Projects
Project I:
Project I was a Computer Information Survey which has already been posted on the blog. This was to guide and assist teachers in the use of the Internet and Web Sites so it surveyed the students and their internet use.
Project II:
Project II was to publish information on my Blog site regarding a Web Site Review each week. Also, one comment each week was required on another person’s Blog site.
Extra:
I produced a pbwiki site for the teacher and students for the purpose of sharing some Web Sites addresses that students could use at school or at home. Individual sites were set up for each student to write. Safety information was shared.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
"Este Libro es mi Historia": Lessons from a Mexican Immigrant Family's Storybook Reading
Dr. Patrick C. Manyak
Manuscript in Progress
This family’s mother was able to share her culture and her ways of life to her children through the sharing of textbooks regarding her culture.
It was easily seen in the second episode of book reading for Patrick that when the textbooks were more culturally sensitive, the mother responded by wanting all her children involved with her in conversations and the readings. You could see the value that she placed on sharing her heritage with her family.
(I know that now when both of my parents and all grandparents have died that all sources of family information are gone. There is a huge void and there are questions that I would like to ask them that earlier I didn’t even think of. Only one aunt (80+) is living from whom family information can be obtained at this time.)
In this oral reading occurrence, the mother was undirected as to what kinds of questions to ask the children. If this procedure is simulated again with another family, perhaps examples of questions could be given to assist the mother. If the book was regarding Martin Luther King, she could ask, “Do you know what segregation means? Do you understand what Civil Rights means?” Open ended questions could be explained to her where your own opinion can be the answer and it would not be right or wrong.
For my first two older children, both had an opportunity to live the rural country ranch life when they visited their grandparents in the summer. But our youngest son did not have this opportunity to experience the rural culture as he was always involved in sports in the summer.
Had I have known about this article, I could have shared specific text books with him regarding the rural life. Reading this has helped me to know that although I did not help him that I can help my grandchildren to learn about their rural heritage. Also, since many children in the classroom come from grandparents or great grandparents who lived on ranches, these texts would assist them in knowing about their heritage.
It is our Grandmother Tressa who said that her grandmother came alone with her children to Fort Bridger with a Mormon Wagon Train to meet her husband who was in the military at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. It is good to know about your family and its beginnings.
I feel that Patrick is definitely on the right track with this study.
Manuscript in Progress
This family’s mother was able to share her culture and her ways of life to her children through the sharing of textbooks regarding her culture.
It was easily seen in the second episode of book reading for Patrick that when the textbooks were more culturally sensitive, the mother responded by wanting all her children involved with her in conversations and the readings. You could see the value that she placed on sharing her heritage with her family.
(I know that now when both of my parents and all grandparents have died that all sources of family information are gone. There is a huge void and there are questions that I would like to ask them that earlier I didn’t even think of. Only one aunt (80+) is living from whom family information can be obtained at this time.)
In this oral reading occurrence, the mother was undirected as to what kinds of questions to ask the children. If this procedure is simulated again with another family, perhaps examples of questions could be given to assist the mother. If the book was regarding Martin Luther King, she could ask, “Do you know what segregation means? Do you understand what Civil Rights means?” Open ended questions could be explained to her where your own opinion can be the answer and it would not be right or wrong.
For my first two older children, both had an opportunity to live the rural country ranch life when they visited their grandparents in the summer. But our youngest son did not have this opportunity to experience the rural culture as he was always involved in sports in the summer.
Had I have known about this article, I could have shared specific text books with him regarding the rural life. Reading this has helped me to know that although I did not help him that I can help my grandchildren to learn about their rural heritage. Also, since many children in the classroom come from grandparents or great grandparents who lived on ranches, these texts would assist them in knowing about their heritage.
It is our Grandmother Tressa who said that her grandmother came alone with her children to Fort Bridger with a Mormon Wagon Train to meet her husband who was in the military at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. It is good to know about your family and its beginnings.
I feel that Patrick is definitely on the right track with this study.
Three Free Text Reader Sights
I. Natural Readers – A Free Text Reader
www.naturalreaders.com/free_version.htm
II. Readplease – A Free Text Reader
www.readplease.com/rpfree.php
III. Randel’s ESL Listening Lab
http://esl-lab.com/index.htm
Web “Sites” Review
I. Naural Readers
This Web site has a very new, free text reader. The URL was the first free text reading site listed on the Google Browser so I opened it up. It is owned by AT & T, co. 2008 and the company is called Natural Soft, Limited. There is a free verison, a $49.50 version, and a $99.50 version of Natural Reader 6.5 text reader.
