Mar 21-25

$2750!!! Can you believe it?

Kindergarten: We did another listening activity.  We worked with the paint brush tool to create a landscape.  The students were asked to add a mountain, cloud, trees, sun, and rainbow to their work.  When they completed that, we erased the screen and they were asked to find certain elements within the paint brush tool and add them to the screen.

1st Grade: We talked about viewing our images using the column view of the operating system.  The students had to go find their folders, open them, and change the view setting.  They then chose their favorite image and wrote down the name of the file.  We then went to kid pix and imported pictures.  Next week, they will import some more pictures then organize their work.

2nd Grade: We talked about viewing our images using the column view of the operating system.  The students had to go find their folders, open them, and change the view setting.  They then chose their favorite image and wrote down the name of the file.  We then went to kid pix and imported pictures.  Next week, they will import some more pictures then organize their work.

3rd Grade: The students found more website about their topic and bookmarked them.  Next week, we will review those sites and take notes on their content.
Homework:

4th Grade: We imported our pictures into our brochure.  The students put 5-6 pictures into their brochures and changed their sizes and positions.  We are almost done.
Homework:

5th Grade: We then continued working on their webpages.  We talked about adding links to their pages.  We talked about local links and links to other pages on the Internet.
Homework:

6th Grade: No Class
Homework:

7th Grade: No Class
Homework:

8th Grade: No Class
Homework: Your next assignment is to draw a storyboard for each of your subjects....What is a storyboard?  A storyboard is a sequence of pictures that represent the events of the scene as they would be seen on the screen.  Or, draw out how you would like your scene to look.

Here are some good websites to visit:
http://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/Media/howto.html
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2163.html (Go to the bottom of the page)

Do your best.  We will go over this again in class next week, but I want you to come with something.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt@wornickjds.org

Have a great weekend!!!

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Mar 14-18

I was out of town for the beginning of the week, but that didn’t make this week any less interesting...I only have one word: Ponytail.

Kindergarten: No class

1st Grade: We finished up downloading images for our collage project.  After a short review of the process, all the students were downloading pictures with ease.  Next week, we will begin to put the pictures into Kid Pix.

2nd Grade: No Class

3rd Grade: No Class

4th Grade: I put 80 pictures of school events onto the computers for students to use in their brochures.  They previewed the pictures and compiled a list of 10 pictures that liked the most.  Next week, we will put the pictures into the brochures.
Homework:

5th Grade: We discussed adding images to the web pages.  We talked about the two types images that are viewable on web pages: GIF and JPEG.  We also talked about localized information and keeping the image files in the same directory as the index.html file.  The students then moved their images into their sites folder.  They opened their pages, and we talked about Alternate text, custom vs actual size and text alignment when inserting images.
Homework:

6th Grade: We talked about using tables to format information on a web page.  We talked about using them to create sidebars and titlebars.  We talked about imbedded tables, borders, cellspacing, and cellpadding.
Homework:

7th Grade: We started our iMovie projects.  The students came up with a topic of their choosing.  We discussed the elements of their projects: images, voice over, transitions, titles, and music.
Homework: Download 20 images related to your iMovie topic.

8th Grade: We talked about and laid out the specifics of their graduation video.  We finalized the segments of the movie and assigned students with portions.  We brainstormed ideas for each section to make them poignant, relevant, and subtely humorous.
Homework: Outline your segment(s) of the movie with dialogue.  

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt@wornickjds.org

Have a great weekend!!!

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Mar 7-11

Kindergarten: We discussed the paint brush tool.  I described it as the best tool Kid Pix has to offer.  With all the fun things it can, the kids’ time was well spent.  I asked them to find certain elements of the paint brush.  They all did quite well.

1st Grade: We continued to download pictures off the internet for our collage project.  I think the students are understanding the concept finding a picture,  ctrl-clicking on it, selecting an item on the menu, finding their folder, naming the picture, and saving it.  We should finish this part up next week.

2nd Grade: We continued to download pictures off the internet for our collage project.  I think the students are understanding the concept finding a picture,  ctrl-clicking on it, selecting an item on the menu, finding their folder, naming the picture, and saving it.  We should finish this part up next week.

3rd Grade: We began our research project.  The students came up with a subject of their choosing, then went onto google.com and searched for related webpages.  We also talked about bookmarking pages using Internet Explorer.  Later, students will use that information to create a word processing document.

4th Grade: We finished up with the writing and editing for our brochures.  The students have added their lists and given each section a title.  They have chosen their fonts and sizes.  When the students finished their work on the brochures, they worked on their mission projects for Mrs. Seligman.  Next week, we will talk about adding images.
Homework:

5th Grade: We continuted to talk about using tables to format information on a web page.  I again worked with the students individually and reviewed with them the be best way to use tables in order to create the page they had laid out a few week ago.
Homework:

6th Grade: I conducted an inspection of the students’ laptops for the laptop portion of their technology grade.  We then continued working on their webpages.  We talked about adding links to their pages.  We talked about local links and links to other pages on the Internet.
Homework:

7th Grade: I conducted an inspection of the students’ laptops for the laptop portion of their technology grade.  We briefly talked about using folders to organize documents in the documents folder.  We talked about the dangers of using the RECENT ITEMS portion of Appleworks to access old documents.
Homework:

8th Grade: I conducted an inspection of the students’ laptops for the laptop portion of their technology grade.
Homework: Write a 1 page description of your chosen part of the movie, preferably with dialogue.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt@wornickjds.org

Have a great weekend!!!

