Author: Jacqui

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

How to Use MS Word to Teach Geography

[caption id="attachment_929" align="alignleft" width="182"]

Sample diagram[/caption]

Grade Level: 3-5

Background: Using MS Word.

Vocabulary: diagram, graphic organizer, solar system

Time: About 30 minutes

Steps:

Open MS Word. Add a heading to the top.
Add a title–Where We Are–centered, bold and font 14. Use this to point out the tool bar with the four alignment tools, bold, fonts and font size (more…)

#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: (more…)

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

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

#112: 10 Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer

I wrote a post on how Blogs and Wikis make students better writers–teachers too for that matter–and wanted to follow it up with how tweeting improves writing. Then I found Jennifer’s summary. It pretty well covers what I’d say:

You learn to be concise
You learn to be focused
You have time to check for grammar and spelling

But, the more I thought about it, the more reasons I came up with–well beyond my original three: (more…)

Weekend Website #11: Google Moon

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. (more…)

#24: A Holiday Newsletter in Publisher for Elementary School

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This is another great holiday project for 5th graders (see the holiday calen dar here). Publisher templates lay out the columns, headings, articles. All students must do is fill in with their topics and pictures. Be sure that they delete the extra pages at the end before printing. (more…)

#23: A Holiday Calendar in MS Publisher for Elementary School

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Kids love making this calendar. They get to talk about their upcoming vacations and hear what their friends are doing. It’s simple enough for third grade with advanced tools that satisfy a fifth graders growing intellect. (more…)

#6: Photoshop for Fifth Graders–Autofixes

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We started with a list of Photoshop skills your fifth graders can accomplish. Yesterday we used MS Word for basic skills. You’re now ready for the one all the pros use: Adobe Photoshop. (more…)

Weekend Website #10: Google Mars

Drop by every weekend 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.

(more…)

#25: Intro to PowerPoint–with KidPix Pictures

Drawings are done in KidPix. Assign topics (me, my family, etc) for grades K-1 to reinforce the concept of following directions. With 2^nd grade, use one picture for each of the parts of a story—characters, plot, setting, climax/resolution. Mix pictures and text. Younger students can show these to parents at Open House or a parent night using Windows slideshow function (something they can do without assistance after a bit of practice). Second graders can create a PowerPoint slideshow that will knock the socks off of their parents.

This is the first of about six projects in PowerPoint (see sidebar for more). Start with this one and build up to the last. (more…)