Initially, I was looking for the text reader, Readplease, when I was directed to use Firefox Google browser to locate the address as my MSN browser did not bring that URL to view.
On Natural Reader, I especially liked the very explicit demonstrations that showed all the features available. There is a floating tool bar that you can add to your word document, to MSOffice, E-Mail, and so on. Then it will read the text aloud from these sites and the web sites either with a male or female voice at a speed that is selected.
Other special features included are copy, paste, cut, record, edit, stop, play, pause, reverse, and forward. Background music can be added to the text reader. Also, after you save a file, it can then be downloaded into a MP3 format and played on those types of devises.
The company indicated that this system would be helpful for ESL, Dyslexic, and the visually impaired students.
II. Read Please
Since I was curious, I viewed the Read Please site, also. It comes from Thunder Bay, Canada, the Read Please, Corp. 1999 – 2005. They too have a free version, a $59.95 version, and a $79.95 plus shipping version. It works with only Microsoft Windows. The one big difference from Natural Readers was that Read Please will magnify the text.
The Natural Readers Web site was easier to read and understand than the Read Please Web site. Natural Readers is a site that I would definitely use if need be.
III. Randel’s ESL Listening Lab
Another site I looked at was Randel’s ESL Listening Lab where a very helpful program for English Learners was found. There were topics listed for practical daily experiences in verbal word use as using the answering device on a telephone. A short conversation was played. Then several questions were asked about the conversation. The child answers the questions and gets an immediate score. She/he can then listen to the conversation again.
There are many topics listed ranging from the easy level, to a middle level and finally to a difficult level.
I am definitely going to use this with the ESL students in our classroom. This URL will be added to their bookmarks. I am able to bring two mobile lab lap top computers into the classroom for these two students to work on. They are highly motivated to work at these special Web sites.
www.naturalreaders.com/free_version.htm
II. Readplease – A Free Text Reader
www.readplease.com/rpfree.php
III. Randel’s ESL Listening Lab
http://esl-lab.com/index.htm
Web “Sites” Review
I. Naural Readers
This Web site has a very new, free text reader. The URL was the first free text reading site listed on the Google Browser so I opened it up. It is owned by AT & T, co. 2008 and the company is called Natural Soft, Limited. There is a free verison, a $49.50 version, and a $99.50 version of Natural Reader 6.5 text reader.
Initially, I was looking for the text reader, Readplease, when I was directed to use Firefox Google browser to locate the address as my MSN browser did not bring that URL to view.
On Natural Reader, I especially liked the very explicit demonstrations that showed all the features available. There is a floating tool bar that you can add to your word document, to MSOffice, E-Mail, and so on. Then it will read the text aloud from these sites and the web sites either with a male or female voice at a speed that is selected.
Other special features included are copy, paste, cut, record, edit, stop, play, pause, reverse, and forward. Background music can be added to the text reader. Also, after you save a file, it can then be downloaded into a MP3 format and played on those types of devises.
The company indicated that this system would be helpful for ESL, Dyslexic, and the visually impaired students.
II. Read Please
Since I was curious, I viewed the Read Please site, also. It comes from Thunder Bay, Canada, the Read Please, Corp. 1999 – 2005. They too have a free version, a $59.95 version, and a $79.95 plus shipping version. It works with only Microsoft Windows. The one big difference from Natural Readers was that Read Please will magnify the text.
The Natural Readers Web site was easier to read and understand than the Read Please Web site. Natural Readers is a site that I would definitely use if need be.
III. Randel’s ESL Listening Lab
Another site I looked at was Randel’s ESL Listening Lab where a very helpful program for English Learners was found. There were topics listed for practical daily experiences in verbal word use as using the answering device on a telephone. A short conversation was played. Then several questions were asked about the conversation. The child answers the questions and gets an immediate score. She/he can then listen to the conversation again.
There are many topics listed ranging from the easy level, to a middle level and finally to a difficult level.
I am definitely going to use this with the ESL students in our classroom. This URL will be added to their bookmarks. I am able to bring two mobile lab lap top computers into the classroom for these two students to work on. They are highly motivated to work at these special Web sites.
Literature Circle - (Continued)
Web Site Review
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
This Web site is a Literature Circle made by the Modern American Literature students of Don Ginty at Hunterdon Central Regional High School to discuss in-depth the book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
This instructor in the year 2002 invited others to view and even to have the book’s author view the progress of the site as it occurred. Only the class students were to participate.
