Cycle 13

Gingerbread Men, Gingerbread Houses and Holiday Lights Math

 

Full Day Kindergarten--The full day kindergarten class will be using a variety of shapes to create a gingerbread man.  The students reviewed circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, cones, spheres and cubes.  The students printed out a coloring page of their gingerbread men.  You can always create more gingerbread men here.

 

Second Grade--The second grade students finished their mystery pictures in Excel and then practiced their math facts.  For each correct problem they answered, they received 10 holiday lights.  When their time was up, they were able to use the lights they earned to decorate a house.  See how many holiday lights you can earn by playing Holiday Lights Math.

 

First Grade--The first grade students are building gingerbread houses. When they are finished with their gingerbread house, they will use descriptive sentences to describe their house.  Have some fun building a Gingerbread House.  

 

The students in Mrs. Eckenrode's 2nd grade class watched Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch and then used their 500 coloring markers to create pictures.  Listen to the students tell you about the day they got 500 Coloring Markers.

 

 

Cycle 12

MYSTERY PICTURE IN EXCEL AND EMAIL

Second Grade Mystery Picture in Excel--During this cycle the students will be reintroduced to Excel.  We will talk about the rows and columns and how they intersect to form a cell.  We will also discuss how to move from cell to cell and how to tell which cell you are located in by looking at the Name Box.  We will be using the formula bar to enter data.  Once we are familiar with Excel, we will be locating certain cells and using the fill color icon to color the cells.  When the students are finished they will unveil a mystery picture. Hint:  A place for the person listed below to live

First Grade E-Mail Holiday Postcards--During this cycle, the students are learning about Electronic Mail or E-mail.  The students will learn that just like when we send a letter in the mail we need an address, we also need an address when sending E-mail.  The students will learn the three parts to an email address:  username, @, and domain (company providing the E-mail).  Then, the students will be using the Scholastic Web site http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/ecards/ to send holiday e-cards to a family member.  This will give us practice using our shift key for capital letters and to make the @.

I hope everyone receives the special holiday message sent by the 1st graders, but if you (or the special person) did not receive the email, it may have been blocked by spam filters or we may have misspelled the address.  We did our best!--Mr. Willson

Cycle 11

                                                     

SUMDOG MATH CONTEST

During this cycle the students will be practicing their math at www.sumdog.com.  The Lincoln Intermediate Unit and Sumdog are sponsoring a competition among the schools in the IU.  The contest runs until December 7. Schools earn points for each correct answer that is submitted during the competition.  Your student can participate in the competition.  They login with their computer username and password.  The school code they need to enter is yorkshire-elementary-school. 

Good Luck Yorkshire Elementary!

Cycle 10

 

CELEBRATION DAY!

This cycle we are taking time to celebrate our accomplishments in computer class so far this year.  We have been busy bees working in the computer lab, learning how to save our files, use our mouse to click and double click, how to use Pixie for writing, how to use our SHIFT key to create capital letters, and how to log off and shut down or restart our computers.

In celebration of Thanksgiving, Yorkie Bear showed us some Thanksgiving activities and we had fun celebrating our great "bee"havior in computer class with an activities day.  Below are some of the activities that Yorkie shared with the students.  Feel free to try them at home.

Thanksgiving Find a Word 

Thanksgiving Hidden Picture 

Turkey Flibriks  

Turkey Surprise 

The students are having a great time working with SumDog Math.  Our next contest starts on November 30, 2012.  We will be competing against the other school districts in our IU.  Students can access SumDog Math at home.  By visiting

http://www.sumdog.com/sch/yorkshire-elementary-school

The students will need to enter their computer username and password in order to play at home.

 

Cycle 9

 

 THANKFULNESS

As the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaches, during the next 13 school days, we will be talking about an attitude of gratitude.  During this time, the students will be challenged to be more thankful--show appreciation more--and be more gracious throughout the remainder of this month.

Full Day Kindergarten--The students will be discussing things they are thankful for and then will complete a Thanksgiving hidden picture from the Highlights for Kids website.

Second Grade--The students will be learning about the First Thanksgiving by watching a BrainPOP Jr.. video.  After the video, the students will brainstorm a list of items that they are thankful for.  They will learn about the "comma" key and how to use a comma to separate words and word groups with a series of three or more. The students will then use Pixe to create an "I am Thankful" cornucopia.

First Grade--The students will be learning about the First Thanksgiving by watching a Brainpopjr. video. After the video, the students will review how to create capital letters on the computer. The students will create a Thanksgiving placecard for their Thanksgiving table.

 

Cycle 8

Carving Pumpkins, Scarecrow Writing and the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Full Day Kindergarten--The students will be visiting http://www.abcya.com to Carve a Pumpkin.  We will talk about shapes and how to draw a variety of shapes as we carve our pumpkin.  When we are finished, we will add our name to the pumpkin--practicing the SHIFT key, and then we will print the pumpkin.

Second Grade--The students will be visiting the Highlights for Kids website and will be building a scarecrow.  After the students print their scarecrow, they will use Pixie to create a descriptive writing about their scarecrow.

