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2nd Grade Bundle of Lesson Plans

4-2-23 through 4-7-23

Price slashed from $7.99 to $3.99

What’s included in the 2nd Grade Lesson Plans Internet bundle:

To get this huge savings, you must be a subscriber. If you aren’t (more…)

Dealing with academic and social challenges in fourth grade can be challenging for parents. There are several strategies parents can use to support their children effectively. Here are ideas from the Ask a Tech Teacher team:

Facing Fourth Grade: Tips for Parents Dealing with Academic and Social Challenges

As our kids step into fourth grade, it’s a big deal! It’s a time when they’re diving into more challenging schoolwork and facing new social situations. For us parents, it can feel like we’re navigating uncharted waters alongside them. From helping with tough math problems to supporting them through friendship ups and downs, fourth grade brings its share of hurdles. In this article, we’ll talk about the common challenges we might run into as parents in fourth grade and share some down-to-earth tips on how to tackle them, making the journey smoother for both our kids and us.

Academic Challenges in Fourth Grade

Navigating the academic terrain of fourth grade entails a substantial shift towards a more intricate curriculum and heightened expectations. As students transition into this pivotal year, they are met with a multifaceted array of challenges, each demanding a nuanced approach for successful navigation. At the forefront of these challenges lies mathematics, a subject that undergoes a profound transformation as students delve into more advanced concepts. 

With the introduction of fractions, decimals, and geometry, the mathematical landscape becomes notably complex, posing significant hurdles for students and parents alike. Concepts that were once straightforward now require a deeper level of understanding and application, leading to feelings of confusion and uncertainty among learners. This is where the importance of seeking external support becomes apparent. Enter the online math tutor for 4th graders, a beacon of guidance in the tumultuous sea of mathematical challenges. By leveraging the expertise of a qualified tutor, parents can provide their children with personalized assistance and targeted support tailored to their unique learning styles and pace. Whether it’s breaking down intricate equations, elucidating geometric principles, or fostering critical thinking skills, these tutors offer invaluable assistance that fosters not only understanding but also confidence in mathematical abilities.

Moreover, the academic challenges of fourth grade extend beyond mathematics, encompassing a diverse range of subjects such as science, language arts, and social studies. With this expanded academic landscape comes an increased workload, placing additional demands on students’ time and organizational skills. Managing this workload effectively becomes paramount, requiring students to develop strong time management strategies and study habits. Additionally, the transition to fourth grade often coincides with a heightened emphasis on independent learning and critical thinking skills, further complicating the academic landscape.

Yet, despite these challenges, there is ample opportunity for growth and success. By fostering a nurturing and supportive environment at home, parents can empower their children to overcome obstacles and thrive academically. This includes fostering open communication channels with teachers and school staff, advocating for additional support resources such as online tutoring services, and instilling a growth mindset that emphasizes resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges. Ultimately, by working together as a team and providing the necessary support and guidance, parents can help their children navigate the complexities of fourth-grade academia and emerge stronger and more confident learners. (more…)

Invention Convention Worldwide is a global K-12 invention education curricular program mapped to national and state educational standards that teaches students problem-identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and creativity skills and builds confidence in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for life. Signups for the annual Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention US Nationals start March 29, 2024 (that’s today–publication day for this article).

RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals 2024 will be held at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI on June 5-7, 2024. Here’s a calendar of events (from Invention Convention Worldwide):

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Many Christians celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. To non-Christians (or non-traditional Christians), that event signifies a rebirth of spring that is filled with joy and gifts — and chocolate! Overall, it is America’s most-popular holiday with Christmas a close second. The date depends on the ecclesiastical approximation of the March equinox. This year, it’s March 31, 2024.

Here’s a good mixture of games, lesson plans, stories, and songs that can be blended into many academic subjects (for updates on this Easter-themed list of websites, click here):

18+ Interactive Easter websites

Preschool-2

This website includes a colorful collection of Easter (and Spring) games and information that is visual and enticing to youngers. Games are Easter Math, Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Egg Dress-up, Easter Word hunt, complete-the-sentence, and more. Also, viewers will find websites about the history of Easter around the world.

