Christmas Games

It has been a busy last few weeks in computers! We have been working on letters and reading in Starfall and also have been doing MAP testing. We will wrap up the year with a few Christmas games using the following link:

1. http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/christms/chgames.htm

Merry Christmas!

Starfall

This week we will begin our unit on Starfall. Starfall is a website that helps develop phonics, vocabulary and fluency. This site is always a favorite with the kindergartners and first graders. The kindergarteners will work on letters A-F while the first graders will work on short a,e,i,o words. Here is the link to the website:

1. http://www.starfall.com/

Happy Halloween!

This week in computer class, the kindergarners and first graders will play a few halloween games. The will have to hunt for letters and numbers in a haunted mansion. Also, they have a chance to carve and light their own pumpkin. Here are the links:

1. http://funschool.kaboose.com/preschool/learn-abcs/games/game_haunted_alphabet.html

2. http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Alphabet Fun

This week in Computers we will be playing some fun games as we practice our letters and reading! The kindergartners will identify upper and lower case letters through an interactive website called Literacy Center.Net. The first graders will be going to a Clifford site through Scholastic.com. They will have the chance to read online stories and play a few sound and letter matching games. Here are the links to the sites we'll use this week:

1. http://www.literacycenter.net/lessonview_en.htm

2. http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/index.htm

Programs

This week in Computer class, we are getting to know some of the programs on our computers.

The kindergartners are learning about Kidspiration, a kid-friendly program used for typing and making pictures. The children will create a fall scene of things they may see in the fall.

The first graders will be working on Pages, a document program on Macintosh computers. The students will practice typing their names while changing the font, size and color.

Evaluating Web Sites

Links:

http://pbskids.org/arthur/

http://www.littlecritter.com/

This week, the kindergarteners and first graders will explore and evaluate web sites. We will rate the text, pictures, colors, and our overall opinion of the site. We will find that not everyone has the same opinion about the quality and usefulness of a web site.

Internet Safety

http://www.bronxzoo.com/

We will use this site to navigate through the Bronx Zoo. Just like on a field trip, an adult should be with you at all times when traveling on the Internet.

Back to School

The children seem so excited to be back at school and it's been so great to see their smiling faces again! Last Week in computers, we got acquainted with each other and also with the parts of the computer. This week, both the first graders and the kindergarteners will learn how to log in to their computer. We will also have a Internet Safetly lesson on Friday to teach the children how to stay safe on the Internet.