Thoughts about Digital Passport from Common Sense Media

I launched Digital Passports from Common Sense Media with my 160 - 5th grade students in September and they loved it. This is my third year as their technology teacher so they have been hearing the same things for 3 years: passwords are private, no personal information online, appropriate behavior -no hurting other people with your words, videos, images, comments, audio recordings, etc..., what goes online stays online, legal cited images or your images and the mantra continues.

We would spend the first few minutes of each class talking about one of the Digital Passport topics and then the students would do the assignment at home. I would check the results and then add their scores to an assignment I created in Edmodo. If the student received a perfect score of 100% on Edmodo then I would award them a badge. If they received all 5 badges they earned an additional Digital Citizenship badge. The badges were a huge success and students would redo the activity in order to earn them. I also created online quizzes in Edmodo similiar to the questions asked in the activity. Students could earn badges that way as well. Some students did not have great success in the activity for various reasons but could answer all the questions correctly so I wanted to make sure they had an alternative to show me they understood the concepts.

I created a poll in Edmodo asking them which was their favorite lesson. Privacy won by a few votes with Creative Credits coming in second. (Not all students answered the poll)

A few students also added a comment which I have included below.



Student Comments:

I liked upstander the best because:

• it also explained that topic very well,


• and because it was also very fun to play.

That’s why I liked upstander the best!

I liked the Privacy one the best because
1. It was really fun
2. It taught you but it was a bit like a video game as well
3. I felt like the other ones were a bit too educational feeling

I liked Search Shark because
1. I was having problem searching and it helped a lot
2. I liked how they made to practice what is the best way to search

I liked the Twalkers one the best because...
1. It was fun trying to do 2 things at once
2. It taught me that I couldn't really do 2 things at once!

I also liked the twalkers because it also taught me a lesson and it was fun trying to do two things at once but it was also hard... I like challenges.

I like Creative Credit the best because:
1. It was soooo cool!!!
2. You got to design your own Slideshow
3. It has a cool looking badge

Twalkers is fun because it really did help me learn and sometimes I actually try to do multiple things at once but it gets distracting. I think all of them had a moral though. Will we do another game next semester? They're fun!

What I would like to see in the future:

1. different lessons for each grade level so I can use it with all my classes and have it not be a repeat for them.


2. when I am on the View Results or Manage Activity page and I switch to a different class I would like to remain on the View Results or Manage Activity page

Overall thumbs up!

Vacation Day

It was vacation time, and so I decided to visit my cousin's home. What a grand time we had! In the mornings, we both would go for a jog. The evenings were spent on the tennis court. Tiring as these activities were, we could manage only one per day, i.e., either we went for a jog or played tennis each day. There were days when we felt lazy and stayed home all day long.

Now, there were 9 mornings when we did nothing, 9 evenings when we stayed at home, and a total of 6 days when we jogged or played tennis. For how many days did I stay at my cousin's place?

~by Syvum

I Am Done with UltraKey What Can I Do?

If you have finished ALL of the Lessons (1-N3 and Challengers) and Level 2 in UltraKey you can work on one of the following projects.

