10Tech Elementary Learn & Earn: Student Computer Lab and Netbook Time

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Student Computer Lab and Netbook Time

Wow, is it computer lab again already?! Well, what should the class do? Let's see, last week they spent the whole time on google images; some of them actually researched for their animal report. The week before that we did Dance Mat Typing. Maybe I'll send them to play some math games on learning links.

If you have ever gone through this type of though process when it is your class' turn to go to the lab or use the netbooks, you're not alone! Although we know it is much more beneficial to integrate technology as a device that enhances a lesson or unit, there just isn't enough time to plan this out ahead of time. Hopefully this post will help you find meaningful ways for your students to use computers without several extra hours of planning.

ReadWriteThink.org is a website with specific student-friendly programs and organizational tools. I stumbled across this site when I was looking for a way for my class to effectively organize a persuasive writing piece. I wanted this organizational tool to be something the students can access on the computer, since they are doing most of their research on computers. This site had the perfect program I was looking for! Now my class can research and organize at the same time on their computers without having to go back and forth between paper and computer.

This website has several applications for all major elementary (and beyond) subjects. To find student-friendly programs that fit your grade level and topic, simply click on your grade level on the left side of the screen. If you know specifically what type of program you are looking for, just type it into the "search" box in the upper left hand corner of the site. To find the program my class has been using I simply typed in "persuasive writing." That's it!

Your task this week is to explore the website and try to find an application that your students could use together as a class. In your response this week, let us know what program you found and how you plan to use it. If you cannot find a program you would use with your class, tell us about one way you currently use your computer lab/netbook time.

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denise strom · 783 weeks ago

That's cool! My class will be doing a poetry unit after the MSP, so finding a poetry site is awesome! Particularly the "diamante" poems...we already do those in class...now students can enjoy using technology to publish their poems!

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Kim Schmitz · 783 weeks ago

I think that I have been motivated now to give the netbooks a try. I am going to go and get one tomorrow and see how they work. Depending on what reading level I have the next time, I may like to try doing some reading comprehesion activities from this site. The netbooks may really motivate the kids to try something different. I may also like to try the netbooks with my high math in motion students to explore time and money activities. I am really excited to give this a try. I am also excited to go back to the site later on tonight and do more exploration. Thanks!!

4 replies · active 777 weeks ago

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Molly Klemkow · 783 weeks ago

Since I teach preschool it has been difficult for me to find ways to integrate technology into my classroom. I only have one computer in my classroom. I did find the ABC match games to be very interesting. Most of my kids don't know there letters but some do. I am going to bring up this website and see how the kids do. This is when I think it would be useful to have a document camera so that I could work through these games with my whole class or even use it as a small group activity. Once the kids seem comfortable using the program I can then let them use it independently. I am really excited about using this program in my class. I am so excited that I have found something from this class that I can use in my class :) Thank You!

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Wendy Ward · 783 weeks ago

I found some good sites teaching about keeping your heart healthy through exercise and nutrition that I could use when teaching PE. I wouldn't use the netbooks in here, but would use the information to help improve my instruction. They had a few pictures that may be worth sharing on the doc camera.

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mark lange · 783 weeks ago

The site was good. I did find some pages involving reading, writing and problem solving that I could use. However, for this post, I wanted to share how I plan on using the netbooks for the last few weeks of class. Every year, I assign the Million $ Project out of the 5th grade Everyday Math book. Usually, I give the assignment and my students are expected to do everything at home. This year though, I plan on doing the project in class using the netbooks. The project consists of students picking a theme and then trying to spend a million dollars to make it come to life. Some examples I have had in the past are; skateboard park, ballet studio, dream vacations, houses, media rooms, etc. It is a cool project that the kids really get into. In the past it was an option to do the work on a computer. continued...

1 reply · active 777 weeks ago

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mark lange · 783 weeks ago

Most of my students chose to use the worksheets I provided for them and put them all on a poster board for their final project. Since I have the netbooks though, I am going to teach them how to reproduce everything. Some of things we will do are; using the internet to research products they will buy, reproduce accounting worksheets in Word using tables, creating graphs using Excel and Word, and finally putting it all together in a PowerPoint presentation.

2 replies · active 778 weeks ago

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Ruth Cerna · 783 weeks ago

A colleague of mine shared this site with me in September. I use the classroom resources frequently but I have never looked at the parent resource area. It is pretty good so I will be adding it my Swift website. The parent resource area has tips, games and printouts. There are podcast episodes for parents as well! I am doing a parent training in April and will share this site with parents as a resource. I like that it is affiliated with NCTE and IRA too.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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debbieo · 782 weeks ago

I found a fantastic lesson using the book "Math Curse" by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. It integrates the two subjects I teach in the resource room and uses technology. I'm excited to use it toward the end of the year to "wrap up" and celebrate all we've learned in math, reading, and writing this year!

1 reply · active 778 weeks ago

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Tina McDaniel · 782 weeks ago

I really liked this site! I found a program for onset and rimes for beginning readers. I have always had pretty good luck with the computer lab and the first graders being "ready" for activities. I think this would be a good activity for the beginning of the year with readers who are just learning how to read. I also agree with Kim as far as using it for higher readers for comprehension. I have not yet used the netbooks with my class, but I am excited to try it!

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Angelina Perkes · 782 weeks ago

I found several activities/practice items I can use with my students when they are given time to practice reading skills or other skills on the computer. One example is: Student Interactive-Construct-a-Word.

1 reply · active 777 weeks ago

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Tenaya Williams · 782 weeks ago

What a great find! Now during lab my class can be on one site and I can differentiate instruction simply by directing students to learning appropriate activities. My first grade students will enjoy Shape Poems, Construct a Word, Word Family Sort, ABC Match, and Comic Creator. I also liked the classroom resources like the Calendar Activities, and printable organizers. Thanks for finding ReadWriteThink.org and sharing it with us!

