Lesson Plans for Martin Luther King Day

I have two new lesson plans, both aligned with Common Core, that I’m giving away to help you plan Martin Luther King Day.

4th grade

Students interpret the words of Dr Martin Luther King in their own words in a visual organizer. Great project that gets students thinking about the impact of words on history. Common Core aligned. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

5th grade

Students research events leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s impact on American history and share them with an Event Chain organized visually, including pictures and thought bubbles. Aligned with Common Core. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

They use a new (FREE) online tool I’ve recently discovered called Nanoogo.

Weekend Website #111: California Missions

By Mdhennessey at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Here’s a list of 40 websites that will inspire your fourth graders about California missions:

1. CA Missions–each
2. CA History-Missions
3. CA mission history
4. CA Mission Internet Trail
5. CA Mission Life
6. CA Mission Pictures
7. CA Mission Pictures—all Missions
8. CA Mission websites–list of
9. CA Mission websites–list of
10. CA missions
11. CA Missions
12. CA Missions 1780 to present
13. CA Missions Foundation
14. CA Missions Online–each
15. CA Missions today
16. CA Missions–Christianity
17. CA Missions–each
18. CA Missions—each mission
19. CA Missions–general
20. CA Missions–general II
21. CA Missions–general III
22. CA Missions–info on each II
23. CA Missions–info on each III
24. CA Missions–list of sites
25. CA Missions–more
26. CA Missions–more
27. CA Missions–Santa Barbara
28. Daily Life at Missions
29. Father Serra
30. Father Serra II
31. Father Serra III
32. Father Serra–more
33. Father Serra—still more
34. Google Earth Mission Tour
35. Mission Quotes
36. Mission Timeline
37. Mission Websites for Kids
38. Santa Barbara Mission
39. The Spanish Missions
40. Tour CA Missions with Google Earth

Book Review: 55 Tech Projects for the Digital Classroom

With the school year almost back, I want to share some of the tech books I use in my classroom. I think you’ll enjoy them also. This one is a two-volume all-in-one for grades K-8. It includes a mixture of lessons that cover different skills, different subjects. Hope you like it!

55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom: Everything you need to integrate computers into K-8 classes

by Jacqui Murray

Volume I is 219 pages and Volume II 235 pages, making this series an all-in-one K-8 toolkit for the lab specialist, classroom teacher and homeschooler, with a years-worth of simple-to-follow projects for K-8. Integrate technology into language arts, geography, history, problem solving, research skills, and science lesson plans and units of inquiry using teacher resources that meet NETS-S national guidelines and many state standards. The fifty-five projects are categorized by subject, program (software), and skill (grade) level. Each project includes standards met in three areas (higher-order thinking, technology-specific, and NETS-S), software required, time involved, suggested experience level, subject area supported, tech jargon, step-by-step lessons, extensions for deeper exploration, troubleshooting tips and project examples including reproducibles. Tech programs used are KidPix, all MS productivity software, Google Earth, typing software and online sites, email, Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, internet start pages, social bookmarking and photo storage), Photoshop and Celestia. Also included is an Appendix of over 200 age-appropriate child-friendly websites. Skills taught include collaboration, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, creativity, digital citizenship, information fluency, presentation, and technology concepts. In short, it’s everything you’d need to successfully integrate technology into the twenty-first century classroom.

If you send a proof of purchase for the print textbook to the publisher at sales@structuredlearning.net, you can buy a discounted pdf of the book here.

