Thursday, December 15, 2011

Delgado's Dragons Research Dragonflies

Mrs. Delgado's Dragons conducted research on dragonflies using a variety of non-fiction sources.  Last week, they published their research using Microsoft Word. The students integrated their research skills, writing skills, and their technology skills.  The students practiced saving their work to their own network drive and inputting written work into Microsoft Word. These first grader students also learned to search for clip art that enhanced their text.  After they were done with their work, the students practiced finding the correct printer on the network and printing. We are very proud of everything these first graders have learned. Please enjoy these few samples of the amazing work they did!






Peterson's Leaping Learners Experienced Mechanical Engineering!

John Menk, a mechanical engineer, came and presented to Mrs. Peterson's class the week before the winter holidays.  According to him, "I showed everyone how a mechanical engineer designs parts on the computer in 3D.  I used a powerful solid modeling program called Unigraphics, and I told the class how engineers can create large assemblies of parts on the screen before we make the real parts.  That way we can be sure that all the parts are the right size and shape and will fit together correctly.  This saves engineering companies time and money.  We also talked about how we use other computer programs to find out how fast these assemblies will vibrate (their natural frequencies) and when they will break.  In class today we made a Christmas tree with a star-pierced heart ornament on top."   Mrs. Peterson's third graders were amazed at what you can do with technology.  Way to go Learning Leapers!




Garcia's Gators Explore Math with Hands On Technology



Mrs. Garcia's students are using an interactive Smart Board to learn math this year. The interactive white board allows students to manipulate images to show how story problems work out, to show addition and subtraction problems, and to work on daily warm ups.  Students can also use special pens to annotate on the white board and control the computer.  The students love being in charge of the computer and it makes math exciting and fun.  Here are a few pictures of the students using the Smart Board for a morning warm up. Way to go Gators!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Mrs. Rodger's Neighborhood is Thankful

Kindergarten students in Mrs. Rodger's Neighborhood brainstormed about why they were thankful before Thanksgiving. They used Kidspiration to capture their thoughts.  In previous lessons, students learned how to create thought bubbles in the program and then how to find pictures to represent their thoughts.  This week, the students learned how to connect their ideas with lines and several of them started writing sentences about their ideas.  The students had to "sound out" the words they wanted to use. The students also practiced printing their work to the printers in the computer lab. We are so proud of our students as they forge ahead using technology to help express their thoughts. Please enjoy a sample of their work. Please note: the spellings are the students' authentic spellings and represent their level of sound mastery. Please enjoy this work as the students put in much time and effort!










Canizales' Cuddly Bears Use Kidspiration to Enforce Addition

Mrs. Canizales' second grade students are exploring addition in math. Using Kidspiration, they "balanced" number equations. Each shape was given a value and they created equal number sentences on each side of the balance.  Not only were the students practicing their technology skills, they are preparing themselves for algebra!  Way to go Cuddly Bears!