Happenings in Tech for the 1st Half of the School Year

This first half of the school year has flown by.....   

Here are a couple of technology successes to share with you.

Sixth Grade worked on engineering and designing a Can Building Structure. Students were grouped,

and followed the design process to construct their design. Thanks to the whole school for coming together for such a successful Food Can Drive.

Fifth Grade was busy working on creating a Board Game with a partner. There were some fun games created, and the plan is to bring them out on indoor recess days - Bring on the Snow!

Fourth Grade has been busy programing an Ozobot robot to travel around a United States map. They have worked hard with this unit on collaborating and debugging the robot programing. It has been so fun learning the fun places they have found around the US.

Click Here to watch one of the Travel videos

For the Primary grades I get to push into the classrooms to co-teach with the teachers for technology. 

3rd Grade has been able to work on some coding in the Code.org Course work. They also worked on creating a Video Game cover to discuss positive social interactions while online. They worked in the Google drawing tool, and then inserted their drawing into a Google Slideshow to share their work. 

Click Here for a model of one of the Game Covers

2nd Grade has been busy working on typing google documents, and inserting digital drawings into their documents to support their writing.

1st Grade has been creating work using some different digital drawing tools.  Below is a sample of an assignment where they were asked to use Google Drawing to draw a picture of a favorite scene from the book Tacky the Penguin. An extension to the assignment was to type a sentence to help explain their drawing.

Kindergarten has been busy focusing on how to be respectful when getting off of technology, especially when you are not ready to get off the device. We learned to Pause, Breath and Finish up when we are asked to turn electronics off.

We also have worked on how to travel safely on the internet. We learned 3 rules to follow when using the internet:

1) Always ask a trusted adult before getting on the internet

2) Only talk to people you already know when online

3) Visit sites that are right for you (age appropriate websites with games and videos)

Click here for a video recording students created to share one of the rules to travel safely on the internet

Click Here for a video recording students created to share how they can be respectful and turn off electronics.

Beginning of the School Year Top Typist (20-21SY)

 In our 3rd thru 6th Grade we set a baseline for their typing speed at the beginning of the school year. We will complete 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.

Happenings This School Year (20-21SY)

We have been having some fun in the Computer Lab this school year. Below are a couple of pictures of the different grade levels in the lab.  1st Grade is working on learning how to block code different puzzles. 3rd Grade is working on a Google Earth project, and 5th Grade is designing and building a game board.  

Welcome Back to the New School Year!

 Hello all,

Welcome back to the new school year.  I am excited for this year, and some of the changes to my curriculum and the schedule.

I realize that the Hybrid model of teaching brings different challenges and struggles. If you are struggling with any remote work please feel free to email me, or bring in your questions on the next in-school learning day. I will be using the same Learning Platform that the homeroom teacher is using to share out any instructions and/or lessons. I hope that this will aliviate some struggles that might arise with Remote learning.

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.