Graphing Coins on Excel- 2nd-6th Grade

I was inspired by a coin collection that a student shared with me last week.  I wanted to help him find some of the coins that he needed to add to his collection.  Knowing that I had a huge collection of coins in my house that had been sitting around for at least the last decade, I thought I could find some of the coins he was looking for.

This small idea turned into a very exciting idea for Monday's computer class project.  In the end, I decided to have the kids make a "guess-estimate" of the total money that was in my coin collection.  The students recorded their guesses on the Excel spreadsheet.  Next, the students typed labels (pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters) into the cells of the A column.  Then, they each took a handful of coins, and they sorted the coins into groups, counted how many coins were in each group, and recorded their data into the appropriate cells in the B column.  They used the "auto sum" tool to add up the total number of coins that they had in their handful.  I recorded their data into my own spreadsheet.  I showed the kids how to use formulas (ex: =B4*5 for nickels) to find the value of each group.  I also showed the kids how to divide the total amount by 100 to convert the total number of cents into dollars and cents.

The best part of this project is that the students will research different charities, and they will vote on one charity to be a recipient of the grand total as a donation!  The grand total was $98.12!

Invented Insects- 2nd Grade

 

Church Budget Spreadsheet and Pie Chart- 4th Grade

By Wylee

By Adam

By Alexis

By Hunter

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.

Mock Church Budget Spreadsheet on Excel- 3rd-6th Grade

The Third-Sixth Graders are working on a mock church budget spreadsheet on MS Excel. They are using various tools such as merge & center, text color, auto-sum and auto difference, and general cell formatting. We reviewed some budget vocabulary words including income, salary, expense, consumables, utilities, donations, offerings, misc. and savings.

The Internet of 1993

100 Years of Technology

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

I discovered Growing with Technology, 

Operetta Flyer- 5th/6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders are using Publisher to create a flyer for the 2011 operetta.  Follow the link below for the information that they'll include.
http://zsjfalcons.edu.glogster.com/zsj-operetta-2011/

Inventions of Yesteryear Collage- 3rd/4th Grade

The Third/Fourth Graders are working on a collage using Paint.  They're googling images of various inventions of yesteryear (the first car, computer, camera, etc) and inserting the images into Paint.

Publisher Creation- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders will be using MS Publisher to create a document of their choice to accompany their glog subject.  They have the choice to create a flyer, business card, brochure or post card.  One student's glog subject was about being a chef; his Publisher creation could be a menu for his restaurant.  Another student's glog subject was about being a fashion designer; her Publisher creation could be a buisness card.

Collage of Endangered Species- 2nd Grade

The Second Graders are working on a collage of endangered species using Paint.  This project requires the students to use a search engine to find images on the Internet and to use the edit toolbar on the Paint application.  Stay tuned for their completed pieces of art!

In the meantime, check out Shape Collage.  It's free.  It's cool.  It's easy.  It has educational potential!  I plan to download the application on each student computer.

Glogster Project- 3rd-6th Grade

The Third-Sixth Graders are creating a glog about a career of their choice.  They're including information about the range of income a for the job, the daily tasks, the type of degree needed to be qualified for the job and some other facts about the job. 

MS Word- 1st Grade

The First Graders are experimenting with MS Word.  All sorts of discoveries are being made independently by the children.  I'm hearing excited voices thoroughout the computer lab proclaim things like, "I figured out how to change the color," or, "Look! This is how you make the picture smaller!  Oh, the pure joy a teacher feels when the students are engaged and learning!

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.

Journal entry and Podcast- 5th & 6th Grade

The Fifth and Sixth Graders wrote a journal entry about their skyping session with the govenor.  Next week they will create an audio or video podcast thanking the governor for his time.  We will upload the podcast to this blog and share it with Gov. Branstad.

Light Temple- Game of the Week

The students requested "Light Temple" for the game of the week.  They describe it as "hard and fun!"  The game is listed under the "puzzle" games on miniclip.

Graphing Colored Candy- 2nd Grade

Creating a graph using the colors of candy pieces has sort of become a rite of passage for our Second Graders at ZSJ.  The kids just LOVE this project!  Today the students received their bag of Skittles or M&Ms, sorted the candy pieces by color and typed the information in a spread sheet.  After they had sorted and counted the candy, they were free to enjoy the candy.  Tomorrow they will show me that they know how to use the information on the spread sheet to create a graph!

Skype with the Govenor- 5th & 6th Grade

 

We skyped with Gov. Branstad!  I'm proud of the Fifth and Sixth Graders for an awesome job!  Thank you Govenor for your time!  We hope to skype with more important people in the future!