This site begins with the directions for the high school students for posting to this reader’s study guide.
What I especially liked was the artistic interpretations students rendered. It explained in detail how the students could post their symbolic drawings and how to post their interpretations of their drawings. So interspersed with the writings are appropriate drawings.
Other topics the class could post to were chapter summaries, the themes of chapters, an explanation of symbols used in the story, class discussions and research on information of historical events that occurred that affected the characters. One pupil wrote about how Johnson influenced the Civil Rights in that time.
Links could also be posted that were relevant. A link to the book’s author, Sue Monk Kidd was interesting as well as the Amazon book review site.
I felt that the students gave a very in-depth view of the chapter summaries, the characters and the chapter themes. Their comments on symbolism was interesting. They gave me a more thorough view of the book, theme, and characters than if I had just read the book on my own.
This is a very worth while site to read and would be helpful in giving ideas for setting up a Literature Circle on the Web.
Ida M. Rounds
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
This Web site is a Literature Circle made by the Modern American Literature students of Don Ginty at Hunterdon Central Regional High School to discuss in-depth the book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
This instructor in the year 2002 invited others to view and even to have the book’s author view the progress of the site as it occurred. Only the class students were to participate.
This site begins with the directions for the high school students for posting to this reader’s study guide.
What I especially liked was the artistic interpretations students rendered. It explained in detail how the students could post their symbolic drawings and how to post their interpretations of their drawings. So interspersed with the writings are appropriate drawings.
Other topics the class could post to were chapter summaries, the themes of chapters, an explanation of symbols used in the story, class discussions and research on information of historical events that occurred that affected the characters. One pupil wrote about how Johnson influenced the Civil Rights in that time.
Links could also be posted that were relevant. A link to the book’s author, Sue Monk Kidd was interesting as well as the Amazon book review site.
I felt that the students gave a very in-depth view of the chapter summaries, the characters and the chapter themes. Their comments on symbolism was interesting. They gave me a more thorough view of the book, theme, and characters than if I had just read the book on my own.
This is a very worth while site to read and would be helpful in giving ideas for setting up a Literature Circle on the Web.
Ida M. Rounds
What's Your News?: Portraits of a Rich Language and Literacy Activity for English - Language Learners
by Dr. Patrick Manyak.
The Reading Teacher: 61. Pp.440 – 448
What I have viewed in the past regarding “What’s Your News” was a fifth grade class that wrote about school events in a letter that went home to their parents. For this activity the first step was to determine five topics that they were interested in that occurred during the past school week. After the five topics were selected by vote, the teacher placed the children into five small groups. Each group had a scribe while the rest of the children in the group helped formulate the ideas to write about around the topic they were assigned. They had about ten minutes to write a paragraph on their topic. Finally, the teacher would help the students edit the written paragraphs in a whole group. After the corrections, the teacher copied the information into a newsletter that went home to the parents.
This helped provide a school to home connection. Plus it was a connection for the students at school so that they could reflect upon the past week and the activities that they were involved in. Greater learning occurs when children do this.
I feel that when Patrick Manyak had the classes share news from the home with the school that even a greater connection was made especially for the ESL students. In this case, it helped the students learn more about each other and helped them form a closer community. You could see that the students were highly motivated because they could share something about themselves. It was permitted to share in either Spanish or English so they were comfortable in this activity.
The fifteen minute process did not take long but was very effective. As the children shared their news, at first the teachers were the scribes and pointed out spelling patterns and punctuation. They would ask students to stretch out words and spell them. Then the whole group would read it chorally. This gave the ESL student lots of opportunities to hear, see, spell, and say the words. Since both teachers knew Spanish, the students could respond in either Language although it was written in English.
At the half way mark of the school year, it was wonderful to note that students were able to be scribes and write the news themselves because of their past history in performing this activity.
They learned how to use who, what, where, when, and why in reporting news and also how to add more details.
The ESL students were at low risk of failure in participating in this group activity. They were very comfortable performing it.
Since it has been proven that students are more successful when they can share their lives, this would definitely be an activity to help bring the community life into the classroom of ESL and nonESL students. I would like to try this sometime in the classroom.
Ida M. Rounds
The Reading Teacher: 61. Pp.440 – 448
What I have viewed in the past regarding “What’s Your News” was a fifth grade class that wrote about school events in a letter that went home to their parents. For this activity the first step was to determine five topics that they were interested in that occurred during the past school week. After the five topics were selected by vote, the teacher placed the children into five small groups. Each group had a scribe while the rest of the children in the group helped formulate the ideas to write about around the topic they were assigned. They had about ten minutes to write a paragraph on their topic. Finally, the teacher would help the students edit the written paragraphs in a whole group. After the corrections, the teacher copied the information into a newsletter that went home to the parents.
