Here are a few examples from our Alder (5th-6th grade) students learning how to make different tables and organizing information using Google Docs. 

Stay tuned to more details for our celebration of Dr. Seuss Day!  

Google and More...

In our Cedar Media classes we have been learning the ins and outs of Google Sheets.  The students have taken data that they have collected from their classmates and are working on turning it into  eye-catching charts.  They have learned how to use functions, import data, make charts, and use different formatting to enhance the spreadsheet.

Abbey Briley's Google Sheets Project

The Alder classes have been focusing on Google Docs and are learning how to import images, links, use different formatting, use equations, and tables.  They will be creating a project where they will be organizing data into tables in the document.  Stay tuned for examples to be posted up and around the Media Center.

A Legend from the Cherokee Tribe

A Legend from the Inuit Tribe

The Clarkia are continuing to concentrate on proper typing posture and skills.  They are coming along quite nicely on their accuracy and speed.  In their library times we are focusing on Native American legends according to the region they have been studying in class.  We have noticed that legends have some way to explain how something in nature came to be.  

The Huckleberry library classes are concentrating on nonfiction text elements.  What are indexes, glossaries, headings, table of contents, diagrams, captions, and more?  We read a book about groundhogs to find these elements.

In the Trillium library class we are discovering what an author's job is.  We read several Mo Wilems books, one of my favorite authors.  We discovered what an Newbery Award is.  The Trillium loved reading,

Assignment Make-Ups

In the Alder and Cedar computer classes all students are required to pick up a "Make Up Assignment" slip if they have been absent from a class.   About half of our class time is spent on developing correct typing skills and posture.  With more concentrated efforts in developing the proper typing etiquette our students will be more successful as they enter high school.  At this time most 5th-8th grade students are encouraged to be typing between 20-40 WPM with 90% accuracy.  
 
A "Make Up Assignment" slip requires 15-20 minutes of typing done at home on www.typing.com.  This is the site that our students use in class and they are very familiar with it.   Please monitor your child's work and then sign the slip and return to me as soon as possible.  Thank you.  This makes for a successful typist!

2016!

Our Media Center Schedule has changed.  Please check out our schedule to find out your child's library day.  Many students still have library books out from the break.  Please help remind them to bring them back on their library day.  Thank you.

In our Trillium library classes we are discovering the parts of a book are just like us.  We are reconstructing a book to see the different parts.  In Huckleberries, we are discovering nonfiction elements and the purposes of why we read non-fiction.  In Clarkia, we are reviewing fables.  This week we played a matching game to see which group could match all the different fables to their correct elements.  We were a little rusty but I think by next week we will have it down.

Folktale Matching Activity

During our computer times the Clarkia are working on typing posture and choosing a typing skill to improve their accuracy.  The Alders and Cedars worked on finishing up their scratch projects and continue to work on typing accuracy as well.

The Importance in Teaching Coding

         In the Mountain Meadow Media Center the Alders and Cedars have been working on coding projects for the last month. You may have a few questions as to what it is and why is it essential to teach our children to learn to code. First, coding is a set of algorithms or inputs that make it possible to create software. It is a series of commands that makes it possible for your browser, or any app on your phone, etc. to work. Why are we teaching this skill at MRA? According to an article in the Wall Street Journal the future statistics prove that our children will need these skills to become successful in the future job market.

        "It has become essential that we prepare our students to have the skills to succeed in the 21st Century which will include programing. It doesn’t hurt their cause that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be one million unfilled jobs for programmers in the U.S. by 2020. And that may be an underestimate, says Mr. Partovi. He adds that the more software and hardware humans create, the more jobs in software there are, as new platforms like smartphones and drones spawn their own software ecosystems.” (Mims, Why Coding Is Your Child’s Key to Unlocking the Future, www.wsj.com)

      Currently, we are a using a website, scratch.mit.ed, for our students to start at their level of coding. I would encourage you to check it out. The students were given a set of expectations that included a focus on using the “Shrek” fairytale. We have had some innovative games of mazes, interactive story scenes, retelling of a fairytale with a twist, and much more. Here is a sample project done by Caelan Erickson. His game takes Shrek and Donkey through the volcano to find the fair princess, Fionna! Please check out his work at https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/89627132/#editor.

Shrek Project

Our Alders and Cedars are working on creating code to develop a fairytale scene based off of Shrek.  Our returning students got right to work using https://scratch.mit.edu/.  Our students who are new to Scratch have made an account and are busy learning how to write code.  Please encourage your students to work on this project at home if there is a computer available and watch what they can create.    I have been impressed by their imaginations and creativity.  I hope to post some of the finished projects on this blog as they finish.  

A Visit From Brownie

A couple weeks ago we had another visit from our therapy dog!  We love Brownie and everything she adds to our library time.  The students were all very excited to get a chance to read with her. Here are a few pictures. The students have already been asking when she gets to come back.