Book Reviews on Publisher ~ 5th/6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders created book reviews for their favorite books that they read over the summer.  They used the "program" templates.  On the front cover they included a picture of the book cover, the author, the title, the series name (where applicable), the genre and the book level (according to Accelerated Reader).  On the inside of the document, the students included three adjectives to describe the book, a short synopsis of the plot and a few sentences that explain why you should read the book.  They also rated their book with 1-5 stars.

Paws for Reading ~ 3rd/4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders will participate in Scholastic.com's "Paws for Reading" program.  The program is described as: "Now through December 14, kids everywhere are siding with the Cats or the Dogs in a pledge to read every day and help make their team reading champs—while also helping to donate 500,000 books to kids in need. Reading at home for 20 minutes each day is all it takes to get in on the fun!"

Calling all Tech Educators!

I have found two social network sites for Technology Coordinators and Computer Teachers!  I urge all Tech  Educators to join!

Gingerbread House Design- K-1st Grade

This cute virtual gingerbread house is just waiting for the Kindergartners and First Graders to decorate it for the Christmas season!  Go to Jenny B. Harris Illustrator- Decorate a Gingerbread House for a sneak peak of this online activity.

Brain Pop Website- All Grades

BrainPop.com appears to be a good educational site, and it has a computer/technology specific section.

Community Table- 3rd/4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders used a table on MS Word to organize key words pertaining to the three types of communities.  The picture below is an example of their work:

Trees Slideshow- 5th/6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders are researching a specific type of tree variety (pines, firs, spruces, maples, willows, birches, hemlocks, elms, oaks, cypress, douglas firs, palm, redwood family, and unusual trees).  When they have all of their information, they will create a PowerPoint slideshow to represent the information that they find.  Go to the zsjstudents blog to find cool websites about trees.
Below is the student's research guide worksheet:

Community Brochure- 3rd/4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders are learning about the different kinds of communities in Social Studies.  They will reinforce the concept by creating a brochure of a hypothetical community.  They will include information such as landmarks, types of housing, recreation, and transportation.

Here is a link to a good podcast that describes the three kinds of communities: Communities

Plant Diagrams- 5th/6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders are starting a new project to reinforce their knowledge of plants.  They will choose a plant system to diagram on Paint.  The choices include: plant pollination, plant reproduction, plant fertilization, photosynthesis, inside of a root, and the root/shoot system.

The zsjstudents blog has some informational videos for the students to reference.

Bedroom Sign- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders are learning many new things about M.S. Word such as how to change the font style, size and color, how to insert clip art, and how to save and open a document.  For a fun activity, the kids are going to use these skills to create a bedroom sign.

False Identity Business Cards- 5th/6th Grade

To kick off the year with a 'welcome back' game, the kids randomly selected a career type and created a business card on Publisher for a hypothetical individual in the career.  When the business cards are completed, the students will print out the hard copy and use the cards in a game where they will draw out a card and introduce themselves as that hypothetical person.

Summer Fun Slide Show- 3rd-6th Grade

The kids are using PowerPoint to create slideshows that describe the best parts of their summer break.  They are welcomed to use pictures from home or from an image hosting site (facebook, photobucket, etc).  Our students did all sorts of fun activities such as going to the Des Moines Adventure Land, a Twins game, Minnesota and Wisconsin for camping, Water Wild West water park, and weddings to name a few.

Skype with Iditarod Musher Newton Marshall- 3rd/4th Grade

We're so excited to be skyping with Newton Marshall, the musher from Jamaica on Friday, March 9th ! Newton's website is: http://www.jamaicadogsled.com/

Southeastern States Slideshows- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders created Powerpoint presentations on a Southeastern state.  The 3rd Graders worked in pairs (the three girls teamed up together) and the 4th Graders worked individually.  They will present their slideshows on Monday!  Here's their work:

 

Windows Movie Maker Introduction- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders worked on WWM videos. The theme was their choice; I suggested choosing something that they are passionate about. Some of the key skills they learned and practiced were:

• importing media (pictures and music)
• filling in the storyboard
• changing between timeline and storyboard view
• adding and removing transitions and effects
• changing the display time for each picture
• adding and editing titles and credits

Here is some of the work!  Enjoy!

Google Sketch Up- 5th & 6th Grade

We downloaded Google Sketch Up 8.  The kids watched the following youtube video as a tutorial.

The kids followed along with the steps that are layed out in the tutorial to create their own building. Once the kids are comfortable with the Google Sketch Up features, they will create their house as they envision it will be in heaven.

Colony Brochure- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders are researching one of the original 13 colonies and creating a promotional brochure on Publisher.  Below are some websites that they are using for their online research:
13 Colonies
Mr Nussbaum's website
Social Studies for Kids
History.com