Category: Lesson plans

What’s the first thing you think of when I say, Excel. Numbers, right–turning data into information. That is Excel’s ‘killer app’, but the ingenious human brain has come up with another striking use for Excel: Drawing. I spent a long time trying to find a lesson that taught drawing in Excel and/or offered example. I finally gave up and created my own. (more…)

One of the best ways to get students interested in technology is allow them to personalize their work area. That starts with placing wallpaper of their choice on their desktop. Read on: (more…)

Before you start this project, try KidPix Basics I. If you don’t have KidPix, you can use a free download called Tux Paint. (more…)

Are you here for a lesson plan… Tech tips… Humor? Click the category below and you’re there.

[caption id="attachment_1055" align="aligncenter" width="154"] 52 weeks of tech tips[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="150"] KidPix lessons for K-2[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Google Earth lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1059" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Photoshop lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1063" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Web 2.0 lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1064" align="aligncenter" width="150"] MS Word lesson plans[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1075" align="aligncenter" width="176"] Mouse lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1072" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Take a break[/caption]

They’re user-friendly, kid-tested, organized by grade and topic. Just click this link to Great Kids Websites and scroll down until you find your grade and subject.

Send me an email with any websites you use with your students:

What an amazing program! I decided to devote a unit to it for my fifth grade technology classes. I gave them a list of locations which they had to locate on Google Earth using the Fly To bar or with Google Earth Community, placemark them (with their choice of creative placemarks), create their own tour file folder under ‘My Places’ and save each location to their tour folder with one interesting fact (which didn’t include Boy is this a great place!). (more…)

Here’s a great lesson that uses every child’s innate love of color to learn grammar. All you need is MS Word, a quick introduction to the toolbars and tools, and about 25 minutes to complete. If you’re the tech lab teacher, this gives you a chance to reinforce the grammar lesson the classroom is teaching:

[caption id="attachment_1026" align="aligncenter" width="450"] From Structured Learning’s Tech Lab Toolkit Volume I[/caption]

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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.

Did you notice the new seal in the left sidebar? Ask a Tech Teacher–Homeschool Edition–received a seal of approval  from the proclaimed EdAnywhere, voted #1 by Homeschool.com We are proud to be part of the resources they make available to all homeschoolers to integrate technology into the homeschool curriculum.

We are proud to be included in this community. I encourage everyone to click on the seal and visit this wonderful site for homeschooling ideas.

This is one of the most popular lessons I teach to Excel beginners. It is relevant, instantly usable and makes sense from the beginning. Before you start this one, be sure to complete Project 70 and 71.

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–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom

–5 lesson plans for spreadsheets

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, anAmazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

updated 5-18-16

Adobe Photoshop is kind of like KidPix for grown-ups, as well as the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in the first volume of the book, 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each project scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

We’ve already completed Word image editing basics here and Photoshop autofixes here. This one on cloning is going to be a favorite of your children.

The clone tool duplicates a hard to crop-and-copy image (like the flowers below) or deletes part of a background—a sign or a post in a nature scene—you don’t want there. You can clone within a picture (as with the flowers), (more…)