The Hour of Code is Here!

Welcome to the Hour of Code 2014!

Here are your choices on the laptops:

1.  Write Your First Computer Program with Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, & Ice Age
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

2.  Code with Anna & Elsa
     (3rd-5th)

3.  Get Creative with Coding (Scratch)
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

4.  Build Your Own Game (Tynker)
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

5.  Lightbot
     (2nd-5th)

6.  Make Your Own Flappy Bird Game
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

7.  Play Lab
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

8.  Code Monkey
     (2nd-5th, K-1st with assistance)

9.  Program a Virtual Robot
     (3rd-5th)

10. Build a Game with JavaScript
     (3rd-5th)

11. Code Combat
      (3rd-5th)

You can also explore coding on the iPads using:

Daisy the Dinosaur
Bee-Bot
Cato's Hike
Move the Turtle
Lightbot
Code Kingdoms
Cargo-Bot
Hopscotch
Tynker
Hakitzu
Kodable Pro
LearnBinary

Have Fun!!

Hour of Code 2014 Kickoff!!

President Obama kicks off the Hour of Code 2014:

What Most Schools Don't Teach

What most schools don't teach:

We're ready for the Hour of Code 2014!

Welcome Back!

Hello, Community Families!

It's been so good to see all of your lovely children back at school this week!

Enrichment classes will commence the 3rd week of school this year.  Starting the 25th, all classrooms will visit the computer lab at least once a week.

During that first week, we will be sending home the LAUSD Acceptable Use Policy for you and your child(ren) to go over and sign.  This is necessary so that students are able to use the LAUSD network during the school day.  (Students will need to go online to do research, and to have access to learning sites like BrainPop, Everyday Math Online, and Dance Mat Typing.)

We will be starting the year in technology with a heavy emphasis on typing skills.  During our field test of the Smarter Balanced Assessment last year, we noted that the students who were proficient typists were able to more clearly and easily communicate what they knew.  We don't waste brain power thinking about how to hold a pencil, but when students have to stop to locate a letter on the keyboard or to think about how to capitalize, their focus is diverted from whatever question they are actually being asked.

We have lots of other great stuff planned for the year, so be sure to check back in here periodically to see what we're up to!

Last Week of Testing!

This is the last week that 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will be field testing the Smarter Balanced Assessment in the Computer Lab!  Yay!

Sadly, there are only a few weeks left in the school year, but I'm planning some fun stuff for our final Technology Blocks.  :-)

I've included a link to another interesting article about kids learning to code.

Go here:  The New York Times: "Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding" -- May 4, 2014

 

Imran Khaliq, 12, helped his brother Farhan, 7, left, and Aidan Brown, 6, at a school computer

coding event in Mill Valley, Calif. Credit Jason Henry for The New York Times

Kids Need to Learn to Code

An interesting article in the "Opinion L.A." section of the L.A. Times this week, about the importance of teaching kids coding:

Go here:  Opinion L.A. -- April 7, 2014

At Franklin High School in Los Angeles, students learn how to take down hackers and cyber terrorists.

Spring Break Already!

We've been so busy in the Technology Lab that I've been forgetting to update!

3rd-5th graders have been learning how to create and format bar graphs using Excel, and K-2nd graders have been creating art, using Doozla and Tux Paint, and tackling the Flappy Bird coding activity.  (Both art programs are available for FREE online -- the links are to the right under Art.)

Last week, we started the Smarter Balanced Assessment with 3rd-5th graders.  We talked about the equipment, the structure of the assessments, and took the practice tests for Math and ELA.  You can also access these practice tests online: Smarter Balanced Assessment: Practice Test Portal. 

During the three weeks following Spring Break, 3rd-5th grade students will take one assessment per week -- three total.  (This year, of course, we are only a part of the "field test" -- individual scores for this test do not count.)

The time blocks during the assessment are twice as long as the usual Technology block.  As a result, during the assessment period, K-2nd grade will not have Technology.

There will be no typing practice during school, for any grade level, during the assessment period.  Please make sure your kids are practicing at home for the next four weeks!

Two Fun Articles

When we did our brainstorming for Doodle 4 Google, the idea of a device to enable animals to communicate with humans came up a few times.  Interestingly, that "device" seems to be in the works:

Article here:  "Talking Dog Device To Hit Market Soon"

Also, we're not the only one's talking about kids coding! 

Article here:  "Teach Kid to Code with Interactive Robots" 

February Is Almost Gone!

Last week, in 1st-5th grades, we brainstormed for the Doodle4Google contest.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids had some fantastic ideas on the given topic:  "If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place ___________ ."  We discussed inventions to help your family, your classroom, your city, animals, the environment, and the world.  I hope that they continue to think about this topic, and maybe a couple of them will feel inspired enough to it a step further and create a "doodle" to submit to Google!

This week in 2nd-5th grades, we explored CMCS's online library site, as well as LAUSD's Digital Library.  Both are excellent (and kid safe) resources for research.  Most students weren't aware that LAUSD provides many "paid" sources FREE to all on its students.  Links to both the CMCS online site (you will have to scroll down to find Community Magnet) and LAUSD's Digital Library are on the right.  -->

We're getting serious about our typing.  The students have had time to get used to Type to Learn 4, now, and some are really zooming ahead.  Unfortunately, some are zooming without using proper "home row" typing position!  This week I gave a "pop quiz" and tested kids to see if they could type without looking at the keyboard.  Next week, if I find students who are still unable to at least find the "home row" keys, I will reset their accounts and they will have to take the pre-test again.  (I have let them know about this.)