1. Login to Edmodo  or Google Apps and catchup with our global friends


2. Work on XtraMath


3. Go to Free Rice and donate rice to the hungry


4. Use diagramly or another program to create your idea of a dream place


5. https://www.draw.io/


6. Write a Blog Post




1. Write a blog post reflecting on the robotics classes


2. Create a 6 room poem


3. Current Events - What's going on in the world? Write a post about an interesting bit of news.




1. Time For Kids


2. Weekly Reader


3. Newsround BBC


4. National Geographics Kids




4. Write a response to a newspaper article


5. Write a note to your future self


6. Write a review




1. Products


2. Websites


3. Books


4. Movies


5. Music


6. Restaurants




7. A poem


8. Write about some goals


9. Explain things you wish you had known or done differently


10. List things learned from a book


11. Create a beginner’s guide to something


12. "How To" do something


13. What you are thankful for


14. What you want to be when you graduate TAS




7. Picture Blog




1. Upload images from vacation


2. Catch students following TAS values


3. Mystery photo


4. Sequence of events




8. Check out KidsFACE (Kids For A Clean Environment)


9. Animation-ish - Add to blog




1. Create a movie explaining something you know




10. Wordle - Add to blog


11. Taxedo - Add to blog


12. Update GoodReads


13. Write a book review on GoodReads


14. Record an Audacity or AudioBoo- Add to blog


15. Research a topic


16. Draw in Paint - Add to blog


17. ToonDoo - Add to blog


18. Isle of Tune


19. Create a Lego Avatar - Add to blog


20. Make charts and graphs


21. Link to your favorite blogs or websites


22. Practice Typing Pal


23. Explore NetSmartz


24. Update blog




1. Categories


2. Tags


3. Capitals/Spelling/Punctuation


4. Links

How to use images from Google

1. Go to advanced setting on Google.



2. Scroll to the bottom of the window to where it says usage rights. Change the settings to this:

3. Press the blue advanced search button. Now you are ready to search. Put in your keyword/s. I used moon cake.

4. Choose the photo you like by clicking on it. Then it will give you a photo like this. Click on "website for this image". Now copy (right click, copy). Paste it into a Word document (Ctrl +V or right click, paste)

5. Go back to the address line to copy the website. Copy the URL and paste on a word document.


6. If you right click on your photo in the Word document, you will get an option "insert caption". Say OK when the box pops up. You can use this to paste in your URL from the website. Also, if possible, find the photographer's name from the website and put it there too.

http://capl.washjeff.edu/4/l/2006.jpg
photographer's name if possible

Thank you Mrs. Rhoades for the directions and images.

History of the Christmas Tree

Thanks to Christmas Tree Market for this cool inforgraphic:

Online Sources

BrainPop!, Online Sources

Who is the publisher? What is the domain?
Who is the author?
Is the author biased?
Is it in-depth?
Is the site accurate?
Is the website up to date?

Frogs -1
Frogs - 2
Frogs - 3
Frogs -4

Anamorphosis

Google A Day

If you came home from a trip with 150 South African rand, 350 Kuwaiti dinars and 200 Japanese yen, how much would you have in U.S. dollars?

Need help Google A Day #30

Personal Information

Thankful?

Thanks Mrs. Moulton for the link. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

[caption id="attachment_3975" align="alignleft" width="641" caption="KidsDiscover.com"][/caption]

We Give Books

This fall, show your support for early childhood literacy by reading, giving, and sharing on WeGiveBooks.org. When you read a free children’s book online, you’ll help us send books to great organizations that are committed to ensuring that all children have access to quality, age-appropriate literature.

Comment Guidelines

 

Always start with a Greeting including the person's name.

Hello, Hi!, Dear,

The Body is where you write your comment:

Mrs. Yollis writes:

"A one-point comment is a general comment that doesn't add very much to the post. Example: I like your blog. Please visit mine! A two-point comment adds something to the comment conversation. A commenter might compliment the writer in a specific way or add new information. Another idea is to make a connection. Maybe the post reminds you of an experience that you've had. Share that connection!  Try to end your comment with a relevant question. That way, an interesting conversation can develop."

A Great Comment:
- contains a compliment,
- causes a reflection,
- uses school appropriate language
- has been proof read.

Includes one or more of the following:
- asks a question,
- makes a connection (to an idea or links to an example),
- piggy backs on an idea,
- restates or summarizes the idea/s in the post.
- creates the need for a reply.

A comment never includes personal information: last name, age, school, phone number, date of birth.

Always end with a Closing:

Good bye, Cheers, Your friend, Smiles, Sincerely

DON'T Forget your Signature, use your first name only!

Happy Commenting!

Brain Pop!

Click on the image to go to the BrainPop! video about Blogs.

When you are done take the blog quiz and show how much you know.

