Heartshape Writing

Just in time for Valentine’s Day! This website is easy for students to maneuver. I asked the students to write about Valentine’s Day. The students were directed to click the heart and copy and paste their work at this Web 2.0 website. It does open into a .pdf file. The students have options to print and save. I asked the students to put their name at the bottom of their document. This way I can easily see how has printed and who has not printed.

http://www.festisite.com/text-layout/

Descriptive Writing

Reading Educator Blogs can really inspire a teacher to be creative and try new lesson ideas. Listed are just a few websites that lend themselves to creative writing. I love the ideas that can be found at this website. http://technologylessons.blogspot.com/

The author of the aforementioned blog showed how using the following websites can help student create a silly or wild self. I like relating the project to a book, such as The Snowy Day or Where the Wild Things Are. As mentioned in the blog, I concur that after lots of giggling, students made a snowman. I had them use F11 key, copy (print screen) and paste into paint to cut parts they didn’t want away. I like pasting my projects in PowerPoint because it creates a nice frame that is around the paper when it is printed. Also, saving in PowerPoint gives the option to save as a .jpg for future use. Students can write about their creations using descriptive adjectives.

Students can also create their wild self using Microsoft Paint, as shown in the picture.





Create a silly snowman.

http://swf.whodressup.net/Build_a_Snowman.swf






Another fun website is
Build your wild self
http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

One of my favorite ways of teaching is to use literature. Microsoft Word: Simple Project Primary is a great resource to meet this need. This project integrates Social Studies with Technology and is suggested for grades 1-3. I teach this lesson to my second graders. After reading The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown, the students will write about important things about their school. I pass out a planning sheet for the students to write down what they want to type in the computer. Next, the students will open an existing word document and modify it with the words that they wrote from their planning sheet.

There are so many ways that this lesson can be extended. Students can make a digital recording of their voice of what they wrote in a power point presentation. A picture of the important things around our school can be added to the power point slide or to their word document.

Here is an example:
The parts not italicized are part of the planning sheet.

The Important Thing About School
The Important thing about school is the students.
It needs students to lean,
and to play during recess,
and to make friends during lunch,
and go to specials,
and come to see their favorite computer teacher,
But the important thing about school is the students.

Internet Safety Awareness

Computer Safety is taught throughout the year. A concentrated effort of teaching Computer and Internet safety is taught in January since many students have received computers or some kind of digital recording device.

Here are some of my favorite web links that I use to reinforce what I have taught in the classroom.

A Common Sense Approach to Internet Safety

Official Get Your Web License with PBS


Cyberbully and more Internet Safety

The Boy Who Loved IM: A Lesson in Instant Messaging
Clicky tells the story of a boy who loves to IM his friends. What should he do when he receives a message from someone he doesn't know? Watch to see if he remembers to "Use Your NetSmartz"!


The Password Rap: A Lesson in Internet Privacy
Tune in to Clicky's new rap to learn how to make a strong password. Why are they important? How do you create one? Watch and find out!

Don't Open That File: A Lesson in Computer Viruses
Clicky raps about the dangers of viruses and how they can make your computer sick. Learn how to use your NetSmartz and protect your computer from getting a virus.

Privacy Playground: The First Adventure of the Three CyberPigs
(Ages 8-10)
In this first adventure, the CyberPigs learn about online marketing, and about protecting their privacy as they surf the Internet.


CyberSense and Nonsense: The Second Adventure of the Three CyberPigs
(Ages 9-12)
In their second adventure, the CyberPigs explore the world of chat rooms and learn to distinguish between fact and fiction, and to detect bias and harmful stereotyping in online content.

Net Know How
This website has a lot of great resources on Plagriasm, copyright, cyberbullying. It is well oraganized and has a lot of information for both teacher and student resources.

Faux Pau the Techno Cat