ABCYa Easter Egg Hunt

Preschool-Kindergarten

Like all of ABCYa’s games and activities, Easter Egg Hunt is a colorful and intuitive educational game for young children.  It is easy-to-understand, playful, with favorite Easter symbols and energetic music that will engage children. The five Easter-themed games are easy-to-understand (no directions required) with a countdown clock to motivate activity. Nicely, it also aligns gameplay with the national standards met.

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A few spring websites, lesson plans, printables, activities:

1. 7 Science Experiments that Teach About Spring
2. Books from Scholastic about Spring
3. Life cycle of a snake
4. Life Cycle Lesson Plans
5. Life Cycle resources
6. Life Cycles
7. Life Cycle Symbaloo
8. Plant life cycle
9. Spring Puzzle
10. Spring Games
11. Spring Vocabulary (video)
12. Spring Word Scramble
13. Spring Word Search
14. What Happens in Spring (video)
15. What Happens in Spring–PS (video)

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Reinforce fiction writing–characters, plot, setting, climax–with a short story in MS Word or another word processing tool. Then use color, borders, and pictures to enhance the words. Click the images below for larger sizes. Designed for grades 2-7: (more…)

National Engineers Week is just behind us. The Ask a Tech Teacher team has one more article discussing an oft-forgotten piece of engineering education: culture:

Cultivating a culture of collaboration in engineering education

The engineering education landscape is shifting because learning is no longer confined to classrooms. Schools and learners recognize that quality education must encompass holistic learning that nurtures academic excellence and cultivates essential life skills. Colleges and universities offering engineering programs are adjusting to the evolution by cultivating a culture of collaboration in education. An inclusive and collaborative environment empowers students to nurture curiosity, continuously improve engineering skills, explore new technologies, and create high-quality engineering solutions. In this post, we’ll explore the value of collaboration in engineering education and top strategies that schools can implement to cultivate a collaborative learning culture.

The case for collaboration in engineering education

Collaboration in engineering education is more than just teamwork; it entails cultivating a mindset that fuels a sense of shared purpose. Creating a culture of collaboration in learning is an indispensable skill in our interconnected world. Here are some of the ways that a collaborative learning culture helps engineering students to learn better and develop personal skills. (more…)

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip:  Where Did the Taskbar Go?

Category: PC, Keyboarding

Q: Some programs hide the taskbar when they open. How do I access the Start button when that happens?

A:  Push the flying windows (between Ctrl and Alt) to bring up the Start button.

It might have disappeared because it’s set to Autohide. Here’s how to fix that:

• Hover over the area where the taskbar lives.
• If it appears, right click on it and select Properties. Go to the Taskbar tab.
• Make sure the box that says Autohide isn’t checked.

If the taskbar doesn’t appear, hover over the extreme bottom edge of the screen. If a double-headed arrow appears, click and drag up to bring your toolbar back from the edge.

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

What’s your favorite tech tip in your classroom? Share it in the comments below.

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Before trying this lesson, start with Photoshop for Fifth Graders: The First Step is Word, Autofixes,  cloning, and cropping. Don’t worry. It’s not hard–just the basics.

Ready? Let’s start with what Adobe Photoshop is–a grown-up KidPix, and the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom Volume I) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

Adobe Photoshop has an impressive collection of tools to add pizazz to pics. You might have students open their school picture for this project. They love working with their own image.

• #1: Artistic Renderings—artistic overlays that add flair to pictures. Go to Filter—artistic and it brings up dozens of choices. Try some (it gives a preview of the result) and select a favorite.

• #2: blur and smudge tools on left tool bar to soften the background, and sharpen a focal point.

• #3: Use Filter-render-clouds to create a cloudy background (the colors of your foreground and background tool)

Troubleshooting Tips

• I can’t get the right colors for the clouds (check your foreground and background tools. That’s where Photoshop takes the colors)

• I’m trying to drag the picture but I get an error message (Check your layers. Do the have the correct layer highlighted?)

• I don’t have Photoshop. (Try GIMP–it’s free)

Do you have questions? Please add a comment and I’ll answer. Thanks.

Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:

https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm

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“The content presented in this blog is the result of my creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

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, 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.