Planet Reports ~ 5th/6th Grade

There has been a new focus in computer class these days; writer's workshop!  The 5th/6th grader's final assignment for the year was to write a 5+ paragraph report of a planet of their choice.  The daily lessons and tasks included the following: online and traditional research using a research guide, formulating an opening paragraph and brainstorming savvy opening sentences, organizing the information into three body paragraphs using a web graphic organizer, revising and editing each other's work and inputting source information in the "works cited" function on MS Word.  The entire process took a couple weeks, but the final outcome was something for everyone to be proud about!  I love how individualized each report is!  I look forward to sharing the student's work on the computer lab blog!

The Life of a Water Droplet: Writer's Workshop ~ 3rd/4th Grade

The students were instructed to write a story about a water droplet that goes through the complete water cycle, from liquid that evaporates to precipitation that free falls from a cloud.  First, I introduced the students to the Writer's Workshop steps, and I reminded them numerous times that they would revise their draft several times before they were able to do the final editing and publishing.  It was a new process for the kids, and I am super proud of them for sticking with it and producing some super fun stories in the end.  The kids are so proud of their work that they wanted to share their stories on this blog!

Water Cycle By: Sam

                “Hi! The names’ Micah and I am a water droplet. I am an unfortunate droplet in a sad, sad puddle.  Oh, how I wish I were a drop of water in a big river, flowing freely toward a grand ocean. All I need is the warm sun to soak me up and send me floating up into the sky to join other water drops in a cloud.  This is my story of the day my dream came true:

One lucky day, the sun came out of the clouds and its heat turned me into vapor.  I started to float into the sky.  My mommy said this was called evaporation.  It was so cool. I joined a cloud called Candyland, and I changed back to a water drop. I went through something called condensation.  There were many other water drops around me.  We hung out together for a day or two before the Mayor bounced up onto the podium and yelled into the microphone, “Good Morning citizens of Candyland! Today is the drawing to see who will be leaving this wonderful cloud as precipitation launcher. Good luck to all!” With that he turned his back to the crowd and pulled 25 names out of the big fish bowl. “Trevor H, Jonah D, Sally S, Micah D…..” He said my name! My name! I’m going to Earth! My parents would be so proud! I bounce myself over to the big, fat tube and take my spot among the other raindrops. I prepare myself for the long journey down to earth, taking many deep breaths, like I learned in rain school, before the launch. I look at all the town folks’ faces before the tube shoots us off. The cheering crowd roars with excitement and praise. As we are falling down to Earth, I begin to feel weightless;  it was like free falling!  I look down below and see the Earth coming at me very fast. I see a river! I’m going to get to swim with the fish! YES! I cannon ball into the water and look around me; I've finally made it!

My Life as a Water Droplet by: Jordan

Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a frozen water droplet. One day, I was hanging out with the guys in our comfy snowdrift. The next thing I know, the sun comes out full blast, and my buddies and I begin to melt into water. It gets so hot, that we begin to evaporate. Then I went to a cloud through condensation. Then my buddies started to hang onto me as we fell as precipitation. We were a little scared to be falling, but as we got used to falling, we relaxed and enjoyed the ride.  The next thing we know, we were swimming in a huge   lake. The End

Water Cycle

Hi, my name is Polka Dot. I live in the Sugar River, and last night when I went to sleep, I evaporated. When I woke up, I was up in the clouds. I had changed from vapor to water through condensation.  I saw the Mayor of the cloud, and he told me about my trip back to earth. He said that was called precipitation. He said I was going to be sent to a river called, Sugar River. It wasn't much longer, and I was falling from the cloud. I was living the life! When I went down, I saw lots of things: people on sidewalks, people driving cars, and kids riding bikes. I also saw lots of people that I remembered because they swam in Sugar River with me.  I landed in my favorite river, and life was good again!                                                           
~By: Riley~

The Story of Dripper

By Josh

Hi, my name is Dripper I’m a water droplet. One day my family all got evaporated, and they all stranded me in our home puddle. I’ve been bullied by the other water droplets since. I longed to be with my family again. My dream came true just the other day.

It got really hot yesterday, and I finally evaporated. I found lots of cool stuff. I went into a cloud and I condensed. When I condensed, I found out I was in Army Land. The only way I could get out was to become a soldier.  One year later the Chief of Staff came up onto the podium and said, “Dripper you’re free to go.” I was so excited! I was finally going to see my family again! I went to the exit and there was a guy there with a parachute in his hand. When I got up to him he said, “Here’s your parachute Solider.” Without another word, I jumped out and became precipitation. It was amazing to feel the wind blowing on me while I freefell. When I fell, I saw a basketball sized hail hit a boy’s head. I opened my parachute and floated down slowly until I hit the water. After a few days I found Mama, Daddy and my brother. I was so excited that I screamed to them at the top of my lungs. They turned around and swam as fast as they could to me. And we all lived happily ever after.    

The End

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:

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.

Layers of the Earth Diagram on Paint- 5th/6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders used Paint to create a diagram of the earth's layers. They were expected to include one fact for each layer and to save their diagram to the server. There are some super artistic students! Way to go kids!

Animal Homes- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders are working on PowerPoint slide shows about animal homes. Each slide features a unique animal with one simple sentence that states the kind of home that the animal lives in and an image of the home. For example, the first slide was for bats: "Bats live in caves." Emphasis is placed on capitalization, grammar and punctuation. The computing skills for this assignment includes: launch PowerPoint, insert a slide, select a layout, insert an image (clipart or from file), produce symbols and punctuation with the shift key, and use font tools. Additional skills that will be reintroduced later include using slide design and slide transistions.

Online Interview with a Wifelife Expert - 5th & 6th Grade

For homework, the Fifth and Sixth Graders will think of at least 3 interview questions to ask a researcher from the NC Zoo Society.  On Monday we'll collaborate and compile a list of the most thoughtful interview questions.  We will go to the following link: http://www.fieldtripearth.org/ask_qa.xml to post the questions.

Field Trip Earth Skype- 5th & 6th Grade

We're Skyping with Mark, a biologist from the NC Zoo Society on Friday at 2:40 in the student's homeroom! He will be coming to us from Pittsboro, NC. He will speak to us about his work with sea turtles, red wolves, Africian elephants and Midwest falcons in the wild. One of the topics he'll present is animal tagging. The students will preview a slideshow that Mark has prepared for his audiences. They will also preview the NC Zoo Society website.

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.

Favorite Seasons- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders made suggestions for projects to go along with their Science theme, seasons.  The students suggested creating a fact sheet using word, a slide show using PowerPoint and a graph using Excel.  The kids voted, and the graph with Excel project won the majority!

The students rated each season, one being their least favorite and four being their favorite.  I recorded all of the data, and the students worked together to add the numbers.  The students typed the total data into the spreadsheet.  Then, they showed me how to create a pie chart using the data.  I was delighted to see that everyone was able to create a chart!

The kids formatted the chart color and font style, and they added a title.  Then, they saved their work to the server.  Good job Second Grade!

Invented Insects- 2nd Grade

 

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.

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.

Baby Animal Slideshow- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders will begin working on a simple slide show about baby animals.  The students will choose 7 animal species and research what the young of that specie is called.  They will include a picture for each slide.  The students will also be introduced to custom animation and slide transition.

The Water Cycle Movie- 3rd & 4th Grade

The Third and Fourth Graders will continue learning about the water cycle in computer lab this week. They will use Paint to create a short movie showing evaporation, condensation and precipitation.  The process will include drawing ten + frames, importing the frames to Windows Movie Maker and setting the timeline.  Here is an example of what their work might look like:

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.