Week 7 - Saving Descriptive Writing (Part 2)

Dancing waves. Wicked seas. And salty air. These are just some of the exceptional descriptions I read over the shoulders of the Baker third grades this week. Last week's descriptive writing and saving exercise was such a success, we decided to do another one this week. I could listen to some of this writing all day. And the saving process is almost second nature now. Great work!!!

Week 6 - Saving Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing is a skill that requires a lot of practice. And it's rarely perfect the first time. So knowing how to save (and to properly name your files) is essential. This week, I gave the students three works of art and asked them to type a brief description of each. They were asked to explore their senses and put that into their writing. They worked on each for a few minutes, then were asked to save it and move on to the next one. After they completed a brief description and saved all three, I asked them to pick their favorite, go back to their personal drive, find that file (now they know why it's so important to give your file a good name), open that file, and continue to explore their senses, building on their description. As usual, proper touch typing was mandatory. Our third graders really showed off their vivid imaginations and exceptional writing skills. Great work!

Week 5 - Naming and Saving Files

Saving is a very important part of working with computers. So we dedicate a lot of time to the process of saving. And a big part of that process is giving a proper name to your file. This week, the third graders were builders. As their "foreman," I asked them to create a house. The only requirement I gave them was that their house had to be the color I specified. All other aspects of the design were up to them. I asked them to build three different houses with three different colors. They had to save each one, giving each file an appropriate name. So when I asked to "review their designs" of their pink house, they should be able to find and open that file without trouble. We built some nice neighborhoods this week, But more importantly, we created a solid foundation for proper saving of  computer files.

Week 4 - Typing Race (September)

Each year, the classes compete against each other in a typing speed competition. The winning class gets crowned Baker Third Grade Typing Champion and wins a trophy to keep in their classroom at the end of the year. This year, we're racing with rockets. Get ready for LIFTOFF!

During the first leg of our race, Mr. Dickerson's class jumped out to the early lead. They had an average typing speed of 9 words per minute. And Deven B. was our Typing Supernova this month with an amazing 29 wpm!! Great job job to Deven and all of our third graders. Keep practicing (check out theTyping Practice tab at the top of this page for some great typing practice resources)! There's plenty of racing ahead!

Week 3 - My Treasures

It's always nice to hear about the people and things that are important to the Baker students. The "My Treasures" exercise gives me a chance to do just that. It also provides a great review of some of the "special" keys on the keyboard and how they work. Students click on the gold coins and type a few sentences about someone or something that is important to them. Bikes, video games, dogs...all of these things hold a special place in the hearts of the Baker third graders. Oh...some family members do too. :-)

Week 2 - Busy, busy, busy

It's week 2 and we're not wasting any time getting started. This week, we reviewed the different kinds of computers, the different parts of computers, and the login procedure. We also shook the rust off of our typing fingers and jumped on TypingClub for some much needed keyboarding practice. Overall, it was a very productive week.

Week 1 - Welcome Back!

It's important to start the year off right. So after a quick "welcome back," we talked about some of the changes to the lab, some of the procedures we will follow, and some of the rules we need to obey.

One of the most important rules is "KEEP SMILING." First, the smile emoticon is used to indicate class behavior and we want to encourage everyone to keep it on the smile...as opposed to this guy >>>  :-(

But more importantly, "KEEP SMILING" is a reminder that computers should be exciting and fun. And although they may be difficult and frustrating at times, we need to stay positive and never let the computer get us upset. Remember, it's just a machine.