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Feb 28 - Mar 4

This was a very productive week.  I think every class got some good work done with some interesting learning experiences.  The big projects are coming along nicely...I am very impressed with the work our students are accomplishing.  Stay tuned for when we get these done...I think you will be impressed, too.

Kindergarten: 1A – Due to some time issues, class was cut a bit short, so I gave the students free time on Kid Pix.

1st Grade: We began our collage project.  The students used images.google.com to find images about a particular subject.  Once they understood the process behind finding images, we downloaded an image and saved it to their folders.  This process was similar to saving a Kid Pix document, so the students had a good basis for the theory, but given we were downloading in OS X vs OS Classic (Kid Pix), the interface was a bit different and it took the students a few minutes to get used to finding their folders.  We will download more pictures next week.

2nd Grade: We began our collage project.  The students used images.google.com to find images about a particular subject.  Once they understood the process behind finding images, we downloaded an image and saved it to their folders.  This process was similar to saving a Kid Pix document, so the students had a good basis for the theory, but given we were downloading in OS X vs OS Classic (Kid Pix), the interface was a bit different and it took the students a few minutes to get used to finding their folders.  We will download more pictures next week.

3rd Grade: We went onto the Internet and used google.com to research either their planet report or their Women’s History Month subject.

4th Grade: The students reviewed their work again to check for grammatical errors or omissions.  The students then gave each of their paragraphs a title that was centered, underlined, and bold.  We then talked about lists (bulleted and ordered) and how to create them using Appleworks.  The students began adding a list to their brochures.  We will finish the lists up next week and add pictures.
Homework:

5th Grade:We continuted to talk about using tables to format information on a web page.  We talked about using them to create sidebars and titlebars.  We talked about imbedded tables, borders, cellspacing, and cellpadding.  I worked with the students individually and reviewed with them the be best way to use tables in order to create the page they had laid out a few week ago.
Homework:

6th Grade: We talked about FTP and publishing a site.  The students set up their netscape to publish their site on the main server.  We published their sites on the Internet...if you would like to see their work up to now visit wornickjds.org with their grade and first name (lowercase)...for example: http://www.wornickjds.org/grade6/matt  We continued to add content and text.  Each week, students will save their work and publish it to the Internet.  We also talked about adding images to the web pages.  We talked about keeping the images in the same directory as the web page.  We talked about the two formats for images: JPG and GIF.  We also talked about alternate text and using the image as a link.
Homework:

7th Grade: We discussed using Hotkeys for quicker operating system navigation.  We talked about ways to find hotkeys in the menus, then spent the duration of the period creating a list of useful hotkeys for Mac OS and Windows.
Homework:

8th Grade: We brainstormed ideas for the theme of our final movie project.  We narrowed it down to our final theme...stay tuned for details.  Then we brainstormed ways to use that theme in the movie.
Homework: Write a 1 page description of your chosen part of the movie, preferably with dialogue.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt@wornickjds.org

Have a great weekend!!!

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School

Feb 22-25

This was interesting week...I think I caught the bug that has been going around school, but in a limited severity.  I had to miss a day and a half, as opposed to others who were out for several days...  On top of that, this was a short week, so I only taught a few classes.  

Kindergarten: No Class

1st Grade: We had our first introduction to the Internet.  The students discussed exactly what the Internet is and how the address system works.  We logged onto the Internet using Internet Explorer and examined links and the back and forward buttons.  We then used the search tool on yahooligans.com and examined animals.

2nd Grade:   2A – We visited www.littleexplorers.com and worked on finding information on a web page.  I gave the students subjects to research and they had to find information on the page or follow links to the appropriate page.
2B – We showed our movies on a projector in one of the Middle School rooms.  They turned out real well.  The students should be proud.
NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF ALL THE SLIDE SHOWS FROM 2A, SEND A BLANK CD WITH YOUR STUDENT AND I WILL BURN A COPY FOR YOU.

3rd Grade: No Class

4th Grade: No Class
Homework: Typing logs due next week.

5th Grade: 5A – We talked about using tables to format information on a web page.  We talked about using them to create sidebars and titlebars.  We talked about imbedded tables, borders, cellspacing, and cellpadding.
5B – No class
Homework: Typing logs due next week.

6th Grade: No Class
Homework: Typing logs due next week.

7th Grade: No Class
Homework: Typing logs due next week.

8th Grade: No class
Homework: Typing logs due next week.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt@wornickjds.org

Have a great weekend!!!

===================================
Matt Harris
Director of Technology
Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School