Category: 4th Grade

Every week, I share a website that inspired my students. This one is perfect for Hour of Code. Make yourself a hero for an hour:

Age:

Grades 3-8 (or younger, or older)

Topic:

Problem-solving, critical thinking, building

Address:

Minecraft

Review:

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Here’s Melanie’s question about teaching keyboarding effectively:

My problem is that I only see each group of students (PK – 4th grade) once a week for 30min.  I see 1st and 2nd grade two times a week. How do I successfully teach keyboarding AND my regular tech curriculum with next to no time to do both? I’ve thought about doing keyboarding for the first half of the year and then my curriculum the next half.. but I’m just not sure.

I often get a version of this question–how can students learn to keyboard when there’s so little time allotted to teaching it? Surprisingly, it’s not as difficult as it sounds when you use a scaffolded approach. Start with pre-keyboarding in Kindergarten and first grade, move to good keyboarding habits that encourage speed and accuracy, and then blend it all into grade-level inquiry.

Here’s my answer:

PK, K, 1 are all about pre-keyboarding skills. Students need to understand the purpose of a keyboard, the mouse, tools and toolbars, basic digital citizenship safety, rudimentary problem solving. That can be done within the timeframe you’ve indicated. In fact, I lay it out in the K-1 curriculum that I publish. It’s easier than it sounds: Know what grade-level inquiry you can support and weave the tech skills into those.

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Here’s along list of websites that focus on math automaticity for the K-5 classroom. I’ve broken it down by grade level, but you can decide if your second graders are precocious enough to try the websites for grades 3-5:

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
• More Quick Math
• Multiplication Tables
• Quick Math
• Quick Math II
• Quick Math—by level (more…)

Here are quick, safe spots to send students for research:

1. BrainPop
2. Citation Machine
3. CoolKidFacts–kid-friendly videos, pictures, info, and quizzes–all 100% suitable for children
4. CyberSleuth Kids
5. Encyclopedia Interactica–visual encyclopedias
6. Fact Monster
7. Fun Brain
8. How Stuff Works
9. Info Please
10. Insta-Grok
11. Internet Public Library (IPL)
12. Kid Rex
13. KidsConnect–Kids research
14. Library Spot
15. National Geographic for Kids
16. Nova video programs
17. SchoolsWorld.TV--educational videos
18. Smithsonian Quest–sign up your class; student research/explore with the Smithsonian
19. SqoolTube Videos
20. TagGalaxy–search using a cloud
21. World Almanac for Kids
22. World Book
23. Zanran–statistics and data research

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Here’s a list of great 4th grade websites on Culture:

1. Classrooms around the world
2. Clothes around the world
3. Eat—food around the world
4. First Thanksgiving
5. Google World of Wonders
6. One day around the world–video
7. 360 Panorama of the world
8. Language Mapper—around the globe
9. Life in a Day—video (long)
10. School lunches around the world
11. Sleep—where children sleep around the world
12. US Languages
13. What we own—around the world
14. World National Anthem

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This lesson is a crowd pleaser. Students create a timeline showing what was happening around the world while they lived their lives. I’ve found this generates lots of discussion between students and their parents as they try to understand what the world events were.

Click on each page of lesson plan. (more…)

Millions of third graders study California missions. Here’s a great project that brings it to life with some writing, lots of pictures and a dash of creativity that will excite every student.

If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.

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Martin Luther King Day is January 19th. I have two lesson plans, both aligned with Common Core, that I’m giving away to help you plan Martin Luther King Day.

4th grade

Students interpret the words of Dr Martin Luther King in their own words in a visual organizer. Great project that gets students thinking about the impact of words on history. Common Core aligned. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

5th grade

Students research events leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s impact on American history and share them with an Event Chain organized visually, including pictures and thought bubbles. Aligned with Common Core. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.

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Every week, I share a website that inspired my students. This one is perfect for Hour of Code. Make yourself a hero for an hour:

Age:

Grades 3-8 (or younger, or older)

Topic:

Problem-solving, critical thinking, building

Address:

Minecraft

Review:

(more…)

Here’s a list of over seventy-five lesson plans free for your use. They’re organized by:

• subject
• software/tool
• grade

You just highlight the lesson, then copy-paste to a doc of your choice.

If you want them printed out on 8.5×11 sheets, they are available for purchase here.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the lessons:

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