November 29 - December 3

Focus for the Week: Computer Science/Decomposition

This week we will learn about a very important life skill. Decomposition is taking a large task or problem and breaking it into smaller, managable parts in order to solve the problem. We do this every day with tasks from getting ready for school to planning out your science fair project. Everyone uses this skill all the time without even realizing they are doing it. I will be teaching this skill to all grades with a bit different focus so that it is age appropriate.

K-2nd grade will learn about what decomposition is and will be able to give some examples of this skill.

3rd -5th will learn what it is and be able to give examples but in addition will be able to take a task and break it down into the subtasks that would be necessary to complete the task or solve the problem.

I think this is an important life skill that also applies to math, reading, science, music, technology, etc. We will keep this learning moving forward as we go through the year and remind ourselves frequently just how we are using this skill. Check out the lesson on the Computer Science Tab. It is in the Algorithms and Programming section.

November 15-19 / November 22-26

Focus for the Week: Review

These two weeks will be spent doing coding, tech skills and having some fun as review. I will not see all the classes during these two weeks due to conferences and the Thanksgiving break. I don't want to move forward with new topics until I will be able to see all of my classes. I hope everyone that comes to class during these two weeks has fun and I hope that everyone has a relaxing 4 day weekend.

November 8-12

Focus for the Week: Digital Citizenship

This week we will focus on Cyberbullying, Digital Drama and Hate Speech. We will watch videos and discuss the theme. Each grade will have a lesson that is tailored for their age.

Talk to your child about staying safe while they are online. Ask them about what they learned during technology time.

October 25-29 November 1-5

Focus for the Week: Tech Skills

This week there will be different tech tools used by the different grades.

Kindergarten and First Grade will practice touchpad skills with a variety of games that require them to use the touchpad to complete the game. They also have an option of spending some time doing Keyboard Zoo to learn the letters on the keyboard. In the second week they will learn about Jamboard and find out how to use that tool.

Second and Third Grade will use Typing.com to begin learning basic keyboarding. They will start with a Pre-Assessment to see how many words per minute they can type before they start the program. Then they will do assignment 1 which will focus on F, J and the spacebar. The second week they will practice keyboarding and then they will get to use Pixton while they practice typing a story.

Fourth Grade will practice writing complete sentences using the tech tool Pixton.com. It is a comic strip creating tool. They will be asked to create an avatar, and then tell a story in 3-5 comic frames. The students love this tool, I look forward to seeing what they create.

Fifth Grade will begin learning how to create 3D figures. They will begin learning the tech tool Tinkercad. There is a series of lessons to get through before they can start designing their own figures and then they will learn how to use the 3D printer to finish their project. It will take a few weeks to get through the lessons before they can start creating and printing.

October 18-22

Focus for the Week: Coding

This week we will continue with coding. They will work on the puzzles in Code.org. Last week we learned about sequence and we will continue using sequence as we program to solve the puzzles at all levels.

This week we will work on the strategy of debugging. All grade levels will be looking for errors and fixing code to move forward with the puzzles.

Fourth and Fifth grade classes will also work on Events. This will be a new skill that will help them when they start creating their own programs.

October 11-15

Focus for the Week: Coding

Kindergarten will be doing some hands on coding with the Code and Go Mice. They will learn about programming a sequence.

First Grade - Fifth Grade will be doing coding with Code.org. Each grade level has their own level that they will work on. There are numerous puzzles in each lesson that will practice the skills of coding.

October 4-8

Focus for the Week: Catch Up

Each grade level will be given the opportunity to finish any assignments they might not have finished. The first two weeks the Internet was very "iffy" and there were some classes that did not get to finish the work during class time. To make things fair I will be giving each group time to finish anything they do not have done. I have pushed the due dates to the end of this week so that no one should have a late assignment if it is turned in by Friday.

September 27-October 1

Focus for the Week: Digital Citizenship

Every class at every grade level will have a lesson on Privacy and Security. Some will learn about their Online Neighborhood and some will learn what kind of information they should not share online. Each lesson is age appropriate and will be the first of 6 digital citizenship lessons they will have this year.

September 20-24

Focus for the Week: Review Tech Skills/Practice Keyboarding/Create a Slideshow

This week we will go over terminology and remind ourselves about some basic tech skills.

Kindergarten and First Grade will learn about the parts of the computer and what those parts do. Then they will practice finding the letters on the keyboard.

Second - Fifth grade will review the terminology of the parts of the Chrome Browser and the process for putting together a Slideshow. Then they will create a slideshow that tells all about them.

September 13-17

Focus for the Week: Let's Get Started

This week every class will find out what the expectations and routines are in my classroom. Then we will get started with our learning.

Kindergarten and First Grade will log into their computers (maybe for the first time) and they will find out how to find Google Classroom. This is where they will find the lesson they will be working on. This week they will get to learn the keyboard by finding the letters on the keyboard in a game format.

Second - Fifth Grade will be signing in to their Google Classroom for the first time this year. Then they will create a folder for the grade level they are in. This will be where they save the work they create this year. After they do that there is a Padlet for them to respond to, asking them what they would like to learn in Technology this year.

I am looking forward to getting to know the kids again and having fun with technology.