This helped provide a school to home connection. Plus it was a connection for the students at school so that they could reflect upon the past week and the activities that they were involved in. Greater learning occurs when children do this.
I feel that when Patrick Manyak had the classes share news from the home with the school that even a greater connection was made especially for the ESL students. In this case, it helped the students learn more about each other and helped them form a closer community. You could see that the students were highly motivated because they could share something about themselves. It was permitted to share in either Spanish or English so they were comfortable in this activity.
The fifteen minute process did not take long but was very effective. As the children shared their news, at first the teachers were the scribes and pointed out spelling patterns and punctuation. They would ask students to stretch out words and spell them. Then the whole group would read it chorally. This gave the ESL student lots of opportunities to hear, see, spell, and say the words. Since both teachers knew Spanish, the students could respond in either Language although it was written in English.
At the half way mark of the school year, it was wonderful to note that students were able to be scribes and write the news themselves because of their past history in performing this activity.
They learned how to use who, what, where, when, and why in reporting news and also how to add more details.
The ESL students were at low risk of failure in participating in this group activity. They were very comfortable performing it.
Since it has been proven that students are more successful when they can share their lives, this would definitely be an activity to help bring the community life into the classroom of ESL and nonESL students. I would like to try this sometime in the classroom.
Ida M. Rounds
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Inclusion
Web Site Review
http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion/philosophy/benefits.html
The contact person for this Web Site is Dr. Sandra Alper, Department Head, Department of Special Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
(319) 273-6061
“The IDEA law requires that children with disabilities be educated in regular education classrooms unless the nature and severity of the disability is such that education in the regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.” From Inclusion Web Site
The main topics covered were the Philosophy, Legal Requirements, Decision-Making, Resources and Teacher Competencies.
Under Philosophy several thoughts were issued regarding maximizing the individuals growth and building a sense of community. Included were thoughts about the children with special needs, the general education, the teachers and society. Several different education specialists gave their thoughts regarding the Philosophy of inclusion.
The legal requirements were discussed in detail. The court cases and the 1997 Amendment to the (IDEA) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were explained in depth.
Although Resources were listed, when I opened that site there were not many links that would open. I was disappointed in that fact.
Decision-Making had eight different topics covered under the general heading. Decisions When Adapting General Education, the Four-Step Approach for Team Decision-Making, Content/Behavior Strategies, What Does An Inclusive Classroom Look Like?, How to Generate Learning Supports, Nine Types of Adaptations, A Curricular Adaptation and Decision-Making Process, and Program Planning Steps for an Inclusive Education Program were topics that were covered. The most helpful information was obtained from this particular link.
There was also a link to help teachers get through the I.E.P. process.
This Web site was a good review for me and would be helpful for others not familiar with Special Education or with inclusion in the classroom.
Including All Students on the Internet
Chapter 11
Teaching With the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times
Internet equity maybe considered true at our school with the use of an Computer Lab but Internet equity and accessibility at home is another issue that is not in our control.
Most all of the special technologies web sites that I checked had items that were accessible but for a price. There were special visual devices to help the visually impaired, reading devises to help children with low reading abilities, and information regarding teaching the use of sign language.
The Jan Scaplen’s list and Linda Burkhart’s management sheet had lots of ideas for using one computer for a whole classroom. I like their ideas and thoughts.
Over the year, I’ve searched the Web for information on autism. There are thousands of sites to view. So I am certain that other disabilities have an equal number of excellent sites to view besides the ones listed in the text book.
The Special Education curriculum class, that I took a couple of years ago had us calculate the reading level of a textbook. I chose a Jr. High Biology book for eighth grade to discover what the actual reading level was. That text book that I evaluated was at the eleventh grade reading level. Was I surprised! So I really appreciated finding a web site for Readability Statistics and Reading Level Calculator site where a sample text can be typed in and it automatically finds the reading level for you.
I thought the Online Feeling games were excellent for autistic children who do not understand peoples facial expressions. It displayed different expressions and had the child guess which expression went with the face. Some of the expressions were happiness, anger, surprise, and disgust. At one site you could select all the facial parts to make an expression.
The Inclusive Education web site was helpful too and I used it for my Web Review.
Finally, now days we have many more “explosive” children in our schools that I have seen previously. So I welcomed this article on that topic and feel that I should publish this site for our whole school.
