Madison Creek Elementary Computer Lab

This two-week period find us both increasing our skills and learning brand new programs.  Kindergarten, first, and second grades are exposed to Education City, a subscription website that covers Language Arts, Math, and Science.  If you have an internet connection, you should have received a login for your child which allows you access the website after school hours (if you need to know your child's information, just send me an email.)  What a great way for you to let your child "play" on the computer at home, but know that they are learning something in the process.  For my first grade classes that meet twice, they are working on Reader Rabbit Kindergarten, a game they really enjoyed last year.  Second graders must complete one stage in Dance Mat Typing before going to Education City.  Third graders also spend about fifteen minutes typing before moving on to Turbo Math Facts, where they get lots of practice on their math facts.  There is a reward of getting to buy your own race car and racing against the current champ, Turbo Tom, if you've earned enough dollars for quick, correct answers.  Fourth grade is creating a mini PowerPoint presentation.  They were exposed to this last year, so for most everyone, this is a review of the basics.  Finally, fifth grade is practicing typing skills for a few minutes, then back to their Scratch programming projects this week.

Whew!  All the beginning of the year testing is now behind us and we can be wholly dedicated to learning new computer skills and building upon what we already know.  Most grades are having 'carpet time' where we go through a PowerPoint and discuss what technology means and the primary computer components.  We review the basics of the desktop:  opening programs, minimizing and maximizing windows, and how folders work.  Then the students go to their computers and have the opportunity to practice using the shift key in Word, using the enter and backspace keys, and doing a bit of keyboarding in the program.  Older students spend a few extra minutes improving their typing speed.  Fifth graders are also shown the basics of Scratch (free and downloadable at home!) which is a fun application for learning how to program with these color-coded 'building blocks.'  Scratch allows students to select characters called sprites, costume them, animate them, choose backgrounds, and add sounds (we'll this one a little later in the year.)  I hope you encourage your children to practice their typing skills at home.  At the end of the school year, Tennessee technology standards are for third graders to be able to type ten words per minute, fourth - fifteen words, and fifth grade - twenty words (with hands in the correct home-row position.)  I want every student to be able to meet these goals and appreciate your help and encouragement with this.

We have had a great first two weeks of school.  I have enjoyed seeing all of my returning students and learning the names of our new faces, too.  Three times a year (beginning, middle, and end of school year) testing in the computer lab of your children is done in order to see where they are currently and how to best help them achieve maximum growth.  A STAR reading test is one tool that provides an approximate reading level (2nd - 5th grades first nine weeks.)  During our first class meeting, a brief introduction, computer lab rules, and seat assignments were made.  Then the STAR test was administered (about a fifteen minute test.)  During the remaining classtime (and for those classes that meet twice) keyboarding was emphasized.  Younger grades play on the website Dance Mat Typing while 3rd - 5th grades practiced on Kid's Typing Skills, with the expectations that correct finger positions be used for both programs.  Tennessee technology standards require the following words-per-minute: 3rd - 10 wpm, 4th - 15 wpm, and 5th 20 wpm.  We will be striving toward these goals all year.  We also played a "Find the Technology" game which helps kids learn about twelve different technology items and determine whether each is an input or output device.  Orchard is county-provided program for Math and Language Arts (K - 5th) where the benchmark tests generate custom assignments based on missed questions and students can play games that will help fill in those gaps.  The testing period is August 22 - September 2.  First and second grades are required to take benchmarks in Math, while older grades test in Math and Language.  Few students are able to complete both tests in one 45-minute class, so most will return to the lab sometime during this two-week period to get completed.  Once the benchmark(s) is done, I have the students work on their individual 'skill trees' (as they are called in Orchard) until class is over.  What's coming up??  Return here at the beginning of September to see.

Hello!  Mrs. Adcox here.  This is the place where you can find out what we are doing and learning in the computer lab.  Most classes come to Computers every other week (we alternate weeks with the Library), so I will be updating this blog bi-weekly.  I'll give you a brief description of the lessons by grade so you can be aware of our activities.  Thanks for reading!