Quality Commenting

A quality comment

• uses correct spelling, punctuation and spacing,


• means reading over the comment and editing before submitting,


• compliments the writer in a specific way, asking a question, and/or adding new information to the post,


• is relevant to the topic,


• contains a compliment,


• causes a reflection,


• uses school appropriate language,


• does not contain personal information.

Includes one or more of the following:

• asks a question,


• makes a connection (to an idea or links to an example),


• piggy backs on an idea,


• restates or summarizes the idea/s in the post,


• creates the need for a reply.

Your story is good.

vs.

I really enjoyed your story about your trip to the zoo. I felt I was there with you when you explained how loud and scary the tiger roared. I would love to read more details about what happened next.

 

Free Rice

For each answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

Peach's Neet Feet

Be An Upstander

Nations of the World

Thanks Emily for sharing this video.

Stop Bullying and Cyberbullying

What kind of person do you want to be?

Target: The person being bullied
Upstander: Someone who helps a person being bullied
Bystander: Someone who sees bullying when it’s happening but does nothing to help
Cyberbully: Someone who does something on the internet, usually again and again, to make another person feel sad, angry, or scared.

If you are being bullied, what should you do?
Ignore the bully; talk to someone you trust about what’s going on; save the cyberbullying message as proof.

What are some ways in which you can be an Upstander?
Tell cyberbullies to stop what they are doing; support someone who has been cyberbullied; talk to a trusted friend or adult for help.

Kindness is Contagious!

Learn in Google Earth

Image from Google Earth website

Street View in Google Earth

Mars in Google Earth

With Mars in Google Earth, you can:

• View images downloaded by NASA just hours ago, in the Live from Mars layer


• Take an interactive tour of Mars, narrated by Public Radio's Ira Flatow or Bill Nye the Science Guy


• View 3D rover models and follow their tracks to see high-resolution 360-degree panoramas


• Search for famous Martian landmarks, such as the Face on Mars or Olympus Mons

Google Earth, The Many Dimensions of a Modern Map

Sky in Google Earth

With Sky in Google Earth, you can:

• Check out the new Slooh Space Camera layer to see live images of galaxies, objects and more


• View constellations and the movements of the planets


• Hear astronomy podcasts and read celestial research from expert sources


• Create and share your own imagery, placemarks and more

Edmodo Guidelines

Posting Messages

• Post a note to the whole group if your question is about something the whole group should know (assignments, instructions, dates etc.)


• Send a note only to your teacher if you want to talk about something that doesn’t relate to everyone.


• Don’t post personal questions to the group.


• Keep conversations on topic.


• If you’re not sure if a word or joke is okay, then it’s probably not. Refrain from posts that tease, bully, annoy, spam, or gossip about any other member.

Replying to Messages

• Do not answer a question if you aren’t sure you know the answer.


• Do not reply to a question if someone has already answered it correctly.

Groups

• If you think there is something inappropriate posted in an Edmodo group, tell a teacher immediately.

Punctuation & Grammar

• No txting lingo. We r ur teachers…show us that u have learned how 2 spell.


• DO NOT PUT SENTENCES IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. (It is shouting)


• Do not end sentences with more than one exclamation mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or question mark????????????


• Please please please do not repeat a word more than necessary.

Taken from Edmodo Teacher Resources

Parent Edmodo Sign Up

I am excited to launch Edmodo with the 5th grade students. Your child should be coming home with an access code for you to join in order to monitor their usage. I have also emailed a parent letter so that you are aware of the purpose and the guidelines of use. Please contact me with any questions.

1. Visit www.edmodo.com and select the “Parent Sign Up” button, just below the student and teacher sign up buttons.


2. Fill out the registration form with the unique parent code, the relationship with the child and a valid email address.


3. Select the “Sign Up” button to complete the signup process.


4. Check the box You agree to our TOS and our Privacy Policy after reading them

You can add each child to the one account you create.

