Christmas Website Suggestions

Christmas Websites for School and Home

www.northpole.com  Write a letter to Santa, play games, and find recipes.

http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/christms/chgames.htm Christmas games

http://www.noradsanta.org/  Track Santa on his Christmas journey around the world!

http://www.crewsnest.vispa.com/journey.htm Learn about how Christmas is celebrated around the world.

http://www.storynory.com/ Free audio stories

http://reindeercam.com/ Watch Santa’s reindeer as they get ready to make their special Christmas trip!

Hour of Code: Computer Science for Kids!

Today 2nd grade participated in The Hour of Code during computer class. We visited code.org/learn and wrote lines of code for Frozen characters and Angry Birds. The students had a blast with this and were very engaged in the activity!

Thanksgiving Projects from the Media Center

Last month the students in each grade completed projects related to Thanksgiving. Some highlights are below:

1st Grade created acrostic poems using the word THANKFUL and included things they were thankful for in their life.

3rd Grade went on a Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt finding answers to Thanksgiving questions on a variety of websites. Here is a link to the hunt: file:///M:/Thanksgiving%20Scavenger%20Hunt%20for%20Fourth%20Grade.html

November Projects from the Media Center

Kindergarten recently completed a project in which they found pictures to match the first letter of their first and last name. This activity on Kidspiration helped the students practice letter/sound/picture matching.

Second Grade also used Kidspiration to type a set of directions for a chosen activity. Students practiced sequencing events and proper sentence structure through this activity.

Happy Halloween from the Media Center!

We have been having some spootackular fun in the Media Center getting ready for Halloween. The students have enjoyed making pumpkins, Halloween patterns, watching spooky stories, going on Web Hunts, and playing Halloween games. To listen to some fun Halloween stories, check out www.speakaboos.com!

Below are some pictures of the 1st grade pumpkin activity and 3rd grade Web Hunt I described last week. Happy Halloween!

October Updates

We have been hard at work this past month in the Media Center Lab.

Each class has completed their first Digital Citizenship lesson for the year. Digital Citizenship refers to being safe and respectful when using the computer, especially the internet. Kindergarten and First Grade talked about general rules for internet safety. Second Grade discussed keeping personal information private and creating safe usernames. Third Grade connected the responsibilities they have in the real world to those they should keep in mind when on the internet. For more information, lesson plans, and videos please visit www.commonsensemedia.org.

This week in the lab....

Kindergarten will work on Kidspiration to create graphic organizers with pictures that begin with the first letter of their first and last names.

First Grade created pumpkins on ABCya and then wrote sentences to describe them. www.abcya.com

Second Grade finished a dog research project connected to a story they read in their classroom.

Third Grade went on Halloween Web Hunt and learned facts about mummies, vampire bats, and Frankenstein. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/halloween-web-hunt

Stay tuned for more updates and photos of student work! Happy Halloween!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

This week Kindergarten and First Grade completed activities to welcome the season of fall. Kindergarten used Tux Paint to create fall scenes. First Grade used Microsoft Word to type short sentences about fall using their five senses. The students also added related clip art to their writing pieces.

September Websites

Here are some websites we've been using the past few weeks:

Dance Mat Typing  (typing practice): http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr

ELA and Math games by grade level: www.abcya.com

First in Math: http://www.firstinmath.com/

More to come soon!!

Third Grade Wordles

Third Grade made Word Clouds (Wordles) to tell things about themselves. They included favorite things, summer events, and hobbies. Take a look at some hanging in the hallway outside of the lab!

Second Grade Summer Word Webs

Second Grade worked with Kidspiration to create Word Webs telling about what they did this past summer. Each child typed 4 sentences and found related pictures to go with each sentence. Check out some of the finished products!

Welcome to a new year of learning!!

End of Year Wrap Up!

We worked on many exciting projects as the school year came to an end!

Kindergarten: We created graphic organizers in Kidspiration to practice the skill of following directions.

First Grade: Students completed a Microsoft Word assessment to showcase all they have learned this year. We also created springtime scenes using Tux Paint.

Second Grade: Each student created their own "All About Me" Power Point presentation. Then the students completed an assessment to display all of the skills they have learned on Microsoft Word.

Third Grade: We used green screen technology to make book trailers. The students read books and wrote about them with the help of Mrs. D'Agostino. Then we filmed the book trailers during computer class. Look for the final product coming soon! 

This was my first year at SKS and it was a BLAST! I am so thankful to have worked with your children and look forward to the coming school year. Happy summer to all!

Happy Easter from the MC Lab!!

First Grade used Tux Paint to create these Easter scenes. During a lesson on Digital Citizenship we discussed the importance of giving credit to our digital work by using an appropriate heading. Before creating their pictures, students typed their first and last names, the date, and a title for their artwork. 

2nd Grade Animal Research

2nd Grade recently completed a research project in which they chose an animal to learn about using National Geographic Kids. Next, they used Microsoft Word to create a graphic organizer displaying facts and pictures. Check out a few samples below!

What have we been working on this month??

Kindergarten: Students have been working on using Microsoft Word to complete some Word Processing pieces. Students practiced typing their first and last names with proper capitalization, as well as a short sentence about things they like to do. 

1st Grade: Students completed Word Processing pieces about their families on Microsoft Word. Next, they created neighborhood maps on Kidspiration and typed related sentences for the maps using cardinal direction words. 

2nd Grade: Students have been working on an animal research project. They chose an animal from National Geographic Kids online, http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/, and created a poster on Microsoft Word with facts and photographs they found in their research.

3rd Grade: Students are working on Power Point presentations about U.S. symbols. Students researched their chosen symbol on the internet, http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/. Now they are creating a 3-4 slide presentation using facts and pictures. 

Digital Citizenship

During the first trimester, each class completed a lesson focused on internet safety and responsibility. These lessons are one way we are trying to build Digital Citizenship skills. Simply put, digital citizenship refers to staying safe and being respectful online, as well as using technology in the most appropriate way. For the 2nd trimester, our digital citizenship lessons focused on the following areas:

Kindergarten: Staying safe online by only visiting "kid friendly" websites.

First Grade: Using a picture dictionary to find information online.

Second and Third Grades: Using keywords correctly when searching for specific information on Google.

The following website provides a wonderful curriculum of digital citizenship lessons, as well as tips and resources for parents.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Kindergarten Kidspiration

This week the Kindergarten classes worked with Kidspiration on a sorting and classifying activity. They looked at a group of pictures and decided which did not belong. Then the students made new groups by finding pictures that had similar attributes. Below are some finished products!

First Grade Winter Poems

To practice their reading skills, the first grade classes worked in groups to perform a winter poem. Students were filmed using a Flip Camera and we explored how to use this piece of technology. Later this year, the students will be able to use the flip cameras on their own to make a video.

3rd Grade Community Web Quest

The 3rd grade classes will be working on a Social Studies unit about communities. In the MC Lab we have been working on a Web Quest which allows the students to research types of communities and test their knowledge with online quizzes and games. Students click on various links to take them to different sites related to communities.

Here is the link to our community Web Quest:

https://sites.google.com/site/urbansuburbanruralwebquest/home/community-webquest-task 

2nd Grade Chinese New Year Cyber Hunt

2nd Grade will be reading a story in ELA about Chinese New Year. In the Media Center Lab the students will find out facts about this holiday using the following Cyber Hunt. This activity allows students to visit various websites to answer questions and make notes about the Chinese New Year. This will be a great connection to the story they will read in their classroom!

http://www.fcps.edu/KingsParkES/technology/newyear/