Computer Lab

As we get a little deeper into the third quarter already, I just wanted to give everyone quick update on what’s been going on in some of the Computer Lab classes.  

I have to say, I’m really pleased that the Lab is getting used so much. In addition to their regularly scheduled computer times, several teachers are bringing students in during the Open lab times that are available through the week. Some students come in and work on things during their recess times as well.

The 8^th graders have just completed a pretty big research project on the History of the Catholic Church. This was coordinated with Mrs. Roide to count as a Religion grade as well as a Computer grade. Students were put into pairs and assigned an era of Church history. I gave them events that I felt must be covered I each era and it was up to them to research these and put together a PowerPoint presentation to be presented in Religion class. We practiced dry-runs in Computers before sending them to Mrs. Roide. The easy part of course, is the research and putting together the PowerPoint. The hard part was giving an oral presentation in front of the class.

Seventh graders also worked on a PowerPoint presentation.  For their assignment, I had them research elements related to the Lewis & Clark expedition; more specifically, the life of the little infant that Sacajawea carried with her on the journey. Nicknamed “Pomp”, he went on to live a very interesting life. Again, each group looked at a part of his life and then practiced giving the presentation in front of the class.

The sixth grade has been studying the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. They used a couple of Internet sites to research the various sites and then did a Webquest on the topic. Just last week they began looking at careers they might be interested in exploring. The goal here is to pick a career that might interest them and do a lot of research t o find out everything they can about it. When completed, they will also give a PowerPoint presentation to the class on what they have learned about that career.

The Intermediate grades have been splitting their time between keyboard practice and some activities that support some of the learning going on in the classroom. 

8^th grade Computers  completed a large writing and research project based on the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel. Students looked at photos of various families from around the world and what they ate for one week and wrote a report/essay on what they discovered. The primary skill taught in this project was critical thinking---comparing and contrasting different cultures around the world. Other skills taught included the proper creation and formatting of an MS Word document. The students got practice inserting charts and pictures as well.

They also did a project based on  John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The students researched some of the theories regarding who may have been responsible for the assassination and created a table in MS Word that compares the theories and evaluates their credibility. Again, critical thinking was expected of the students with this project. Learning to insert a table into a Word document was also taught.

The 7^th graders wrote a major report on the history of Nevada that counted for Social Studies and Language Arts. One area that students can’t get enough practice is in learning how to use sites online to gather and evaluate information. This assignment gave the students this practice. They also learned how to properly format a Word document and insert pictures and a chart that they created.

The 6^th grade has spent the past few weeks doing a Webquest on the life and death of King Tut. They researched the material that is known to us and wrote  a report on their findings. Using information from a specific website that gives information on the life and death of King Tut, students worked on writing good introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. Again, reading material and analyzing it critically to create a well-written report were the primary skills  practiced .