PlatoWeb--Math Success--Jessie Clark Middle

Jessie Clark was one of several middle schools that purchased the PlatoWeb Online Learning program.  The school was going to use the program as part of its ESS services at first, but after attending the training, the Technology Resource Teacher realized this program could be used for a lot more than remediation.  It could also be used to motivate and challenge students.  By using the wireless laptop lab, students could work in their classrooms at their own pace and facilitate their own learning.  Through a collaborative effort between a 7^th grade math teacher and the technology resource teacher, StarMath scores were looked at and an individualized program of instruction was developed for her math students.  This idea expanded to another enrichment math class and the technology was used as a motivational tool, along with the individualized Plato programs, for struggling math students.  A third math class began using the program to review materials for the CATS testing in the area of geometry.  All three teachers felt, once you got past the “technology challenges”, the students benefited in a variety of ways.  Check out the video created by teacher Melanie Thompson!

Talking Books--The Academy

At The Academy at Lexington, Mrs. Gay's kindergarten class made up their own story using a wordless picture book called Tuesday by David Wiesner. The Technology Resource Teacher scanned the pictures from the book and put them into Windows Movie Maker. The pictures were projected on a screen. Next the students came up one at a time and made up text to go along with each picture. They recorded this text using a microphone. This was truly an "on demand "writing and composing task.

Foreign Language Fun--LTMS

Foreign language students at LTMS are using technology!  Students in 7th grade French classes are working on a PowerPoint “calendar.” Using the handouts view, students can print all 12 months on the front and back of one page. Applying vocabulary learned in class and from on-line dictionaries, students give the month, days, colors, and holidays associated with each month in French. Additionally, students add four French words/phrases that relate to each month of the year.

Students in 6th grade Latin classes have used TimeLiner to print banners and word walls of new vocabulary. By typing the words and their definitions students interact with the new vocabulary. By finding a picture they associate with the meaning, students are able to learn the new words quickly. Adding different categories, flags, colors, and pictures, visual/kinesthetic students use TimeLiner to master the vocabulary in a unique fashion.

You can see actual student samples of this work in this month's Through a Student's Eyes.

Spring Planting--James Lane Allen

Mrs. Harris' K-1 class at James Lane Allen has been learning from the world around them. Since spring is the time of year for new growth, it's been a perfect opportunity to learn about plant parts and growth in their science class. As part of their studies, students recently created pictures of flowers in which they labeled the parts of flower, stem, leaves and roots using the Paint program. During a lesson in the computer lab, students first viewed a quick Flash movie that is part of the SMART
Board 9.0 software on seeds and plants. Then they reviewed the parts of a plant they had previously studied in their classroom. Finally, students went to their own computer and generated their own image of a flower which they then labeled. The students really enjoyed the activity and did a great job with their work.

You can see actual student samples of this work in this month's Through a Student's Eyes.

Colonial Days--Cassidy Elementary

At Cassidy Elementary, three 5th grade classes participated in creating a documentary on Colonial Occupations. They used Windows Movie Maker to produce the documentary along with pictures taken on a field trip to Conner Prairie, in their classroom during their Colonial Days fair, from books, and from the Internet. The student picked three pictures they wanted to use, and wrote their own scripts using a storyboard. We recorded their scripts and attached them to the appropriate pictures. Everyone was so excited to hear themselves, but no one believed they sounded like that! We are looking forward to creating another Movie Maker project!

Click here to view the finished movie.

5th Grade American History Projects--SCAPA Bluegrass

With CATS testing swiftly approaching, SCAPA Bluegrass 5th grade teachers Andréa Klein and Beth Randolph needed to address as much Social Studies core content as possible in a short period of time. They worked together to create projects using Project Poster http://poster.hprtec.org. Ms. Klein's students were given different topics in American history from the Civil War until the end of World War II; while Ms. Randolph's students were each assigned a different explorer.

Each student used different resources to gather data about his topic and wrote detailed notes on the key points. He then created an introduction to the assigned topic. Once the notes and introduction were proofread and approved, the student used Microsoft Word to type the information. Then he used http://yahooligans.com to find two web pages to use as links to his project. From one of the two chosen web pages, students selected a graphic and saved it to the school server in the appropriate folder.

Since the text was already typed, proofed, and spellchecked, the students just had to highlight, copy, and paste it into their projects. Project Poster helps students and teachers practice following copyright laws because the picture each student saved to the server had to include the copyright information for the project to be posted to the web.

To see examples of the students' work, check out Through a Student's Eyes.