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Evelyn · 782 weeks ago

As a reading teacher K-2, I never do tech lessons with the whole class. However I did find the lessons Tenaya mentioned above and will definitely use them for center activities, Under Won ders of Non Fiction Guided Inquiry I fouind a great tool teaching "what is a fact", and also some great resources for lst gr research/power point project. This was my favorite site so far. When I can use both habds again Id like to explore it more,

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Beth Belmondo · 781 weeks ago

I was very surprised to see some of the applications indicated they were for K+ students. I am always looking for new ideas in the computer lab! Unfortunately, when I clicked on some of the games/applications I soon saw they really were not for K students. The directions weren't read aloud, and were not simple enough for my students to read, and I couldn't see them using them in the computer lab.
When I take my kids to the lab we usually explore learning links games, sometimes we do step-by-step drawings in tux paint based on what we're learning (snowman, self-portrait, flowers) and we learn how to label with text. We make cards in Bailey's Bookhouse, and shape pictures to review our shapes in Millie's Mathhouse, and color those back in the classroom. Any other ideas for K students I would love to hear!

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Suz Chen · 781 weeks ago

I found a really cool lesson plan called "MyTube: Changing the World With Video Public Service Announcements" for teaching kids how to write PSAs that can be posted on Youtube. I could definitely see myself using this along with anti-bullying campaigns or even positive modeling. Who says we can only write negative PSAs?

Really cool resource! Thanks!

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cheryl reilly · 781 weeks ago

For younger children, the ones I liked were "ACTION ALPHABET BOOK" and "From Stop Signs to the Golden Arches: Environmental Print." Both activities were appropriate for preschoolers and focused on vocabulary development.

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Rosemary · 781 weeks ago

I was glad to have the 'assignment' to check out this site. A very long time ago, I ran across it and have the character creator cards and postcard creator as part of my classroom website links for students. Having the time to go back and try other interactive sites, I discovered the poetry lessons! We just wrote (very tirelessly) shape poems and this site would have given my kids a new spark for their writing. Some poems even let the word bank pop up as they write thier piece. Now I wll use the Acrostic Poem interactive as my kids complete our study of the rainforest animals of South America.
It is a rich site that has great lesson plans, student interactives and classroom resources. Checking Ruth's comment, I must go back and check out the parent resource tab.

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Teresa Eccles · 781 weeks ago

I really enjoy using ReadWriteThink.org it is a useful site that has so many different applications for my classroom. I have had students use the interactive Story Map as wll as many of their print graphic organizers such as their editing checklist. I also like how you can search for lessons for grade levels as well as by topic. The crossword creator game looks like a fun way to assess students on many topics.

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Jan · 781 weeks ago

I have used ReadWriteThink.org when I'm looking for ideas to teach a reading strategy. It was useful in helping me think about cause and effect. When I was searching I found a strategy that I didn't try much when it was presented during our Step Up to Writing training called "Insert" on this site where students use a check, minus, question mark, and plus to indicate if it was something new they read, contradicts, confuses, or is something new. I've always wanted to try this. I also found a printed handout called Podcasts: The Nuts and Bolts of Creating Podcasts. There were also many ways listed for uses of Podcasts in the classroom. I've added that to my favorites to go back and print out and read.

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Mona Best · 781 weeks ago

I found the Picture Match activity to be something I can use with some students to assist with beginning letter-sound identification. It's also a fun way to raise awareness regarding a sound that may be the target of speech therapy. Regarding language, the 'What's In the Bag' activity is something I will use this week with a kiddo who is working on inferencing/descriptive skills. Thanks!

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Renae Hanson · 781 weeks ago

I really like the site - this is the first time I've explored it. I didn't find a whole lot of resources to use for my current role, but I have bookmarked it for the day I go back to the classroom. I did play some of the early language games (letter/sound match) with my own kid. He really enjoyed it. When I taught 4th grade, I did a bit with idioms and I found some resources on this site. I also liked the cause and effect resource. Love it that the kids can work on the graphic organizer right there, add more/less boxes and print when they are finished. Thanks!

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Jessica Cooper · 781 weeks ago

I really like using the netbooks because they allow more time for students to have access to the computers. If I were going to use the Read-Write-Think website during my time with the netbooks, one thing I might try would be using the Plot Diagrams. This allows students to provide a title for each main event and then elaborate with a description. Then, studnets can drag it over to the diagram and print it out. This could either be used as a way to analyze a book or short story, or even as a prewrite to a piece of narrative of writing.

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Samantha Watkins · 781 weeks ago

I watched one of those webinars on line and I found Gail Lovely's simply box. I tried to set one up for myself with no luck so far. I would love to have the sites like she has set up but for now I just use hers. She has some great UK sites for early learners. Some of them are great for Kindy and also early first. If I can figurre out how to set one up I will send it to all of you...this is the link to hers http://www.gaillovely.com/

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Amy Cassady · 781 weeks ago

My kids have been working hard on leads. Grabbing the reader by the front of the shirt and yanking them into the story. So, I typed in leads. I found a great lesson about leads which also linked to the Read Write Think Printing press where kids can go to publish their writing in different ways. Loved this and am planning on making a class book of leads for my kids to use. Great site!

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Corrie Blechschmidt · 781 weeks ago

Great website! I liked the links for persuasive writing and the fractured fairytales. It is amazing all the great ideas that were right at my fingertips.Thanks for sharing this site and I am sure that I'll be using it in the future.

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Susan N. · 781 weeks ago

There are some good sites for beginning readers, like the word family sort, where students are given words and have to sort them into the correct word families. They could then print this out and have words to reread, use to make sentences, etc.

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