Technology

http://www.iste.org/ providing leadership and service to improve teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in education.

Blogging Sites http://www.blogs2teach.net/ http://buildablog.blogs2teach.net/ tutorial http://www.nicenet.org/ http://edublogs.org/

http://www.mail-archive.com/net-happenings@listserv.classroom.com/msg00011.html

This website is a great source of websites for different grade levels and subjects.http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm

Tech tutorials [|http://atomiclearning.com] individual subscription $99.99/year

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/ Providing a wealth of resources for K-12 science educators, Science NetLinks is your guide to meaningful standards-based Internet experiences for students. http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx Thinkfinity http://www.ecb.org/ttt/index.php Teaching Through Technology http://explore.ecb.org/surf/surf_report?subject=0 Surf report http://www.readwritethink.org/

Curriculum http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/curriculum/technology.html There is a library one too http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/computerskills/ http://cnets.iste.org/ **The National Educational Technology Standards** **(NETS) Project** is an ongoing initiative of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and a consortium of [|distinguished partners and co-sponsors] http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/rcps_tech/k5objectives.html

Lesson Ideas Use a blog to write a collaborative story

Create an About Me brochure. The students can then scan a picture of themselves to insert if you have the time/scanners available. Or it can be copied from some student data systems. Other wise skip that step. Then have them type up some simple facts about themselves--where they were born, who their family members are, what kind of home they live in, favorite animal, food, color etc. Each of these can be separate text box with a centered headline. Insert a clip art picture of the favorite animal or food. Have them include favorite music, personality traits, favorite quotes - you can use anything that appeals to this age group. Come up with 10-12 ideas and let them pick the ones they want to use. They can add clipart, citations from the Internet, etc. You can then teach them the functions of Publisher using something - in this case, someone- they are interested in.
 * Publisher lessons**

I did one several years ago where I let the students work in pairs. They had to select from a list of artists (it was in tandem with the music teacher). They had specific websites they were allowed to go to. Since most of them thought they knew what they were doing, I made it a no talking lesson - I had the requirements printed out on a day by day basis.

For example:

Day one:

1. Create a blank document in MSPublisher. Determine a title and save it to the netshare in the following format: last name. first name. date. title. Save it in the folder for this class. 2. Create a Word document and save it by the same name in the same folder.

This will be for your notes and source citations.

This way I didn't have to spend my time teaching them something they already knew. I had them read and take notes and cite sources in Word. Then they had to write for the brochure. My teaching portion was less than 10 minutes at the beginning of the class where I covered topics like editing and what makes a good brochure (choice of fonts, choice of color, layout, etc.) I let them create the way they wanted and made sure their names were not on them. This way I could use them for other classes to show what not to do or what worked.

I have done several of these from 4th-6th grade. The most effective piece of advice I can give you is to have them sit with a piece of paper and a pencil and take notes. I go step-by-step over each skill. As I demonstrate it I (via overhead projector) I say "Number 1 -Go to Insert, Text box." I do this with every step and continually ask, "Now, what number was I on?"Theyhave to keep their notes with their work. This is also effective when they need step by step directions for printing. I've had posters up in the room with instructions and students seemed oblivious to them. Once they had to write it down (whole group) it seemed to penetrate their precious gray matter.

Have a folder of computer challenges that I use in the classroom. The challenges can be completed when the work is done or can be used for substitute activities. In each challenge, I have ascenario set up and guidelines that need to be included in the project. For example, a student might assume they are the owner of a store and they need to design an advertisement in Word. The guidlelines might be to include a table in the advertisement, a page border, a logo designed in Paint, etc. The guidelines serve as a review for the covered material. Since students finish projects at different rates, it is nice to have the challenge activitiy available to review past skills.

Boolean searching - to teach or not to teach. some say that capitalized OR will work AND is genrally assumed, can use NOT or - before the word not to include. There is some question to if that really works. March 2008 LMC has a chart to what search engine uses what boolean terms. Use the advanced search tool and don't worry about remembering which search engine recongizes which delimiter or help students find better keywords to search with.
 * Boolean**