Remote Learning Information

Hello All,

For this time of Remote Learning, I am using a Remote Learning Schedule document, and FCE-Links Units to share my lessons.

For communications to students and families, I am using the Specials Team Communication Document that is getting sent out daily by Robyn Riches. This is a live document that we are all updating regularly.
My section of this document will give you the link to the Remote Learning Schedule for each grade level to follow.  The actual Units will have links and instructional videos for students to follow.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns
cdtownsend@dcsdk12.org

Beginning of the School Year Top Typist

In our 3rd thru 6th Grade we set a baseline for their typing speed at the beginning of the school year. We do a mid-year and end-of-year check to celebrate improvement. Some of the older students are working on finger placement instead of only concentrating on speed. Below are the top typist for each grade level for our beginning of the school year data.

Early Spring Project

Sixth Grade is working on creating a StopMotion Video. The classes are still in the creating phase of the project, but should start recording in the next week or so. I cannot wait to see how their videos turn out!

FCE was one of 10 schools in Douglas County to receive a Gill Foundation Robotics Kit. MindSpark Learning has teamed up with DCSD to support our district in promoting Computer Science learning for Elementary Schools. We are so excited to explore and develop exciting learning opportunities for our students.

Specials Expedition Logos

During the Specials Expedition the students are asked to create a logo for their Dance group that will represent their group. Everyone in the group creates a logo and then pitches their design to the group. One of the group's logo design is then chosen to represent their group. We discuss hidden meanings and different design principles that are used when working in this field. We had some pretty creative logo designs created this year.

The Latest Happenings in Technology

Catching up on What's Been Happening in Technology....

Kindergarten has been working in an iPad app called Educreations. This app allows them to take a picture of their work and then record themselves explaining their thinking. Our first time using this tool we described features of our Monsters. The next time we talked about the 5 food groups - foods we like in these groups.

Click Here for link to Video

Click Here for link to Video

1st Grade used powerpoint to create a book. We used the book Press Here by Herve Tullet as a mentor text. The students were introduced to a couple of tech skills: text box, typing, creating shapes, copy and pasting, and how to manipulate the shapes size and color. Below are a couple of examples of some Books created: The students needed to create a storyboard before they worked on powerpoint to create their book, and unfortunately we had to print in B&W, so we missed the colors they added. There were so many amazing books created.

Student 1 Example

Student 2 Example


2nd Grade made paper airplanes as part of an unplugged coding activity to relate the concept of Algorithms back to everyday activities. The had to follow the directions given by their partner to create their airplanes. It was lots of fun getting to see them fly!

4th Grade worked on a Unit called My Ozobot's Travels: They worked in groups of 4-5 students to create a story about traveling and visiting interesting places in the United States for their Ozobot. Students worked on research, geography, collaboration, and coding a robot skills.

Hour of Code Week!

This past week FCE students participated in Hour of Code in Technology.  Hour of Code is designed to introduce Computer Science to all kids around the world for free. This is the 6th year that FCE has participated in the Hour of Code event.
Colorado is implementing Computer Science standards for High School students, and have pushed down recommendations for Middle and Elementary. This school year, your 1st - 6th grade students, are working in the Code.org program. This curriculum is designed to teach the fundamentals of coding using block code.

Ask your child/children to show you the puzzles they were working on for Hour of Code!

What we have been up to in Technology this Year

In Kindergarten we have been working on learning how to use a digital drawing tool to draw a picture and using a text box to type our names.  We also have been working on how to use an algorithm (set of directions) to program our BeeBots around the Community Map.  It has been fun watching all the collaboration and fixing problems that program creates.

In First Grade we have been working on learning some "important" keyboard keys (delete, spacebar, shift, period, return keys). This was important information as we used Word and Photo Booth to create a document with an image and a typed sentence.  We have also been working on our iPads exploring and learning the PuppetPal application. We are learning about story elements, and will be creating our own stories using the app PuppetPals at the end of the semester.

In Second Grade we have been persevering with our Google Account logins. This is the year that students have access to their Google Suite to enhance learning. This is also the year that students begin using the Typing Pal tool to support their learning of this skill.  Students were asked to use the Google Drawing tool to show a time that they had to use Perseverance. They had great success logging into their accounts and using this digital tool, we had fun taking a Gallery Walk to see everyone's drawings.

In Third Grade, we have been busy creating a spreadsheet to track our Typing Pal growth from now through 6th grade. We also worked on reviewing how to use Keywords for Google Searches. This will help with digital research for their Expeditions. We had fun role playing being a Google Search Engine and trying to guess what someone was wanting to look up.  We have just now moved onto using the Google Earth tool to explore what an Urban, Suburban, and Rural community might look like in real life.  This is a fun tool to use!

In Fourth Grade we have been very busy creating our Blogs. Students have been watching video tutorials to create a Blog using design principles and lots of creativity. It is a fun and timely, but look for some of their writing to have a larger audience.

In Fifth Grade we started working in Code.org, and learning some Computer Science fundamentals. To kick off the course we started with an Unplugged activity called GraphPaper Programing. This activity helps to develop the connection between code and what it can produce. We then ventured into the plugged activity puzzles using block coding. We will follow this course intermittently throughout the year.  We just kicked off Strategic Searching to support finding digital research needed for our Expeditions.  Learning to use some of the tricks for more successful searches. 

Lastly, in Sixth Grade we have been busy reviewing Citizenship around our Digital Footprint and Respecting Creative Work. These lessons were gateways to creating our Digital Portfolios. This year sixth grade will create a Google Site as the tool to share their Digital Passage Portfolios. We also used the Vertical Day to have fun with a Breakout EDU game on Digital Citizenship. Students needed to solve different puzzles on citizenship, to open locks, to save lost passwords that fell into the wrong hands.