Welcome to the Computer Lab
Every Kindergarten through 5th grade student attends computer class at least once a week. Classroom curriculum is integrated in all projects. Our goal is to develop technical skills that will help students be successful in middle school and beyond. We focus on word processing, desktop publishing, keyboarding, multimedia presentations, podcasts, video production, Lego robotics, Sphero robotics, MaKey MaKey inventions, Minecraft, Scratch, coding and more. All students have Google for Education accounts and learn to use the full suite of Google apps. Many of the online resources we use are on our Just for Kids page. Let the fun begin!
May 2019 |
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We are doing so many fun things this month! The Kindergarten students are getting more and more comfortable using Google Classroom and Google Slides. They are currently working on animal reports and math story problems. They have learned how to insert images, copy and past, do borders and fill and much more. The 1st grade students have started Type to Learn. It's always impressive to see how well they can type at such a young age. The 2nd grade students are still in the Sphero/Animation/WeDo rotation. Each class spends 4 weeks in each unit. All three units are favorites for the kids but the tug-of-war competition in the WeDo unit is particularly exciting. See the video below. The 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students are all doing Lego Robotics. All three classes are preparing to compete in a final tournament. The students are beginning to master Mindstorms programming, using sensors and building functional arms to complete missions. The countdown to the tournaments has begun! |
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We Do Tug of War: 2nd grade students built robots using the WeDo guided activity "Pulling". All students competed in a class tug-of-war competition. What a blast!
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Sphero Chariot Challenge: 5th grade students designed chariots to be pulled by the Spheros. They then competed in a class tournament. Super fun!
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April 2019
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In the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes, April is all about Lego Robotics. The students have been learning how to program their EV3 robots using the Mindstorms software. They have learned how to use color and touch sensors and how to manipulate an arm. They just received the class mission challenges and will compete in a class tournament at the end of the unit. Let the fun begin!
The Kindergarten classes have been learning how to us Google slides. They have imported photos of themselves, added text boxes, borders and fills and backgrounds. The first grade classes are doing the finishing touches on their penguin slideshows, adding transitions and animations. The second grade classes are continuing their rotations through Stop Motion Animation, WeDo Push/Pull and programming the Sphero robots. What a fun month! |
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March 2019 We've had our own March Madness in technology this month. What a blast! The Kinders have been learning how to code by doing activities at Kodable. They also just started learning how to use Google Slides. The 1st grade students are working through their Penguin slideshows. They learned how to label a scientific drawing and how to import photos from a shared folder. The 2nd grade students will spend 12 weeks rotating through units of stop motion animation, Sphero robotics and WeDo robotics. 3rd grade students are doing Sphero robotics and coding. 4th grade is working on their animation unit. All teams created storyboards for their projects. Last session everyone began animating. What a blast. And lastly, the 5th grade students are working on the Sphero chariot challenge. Each team has designed a chariot using the same set of materials. They just began testing their designs. They have one more day to perfect their chariots before the class race. I love working with these kids and seeing how creative they can be and how totally excited they get!
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February 2019
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All of the classes have been busy. The Kindergarten kids came to the lab for their very first time. They now know how to log into the iMacs and how to access their Google Classroom assignments. The first grade classes have been finishing up their "All About Me" sldieshows. They've learned how to add clip art, borders and backgrounds, and transitions. The second grade classes have finished their residential areas in their Minecraft communities and are beginning to design and build their commercial centers. Third grade classes are focusing on honing their skills in Google Docs; learning how to align text, format fonts, create lists, insert images, etc. It's a little trickier than working in Google Slides. The fourth grade classes are completing their Scratch programs for their Make MaKey inventions. They are simultaneously designing their inventions with a partner using a shared Google Slideshow. Everyone will share their projects on a Gallery Day, The fifth grade students just finished their Book Talk videos. They recorded their videos on iPads in front of a green screen and edited their projects in iMovie. See two examples below. What a fun month!
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February 2019: 5th Grade Book Talk Videos
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January 2019In January we began new units for all of the technology classes. The 1st grade students began their "All About Me" slideshow using the Google Slides app. The 2nd grade classes began researching homes as part of their Community unit. They collected images of different home types in a shared Google Slideshow with a partner. They then began building those homes in the residential area of their Minecraft world. Later they will design the business center for their communities and add it to their Minecraft world. The 3rd grade classes are designing Multicultural calendar in google Slides. The 4th grade classes are working in Scratch as they prepare for their Makey Makey unit. The 5th grade classes are learning iMovie and how to use the green screen effect. They worked in small groups to write scripts for a Book Talk and began videotaping their projects this past week. It's been a fun start to 2019!
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November/December 2018We did a wide variety of activities in the computer lab during November and December. The 1st grade classes created insects drawings in Google Slides and then moved onto coding. The 2nd grade students practice their typing skills in Type to Learn and then began coding. The 3rd grade classes finished their science inquiry slideshows and then began learning Scratch. The 4th grade classes worked on their Native American Slideshows and then began coding. The 5th grade classes finished their Garage Band projects and then focused on Scratch and coding.
December is always about coding at Hayhurst. All classes finished the calendar year coding either in Scratch or at Code.org. Our students love to program! |
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October 2018We've been busy in the lab! The 1st grade students have signed into their IXL accounts successfully- yay! The 2nd grade students are almost done with their animal slideshows. They've learned how to add animations and transitions and are close to completing their projects. The 3rd grade classes are working on a Science Inquiry slideshow. The 4th grade classes just started learning Google Drawing. They are creating "All About Me" posters. The 5th grade students wrote stories and have recorded them in Garage Band. They are now working on adding sound effects and music to bring their stories to life.
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September 2018
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All 2nd-5th grade classes began the year learning about cyber safety. The kids were surprised to find out how little they knew about data collection, digital footprints, strong passwords and cyber bullying.
Then 1st grade classes visited several websites about insects. Next month they will design their own insect in Google Slides. The 2nd grade students began their animal slideshows. They are learning how to format text and text boxes, to fill and add borders and to insert pictures and backgrounds. The 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes did Type to Learn. |
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