Note: Once the parent has created the parent account, the parent is automatically observing any group that the child is part of in his/her account. Any group the child adds in the future will be added to the parent account as well.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Edmodo"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4032" align="alignleft" width="429" caption="Edmodo"][/caption]

Daylight Saving Time, November 4

Daylight Saving Time is the practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

[caption id="attachment_3840" align="alignnone" width="411" caption="http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/geography/daylightsavingtime/"][/caption]

Not all countries observe day light saving and some observe it at different times of the year. The countries in red are those that do use DST.

[caption id="attachment_3841" align="alignright" width="624" caption="Webexhibits"][/caption]

KA create with ShowME on the iPad

Electing a US President in Plain English, Common Craft

The United States 57th presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Dr. Suess, Halloween

Skeleton Dance

[youtube Jpvuqj5nv6U?rel=0"]

Princess Katie & Racer Steve Halloween Song

Silly Symphony

[youtube h03QBNVwX8Q?rel=0:]

Carve A Pumpkin

I found this cool website that let's you carve a pumpkin. Have fun!

Digital Passport for 5th Grade

I am launching Digital Citizenship and we will be using Digital Passports to learn about being responsible online.

Disclaimer

Students learn about being digital citizens and what that means for their futures. We learn these skills through blogging, Google Apps, website research, and many other lessons and applications.

Students are adding a widget to their blog explaining the intent of their content.

"This is a blog dedicated to learning. My work is not perfect, there are typos, spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, and at times difficult sentence formations. This is a learning environment for me. You are welcome to leave a comment that will encourage me in my learning and offer positive suggestions for improvements."

Google Translator

Add a widget to your blog so people can easily translate your blog into their preferred language.

1. Open your blog


2. Appearance --> Widgets


3. Drag HTML Javascript Adder Widget to Sidebar (towards the top but below header/background credit)


4. Title it


5. Copy this code

<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/translatemypage.xml&up_source_language=en&w=160&h=60&title=&border=&output=js"></script>

1. Paste Code into the HTML widget


2. Save


3. Check it out on your blog. (Might take a few seconds to load.)

Scholastic Book Wizard Widget

[caption id="attachment_3603" align="alignnone" width="317" caption="Scholastic Book Wizard Widget"][/caption]

1. Login to your blog


2. Click on Appearance


3. Click on Widget


4. Drag the HTML Javascript Adder Widget to your sidebar


5. Title it: Scholastic Book Wizard


6. Copy the code


7. Paste code into the HTML widget


8. Save
   <script src="http://gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://rss.scholastic.com/sources/tbw.xml&synd=open&w=300&h=196&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script>/script>

Add an Avatar to your Blog

It is helpful to see a picture that represent who is commenting on your blog. Here's how:

1. Create an avatar using  Reasonably Clever (Lego), New York Zoo and Aquarium (animal representation), or somewhere else.


2. Save it to your computer so you can find it later


3. Login to your blog (WordPress)


4. Users, Your Avatar


5. 


6. Browse to where you saved your avatar


7. 


8. Click Alternative Upload


9. Settings, Blog Avatar


10. 


11. 


12. Appearance, Widgets


13. 


14. Drag the Blog Avatar over to the widget sidebar


15. 

Next time you leave a comment it will show your image.

Clustr Map

Go to Clustr Map to get a widget to create your own map. It will take 24 hours to get results.

1. Enter your blog address in the URL, delete the http://


2. Enter your school email address @tas.tw


3. Click on the words Make my map


4. Copy the html code


5. Login to your blog


6. Drag a HTML widget to the sidebar (Appearance ->Widgets)


7. Title the Text Widget - be creative


8. Paste the html


9. Save the Widget

Add Goodreads Widget to Blog

1. Create an account if you do not have one




1. First name only


2. Email address is username@tas.tw


3. Password that you can remember


4. Click Sign Up

1. Login to GoodReads




1. username: email address (nancyg21123456@tas.tw)


2. password: whatever you entered


3. if forgot password reset password and check your G-Mail account




2. Add the books you read


3. Click on My Books, Scroll down to Widget and click it once

4. Copy the 4th widget code: My Books Widget



5.     Open Blog
6.     Appearance-> Widget
7.     Drag the TEXT widget to the sidebar
8.     Paste the code
9.     Title the Text box: GoodReads
10.   Save
11.   View your blog

Halloween Word Search

Word of the Day

Bitechtual:
A person who has no preference for operating system and moves between PC and Mac with ease.

