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