In addition to typing practice, in 1st grade we created and labeled shapes using Doozla.  The students are getting better and better at using the tools in this art program to make their ideas come to life.

The kindergarteners tried two new math apps on the iPads:  Meerkat Math and Math BINGO.  They also had a little bit of "free choice" in the MATH folder.  While many went back to math apps we have played before, Hydro Math and Math Zombies were also big hits.

We've been having lots of fun in our after school Coding Club.  We did a computer-less graph paper coding project, and ON the computer we started an art coding activity which teaches kids to give specific commands to create images on the computer.  In addition, we tried the fun Flappy Bird coding puzzle that code.org posted in honor of their 1-year anniversary.  This activity is online and free!  I posted a link to it on the right.  -->

The Future

from code.org

Two Great Opportunities

Starting Saturday, February 22nd, LA Makerspace is teaming up with the Los Angeles Public Library system to host four introductory courses in Scratch.  (Thanks to Cody A-M for the tip!)

Please go here for more info:  http://www.lamakerspace.com/scratch_lapl

Also, the 2014 Doodle 4 Google competition has begun:

Before there was an airplane, there were doodles of cool flying machines. And before there was a submarine, there were doodles of magical underwater sea explorers. Since the beginning of time, ideas big and small, practical and playful, have started out as doodles. And we’re ready for more. One talented young artist (grades K-12) will see his or her artwork on the Google homepage and receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for his or her school. 

Math Apps and Monster Code

With the Type To Learn 4 program, not only am I able to send teachers typing progress reports for their class, but each teacher can log in to check on students' progress!  If possible, make sure your kids are practicing at home.

Laptops are great for a lot of things, but iPads are especially good for skills practice.  Over the past couple of weeks kindergarten, 2nd & 3rd grades have been getting some great math practice on the iPads using "Match-Up Math" and "Pop Math".  In both apps, the settings allow you to choose between Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division, and to adjust your skill level in each.

In the after-school Coding Club, we worked on writing code to create monsters!

Back to Work

Now that the students have familiarized themselves with their Type To Learn accounts, we have finally been able to get back to doing other stuff.

In addition to typing, this week 1st-3rd graders explored Google Earth.  We talked about the basic navigation features, and students tried to find their house, their school, and other landmarks.

And in 4th and 5th grades, in preparation for the return to our PowerPoint project, we watched a BrainPOP video about online sources.  While the library is an invaluable tool for research, as they get older our students will find themselves doing more and more research online.  It is important for them to start to think about reputable vs. non-reputable sources of information on the web.

In kindergarten we continued to play math games on the iPads, and we added one more game to our arsenal: Hungry Fish, by Motion Math.  This app is much more versatile than Hungry Guppy in that it has a wide range in levels of difficulty, and also has a subtraction option.

Lots of Typing Goin' On!

After their three week break from school, the 1st-5th graders have spent the past couple of weeks reacquainting themselves with the keyboard.

They have all been given a four-digit "username" so that they can access their Type to Learn 4 accounts from home, as well as from school.

If you do not want to, or are unable to, download TTL4 onto your home computer, Dance Mat Typing is still an excellent, FREE, online program.

The kindergarteners have started to get serious about their math work with Florita, and the kindergarten teachers requested that we work on math during their Technology time.  To that end, we have been exploring three apps on the iPad:  Adding Apples, Subtracting Sardines, and Hungry Guppy.

The after-school Coding Club got started this week, with kids learning about, and working with, binary code!  In addition, they tackled their first coding puzzle.   We had a lot of fun!

Happy New Year!

Welcome Back!

I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting second semester in the Technology Lab!

We are going full steam ahead with our new typing program: Type To Learn 4.  If you would like your child to be able to log in from home, please click on the TTL4 link -- to the right -- to download the program to your home computer.  (Our Account Code is: 152721.)

I received a lot of positive feedback about the Hour of Code we did in December, and many of you have asked how the kids can do more.  The good news is that you have a bunch of options:

All of the Hour of Code activities are still available online, for FREE.  I've put the links in the "Quick Links" section to the right.

Scratch programming is part of my curriculum for 3rd-5th grades this year.  We will probably start sometime after Spring Break.

There are also a number of online, after-school, weekend, and summer coding programs available for kids.  Below is a partial list:

CMCS Coding & Computer Animation Club -- at Community (after school program)
Join me on Wednesdays after school (starting 1/22) and learn to code in this fun and educational program.  Based on the curriculum designed by code.org, students will engage in exciting and creative coding activities similar to our December Hour of Code.  For more information, or to sign up, please contact Martha Melinda in Community's after-school program..

CoderDojo -- Various Locations (weekend classes)

KidsCanCode -- Various Locations (many program options)

iDTech Camp -- UCLA (Summer Program)

Digital Arts & Media Academy -- UCLA (Summer Program)

Planet Bravo's Techno-Tainment Camp -- Various Locations (Summer Program)

Codecademy -- Online Program

Code School -- Online Program

Khan Academy -- Online Program

Turtle Academy -- Online Program

Scratch -- Online Program

Code Monster -- Online Program

Hackety Hack -- Online Program

If you know of a good coding program for kids, please let me know and I will add it to my list!