First and Second Grade Holiday Sites

The following is a link to over 30 holiday games to enjoy with your child.  We had fun with them in class but didn't have time to explore them all!  I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and that your holiday season is blessed with good times with family and friends!

Holiday Web Sites

Kindergarten Holiday Sites

Please click on the links for the week in technology.  We had lots of fun with these sites, so please check them out at home!  Happy Holidays to everyone!  I wish you many happy memories and good times with your families!


Christmas Lights

Make a Christmas Tree

Gingerbread House

Online Coloring Pages

Kindergarten - Week of December 5

The kindergarten students worked with numbers and stamps using Tux Paint.  Here is an example of their work.  They did a great job, plus had some great practice with number concepts!

 

First Grade - Week of December 5

This week we learned how to insert word art on a powerpoint slide.  We also practice on inserting clip art and resizing clip art.  A few classes had time to do an activity called Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes where they put a picture of Santa and then put the labels and arrows to point to the body parts. 

Here are some examples of our projects.  Enjoy!

 

Second Grade - Weeks of December 5 and 12

We worked on our December counting books during the last two weeks.  They did a great job of inserting word art, inserting clip art and resizing images in PowerPoint.  I have put a link to a sample of our project.  If you would like me to email your child's project to you, please email me at nortonb@usd320.com with your child's name and class.  I will send it to you in a PDF form, so you don't have to have PowerPoint to view it.  Enjoy!

December Counting Book Sample

December Counting Book Sample 2

Second Grade - Week of November 28

Second grade started a new project in technology this week.  We are making a mini December counting book using PowerPoint.  By doing this project, they are learning how to add word art, clip art and how to re-size the images to fit on their slides.  We will work on this project for the next couple of weeks.  When we are finished, I will let you know on the blog and if you would like me to email you their project as a PDF file, I would be happy to email you!  You can then print off their project and make their book to keep at home! 

First Grade - Week of November 28

This week in technology the first graders had fun adding clip art to a PowerPoint slide.  We practiced adding a new slide, and inserting holiday clip art.  Once the clip art is inserted, we learned how to re-size the clip art so we could fit multiple images on a slide.  They enjoyed working with the holiday images, so if you have PowerPoint on your computer at home, let them show you what they can do! 

Kindergarten - Week of November 28

This week we worked on shapes in Tux Paint.   Next, we experimented with using shapes to make a decorated Christmas tree.  Tux Paint is a free program that you can download, so you might want to download it for your child to use.  They absolutely love to draw using Tux Paint!

Another skill we continue to work on in technology is typing their name.  This is excellent practice in both letter recognition and keyboarding skills.  If you have a computer at home, please have your child practice typing their name.  I also have them type their last name which is excellent practice for those who are still learning how to spell their last names.  
 

Kindergarten Sites

Here are the websites I shared with the Kindergarten class.  They had fun with the sites and I hope you have time to check them out at home!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Sites

Thanksgiving Websites

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I shared these Thanksgiving sites in the computer lab this week.  If you have time during the break you might want to check them out with your family!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving break!  I am so thankful to be a part of USD 320 and working with all your children.  They bring a smile to my face everyday and it's a joy to get to work with them! 

2nd Grade - Week of October 31

Our typing warm up this week was great practice in upper and lower case letters. Aa Bb Cc and continuing on to letter Zz. This would be a great activity to do on your home computer. I typically devote 5-8 minutes for typing warm up. I usually play some children's music while they type. It's a pretty fun time to begin class!

I took the first graders to Super Hyper Spider Helper to practice typing skills. At this level, we are mostly concerned with using the left hand to type letters on the left hand side of the keyboard and right hand typing the letters on the right hand side. This is a fun site to practice keyboarding with letters so please bookmark this site on your home computers.

First Grade - Week of October 31

We worked on ABC order in the first grade classes this week by going to this website.

This website works on dolch site words. The site says a dolch site word and then the student clicks on the word. The site starts with preprimer words and works up five levels to 3rd grade site words. There are also options for nouns and mixing all words. This is a great site to review and practice those high frequency words.

Kindergarten - Week of October 31

This week we spent time practicing letters by typing our name in word. If you have a computer, it's good practice to have them type their first and last names in word. I took them to a website that practiced upper and lower case letters.
Leo's Matching Letters
Another website that is put out by PBS is Calliou. This is an interactive website that has a lot of games and activities geared to their age level. The kindergarteners loved this site, be sure to visit the site at home!

Fun Halloween Websites

Here are a few links I let the students enjoy during computer lab. We had so much fun! Please enjoy!

Halloween Online Coloring Pages
Whack-O-Ween
Monster Numbers
Spooky Differences
Fun Brain
Pumpkin Dress Up
Halloween Jig Saw Puzzle
Zombie Wants Candy

Clorox Grant

Dear Central Parents,

West Elementary is competing for a Clorox Grant for up to $50,000 in technology funds. The goal is to purchase interactive white boards like the Promethean Boards at Central. I would ask that you please vote for their project. This purchase would allow your child to continue having Promethean Boards not only at Central but in all classrooms at West as well. So spread the word and let's help West win! Please follow the links for more details! Vote often!!!
Help our school win up to $50,000 which we plan to use to purchase interactive whiteboards for classrooms.

You can start voting! The project with the most votes wins!

You can vote once a day per cell phone Text clorox2915
and email account http://www.powerabrightfuture.com/gallery/detail/?nid=1553.

