Words of the Week: Webpage or Website?

Think you know the difference between a webpage and a website?

A website is a group of pages on the internet.  A website is made up of several webpages.  A webpage is a specific page online that is located within a website.

Still stuck?  For example, Target.com offers tons of information about all the cool products they sell.  If you are looking for a specific game for your Wii, you would go to the Electronics webpage.  Target.com is the website, whereas the Electronic section is one of it's webpages.

Think you're a pro?  See if you can come up with another example and let Miss Wilmes know!

Week 14: Webpage or Website?

We did several things in computer this week! 

SMOY HAS A NEW WEBSITE!  

This week in computer, the students have the opportunity to visit SMOY's new website.  We visited their class webpage, as well as navigated around the site.  Feel free to check out this website at home!  Don't forget to check their classroom webpages at least twice a week for important announcements from their teachers.

LESSON:

INTRODUCTION:

What is the difference between a website and a webpage?  Students will navigate around SMOY's new website and visit their class webpages.

THINK YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WEBPAGE & A WEBSITE?  Ask your student to explain this week's Words of the Week!

KEYBOARDING SKILLS:
Over the next month, we will begin working on Keyboarding Skills.  With only a limited amount of time to work on this in the lab, students will need to practice at home.  Please visit my webpage on the SMOY's new website for some KEYBOARDING resources!  These include games, lessons, and even speed tests.  We will be working on keyboarding skills until Christmas break, as well as maybe into January.  Please encourage your student to work on their typing skills as much as they can, as this skill will need to be perfected on their own time.

Check out Miss Wilmes' Keyboarding Resources Folder Online:  CLICK HERE

STAR READING TEST: 

Each student in Grades 1-8 took the STAR Reader test at the beginning of the school year to assess their reading skills.  This week, each student took the test again to see if they have approved.  Check with their English teacher to receive your child's individual reading level.  Each teacher will get their students' results after their students have finished their time in the lab this week. 

EXTENSION: 
DISCUSSION: is a blog a a webpage or a website?

PRACTICE ONLINE:  Check out SMOY’s website at home!  See if you can find all of your teacher’s pages.  Don’t forget to check out the blog at least once a week. 

Lesson 12: FREE WEEK!

Because of all of your student's hard work over the trimester, I have given the students an opportunity to use their computer time to explore the computers.  When given time to explore, students often learn things on their own, as they are putting into practice what they have learned in the classroom and their time away from class.  

EXTENSION:

All 3rd - 8th graders just turned in their Invitation Project to show what they have learned in Microsoft Word.  Have some free time over Thanksgiving?  See if you can create your own invitation from scratch.  See below for an example!  Don't forget that this particular invitation will be folded into fours to have a front, back, and an inside.

K-2: Thanksgiving Computer Projects

Kindergarten through Second Grade has been working on drawing what they are thankful for to prepare us for Thanksgiving season.  Don't forget to check out the PowerPoints each grade has created!  Turn up your sound and enjoy seeing what your children are thankful for this year.  ENJOY!

K - 2: THANKSGIVING PROJECTS

Download eBooks & Audiobooks for FREE!

Did you know that the Cincinnati Public Library offers downloadable music, eBooks, and even AudioBooks for free?  All you need is your library card number and pin.  With the Ohio eBook Project, you can even check out books and transfer them to your iPad or Nook!

Check it out here:  Cincinnati Public Library

Lesson 10 & 11: Creating a Template from Scratch

The students have been working on a study through Microsoft Office to learn how to complete basic functions in this program by concentrating on creating invitations.  They have discovered what a template was and how a template could be useful when working on documents created in Microsoft Word. This week, the students will continue to focus on making an invitation using Microsoft Word and finish creating their invitation from scratch.  They will then save this as a template in their classroom folders.

TASKS:  Students will use a template as a guide to create an invitation from scratch.  They will have be able to edit images, rotate images, insert text boxes, and format the page into four quadrants to create a foldable invitation of their choice.  This project will be a final culmination to showcase what they have learned over the past few weeks during their study of Microsoft Word.

MICROSOFT WORD WORKSHOP:

Think you know a lot about Microsoft Word?  Below are the requirements for the invitation your students will turn in as we finish our study on Microsoft Word:

• insert a Wordle they created  
• TASKS: Be able to use the Print Screen button to take a picture of what is on their screen and put into Microsoft Word
• insert an image using PicSearch 
• TASKS:  Import this picture into Microsoft Word / Copy and Paste
• TASK: Be able to search safety for a picture on the internet
• Rotate an image
• Insert WORD ART
• Insert and Edit/Move Clip Art
• TASKS:  Be able to use the Text Wrapping key to make an image “in front of text”
• Change the font and size of the font
• Be able to PRINT the document to the Smoy Lab Printer
• Save and Open a project on the SMOY network

Word of the Week: Template

A template is something that is created to guide you.  It can work as a springboard to give you ideas, as well as provide a quick way for you to create a specific project.

Ever tried to trace something instead of drawing it by freehand?  You have used a template!  Translate this to the Microsoft Word world, and a template is something that was created by someone to make your life easier.  It allows you to use a project that was already created without having to start that project from scratch.