Chapter Eleven was very helpful in assisting all children to be able to use the internet including the Special Needs children with visual, hearing, and other disabilities. This Chapter had much to offer that all teachers can use.
Teaching With the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times
Internet equity maybe considered true at our school with the use of an Computer Lab but Internet equity and accessibility at home is another issue that is not in our control.
Most all of the special technologies web sites that I checked had items that were accessible but for a price. There were special visual devices to help the visually impaired, reading devises to help children with low reading abilities, and information regarding teaching the use of sign language.
The Jan Scaplen’s list and Linda Burkhart’s management sheet had lots of ideas for using one computer for a whole classroom. I like their ideas and thoughts.
Over the year, I’ve searched the Web for information on autism. There are thousands of sites to view. So I am certain that other disabilities have an equal number of excellent sites to view besides the ones listed in the text book.
The Special Education curriculum class, that I took a couple of years ago had us calculate the reading level of a textbook. I chose a Jr. High Biology book for eighth grade to discover what the actual reading level was. That text book that I evaluated was at the eleventh grade reading level. Was I surprised! So I really appreciated finding a web site for Readability Statistics and Reading Level Calculator site where a sample text can be typed in and it automatically finds the reading level for you.
I thought the Online Feeling games were excellent for autistic children who do not understand peoples facial expressions. It displayed different expressions and had the child guess which expression went with the face. Some of the expressions were happiness, anger, surprise, and disgust. At one site you could select all the facial parts to make an expression.
The Inclusive Education web site was helpful too and I used it for my Web Review.
Finally, now days we have many more “explosive” children in our schools that I have seen previously. So I welcomed this article on that topic and feel that I should publish this site for our whole school.
Chapter Eleven was very helpful in assisting all children to be able to use the internet including the Special Needs children with visual, hearing, and other disabilities. This Chapter had much to offer that all teachers can use.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Oyate
Web Site Review
c. 1990 – 2007
http://www. oyate.org/
Oyate (People) is a nonprofit organization with an all Indian board that sponsors evaluative and educational work. This Native organization evaluates books and curriculums with Indian themes. They present “Teaching Respect for Native Peoples” workshops. Another responsibility is that they manage a small resource center and reference library. These people distribute books and material for all ages with Native people as writers and illustrators.
The Web Site designers are Abejo, Palma, Prado, Ryan and Szoke. Rudolph got it done with additional funding help from Slelten.
Under the link, “Broken Flute” two book reviews were listed. One was “A Broken Flute (2005) Seale and Slapin and the other one was “Through Indian Eye” (1987) Slapin and Seale. The first book won the 2006 American Book Award while the second book in 1999 won the Skipping Stones Honor Award.
A “Broken Flute” is a brutally honest bibiliography review on childrens and teenage books from the 1900’s through 2004 through the Native American perspective.
“Through Indian Eyes” is a collection of article reviews of the often subtle, stereotypes and mythology that abound about Native American in children’s books.
After a third grade class play on the book, “The Courage of Sarah Noble”; a Native American girl, Raven Hoaglen was teased and bullied unmercifully. This happened because the book said, “Indian people were savages and murderers and chop your head off and eat you alive.” She was made to feel sad and so ashamed that she did not want to attend school any more.
For this reason, I feel that teachers need to be very cognizant of what stereotypes and characteristics are shown by the individuals in fiction and nonfiction stories they have their classes read.
Links available at Oyate are: About Us, Our policy statement, FAQ’S, How you can help, a Broken Flute, Resources, Workshop, Our catalog, Order form and Books to avoid.
Ida M. Rounds
c. 1990 – 2007
http://www. oyate.org/
Oyate (People) is a nonprofit organization with an all Indian board that sponsors evaluative and educational work. This Native organization evaluates books and curriculums with Indian themes. They present “Teaching Respect for Native Peoples” workshops. Another responsibility is that they manage a small resource center and reference library. These people distribute books and material for all ages with Native people as writers and illustrators.
The Web Site designers are Abejo, Palma, Prado, Ryan and Szoke. Rudolph got it done with additional funding help from Slelten.
Under the link, “Broken Flute” two book reviews were listed. One was “A Broken Flute (2005) Seale and Slapin and the other one was “Through Indian Eye” (1987) Slapin and Seale. The first book won the 2006 American Book Award while the second book in 1999 won the Skipping Stones Honor Award.
A “Broken Flute” is a brutally honest bibiliography review on childrens and teenage books from the 1900’s through 2004 through the Native American perspective.