Weekend Website #111: 40 California Mission Websites

Here’s a list of 40 websites that will inspire your fourth graders about California missions:

CA missions–4th grade staple

1. CA Missions–each
2. CA History-Missions
3. CA mission history
4. CA Mission Internet Trail
5. CA Mission Life
6. CA Mission Pictures
7. CA Mission Pictures—all Missions
8. CA Mission websites–list of
9. CA Mission websites–list of
10. CA missions
11. CA Missions
12. CA Missions 1780 to present
13. CA Missions Foundation
14. CA Missions Online–each
15. CA Missions today
16. CA Missions–Christianity
17. CA Missions–each
18. CA Missions—each mission
19. CA Missions–general
20. CA Missions–general II
21. CA Missions–general III
22. CA Missions–info on each II
23. CA Missions–info on each III
24. CA Missions–list of sites
25. CA Missions–more
26. CA Missions–more
27. CA Missions–Santa Barbara
28. Daily Life at Missions
29. Father Serra
30. Father Serra II
31. Father Serra III
32. Father Serra–more
33. Father Serra—still more
34. Google Earth Mission Tour
35. Mission Quotes
36. Mission Timeline
37. Mission Websites for Kids
38. Santa Barbara Mission
39. The Spanish Missions
40. Tour CA Missions with Google Earth

Weekend Website #93: 18 Natural Disasters Websites

Natural disasters

Every Friday, I’ll send you a wonderful website (or more) that my classes and my

parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.

My fourth graders just went through a unit of inquiry on natural disasters and we came up with a pretty good list of resources. I want to share them with you. Please add your own to the comment section:

1. Avalanches
2. Earthquake simulations
3. Earthquakes
4. Earthquakes for Kids
5. Earthquakes–USGS
6. Hurricanes
7. Natural disaster videos
8. Natural disasters—National Geographic
9. Natural disasters–resources
10. Savage Earth
11. Storm Chasing
12. Tornadoes
13. Tornadoes II
14. Tsunamis
15. Volcano Adventure
16. Volcano Underwater
17. Volcano videos
18. Volcanoes

Organize Your Teaching With Wikis

This is the fifth in a series on classroom management through wikis. Here are links for wikis I’ve created for grades K-5.

• Kindergarten wiki
• First grade wiki
• Second grade wiki
• Third Grade Wiki
• Fifth Grade Wiki

This one is Fourth Grade:

Click here to visit my fourth grade class wiki

Why Some Kids Always Seem to Know the Answers

It’s a simple mix of confidence and knowledge. You know that quote–10% knowledge, 90% sweat. Technology is the same. The kid who has the confidence to try and knows the basics will come across as always knowing the answers.

Here are the posts that will get you there:

• Solve the most common computer problems. There aren’t that many. Most of them start with “Is the computer/monitor on?”
• Use keyboard shortcuts. They’re easier to remember and make you look clever
• Know the right words for what you’re talking about. Just enough you sound like you know your stuff, but don’t overdo it. Think of the last techie guy who helped you with your computer problem. If he used computer jargon, you had confidence in his ability. If he used too much, you didn’t feel like you could talk to him
• Be a decent keyboarder. Nothing spells competence like knowing your way around the keyboard. A couple of months over the summer will do this, and you’ll reap the benefits the rest of your life
• Know the basics of the most common program you use. If it’s MS Word, Google Earth, wikispaces. Take the time to learn enough that you’re comfortable.

Book Review: Fourth Grade Technology–32 Lessons

Fourth Grade Technology: 32 Lessons Every Fourth Grader Can Accomplish on a Computer

by Structured Learning IT Teaching Team

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the Fourth Edition, updated to MS Office 2007/10 (currently available only as pdf). It  includes many more samples, reproducibles, Web 2.0 connections and how-to’s that are age-appropriate for a second grader. At 126 pages, it’s much more like a tech lab-in-a-binder than a mere 32 projects. The Amazon blurb says it all:

