Week of March 3, 2008

This is butterfly week! The second graders are learning about butterflies in science. The teacher and I planned some computer activities both to help the students learn about butterflies and develop some new computer skills. We used the mobile lab. These students had not used the laptops here at school before, so it was a very exciting experience for them.
In order to make things a little easier for them, I created templates for their projects and put them on my Webpage. They could just go to the page and download the template to their computer.
The first time we met, the students logged into NetTrekker and researched their favorite animals. Then they created an animal riddle using facts about the animal and inserted a picture. For the next project, the students learned about the differences between moths and butterflies and added their comparisions to a Double Bubble Map. Using NetTrekker, the students also researched the body parts of a butterfly, the butterfly life cycle, and learned interesting facts about butterflies. Then they inputted the information into a PowerPoint template.
We worked on these projects during conference week so the teacher had an opportunity to share the work with the teachers. When we came back from school after our Spring break, the students were anxious to use NetTrekker again in the computer lab and use the skills they had developed!

Week of February 25, 2008

I spent most of this week working with 7th graders in math. They have been working on geometry and the teacher wanted to be sure they knew the attributes of 2D and 3D shapes and the different measurements of circles.
We worked a lot on vocabulary and had the students use some interactive online dictionaries to look up the words and be able to use the interactive activities to help with their understanding. The teacher uses a 4-square chart for the students to write the word, a definition, and draw a graphic of the word.
After we reviewed the vocabulary, the students learned how to download a Polygon Game and 3D Shapes Game worksheet from my Webpage. Both of the worksheets are created in Excel and are just different way for students to be exposed to the Excel software. They learned to drag and drop shapes into place on the worksheet and they typed attribute information into the cells.
After the students researched the definitions of circle measurements, they began creating PowerPoint presentations. The students learned how to use the drawing toolbar to illustrate chords, arcs, sectors, central angles, diameters, and so on. When they had built their presentations, they could go in and add backgrounds, animations, and sounds.
When everyone had finished their PPT, they presented them to the class.
The students now have the opportunity to go to my Webpage and take the practice quiz to see how much they have learned about circles!
This was a very exciting lesson. The students challenged the teacher and I a lot with their questions. One student asked, "If there is a 2-dimension and a 3-dimension, is there a 1-dimension?" We looked it up and found out there is a 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 dimension! As we were discussing 3D shapes, a student in another core asked what shape a football is? We didn't know but quickly researched and found out it is an "ellipsoid" which is formed by rotating an ellipse around its axis. It was really awesome to have these students thinking and asking questions. It really was an exciting week!