Category: 2nd

#15: A Holiday Letter for Grades 2-6

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This holiday letter can be as simple (for 2nd graders) or sophisticated (middle school) as your students can handle. There are a gamut of skills–

text
borders
pictures (from the internet, from clip art, from a separate file folder on your school server)
different fonts, font colors, font sizes

I’ve included a grading rubric to guide students in accomplishing as much as they can. Start with the basics (text, a border, some pictures) and add more skills as students get used to the early ones: (more…)

#21: A Holiday Card in Publisher

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Publisher cards are easy enough for second graders–even early readers. Pick a template, add a picture to personalize, add their name–and they’re done. It takes about 15 minutes. Kids always feel great about creating these greeting cards: (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…)

#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…)

#26: Create a Storybook in KidPix

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Create the drawings in KidPix for grades kindergarten and first. By second grade, you can have students insert them into PowerPoint as a slideshow for Open House. (more…)