Recently, the 3rd graders had their second digital citizenship lesson for the year. This lesson focused on how people make assumptions based on what is posted online. The students began by drawing a selfie, adding details and a background to help show where they were. Later, the students traded papers and answered questions about their partner's selfie. After trading papers back, the students read what their partner had to written about their selfie. The term assumption was identified and we discussed how we make assumptions about what we see every day. The students then answered questions about if the selfie they originally drew matched the identity they wanted to show. Students were given time to redo their selfie. You can find some tips to help your family post responsibly here. This past week, the students were introduced to theTrail of Tears in their reading classes. The students worked on a WebQuest where they were able to learn more. They were given a question guide to aide their research and practice reading a text and looking back for the information. The teachers have requested that similar activities in the future.
0 Comments
Common Sense Education has posted an article with some helpful advice to anyone who is handing-down a phone to their son or daughter. You can find the article here ' Common Sense Education, where our digital citizenship curriculum comes comes from posted an article on how to downsize, not eliminate the use of technology during the holidays. You can find the article here.
Many schools use December to celebrate Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code Week. As many of you know, we do not celebrate for a week. We celebrate for the entire month!
We started off by opening a new level and learning about loops in Code Spark. The students learned that a loop can repeat a series of codes as many times as needed. The last two weeks the students were divided into two groups to code Dash. One group was able to use Dash's launcher to play Dash-ketball. The students had to determine the correct distances and amount of power for the launcher needed for Dash to make a basket using the app Blockly. The students tried many different combinations. Some groups were able to add victory dances to their code after they made their shot! The other group was able to try using a new app with Dash for the first time, Xylo. In this app, the students are able to use Dash and its xylophone to create music. The students worked to code Dash to play "Jingle Bells". Some of the groups were able to code him to move while he played as well. Other groups also coded Dash to play "Jolly Old St. Nicholas." Both groups took videos of their project and recorded them in Seesaw. Come back soon to see more pictures as the groups try the other project.
I can't believe that we are just about ready for Thanksgiving break. Time flies when you are having fun.
The third graders were reintroduced to XtraMath, an adaptive fact-fluency program where the students can practice their math facts on their own. The students are taking pre-tests that helps them understand what facts they have memorized and what facts they need to work on. XtraMath will then help them memorize the facts they needs some more practice on and continue to introduce them to new ones. All students start on addition facts but can then move on to subtraction, multiplication, and even division. Parents will receive letters that will allow them to log in see how their child is doing during Parent Teacher Conferences if they have not already. If you connected to your student's account last year, you will need to add their new code so they can pick up where they left off. The students were also introduced to Epic! Books. Epic! is an online children's subscription book service offering immediate, on-demand access to over 35,000 high-quality illustrated books and chapter books for children ages 12 and under. The students earn credit for the time they read which then allows them to modify their avatar. Epic! is free to schools. In order for it to remain free, Epic! has a subscription fee for families that want to use it at home. Information will be sent home during conferences. We also reviewed how to log into Freckle. Once the students have completed their pre-tests, Freckle has them work on Math, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science at levels that are perfect for their individual level of learning. That way, they are always engaged and challenged, never facing material that is too difficult or easy for them. Students will have log-in information at parent teacher conferences so that they can practice both at school and at home. Please do not help them work on these problems, they need to figure them out on their own so that the program adapts to their needs. This week, the students have been using PicCollage EDU. They created acrostic poems about for Thanksgiving. When they were completed, they app smashed their poems into Seesaw to share with their family and teachers.
The students in Mrs. Siffermann's class read the book The Witches by Roald Dahl. The students then wrote book reviews in class. On Halloween, they were able to use a green screen to record their book reviews so that they looked like they were inside a spooky bottle. These videos were then app smashed into Seesaw to share their families and teachers. Our other third grade classes will be able to create green screen videos later this school year. Keep an eye out for them.
Happy Digital Citizenship Week! The students had their first of three digital citizenship lesson of the year. In this lesson, they learned about thinking beyond themselves and the ripple effect they can have. Students began by talking about the responsibilities they had at home and then expanded to their community and the world. Students completed several activities where they had to think about how what they did online could affect themselves, their community or their world. For more tips on helping kids balance media in their lives, see the attachment below.
Over the summer, Seesaw made a few updates that the students seem to be loving. The drawing tools have changed a little bit, giving them even more options. Two other new features are the new collage tool where students can take multiple pictures and add them to one page as well as a multipage feature so students are not limited to one page responses. For some of the students, this did not as expected but they were patient and helped us work on the problem. If parents are not connected to their child's journal, information on how to connect will be sent home. Last week, the students practiced logging into their online accounts for math and reading. On my helpful links page, you will find videos on the features of those websites. An email will be going home later this week that contains information for how to access the sites at home as well.
|
AuthorMs. Sowa is the technology coach for Pre-School through Third Grade Archives
February 2020
Categories
All
|