Don't forget to check out Microsoft Office's Online Database for FREE templates!

Lesson #9: What is a template?

The students have just finished learning how to Open and Save projects in Microsoft Word, as well as edit pictures.  We will continue our study in Microsoft Word by focusing on the use of a template.

DISCUSSION:
How can using a template make your life easier?

Can a template save your time and money?

This week, your student will use all that they have learned in Microsoft Word to work on a Halloween invitation.  They will add to a template to make an existing template their own. 

THINK YOU'RE AN EXPERT IN MICROSOFT WORD?

THINGS YOUR STUDENT NEEDS TO REMEMBER:

-how to open a document from the SMOY network

-the difference between Save and Save As

-how to insert a picture from clip art

-how to edit a picture 

Check out Microsoft's Online Database of thousands of templates for free!

CLICK HERE 

NETSMARTZ: Great Online Resource

NETSMARTZ is a great online tool for parents, as it helps guide parents on how to instruct their children to be safe online.  It is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  There are great games for your children to explore that can help them safely surf online, as well as a wealth of information specifically designed for each age level.


This online site has tons of information for:

• Parents
• Educators
• Tweens
• Teens
• Kids

There are even TIP SHEETS to post around the house to remind your children to be safe while they are online.  Since not everyone grew up with the same technologies that now interest your 21st Century child, this website is a great tool to explore with your children.

Don't forget to check out the video on BLOG SAFETY!

Lesson #8: What is Microsoft Word?

The students have just finished a unit on internet safety and cyberbullying, as well as learned what a blog is.  They will continue to explore the Wordle software on the internet to create a banner they could safely post on a blog.  The students will also extend their knowledge by learning how to save, open, edit, and print an image in Microsoft Word.    


MICROSOFT WORD is a great resource to edit photos, add fun Word Art, type projects, and even add creative flair to presentations.  We will be spending the next few weeks exploring Microsoft Word and learning some basic functions that all students should know when operating in Microsoft Word.


EXTENSIONS:  
GRADES 3-8:  Exercise their creativity to explore a new way to use Wordle!  Need some ideas?  Think:  Student council events, write themes of their novel they are studying, create flashy binder covers -- Check out this cool presentation for 45 Interesting Ways to Use Worlde!

Kindergarten - GRADE 2:  Use WORDLE to write their spelling words.  This is a great idea, for students will be able to find the letters on their keyboards to type, as well as spell each of their words correctly.  What a wonderful and fun way to practice spelling words each week!

Word of the Week: BLOGS

Guess what?  If you are currently reading this, you know what a BLOG is!  You are visiting a blog right now!  Some people use blogs to create an online journal, while others use a blog to create an online place to  put information.  It is a great way to share exciting news, keep people up-to-date, and organize one's thoughts or actions.

The SMOY TECHNOLOGY blog was designed as an online database of all things technology here at SMOY.  It helps keep parents in the loop about what we are learning in the lab each week during class.  Please continue to check out the blog as often as possible, as Miss Wilmes posts all the cool things we are learning about and even cooler things you can do at home to extend your tech skills!

Ever thought about creating your own blog?  Try a free version here at BLOGGER.  All you need is a Gmail Email Address.

**REMEMBER, if you are a student, please consult your parents before creating an online blog and practice all that we have learned about being safe online.  Don't post any of your personal information and BE SAFE!

WANT A FEW EXAMPLES OF OTHER BLOGS?:
Hamburger A Day Blog:  This guy blogs every day about all the wonderful hamburgers across the US!
Daily Craft Ideas:  Interested in exercising your creativity?  Follow this blog to get some great craft ideas!

Lesson #7: What is a blog?

The students have just finished a unit on internet safety and cyberbullying.  They have been exposed to what information is okay to post online.  They have seen the technology blog, but this week they will learn more in-depthly what a blog is and how they can use a blog in their own lives. 

Think you know what a BLOG is?

Explore Brain Pop to discover what a blog is and how it can be useful in your life!

K-2: Brain Pop Jr – BLOGS

3-8:  Brain Pop:  BLOGS

          

ACTIVITY:  A blog may describe something – either about a person or a subject.   We will use Wordle to create out own word picture to describe a topic that could be used on a blog.  Students will need to use all the information that they have learned about internet safety to discern what information is okay to give out online.

Students will then review the PRINT SCREEN function to put this word art into Word and save to their classroom folder.  Students will then distinguish which printer to print from and print to the SMOYLAB printer.

EXPLORE WORDLE:  CLICK HERE!

Lesson #6: REVIEW

Help your students remember all that they have learned in computer class with this week's review!


CAN YOU DESCRIBE EACH OF THESE WORDS?

WORDS OF THE WEEK:
Technology

Hardware

Software

QR CODE

Cyberbullying

Avatar

By this point in the trimester, your child should be able to do the following:
-Students should be able to accurately identify what information is okay to post online and describe what information should not be posted online. 

-Students should be able to identify what cyberbullying is and how to accurately report those who are cyberbullying.

-Students should be able to identify the difference between a QR CODE and a bar code and describe how this piece of technology can be used in their lives.

-Students should be able to describe what an avatar is, as well as how an avatar can help keep them safe online.