The six-volume Structured Learning Technology Curriculum (Fourth Edition, 2011) is the all-in-one solution to running an effective, efficient, and fun technology program  whether you’re the lab specialist, IT coordinator, classroom teacher, or homeschooler, and is the current choice of hundreds of school districts across the country. Newly updated and expanded, each volume now includes step-by-step directions for a year’s worth of projects, samples, grading rubrics, reproducibles, wall posters, teaching ideas and hundreds of online connections to access enrichment material and updates from a working technology lab. Aligned with ISTE national technology standards, the curriculum follows a tested timeline of which skill to introduce when, starting with mouse skills, keyboarding, computer basics, and internet/Web 2.0 tools in Kindergarten/First; MS Word, Publisher, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Earth, internet research, email and Photoshop in Second-Fifth. Each activity is integrated with classroom units in history, science, math, literature, reading, writing, critical thinking and more. Whether you’re an experienced tech teacher or brand new to the job, you’ll appreciate the hundreds of embedded links that enable you to stay on top of current technology thinking and get help from active technology teachers using the program. Additional items included in each volume are wall posters to explain basic concepts, suggestions for keyboarding standards, discussion of how to integrate Web 2.0 tools into the classroom curriculum and the dozens of online websites to support classroom subjects.

#47: Tour the World—with a PowerPoint Slideshow

Use the research done for #40. Use a guidesheet to lay out what is on each slides, i.e., a cover, table of contents, what makes a geographic locations amazing (discuss this as a group), a map, and three locations from #40. Teach PowerPoint skills such as adding slides and text and pictures, animation, transitions, auto-forward, personalized backgrounds, adding music to multiple slides. Third graders may not be able to complete all skills.

Weekend Website #46: Computer Lab Favorites

Every Friday I’ll send you a wonderful website that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.

Pick activities by grade level, subject

#41: Where is That?

Locate the major latitudes and longitudes on Google Earth. Locate cities, countries along the same latitude/longitude. Zoom in to see how exact lats and longs get. Students also find their own house by lat and long. I also give students a lat and long and see if they can figure out where it is on the globe.

#30: A Cover Page in Publisher

Use the Quick Publication template to make a fast cover page for a report, project, etc, in the classroom. Pay attention to layout, grammar, spelling, design

Magazine in Publisher

Tech Tip #56: Force a New Page

Tech tips

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

#35: Sponge Activities for Vocabulary Building

There are lots of great online vocabulary websites to help kids learn high-frequency and dolch words. I’ll share five of them. Maybe you have some to share with the group.

Weekend Website #33: Wild on Math

Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours as they are of mine.

#39: Google Earth Board

I had a reader ask about this, so I’m posting this wonderfully fun lesson.

Students select from a list of Wonders of the World (or locations put together in conjunction with the classroom teacher). They do brief research on it, locate it using Google Earth and make a short presentation to the class about it.

Click on them for a full size alternative.

#80: Study Better Together With Excel

This is a summative lesson in Excel. Be sure to finish Excel for beginners before attempting this one.

If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.

Weekend Website #23: Fourth Grade Class Wiki

Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours as they are of mine.

My Fourth Grade Class Wiki

Weekend Website #21: Test Your Typing Speed

Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours as they are of mine.

#79: Excel Turns Data Into Information

Sometimes, it takes a picture to really show what you’re trying to say. It doesn’t have to be drawn with pencils or paint brushes. Sometimes, it’s a graph or a chart, formatted to clarify important points.

That’s called Excel. Words and numbers are always black and white and the same size. Excel never is. There are twenty-two Excel skills I teach grades 3-5 that turn Excel into a useful tool in their classroom. This covers the first fourteen.

Where Would You Like to Go Today?

Are you here for a lesson plan… Tech tips… Humor? Click the category on the sidebar and you’re there.

I notice lots of readers are clicking on the pictures, hoping it’s a link to a category. I have to confess: I was unable to get the pictures to act as links. I don’t think WordPress can do that. I spent quite a while trying. I can do it if I put each picture in separately (rather than as a two-column album), but it’s difficult to maneuver. Until I solve that you’ll have to visit the Categories section on the sidebar. You’ll get a group of projects on that topic, mixed ages:

Tech Tips

KidPix Projects

Google Earth Projects

Photoshop Projects

Keyboarding Projects

MS Word Projects

Publisher Projects

PowerPoint Projects

Excel Projects

Computer Humor

Tech Tips

Anyone know how to make the pictures in a picture gallery act as links? Hmmm….

#73: How to Graph in Excel

Excel graphs are easy enough for third graders. So try it. Collect your data, enter it into an excel worksheet and push F11. If you have more time, show students how to format the graph. This is a favorite with my third graders.

