This is my ninth year teaching computer class at SFR. I usually begin the year with having student write me a letter about what they did over summer vacation. I know that summer is a lot more exciting than the letters illustrated. So Illustration became the key this year. Students learned how to find pictures in the public domain on the internet to create a collage of their summer activities. If one picture is worth a thousand words, then one collage must be worth 10,000 words. Of course, AFTER they created the collage, they added a page to the document explaining the symbolism. 
 
When the fun was over, we moved on to the big project for this year - the family tree (history) project. Students began by writing their autobiography. Last week they started filling in the names of their ancestors. Parents, you received the letter explaining the booklet they will complete this year, so in the months ahead, I will note the next part being done. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The 5th graders are getting close to completing their Family Tree Booklet which is probably a misnomer since this booklet is mostly about each of them at the age of 10 or 11 - a snapshot in time. When all are done, each student will get a keepsake color booklet. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

We took a little vacation from the Family History Project in October because the Collaboratory had a fun project called the Scariest Stories Project. The students spent October researching, writing and illustrating scary stories. Ask your child to show you his/her scary story. Here is the Collaboratory's website. Every student should know his or her login and password. 
 
Northwestern University Collaboratory 
http://collaboratory.nunet.net 
 
This will be the last year your children have a separate class for keyboarding so you may want to encourage them to keep their skills honed with these free online websites: 
 
Dance Mat typing is fun 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/levels/level1.shtml 
15 Typing lessons 
http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/ 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The Fifth Graders have been working on their autobiographies. We were going to input the data on their family tree diagram next week, but we are taking short break from the Family History Project. They will learning how to use the Northwestern University Collaboratory to write and read scary stories. I think they will really like this project. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The fifth graders learned how applications work with each other. They entered their name and address in Address Book. Then they selected a personal letter from the Pages templates. What did they find? Address Book filled in their personal data in the friendly letter! Aren't computers time saving devices? For their second class, they enjoyed time with their families on Labor Day. Yes, 5th grade has Computers on Monday. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

Video Project Grades 5 (23) and 6 (25) Lesson 3 
April 23, 2007 Assignment 
Last week, you should have accomplished the following: 
1. Successfully used iChat to form a team of 7 to 9 members 
2. Still using iChat, agreed upon jobs to be done by each team member 
3. Still using iChat, decide what your team will be video taping 
 
This week, you need to accomplish the following 
1. Put last week’s chats into the group folder/video project/April 16 Chats/your folder 
2. Have writers write the script for the video - the video should be no longer than 15 minutes. If it is a commercial, it should be no longer than 1-5 minutes 
3. If you need cue cards, who will make them 
4. Make a list of what props you need to bring for video taping 
5. Will the actors dress in costumes, if yes what do you need and who is responsible for bringing the costumes? 
6. Where do you want to shoot the video - remember we will probably have to do this during computer class? 
7. Would team members be able to work on this project after school? 

Posted by: Ms Barth

Video Project Grades 5 (23 students) and 6 (25 students) Lesson 2 
April 16, 2007 Assignment 
Have students set up iChat accounts. Introduce rules for iChat use. Set up iChat log folder for each student.  
After iChat accounts are up and running, students need to accomplish the following:  
1. Successfully use iChat to form a team of 7 to 9 members 
2. Still using iChat, agree upon jobs (see note below) to be done by each team member 
3. Still using iChat, decide what your team will be video taping 
 
Jobs 
1. Producer (team leader who does the job of absent team members) 
2. Director (person who gives instructions during video taping to actors and camera operators) 
3. Writers (team members who write the script for the video -teams may have more than one writer. Writer collaborates with the Producer and the Director) 
4. Actors or Newscasters (team members who will be video taped) 
5. Video Editor (team member who imports video to iMovie and cuts various clips together to make the final movie. The video editor also gets advice from the Producer and the Director) 
6. Audio Editor (team member who works on sound for the video. The audio editor gets advice from the Producer and the Director.) 
7. Videographer (team member who operates the camera 

Posted by: Ms Barth

Our goal for this month is to finally complete the Family Tree booklets! As I work with students who are a little behind, the rest of the class is working on Math sites to improve their math skills and Powerproofreading to improve their Language Arts Skills. If you would like to see what they have available to help them improve their abilities, check these sites. 
 
http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/virtualmedia/elementary/math/4-6math.htm 
 
and 
 
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/proofread/proof.htm 

Posted by: Ms Barth

Due to special events and days off, my time with fifth grade has been limited. We are trying to finalize the Family Tree booklets so they can be printed and sent home.  
 
They created Valentine Cards learning how to use the grid in AppleWorks draw to plot points to create a heart. They also had a little fun creating a winter scene after we had snowy days. This scene had to use several tools and commands but they also got a chance to be unique and creative. 
 
If they have any spare time in computer class, they work on websites to improve their language arts and math skills. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

We reviewed what should be in the Family History Booklets by today. They are: 
1. the biography 
2. the diagram 
3. the moods 
4. the fantasy self-portrait 
5. the family sheild 
 
If all five items were laid in the booklet on the correct pages, they were to workon their cover design. Next week, they will type their book reports and place these in the booklet. The last thing they will do is create the Table of Contents. Then we will print their keepsake booklets. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The fifth graders are continuing with their Family History Booklets. Almost everyone has completed an autobiography and a family tree diagram. They put these in their booklet template already. Most students are completing a fantasy self portrait. In this part of the project, they combined their photograph with clipart using some special techniques in Appleworks Paint. They had a lot of fun with this part of the booklet. Next week, they will be using our digital cameras to capture 5 moods in each other. Thanksgiving week, they will try to draw pilgrims or indians in one class session using a diagram. As you can see, Niovember is a very busy month! 
 
First quarter parent/teacher conferences are right around the corner! Parents will receive a progress report which shows how their students are doing in Computer class. Since I have given at least two "make-up work days" during the first quarter, any student who has unfinished work from the first quarter will have to arrange to complete the work after school. Generally, I am in the computer lab Tuesday through Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
 
 
Grades 5 through 8 are working with an online course program, so they may do written work at home and upload the file when it is complete. The only thing they need to remember is to save the file as an RTF and zip it before they upload if they do not have the programs we use at school: Pages or Appleworks. If you have a computer and the internet, have them show you Moodle! 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The fifth grade will be starting to layout the various parts of the Family History Project. In the next class, they will layout their biography and their family tree diagram. In future classes we will be creating a fantasy self portrait for the booklet and using our digital cameras to explore five different moods. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The fifth grade finally got registered in Moodle, an online course. They will be able to log in to Moodle from any computer with internet access. They have begun a semester long project which I call the Family Tree Project. Both Mrs. Martin and I give assignments that guide the student to learn more about his or her ancestors, customs, and self. They began by writing an autobiography. Their final project will be a keepsake booklet which will include the biography, a famliy tree diagram, a family shield designed by the student, a fantasy self-portrait, a photo exploration of moods, a booklet cover design and maybe even a book report. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The fifth grade is having lots of fun learning to express their moods with their faces. How do they do this? They take digital photos of each other. Import them into iPhoto. Before the end of the year, they will have a personal family history booklet which will include the five photos expressing happy, sad, thoughtful or serious, angry and silly. 

Posted by: Ms Barth

The Fifth Graders completed their Family Tree Diagram and a cover design for their Family History Keepsake Booklet. Students worked on completing 16 lessons in keyboarding. Most were successful. 

Posted by: Ms Barth