Mr. Thompson's Engineers, Plan and Program Robots

[gallery]

Mr. Rhoades's Class, Time for Robotics!

Martin's Students Tackle the Challenge

[gallery]

Ms. Tenebrini's Class Conquer the Lego Mindstorms Challenges

[gallery]

Mr. Andersen's Class Accepts and Conquers the Challenge

[gallery]

Mrs. Moulton's Student Conquer the Robotics Asteroid Challenge

[gallery]

Sony QRIO Robots Dancing

Insert Audio File

1. Login to your blog using Internet Explorer




1. username: first name, first initial of last name, ID number (nancyg21123456)


2. password your own




2. Add New Post




1. Title: Name of topic


2. Category:similar to a school subject: Writing, Reading, Math, Science, etc...


3. Tag: smaller topic: research, essay, fractions, graph, audio




3. Before you insert your audio file type something similar to: Please listen to my recording about


4. Select the musical note


5. Browse to your file


6. Upload


7. Insert into Post


8. Check spelling


9. Publish


10. Logout of the blog when done

Snipping Tool

You can take a "picture" of your work on the computer by using the Snipping Tool that is installed on Windows 7.  It should be located in Start, Snipping Tool or you can type it in the search option.



Once you open the application you can click, hold and drag over the image you want. Once you let go it will open the Snipping Tool application and you can save your "picture".



Save your picture to your number
Add a title so you can find it later

Robots are Here!

Teachers and assistants spent part of the September 11 PD day building Lego Mindstorms for use with the 5th graders this coming week. It was great fun to build them and more fun to program. Students will be using the NXT-G software to plan, test and modify sequences of instructions from a variety of real life robotic behavior.[gallery]

Special thanks to Mr. Gorneau, Mrs. Uhlman, Dane and Annabel Ulhman who came in to build and program the bots during the weekends.

Do You Know Your Math Facts?

Two Tens for a Five

UltraKey

[caption id="attachment_3731" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Finger Technique"][/caption]

Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade focus on improving their keyboarding speed and accuracy. These are a few of the many benefits to learning the correct technique:

• Improve written communication skills


• Communicate in a digital world


• Increase muscle memory


• Prevent injury

Lessons are for learning and practicing. Lessons are broken into 12 categories which teach you the best way to type each letter and letter combinations.

When you complete a lesson you earn a green check. You must go through all steps of a lesson to earn a green check mark on the lesson menu.

Every lesson you complete has a matching skill check. Use the blue check Skills check icon to check your speed and accuracy if you complete the check successfully you earn a green check mark. Once you complete a skills check you can move onto the next lesson.

Lesson completion timeline:

• Lesson 1 - Sept. 21


• Lesson 2 - Oct. 12


• Lesson 3 - Nov. 2


• Lesson 4 - Nov. 30


• Lesson 5 - Dec. 20


• Lesson 6 - Jan. 25


• Lesson 7 - Feb. 28


• Lesson 8 - Mar. 15


• Lesson 9 - April 19


• Lessons N1-N3 – May 31

Grade level expectations:

• 3rd grade: 15 words per minute with 94% accuracy


• 4th grade: 20 words per minute with 96% accuracy


• 5th grade: 25 words per minute with 98% accuracy

Students can also practice at home using Typing Pal

Best Self, Best Work

Wordle Sizes

The size of a word is determined by how many times you type in the same word.



Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like.

Mrs. Morris' Class Likes to Read Books...

Mr. Middleton's Class Likes to Read Books...

Mrs. Carter's Class Likes to Read Books...

