Week 16 - Happy Holidays!

We had a short week due to the start of Winter Break so it was a good opportunity for the Baker students to enjoy some of the fun things they can do with computers. I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of the Baker families a happy and healthy holiday season. Thanks for being such a warm and caring community. Looking forward to a great year in 2015!

Week 15 - Formatting Type Part 3

For their third week formatting type, the students completed an exercise where they needed to make an unformatted selection of type match a previously formatted selection of the same type. With some help from friends like Kroc, the first graders showed off the skills they've acquired the past few weeks. Great job, gang! I think we're ready to try something new!

Week 14 - Formatting Type Part 2

We experimented with the appearance of our type again this week. The first graders completed an exercise where they used bold, italics, colors, size, font, and underline to make words match illustrations. Leaning trees, a wide pig, a fancy dog, and a couple of fish gave us plenty of opportunities to add some life to our text.

Week 13 - Formatting Type

When we create stories, poems, letters, etc., we don't just communicate with the words we use. We also communicate by the way our words look. Bold and italic type are used for emphasis. Colors can help communicate a feeling or emotion. Type size can be adjusted to give particular words more or less importance. And the endless variety of fonts can range from silly and playful to structured and traditional. Type formatting can be a very important form of communication.

This week, we introduced the first graders to type formatting, showing them the different ways they can change the appearance of their type and the process to go about changing it. We used bold, italics, underline, colors, fonts, and size. Watch out...now that our first graders have this new knowledge, their creative floodgates are open.

Week 12 - Saving (Snowmen)

I gave the first graders a tough challenge this week: think of a way to make a snowman that will never melt. There were some very interesting suggestions...robot snowmen, giant freezers in the hallways of Baker, snowmen made of huge cotton balls, etc. Eventually we came up with a more practical solution. We created snowmen on the computer AND SAVED THEM. This way, we can look at our snowmen no matter what the weather is outside...10 degrees or 110 degrees! I was so happy to see how well the first graders did with this activity. But I have to admit, I was kind of excited about the idea of a robot snowman. Oh well.

Week 11 - Saving (Gingerbread House)

This week, the Baker first graders worked on another great creation...a gingerbread house. They worked very hard and made some amazing (and tasty looking) houses. After experimenting with candy canes, icing, lollipops, hard candies, and gingerbread men, the students were warned that they'd better save their work before I run around and eat them all up. Good thing they've been practicing how to save or they'd have no more houses...and I'd have a big bellyache. Crisis averted.

Week 10 - Saving and Drives

I  showed the first graders a picture of two elephants I drew on the computer about seven years ago...before some of them were even born! How was I able to show them this illustration after seven years? I SAVED IT!

I try to equate the drives and saving process to something more familiar to them...a house. I tell them that the computer is like a house with several different rooms (drives). Some of the rooms are off limits (like an office or their parents' room). Some are open for everyone to enjoy (like the family room). And some are just for them (like their own bedroom). To save a project, they must follow a series of five steps to get into their room and put that project into a drawer where it will be kept safe. They must follow these steps to keep the project safe (save it). Again, it's tough concept to understand, but they'll get there! Even if they don't have the memory of an elephant.

Week 9 - Keyboard and Mouse FUN!

Due to Election Day and the NJEA Convention, this was a short week. Only one first grade class had computers this week. So it seemed like a great time to have some FUN (while secretly practicing the keyboard and mouse...shhhh...don't tell the kids). First graders had their choice of ABCYa games to play...Type Rocket Jr. (learn the location of the different keys while making fireworks explode in the sky), Fuzz Bugs Patterns (click and drag on tiny scurrying bugs and put them in a pattern), or Little Jane (maneuver the mouse to guide Jane and her balloons around sharp obstacles in the sky). Good times!

Week 8 - The Mouse

We've been feeling pretty comfortable with the keyboard, so the time was right to move on to our next computer part...the mouse. Young kids are pretty amazing when it comes to technology and many are already quite comfortable with the mouse. But it's a good idea to review what exactly each of the mouse actions does. We discussed using the mouse to point, single click, double click, drag and drop, scroll, and highlight. We didn't just see how they worked, we discussed what each of those functions actually does, Then we practiced. This week, we integrated subtraction into our lesson. Students completed an exercise where they read a math problem, modeled the problem with an illustration, completed the subtraction number sentence at the bottom, then changed the color of the type. We moved flies, frogs, apples, bats, and cups with our mouse. Clicking, dragging, typing, highlighting...it was a busy busy week.

Week 7 - More Keyboard

After learning how to log in, it was time for the Baker first graders to get back to working with the different computer parts and learning how they work. We headed back to the keyboard, focusing on our four special keys (Shift, Backspace, Spacebar, and Enter). This week, we integrated their lessons on living and nonliving things. Students completed an exercise on the computer where they retyped several sentences, then listed the living and nonliving things from each sentence. One thing is for sure, the computer lab was alive with activity this week. Nice job, kids!

Week 6 - Passwords and Logins

We don't let just anyone use our computers. No way. Only special kids get to use these computers. Special kids with special passwords.

This week we talked about passwords and our login procedure. And we stressed the importance of keeping our passwords secret. Then the students showed off just how special they are by hopping on the computers and logging in on their own. They actually did it a few times. And got better every time. That's a good thing because they'll have to do it every week from now on. But they've proven they're up to the task.

Week 5 - The Keyboard (special keys)

This week we discussed the keyboard. More specifically, we discussed four special keys: Backspace, Spacebar, Shift, and Enter. We talked about where these keys are located and what they do. We also talked about that very special little line called a cursor. Without him, those keys don't do much. Then we did a fun exercise where the students had to make the text on the right match the text on the left. These special kids have their special keys down pretty well.

Week 4 - Basic Computer Skills Assessment

It's important for me to see what the students know and what they don't. It helps me determine which topics might need extra attention. And it also helps me gauge our growth throughout the year.

With this assessment, students were given a printed copy of the page on the left. Then they opened a digital copy of the page on the right. They were asked to make the digital version look like the printed version. The skills we focused on include typing, type formatting, copy and paste, and drag and drop. These are foundational skills for success in a digital society, as well as on newly computerized standardized tests.

It's always tough to give students an exercise that requires skills they haven't formally been taught. But the Baker first graders handled it like champs!

Week 3 - Make a Face

This week we reviewed parts of the computer, then had some fun with ABCYa's Make a Face game. Students were asked to drag different parts of a face to create their own unique individual. Computers, like faces, have mostly the same parts. They may look a little different from computer to computer, but they do the same things.

Week 2 - Parts of the Computer

This week we discussed some of the different parts of the computer and what each of them does. Then we had a little fun...students had to put colored labels on the part I described. I tried my best to stump them, but these kids really know their computer parts!

Week 1 - Welcome Back, Baker Bears!

It's important to start the year off right. So after a quick "welcome back," we talked about some of the changes to the lab, some of the procedures we will follow, and some of the rules we need to obey. One of the most important rules is "KEEP SMILING." First, the smile emoticon is used to indicate class behavior and we want to encourage everyone to keep it on the smile...as opposed to this guy >>>  :-(

But more importantly, "KEEP SMILING" is a reminder that computers should be exciting and fun. And although they may be difficult and frustrating at times, we need to stay positive and never let the computer get us upset. Remember, it's just a machine.