Voting is open between Oct. 24th and Dec. 9th

Facebook: West Elementary - Power Our Bright Future
Twitter: @WestCloroxVote

Forward and share this information with anyone and everyone who will vote for our school. You can post this on facebook, twitter, or anywhere you would like to share this information. Thank you for your support!

Second Grade - Week of October 17

The second graders made a PowerPoint slide where they learned how to insert word art and added clip art for Halloween. They really had fun with this project! Here's a sample of their projects!

First Grade - Week of October 17

We had some fun with fonts in first grade! We typed the word Halloween in word and then changed the font and colors or each letter to make them look cool. If you have Microsoft Word at home, please have them show you what they can do with fonts! It was a lot of fun!

Kindergarten - Week of October 17

This week the kindergarten classes typed their name in Microsoft Word for the first time. They did a great job but there's a lot to remember when you are typing your name. Just finding their letters on the keyboard is a little challenging. But I was proud of their efforts. If you have a computer at home, have your child practice typing their names. It's great practice with letter recognition skills!

I also took them to some fun letter recognition sites that you might like to try at home.
Fisher Price Learn your ABC's

Kangaroo Confusion

Alphabet Fall

Llama Llama Red Pajama

The technology classes joined all the classes at Central Elementary by celebrating Jump Starts Read for the Record on October 6. For every book read online, Pearson We Give Books will donate one book to Jumpstart's effort to build reading libraries in preschool classrooms across America. Not only on October 6, but everyday; so please check out the website for more details. In the computer lab, we took different parts of the story and made a picture using Tux Paint to go with it. Please enjoy just a sample of the great pictures that were drawn on October 6.

Netiquette

The second graders watched a video that introduced the concept of netiquette. Think of it as etiquette online. Each class came up with a list of rules of ways to practice good netiquette. Then using Tux Paint, students learned to add text and then they drew a picture good netiquette in action. Visit this website to watch the video. Netsmartz is an excellent website to make sure you plan on checking out the site with your child soon!

NetSmartz Website

Here is an example of our student project.

Second Grade - Week of October 3

The second graders also made a PowerPoint about the parts of a computer. They had to import pictures of the computer parts and then type the name of the part. This activity taught them how to insert pictures from a file to their PowerPoint and how to add text. They did awesome with these hard concepts!

First Grade - Week of October 3

We are studying the parts of the computer in first grade.  After reviewing the parts, I had student open up a PowerPoint the had pictures of our computer parts on each slide.  Students then typed the name of the part on each slide.  This was a great way to tell if they really knew the parts, plus it gave them great practice in typing.  Click on the slideshow and have your child tell you the parts.  Have fun!

Computer Parts

Kindergarten Week of October 3

This week I put together some website games to help students with using the mouse.  These games do a great job of having them practice clicking, click and drag and selecting items on the computer screen.
We had a great time with the sites, especially the "Create a Car" game.  So check them out at home for extra practice our mouse skills!


Magnets


Create a Car


Make a Face


Build a House


Make a Pizza

Second Grade

The second graders are working on learning the parts of the computer.  After watching a PowerPoint on the parts of the computer and playing Simon Says, we learned how to insert word art on a PowerPoint slide.  We inserted a new word art for each person in our family including pets and extended family members.  The 2007 and 2010 versions of word art look different then 2003, so if you have an older version you might have to explain they made a lot of changes when they updated PowerPoint.  I like the older version better but you can still make some pretty cool word art images with your name!  If you have Microsoft Word or PowerPoint you can insert word art, so let your child teach you how!  :)

First Grade

After viewing a PPT and song about the parts of the computer, we practiced typing sentences in word.  We typed:

My name is ___________.

I am _____ years old.

My favorite color is ____________. 
This was a great activity to teach spacing between words, using capital letters and periods.  If you have a computer at home, encourage your child to practice typing sentences or words.  Typing their spelling words would be an excellent way to practice spelling and keyboarding!

Kindergarten ABC

This week students explored the stamper tool in Tux Paint by stamping the letters of the alphabet.  This is great practice for letter recognition and learning the sequence of the alphabet.  Tux Paint is a free download, so visit this site to get Tux Paint.   We also had fun watching this video about the alphabet!

Kindergarten and First Grade

After viewing a video and reading a book about our Pledge of Allegiance, students went to Tux Paint and drew pictures of the American flag.  We learned how to click and drag our mouse using the paint brush tool to make the stripes of the flag.  Next, we drew a blue square and filled in the square with paint.  Then we added white stars using the star paint tool.  It was so much fun to watch them draw their flags!  We have come a long way in using our mouse on the computer in just a few weeks!  I hope you enjoy pictures of some of the students working on their flags!

2nd Grade - Constitution Day Activities

The second graders listened to a book called "We the People" by David Catrow.  Mr. Catrow takes the big ideas and words of the Preamble to the Constitution and explains it so students can understand the concepts.  Next, we divided up in groups and made pictures to go with the words of the Preamble.  I will scan these pictures to make a slideshow in the near future so please check back on our blog!  The pictures are great!

New Lab!!

Our new lab is completed at Central Elementary!  The lab is just beautiful and full of new technology for our students to use. I am so grateful for all our new equipment and for all the hard work that went into setting up the lab and getting it running.  A very special thanks go to Anitta Staats, Kevin Goforth, Kay Grunewald and Tammy Williams for their time, effort and talents setting up the lab!  Please come in and check it out!