Ms. Hobbs' Class Likes to Read Books

Mindstorm Bridge

Ms. Walter's Class Likes to Read Books

LEGO Mindstorm Creations

Password Word Search

Words can be forward, backward, or diagonally. Good luck!

Who Teaches Who?

This year your child will have 2 different teachers for Information Technologies. Below you can see who is working with each homeroom teacher for Semester I. Please contact your child's IT teacher if you have any questions: Ms. Sloan or Mrs. Gorneau. The teachers will switch for Semester II.

Typing Pal

[caption id="attachment_3529" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Typing Pal"][/caption]

Students should be practicing Typing Pal at home every other night for a maximum of 15 minutes to improve their speed and accuracy. Parents should be supporting their children by encouraging them to use correct posture and finger techniques. Students should be monitored at all times while using the Internet and Typing Pal requires Internet access to practice. Parents received an email with login and password information.

Student expectations:
Grade 3: 15 WPM with 94% accuracy
Grade 4: 20 WPM with 96% accuracy
Grade 5: 25 WPM with 98% accuracy

Please contact Ms. Sloan or Mrs. Gorneau if you have any questions.

XtraMath

[caption id="attachment_3522" align="alignnone" width="207" caption="XtraMath.org"][/caption]

Password Rap

[caption id="attachment_3518" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="Password Rap by NetSmartz.org"][/caption]

Password Bird

I came accross this cool website, Password Bird on Free Technology for Teachers written by Richard Byrne that helps you create a password that you can remember. Simply answer the 3 questions and it creates a password. If you do not like it...click the button to reset and try it again.

[caption id="attachment_3500" align="alignnone" width="528" caption="Created by Kevin Sheurs and Andrés Galante"][/caption]

Choosing a Password

Check out this cool video from Lee LeFever, Common Craft, about creating a Secure Password



Safe Passwords:

• 8 characters long




• numbers


• symbols


• letters


• upper case


• lower case


• punctuation




• Mix it up




• subsitute a number for a letter




• the letter s for the number 5


• example: pa55word




• substitute a symbol for a letter




• the @ for the letter a


• example: p@ssword




• use a random capital letter




• example: pAssword




• use a punctuation mark




• example: password!

Unsafe Choices:

• Name


• Personal information - address, phone number


• Email address or login name


• A random word from the dictionary

Notes:

• Do not write your password down for others to find


• Do not tell anyone your password


• Never give your password to a friend so they can use your account


• Never respond to a phone call or email asking for your passowrd

Good luck creating a secure password that only you know!

First Day of School

It was Maria's first day at school. The teacher suggested that it would be a good idea for each child to meet every other child in the class. The teacher said, "When you meet, please shake hands and introduce yourself by name."

If there were 11 children in the class, how many total handshakes were there?

~by Syvum

YouTube Copyright School

Brave, by Disney/Pixar

I went to see Brave, PG-13, with my 10 year old niece this week. I would not recommend this movie for children under 10. She was a little nervous in some parts of the movie but no nightmares followed. We had a long discussion after the movie about some of the scenes and the morals in the story. She thought it was a fabulous movie, I agreed.

CommonSense Media provides movie reviews for you to consult before you decide if a movie is appropriate for your child. Check out their review written by Sandie Angulo Chen of Brave.

[caption id="attachment_3494" align="alignnone" width="303" caption="Review by Common Sense Media"][/caption]

I particularly like that they have a section entitled:

What families can talk about

• Families can talk about what kind of princess Merida is. How does she compare to the other Disney princesses? How is her story similar to and different from theirs?


• This could be the first princess movie in which there's no romance. What do you think of the shift in focus from love story to mother-and-daughter tale? Do you think that makes Brave more appealing to more people?


• Brave has strong female role models, but what about the men/boys? Which male characters do you think are portrayed as role models?


• Kids: What made you want to see this movie -- the story, or all the product tie-ins? Do kids want a product because Merida is pictured on it?