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:

Mammal Slideshow Project- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders are creating a MS PowerPoint slideshow about a mammal of their choice.  The topics that they will be researching will include physical description, range, habitat, diet, survival and defense, life span, parenting, a day in the life, and an interesting fact.  They will report on six of the above topics.  They will be assessed on their ability to use their own words (no plagerism), using the correct layout, relevance and grammar, spelling and punctuation.  The assignment will be due on October 20th.

State Fact Sheet- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders will create a fact sheet about a US state.  Each student chose a state to research, and they will use a search engine to find images and certain information about the state.  They will use MS Word to create the fact sheet using the information and images that they find.  The MS Word skills will include using the alignment, font and insert tools.  The states that were chosen are: Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Kentucky.

"A World of Adventure" Postcard on Publisher- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders randomly selected a location in the world by spinning a globe and stopping the spinning with their finger.  Where ever their finger landed was the location that they were going to research and chose an adventure that could be enjoyed in the location.  They created a greeting postcard that describes the adventure.  We had camel racing in Saudi Arabia, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, surfing in Coasta Rica, heli-skiing in Canada, deep sea fishing in the Pacific off the coast of Alaska, trekking along the Great Wall of China, and swimming with dolphins off the coast of Indonesia!

US Regions Informational Postcard on Publisher- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders have learned, and are practicing their Publisher skills in preparation for their first computer project of the school year.  They will create an informational postcard representing a US region of their choice.  The project will begin with online research at  http://www.dembsky.net/regions/index.html.  They will then use the skills that they have learned for Publisher to create the postcard.

Choosing Websites- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders used Google web search to find websites about their insect.  They skimmed through the suggested sites, and they decided on the best site for them.  The students visited each workstation to evaluate the websites; the attributes they evaluated included size of font, vocabulary, length of sentences, organization of information, subtitles and page layout.  The students all agreed that sites with a large font, short and straight-to-the-point sentences, lots of pictures and simple subtitles were the easiest to understand.  The kid's favorite website was  http://www.pestworldforkids.org/index.html.

Insect Fact Sheet- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders are working on a fact sheet about an insect of their choice.  The students chose to research termites, ladybugs, bumble bees, praying mantis, wasps, butterflies and Asian hornets.  The topics they'll include in the fact sheets are appearance, habitat, diet, methods of self defense and life cycle.  The students will be reviewing skills such as inserting and formatting an image, inserting and formatting bullets, using spell check, and using a search engine for research.


Here are some cool sites about insects:

• Let's Talk about Insects
• National Geographic- Bugs
• Kids Connect

Endangered Species- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders visited a website about endangered species today.  They independently navigated the site. The kids liked this interactive site.  They read various facts about endangered animals in Africa, Austria, and South America.  Each student will choose a specie that is featured on the website to research, and they will complete a simple Power Point slide show about the specie.

"Focus on Alaska" Slideshows- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders chose a specific subject pertaining to Alaska, and they will create a Power Point slide show about the subject.  The assignment calls for six slides: one title slide and five fact slides.  The subjects up for grabs include:

• Mt. McKinely
• national parks
• game and fishing
• the Ididtarod
• migration of whales
• gold rush
• native residents
• life in Alaska

Musher Profiles- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders completed their musher profiles today!  They used MS Word to write a 50+ word autobiography of the musher of their choice.  The students used the Iditarod musher listings on the Iditarod site for the basis of their research.  Some of the mushers had links to their personal websites, which enhanced the student's research and interest.  The work is already matted and posted outside the Third/Fourth Grade classroom in time for the Science Fair tomorrow night.  I encourage everyone to check out the wonderful display!  Way to go kids!

Landforms- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders are using MS Word to create a information sheet about the different types of landforms that they are learning about in class.  Their work includes a 3X5 table that contains an image, name and description of five different kinds of landforms.  This assignment is a review of how to insert a table and a header, center text, modify the font and use a search engine on the Internet for research.

2011 Iditarod- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders will be learning about the 2011 Iditarod.  Today they visited the Iditarod website and reviewed the mushers profiles.  They listed their top 13 favorite mushers.  Later, in class, they will draw names to pick the musher that they want to research and follow throughout the entire race.

We will be exploring the various ways to integrate technology with this fun subject.  We're considering using Skype, Wikispaces, Blogger, Glogster, Blabberize, etc.

Water- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders will be using one of Scholastic web-sources to help them learn about the water cycle and properties of water. Both activities include a short video and five question online quiz.

SIRS Issues Reseacher and Discovery Education Streaming- 5th & 6th Grade

Today the Fifth and Sixth Graders were introduced to Discovery Education Streaming.  I created student accounts, which allows each student to have his/her own user and password to access the website.  The students explored the wide variety of resources and played some of the educational games.  I want the students to become very familiar with the site so that I can create assignments using my teacher account.  This will come in extra handy when I have a substitute teacher in the computer lab.  Ask your Fifth or Sixth Grader how to access the site and take a look for yourself!  The username consists of "zsj[grade #][student's 1st name]" and the password is our regularly used code for all of the student accounts.

Last week the Fifth and Sixth Graders were introduced to SIRS Issues Researcher.  This site requires a username and password. Please refer to the Iowa AEA Online pamphlets for this information.  SIRS provides a safe place to research a wide variety of debatable issues such as abortion, cloning, immigration, teenage pregnancy, etc.



AEA Online Resources- 3rd-6th Grade

The Third-Sixth Graders will be introduced to the AEA Online Resources.  The websites that are provided include:

• Accu Weather
• AP Images
• Atomic Learning
• Discovery Education
• EBSCO
• iCLIP ART for Schools
• Learn 360
• SIRS Issue Researcher
• World Book Online

The AEA provides a user and password for the students and staff of our district.  The user and password will be distributed this week.  The students will learn how to use these sites.

Glogster- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders were introduced to Glogster on Friday and they were given their student accounts today.  I sense a lot of excitement about Glogster.  The students have begun working on their first glog!  We can't wait to get started on a class project :)

Constellations Research- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders selected a constellation to research.  They are using the Internet to research their constellation and to find images that depict the characters in their constellation.  The students will create a poster by hand in their homeroom and present their work on Monday.

San Diego Zoo Website vs World Book- 3rd & 4th Grade

I ran into the San Diego Zoo website while exploring the World Book site.  The zoo website contains the perfect setup for the project that the Third and Fourth Graders will be doing.  The site contains a long list of bird species, and the type of information for each bird is age-appropriate for this younger group of students.  The World Book site was posing a hassel for the students because it requires a user and password (provided by nwaea), and the site was difficult to navigate.  The students were getting lost with all the steps to view information about their bird, and the information was minimal.  The San Diego Zoo site was linked to the World Book, and thus, I made a great discovery!

World Book for Research- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders chose a bird species from the World Book- Kids selection of birds.  They will use the World Book-Kids site as the basis for their research.  They will create a PowerPoint Slideshow about their bird.  They will answer the following questions about their bird: 

• Where does the bird live in the world?
• What kind of habitat does the bird live in?
• What does the bird eat?
• What kind of nest does the bird use for its young? 
• What is the life like for a the young of this species?
• Is the bird a migratory specie?

WWII Project- 5th & 6th Grade

The 5th and 6th Graders are working on their WWII projects.  Some of the students are working in pairs.  Some reliable websites that the students are using for research include:

• http://www.ddaymuseum.org/
• http://www.nationalww2museum.org/
• http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/
• http://www.ushmm.org/
• http://www.annefrank.com/
• http://www.army.mil/d-day/index.html
• http://www.chuckhawks.com/higgins_boat.htm