Week 24: FREE WEEK!

Every tri-mester, the students earn a free week to explore all of the great software in our lab, as well as explore the Internet.  The great thing is that the students look forward to this and even get a chance to take their learning a step further to have time to explore all of the resources offered during class time.

Curious about some fun resources?  Don't forget to check out Miss Wilmes' page for some great links to help your students improve their skills while learning on the computer! I have divided the links section (under Resources) for Kindergarten - 3rd Grade and 4th - 8th grade.  Have fun!

Week 23: How do I support my persuasion topic by gathering info?

The students are beginning a unit on PowerPoint. They must create a PowerPoint to persuade their audience.   Last week the students focused on the first two steps of research, questioning & planning.  This week, the students will begin digging into their persuasion topic by gathering information through research. This week, we are going to explore the online database of INFOHIO. 

What is INFOHIO?
INFOHIO is a great place to learn!  If you are ever trying to search a specific topic for a class paper, report, or just for fun, INFOHIO is a great place to start.  Since it is a database, it combines all research together into one place.  It will give you newspaper articles, encyclopedia articles, photos, and even videos!  Also, it is kid-safe.  This database divides all information by grade level, so that information is viewable by children designated for specific age groups.

Mission StatementI:  INFOhio, a statewide cooperative school library and information network, supports and enriches teaching and learning by providing equitable access to quality resources for Ohio's PreK-12 community of students, educators and parents. INFOhio's components include electronic resources for schools, instructional development for teachers, and school library automation -- all promoting information literacy and media literacy through the use of technology.

CHECK IT OUT:  INFOHIO.ORG

Word of the Week: Research

re·search  (r-sûrch, rsûrch)

1. Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry. 

2. Close, careful study.

re·searched, re·search·ing, re·search·es

To engage in or perform research.

1. To study (something) thoroughly so as to present in a detailed, accurate manner.

2. To do research for
3.  systematic investigation to establish facts or principles or to collect information on a subject
4.  to carry out investigations into (a subject, problem, etc.)

RESEARCH HAPPENS IN 6 STEPS:

• Questioning:  What does the teacher want me to research?  Do I understand the project?  What questions do I want to answer with this project?
• Planning:  How long is this project going to take?  What is my timeline?  How many sources do I need?
• Gathering:  FIND INFORMATION & RESEARCH!  Look for sources about my topic.
• Sorting & Sifting:  Organize all of the information I gained when researching.  Put information in categories and get rid of the information you do not need.  You could possibly use a graphic organizer. 
• Synthesizing:  Put all the information together in the form of a project (paper, poster, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Evaluating:  By this point, all of your information is collected and your project is underway.  Go back through everything you have created to see if it fits your assignment.

Week 22: What is research?

This week, the students watched the video created by Miss Wilmes for Catholic Schools Week.  This video was created to present a snapshot of the events thus far here at St. Margaret of York.  We discussed the way she had to research in order to come up with this final presentation.  This kicked off our unit on "research", as the students are focusing on creating their own presentation in PowerPoint.

INSPIRATION?  
Ever seen the Microsoft commercial of "Why We Need a Dog"?  A little boy created a presentation to persuade his parents to adopt a dog.  All students are creating a presentation just like this little boy did in PowerPoint.  Kindergarten - Second graders are using MaxShow (the elementary version of PowerPoint).  Check out the commercial:  "Why We Need a Dog"

BRAINSTORMING:
Research does not happen overnight.  In fact, it's not easy -- but over the next 3 weeks, we are going to learn the best ways to research.  The first two steps in research are "Questioning" and "Planning".  These week, your students used a graphic organizer to brainstorm about their project.

THE PROJECT:
Each student needs a main idea of something they want to persuade their audience.  Their audience can be anyone they choose, such as their teacher, parents, brother or sisters, etc.  Each student needs 4 supporting arguments to persuade their audience.  Just like a good lawyer or a great researcher, each student needs to have valid arguments backed up by research.  This week, we choose our topic and four supporting ideas we would like to research in the weeks to come.

Example:  Topic - Why We need a Dog 

4 Arguments:  

1.  Teaches me Responsibility

2.  Dog Owners Live Longer

3.  Protection

4.  Dogs are Man's Best Friend

STILL STUCK ON TOPIC CHOICES?  Here are a few to consider:
-School Uniforms
-Kids & Cellphones
-Pop allowed at lunches
-Family Pets
-Vacation Destination
-Private vs. Public education
-School all year round
-Allowance
-Disney World vs. Disney Land
-Snow Days
-Which subjects should be taught in school
-What foreign languages should one know
-Online Classes
-Public Transportation
-Sport activities offered

Science Projects + Facebook layout: 7th Grade

The seventh graders have been working hard researching rocks in science class.  They have learned about this information in their science classroom and have been able to use their lab time to research more about the rocks they are studying in class.  In order to organize all of their information in a creative fashion, students put their information into a Faux Facebook graphic organizer.  Students had to come up with a way to share all about their specific rock by creating a Facebook profile.  They have to find out where the rocks were located, as well as find "friends" of which these types of rocks would associate.  This project not only allowed the students to learn more about their rocks, but connected their learning to popular social media features.


Check out some of their examples!

MaxWrite: K-2nd Grade

While the older kids have been working on a unit of Keyboarding, the Kindergarten through Second Graders have been working on a software program called MaxWrite.

MAXWRITE:

MaxWrite is a software program that is very similar to Microsoft Word.  This program is an elementary version of Microsoft Office's Word Processor to teach students how to insert clip art into a document, edit fonts and font sizes, as well as combine drawing (called MaxPaint), text, and photos.  Students have been working on how to create borders around invitations, write letters, and add images to make their document complete.  It is a unique educational software program designed specifically with kids in mind!


CURIOUS?
If you like to try a trial-version of this software program without having to purchase this, feel free to check out Scholastic Key's website.  They offer a 45-day trial program for "Max Toolbox" which contains the kid-versions of Microsoft Office (MaxWrite), PowerPoint (MaxShow), and Excel (MaxCount).  If you would like to purchase this software program for your home computers, it is $59.00.  Built into these programs is a paint-friendly software program called MaxPaint.  Since these programs are compatible with Microsoft Office, please make sure you have Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint installed on your computer.

Podcasting: 6th Grade

Although we have worked our way through a unit on Keyboarding, some of the classes have been able to use their lab time to work on a few special projects.  Technology is an important part of the school week, and we teachers have been able to work together to integrate technology to combine time spent in the computer lab and other classrooms.  Check out the cool projects some of your students are learning!

PODCASTS:

A podcast is a type of digital media that connects audio and a media player.  Sometimes podcasts just contain audio that can be listened to on your individual medial player (such as an iPod or mp3 player) -- radios sometimes record their broadcasts and put them online, making them podcasts.  In our case, we took audio and picture files and combined them into a unique podcast to present student work.

For example, the 6th graders recorded their voices by reading a poem they created, describing their personalities and interests.  They then either scanned in pictures to make them digital or downloaded them from the internet and saved them into their projects.  After aligning their voice and the pictures in a software program called GarageBand on their student MacBooks, they inserted music tracks, such as jingles, to give their project that final touch.  After they finished editing their podcast, they imported their project into iTunes to be played on portable devices or computers.

CURIOUS?  Check these two podcasts!