18 Great Poetry Websites

UPDATE–3 of these sites disappeared. I’ve deleted them. Now there are 15 Great Poetry Websites…

My fourth grade students are working on poetry for a few weeks and I have discovered some truly wonderful, fun-filled websites. Here’s my list, each one tested and approved by 75 fourth graders. Just click the picture to go to the website:

Tech Tip #15: Save Early Save Often

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

#109: MS Word Skills Assessment for Grades 3-8

This assessment is comprehensive, designed not to test students. but assess their knowledge as an aid to you in determining where to begin. Use it when you start a new class or to determine where are the holes in their learning.

#110: Publisher Skills Assessment for Grades 3-8

This assessment is comprehensive, designed not to test students. but assess their knowledge as an aid to you in determining where to begin. Use it when you start a new class or to determine where are the holes in their learning.

#51: History Trifold in Publisher–Grades 4-7

This lesson is a crowd pleaser. Students create a timeline showing what was happening around the world while they lived their lives. I’ve found this generates lots of discussion between students and their parents as they try to understand what the world events were.

Click on each page of lesson plan.

#52: Indigenous Cultures Magazine in Publisher

Create a magazine on any topic you’re covering in class using text, pictures, diagrams, charts. Add a cover and a table of contents.

#74: Mastering Excel (for Beginners)

There are 22 common Excel skills easy enough for fourth and fifth graders. When they’re done, they–and their parents (and you, by the way)–will feel that they’ve accomplished much more.

#102: 23 Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts

Nothing makes computer work faster than keybaord shortcuts. And, it is the rare student who doesn’t claim them as their own and pass on to friends their favorites.

#100: How to Web 2.0 Accessorize Your Classroom

Web 2.0 is the most exciting thing to happen to education since the schoolhouse. It is a limitless classroom, allowing students access to anything they can define. Includes what’s a digital citizen, how to create a blog, a classroom internet start page, a classroom wiki, how to join social networks and post pictures on Flikr, where to go for podcasting and online docs, and more.

Here’s where you start:

#101: Don’t Print Homework–Email it!

By third grade, students can email their homework to you rather than turn in all those pesky hard copies. No more lost work, no more dog-ate-their-homework, no more blaming their mom. They can use their own account or a parents. Once they learn how, it is automatic–and they love doing it this way.

#95: Teach About Inventions with PowerPoint

This is one of the most popular fourth grade projects in my curriculum. Students love the research and can’t believe how great the report is when presented with PowerPoint.

#59: Reading + Keyboarding = Success

If students become wrapped up in what they’re reading, they’ll type faster. I’ve provided two examples below, but use material you’re teaching in class, literature books they’re reading or poetry. They’ll forget they’re searching for keys as they become enthralled with the story.

5 Best Online Keyboarding Programs

I gave you-all a long list of great websites that will help teach your students keyboarding. Here are my top five:

If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.

#57: Yes, You Should Assign Keyboarding Homework

I only get my students 45 minutes a week. That’s not enough time to teach computer basics AND necessary keyboard skills. So, I give homework. It’s 45 minutes a week of homework. Sometimes I send my charges to online sites. Other times, I provide them with the following:

If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.

#75: Tessellations in Excel

Excel will clear up the confusion about tessellations. They are simple, quick and fun. Read on:

#17: A Holiday Story in MS Word for Grades 2-7

Reinforce fiction writing–characters, plot, setting, climax–with a short story in MS Word. Then use color, borders, pictures to enhance the words.

#22: A Holiday Flier in Publisher

This is the only project that’s easier than Project 21 (the holiday card in Publisher). There’s no folding and the templates are bright, colorful and exciting for kids as young as second grade:

#16: A Holiday Memory in Word or KidPix

Use this not only to create a gift for parents, but to practice writing skills, grammar, MS Word’s spell check. I have student compose the memory one week and we format it the next. For beginning writers, use KidPix and its text tools.