First Grade--The students will be learning about pumpkins.  When should you plant a pumpkin seed?  What two things does a pumpkin seed need to grow into a pumpkin?  How long does it take a pumpkin seed to turn into a pumpkin?  What is the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin?  The students will be watching a Teacher Tube video on the life cycle of a pumpkin and will learn about each of the stages.  Using Pixie, the students will create the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Cycles 6 and 7



FALL, GOLDEN EGGS, AND RAINBOW ALPHABETS

Full Day Kindergarten--the full day kindergarten students reviewed how to access Reading Eggs from the school district website. The students then logged into their Reading Eggs account and learned how to spend the golden eggs that they have earned.  The students enjoyed buying parts to create their own Avatar to use during Reading Eggs time.  Remember if you have a computer with Internet access at home, your child can access Reading Eggs from home.

Second Grade--the students began class by watching a BrainPop Jr. video about Fall.  They learned when fall occurrs, Fall holidays celebrated around the world, and what animals do during the Fall to prepare for winter.  After the video, we completed a graphic organizer about Fall.  The students listed the things that they see, hear and smell during the fall.  Using Pixie, the students began working on a Fall writing about the things they see hear and smell during the fall.  They will add images to support their writing before printing their completed project.  Watch for your child's writing to come home and have him/her share it with you.

First Grade--During these cycles, the students are continuing to practice using the Shift keys to make Capital letters.  We learned how Excel is made up of rows and columns and practiced making capital letters by creating the alphabet in Excel.  We practiced using our Tab key to move from column to column.  We learned how to save our document in our network drive.  Key terms:  Shift Key, Tab Key, Excel, rows and columns.

Cycle 5

Reading Eggs and Fire Prevention

Full Day Kindergarten--the full day kindergarten students reviewed how to access Reading Eggs from the school district website. The students then logged into their Reading Eggs account and spent the period completing activities to help them become better readers. The kindergarten students are doing a great job with their Reading Eggs lessons.  If you have a computer with Internet access at home, your child can access Reading Eggs from home.

Second Grade--the second grade students began class by watching Stop Drop and Roll by the City of Ocoee's Fire Department.  During the video, the students learned what to do if their clothing catches on fire.  Using Pixie the students created a Stop Drop and Roll poster.

First Grade--the first grade students began class by learning about Sparky the fire dog.  The students read The Story of Sparky the Fire Dog.  Then the students watched several Sparky Fire Safety Videos.  Ask your child what they should do if a room is filled with smoke or if their clothing catch on fire.  Using Pixie the students then created a drawing of Sparky the Fire Dog to demonstrate their ability to follow directions.  You can find the directions for drawing Sparky here.

Cycle 4

Reading Eggs, Publishing Books, and Using the SHIFT Key

Full Day Kindergarten--the full day kindergarten students reviewed how to access Reading Eggs from the school district website. The students then logged into their Reading Eggs account and spent the period completing activities to help them become better readers.  The students are doing a great job and are earning lots of golden eggs.  Next class period the students will learn how to spend their golden eggs and how to access the Reading Eggs Game Room.  If you have a computer with Internet access at home, your child can access Reading Eggs from home.

Second Grade--the students reviewed the following rhyme to help them remember what their mouse pointer does:

Four arrows let me move and go.  

Two arrows let me shrink and grow.

Then the students finished their book about Johnny Appleseed and printed a copy to bring home.  Sit down with your child and have him/her share the book with you.  Below is a copy of the book the students created.  This creation belongs to Ben in Mrs. Eckenrode's class.

First Grade--during this cycle, the students created Yorkie Bear name tags for on their classroom lockers.  The students learned how to make capital letters on their keyboard by holding down the shift key with one hand and using the other hand to type the letter they wanted to be capitalized.  Emphasis is placed on using the Shift Key and not the Caps Lock to make capital letters.  The students also talked about using the period key and the space bar.  Then the students learned the following poem:

Four arrows let me move and go.  

Two arrows let me shrink and grow.

The students needed to use this poem and their mouse pointer in order to move and resize Yorkie Bear for their name tags.  

Cycle 3

Reading Eggs, Johnny Appleseed, and IXL Math

Full Day Kindergarten--the full day kindergarten students reviewed how to access Reading Eggs from the school district website. The students then logged into their Reading Eggs account and spent the period completing activities to help them become better readers.  If you have a computer with Internet access at home, your child can access Reading Eggs from home.

Second Grade--during this cycle, the students watched a BrainPop Jr. video about John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed).  We discussed how Johnny Appleseed traveled the United States, planting nurseries full of apple trees.  We learned that he traded his trees for the things he needed and that he believed that everyone should live a simple life, taking and using only what they need.  He believed that everyone should respect one another and live peacefully together.  The students then began to use Pixie 3 to create a booklet about Johnny Appleseed's life.  The students learned how to use text boxes, clipart and that our mouse pointer can turn into a four-headed arrow and a two-headed arrow. The students learned the following rhyme to help them remember what their mouse pointer does:

Four arrows let me move and go.  Two arrows let me shrink and grow.

The students learned to save their file in their network account, and will complete the booklet next cycle and print a copy to bring home.

First Grade--During this cycle, the students learned how to access IXL Math from the school district website (For Students Tab).  The students' username and password are the same six digit number they use in the cafeteria and their password is the month and day of their birthday (4-digit number).  After logging in to IXL Math, the students spent the class period practicing their math skills.  IXL is a comprehensive, standards-aligned math program offering unlimited practice in thousands of skills. One of the best things about IXL is that students can access it from school and from home!  Your child's classroom teacher will be sending additional information about IXL Math home with your child.