Category: 4th Grade

This is a question I get from parents all the time. Most parents want to get what their child needs as affordably as possible, but they don’t want to save a few bucks at the expense of their child. If that sounds like you, here are my suggestions:

1. Start by talking to the classroom teacher. What are their expectations of the child? If they’re like the ones in my school, they will want him/her to have access to basic software and the internet for research, maybe email. That’s it.
2. You’re wondering whether a desktop is good for your child, or do they need a laptop? There are lots of reasons why a laptop might be a good decision for your particular family dynamics, but in general terms, a desktop is fine for a younger child (K-5). They don’t need to take it to friend’s house for group projects much until they reach middle school, and I would not suggest gearing a more-expensive laptop decision around an occasional project. I guarantee, the teacher won’t.
3. There are other reasons why a desktop is a good decision. It is more durable (it isn’t carried around, so can’t be dropped). If the monitor breaks, you don’t have to replace the entire computer–just the monitor. Because it’s cheaper, it can be replaced if your child somehow destroys it or part of it (this should be expected of new users). And, a desktop has a larger hard drive, more memory and more drives/ports for input devices. That makes it more adaptable to unexpected needs.
4. Now you need to select which level of desktop your child requires. Does s/he need the basic $350 on sale version or the everything-in-it upgrade? My suggestion is to start simple. Basic. See what the child uses, what else he needs before making an expensive decision. Most kids are fine with the lower end of productivity. Some, though, want the works. You’ll know by the time you’re ready for an upgrade.

Once you’ve selected laptop vs. desktop computer, here’s what you’ll want to be sure it includes:

1. MS Office or compatible (i.e., Google docs, Open Office). This will provide a word processor, a spreadsheet application, and presentation software.
2. If your child must have MS Office and you are trying to fit the price into a budget, start with Office Web Apps, the free online version of Office. It’s compatible with MS Office, much like it but more limited. A good starter.
3. MS Publisher is a great extra (though pricey). It enables students to create magazines, newsletters, trifolds, cover pages and more.
4. Download FREE software such as Google Earth to enhance learning. (more…)

In my school, 2nd grade and 5th grade have units on the human body. To satisfy their different maturities, I’ve developed two lists of websites to complement this inquiry. I put them on the class internet start page so when students have free time, they can visit (check here for updates):

2nd -3rd Grade

1. Blood Flow
2. Body Systems
3. Build a Skeleton
4. Can you place these parts in the correct place?
5. Choose the systems you want to see.
6. Find My Body Parts
7. How the Body Works
8. Human Body Games
9. Human Body websites
10. Human Body—by a 2^nd grade class—video
11. Human Body—videos on how body parts work
12. Inside the Human Body: Grades 1-3
13. Kids’ Health-My Body
14. Matching Senses
15. Muscles Game
16. Nutrition Music and Games from Dole (more…)

If your third grader has to write a report about landforms, try these websites (check here for updates to list):

1. About Rivers www.42explore.com/rivers.htm
2. Biomes/Habitats http://www.allaboutnature.com/biomes/
3. Deserts http://www.42explore.com/deserts.htm
4. Explore the Colorado http://www.desertusa.com/colorado/explorriver/du_explorrv.html
5. Geography Activities—for teachers www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/
6. Geography Game—Geospy kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/GeographyGames/Geospy
7. Geography Quiz Game www.quia.com/pop/114591.html
8. Geography Reading Problems www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=4&que=1
9. GeoNet Game www.eduplace.com/geonet/
10. Labeling Maps www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=LabelMaps
11. Landforms make a greeting www.geogreeting.com/main.html
12. Landforms www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/landforms.htm
13. Landforms—matching games, etc. www.quia.com/jg/29.html
14. Los Angeles River Tour http://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/target/units/river/tour/index.html
15. Map skills www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=3&que=1
16. Mapping Game www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html
17. Rivers Seen from Space http://www.athenapub.com/rivers1.htm
18. The Colorado River http://www.desertusa.com/gc/gcd/du_glencaydam.html
19. What’s on a Map www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=2&que=1
20. Zambezi River Tour http://www.on-the-matrix.com/africa/zambezi.asp

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Schools and kids love field trips, but they take a lot of time, money and extra adult supervision that may or may not be available. Thanks to the internet, there are now alternatives that are only as far away as your technology lab.

Here are some of the best available across the wild web of the internet:

• Smithsonian Museum
• Forest Life
• The Moon via Google Earth
• Mars via Google Earth
• Planet in Action via Google Earth
• Ellis Island
• Eternal Egypt
• A Collection of Virtual Field Trips

To:

• science museums
• farms
• Blackwell’s Best Virtual Field Trips
• strife-torn countries
• factories
• more

Want a quick tour right now, via YouTube. This is Mars, complements of Google Earth:

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, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, 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.

Students create their own tour on Google Earth using locations selected by the classroom teacher. They add the locations to Google Earth, add a fact about it and turn it into a tour.

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This is the time of year when teachers worry about math facts and the automaticity of math skills. The following websites focus solely on that facet of math. I’ve broken them down by grade level, but you can decide if your second graders are precocious enough to try the websites for grades 3-5 (click here for an UTD list):

K

• K Math Skills
• Math Videos (not practice, but fun to watch)
• Money flashcards
• Numbers

1^st

• First Grade math skills
• Money flashcards
• Numbers

2^nd

• Math Flashcards
• Math Practice Test
• Mental Math
• Mental Math Drills
• Minute Math
• More Quick Math
• Multiplication Tables (more…)

Here are quick, safe spots to send your students for research (for updates to this list, click here):

1. All-around research site libraryspot.com
2. Dictionary www.dictionary.com
3. Edutainment site—requires subscription www.brainpop.com/
4. General info research www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html
5. Internet research sites for kids http://ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html
6. Kids search engine for the internet kids.yahoo.com (more…)

This list has a little bit of everything, and will kick-start your effort to put technology into your lesson plans:

1. 10 Tech Alternatives to Book Reports
2. Analyze, read, write literature
3. Animations, assessments, charts, more
4. Biomes/Habitats—for teachers
5. Create a magazine cover
6. Create free activities and diagrams in a Flash! (more…)

Use a first-grade or second-grade story. Show students how to add description to it, setting details, sensory details, characterization, so it sounds more mature and interesting. I use thought bubbles to make it more fun.

Click on them for a full size alternative. Or visit the original post on Ask a Tech Teacher (more…)

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.

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