are responsible for using appropriate font, background, and correct sentence structure including capital letters, punctuation, and correct spelling. Hopefully I will be able to upload and share some of the presentations.
Some important things to help your child with in creating PowerPoint presentations:

• Use font that is large enough to view but not gigantic
  
• Use the same background for each slide
• No more than 1 piece of clip art per slide
• Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Transitions between slides should be consistent and not too fast or slow

Second Grade: Students learned to create a table using Microsoft Word. They were given five pairs of opposites that they had to match up.

First Grade: Students used problem solving skills to put together puzzles using a free site. http://blackdog4kids.com/zoo/puzzles/index.html

Fun Sites for the Week!

Third and fourth grades will be heading to the state capitol next week. Why not plan the route for the trip? Check out google maps.
http://maps.google.com/
or see the state capitol on google earth!
http://earth.google.com/

Great site for kids of all ages with a variety of activities and interests.
www.scholastic.com

A fun game using Google's image search to present a group of 20 images. It's up to the student to figure out what the keyword is.
http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google

Free online electronic text. There is a long list of available titles.
http://promo.net/pg/

January 29, 2009

Here is an update of the lessons in the technology lab today. Thank you for stopping by!

Fifth Grade: Students continued to edit their letters to President Obama. Students are developing writing skills in how to write a business letter while paying close attention to fine details. Students will learn to properly address a business envelope next week and then the letters to Obama will be in the mail! We will be waiting anxiously for replies. This is a fun and educational site for kids that is filled with interesting facts about the presidents and the White House.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/white_house_101/

Fourth Grade: Each student wrote a brief paragraph about her/himself for our Wiki. Every fourth grade student will have her/his own Wiki page. Some were able to upload their work. Stay tuned for our Wiki URL next week! If you'd like to learn more about what a Wiki is, this is an excellent document that explains the concept.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Third Grade: Students earned a Fun Thursday. Students are allowed to visit approved sites of her/his choice. Many were very excited about www.kerpoof.com

Second Grade: Students completed final copies about Martin Luther King Jr. on Microsoft Word. With assistance, students were able to save and retrieve work from last week using their flash drives. Here is a biography on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is very appropriate for second grade.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/MLK.shtml

First Grade: Students visited www.starfall.com This is an excellent online resource that is free that helps students practice a large assortment of academic skills.

What is Your Child Learning?

Below is a link for a website for the State of Michigan for curriculum. On this site you will find technology standards for grades K-12. The lessons designed each week for the technology lab correlate to the state standards. This is the best resource to know what your child should know for her/his grade level in any subject.

http://www.michigan.gov/mde

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Below is an outline of what was covered in each class during lab time.

Fifth Grade: Each student wrote a letter in business format to President Obama. Students were asked to think about three things s/he would like to see changed during Obama's presidency. Students used an online business letter generator. This is a free and excellent resource for helping students learn how to write a business and/or friendly letter. Website: http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator

Fourth Grade: Students are learning how create a Wiki page. I was able to receive free Wiki space through a project for educators. Each student has her/his own page. Students will be able to write about and share projects in the classroom as well as the technology lab. Please stay tuned for our URL once the work is complete! We look at another Wiki space created by another fourth grade classroom that was very helpful and interesting. www.mendell.wikispaces.com/

Third Grade: Students completed online research about Bottlenose Dolphins. The resource was a free online picture dictionary. This is a useful site in helping young students read and search for information. www.enchantedlearning.com

Second Grade: Students wrote about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Each student chose two things that s/he felt helped create peace. Students will type their final copies next week in the lab using Microsoft Word.

First Grade: Students used Microsoft Word to write about their favorite things they love to do in school. Each student learned to insert a relevant piece of clipart for her/his final copy.

Fun sites for the week:

www.kerpoof.com
http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/collagemachine.htm

Search Engines for KIDS!

Here are some search engines that are excellent for kids.

www.kidsclick.org

http://kids.yahoo.com/

http://www.askkids.com/

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/

http://cybersleuth-kids.com/

A helper for homework.
http://kids.aol.com/homework-help/junior

Thursday, January 15, 2009

I have neglected to update my blog in quite some time. It is my hope that this resource is helpful to students and parents.

In the computer lab today all students worked on a variety of skills.

Fifth Grade: Students practiced Boolean search skills. Last week we visited www.boolify.org
and learned what a Boolean search is. This is a fun resource for students in the upper grades. I suggest making sure kids are searching on sites for kids. Google is a wonderful search engine but can also provide links that are not appropriate.

Fourth Grade: Students visited a website designed by the State of Michigan for kids learning about Michigan. This is a good place for students conducting research or learning about Michigan history and facts.
http://www.michigan.gov/kids

Third Grade: Students were given a mini bag of M&M's and asked to predict the number of each color inside the bag. Next, each student counted and recorded the actual number for each color. Last, students created a pie graph on a website we have visited before that allows students to construct graphs.
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph/

Second Grade: Students explored the free website created by Highlights Magazine for kids. This is a terrific site with a plethora of activities for students of all ages, skills, and reading levels. There are lots of interactive games that develop fine motor skills, vocabulary, reading, math, as well as logic.
www.highlightskids.com/

First Grade: Students visited a free site that provides an assortment of activities in all areas of the curriculum. There is some reading that students may need assistance with for directions. This site has activities divided into two ages groups, 1 to 5 and 6 to 9. A nice site for preschool children as well.
http://www.kidspsych.org/index1.html

As always, if you know of a good site please leave me a message. If you stop by to peruse my blog I'd enjoy hearing from you!