“Through Indian Eyes” is a collection of article reviews of the often subtle, stereotypes and mythology that abound about Native American in children’s books.
After a third grade class play on the book, “The Courage of Sarah Noble”; a Native American girl, Raven Hoaglen was teased and bullied unmercifully. This happened because the book said, “Indian people were savages and murderers and chop your head off and eat you alive.” She was made to feel sad and so ashamed that she did not want to attend school any more.
For this reason, I feel that teachers need to be very cognizant of what stereotypes and characteristics are shown by the individuals in fiction and nonfiction stories they have their classes read.
Links available at Oyate are: About Us, Our policy statement, FAQ’S, How you can help, a Broken Flute, Resources, Workshop, Our catalog, Order form and Books to avoid.
Ida M. Rounds
Using the Internet to Increase Multicultural Understanding
Chapter 10
Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
When I think about multicultural understanding, I think about several things.
One incident was when my brother returned from the military with a German wife and two year old. She and the child spoke very little English. My husband and I later went to Germany and visited her parents in Gernsbach, Germany.
The other occurrence was when a high school Foreign Exchange Student gave a talk at our rural community building – the country schoolhouse. She shared information about the cowboys in her country and their dress. Their cowboy hats had strings under the chin to keep them on while most of our cowboy hats do not have this. We learned many other unique cultural differences and facts from her, too.
Last of all my parents sponsored a fourth cousin and his wife to immigrate from England as farm laborers in the fifty’s. Although we spoke the same language, they used many different meanings for words such as a boot is a trunk of a car. Their British accent was different. I can remember barely understanding what they were saying when they first got off the train in Rapid City, South Dakota late in the evening that first day they arrived.
So the main idea of this article is to remember that it is very important to have diverse ideas represented in the world’s problem solving. Having lots of ways to look at an issue gives us more ideas to help in making solutions to problems. We know that our world is constantly expanding and we need to prepare our students for changes. A very powerful source of help comes from using the Internet and Literacies to develop a greater understanding of diverse populations and having greater respect/appreciation for our differences.
Since our two fourth grade classes plan a cultural education field trip in May, I particularly wanted to look at and share with these fourth grade teachers Web Sites that would be helpful to them in teaching about diverse populations and appreciation of the differences of individuals. A Webquest I thought that looked interesting was Native American in a Natural World. A Registry site would be Registry Global School Net Project Registry. Then Directories that could be helpful would be “Index of Native American Resources on the Internet”, “Native American Sites Awareness”, and “Yahooligan: Around the World”. Other interesting sites would be the “American Indian Education” site, “The Circle of Stories” site, “Evaluating Native American Web Sites”, the “Oyate” site, and the “Alaska Native Knowledge Network” site. The Internet Project Registry had a current project regarding the Native American Tribes. They wanted basic information about the Tribes in a simple design format. The student, teacher and school would get credited for the research done. Then the Evaluation of Native American Web Sites was very helpful and could be used to evaluate other types of sites.
Then because we have many Spanish speaking families in our school and community, I wished to find Internet URLS that would be helpful for the teachers and our students. I believe that I could set up a whole page on my PBWiki with ELL and ESL information and Directories for Latin Americans. Since my daughter-in-law teaches Spanish, I could share these sites with her. For assisting the individual students the “ESL Independent Study Lab Activities for ESL Students” would be helpful.
Many other sites had very helpful, useful information. I liked Miscositas, TESL/TEFL/TESOL…..Directory, Activities for ESL Students, E.L. Easton: Materials for Teaching English, FLTeach: Foreign Language Teaching Forum, Center for Applied Linguistics, and Interesting Things for ESL Students. The Tower of English had a World Clock site where you could set up times to meet with others in other countries using the World Clock.
The last Web site I was interested in was the "Cranes for Peace" site which represents the 50 year commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima. A teacher at our school had the children in his class make lots of cranes which were made into a huge mobile that is now hanging in our library. I thought this teacher would be interested in this particular site.
Again looking at all the above sites would be very helpful in teaching cultural awareness of others. Lots of information is available for the teachers to use.
Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
When I think about multicultural understanding, I think about several things.
One incident was when my brother returned from the military with a German wife and two year old. She and the child spoke very little English. My husband and I later went to Germany and visited her parents in Gernsbach, Germany.
The other occurrence was when a high school Foreign Exchange Student gave a talk at our rural community building – the country schoolhouse. She shared information about the cowboys in her country and their dress. Their cowboy hats had strings under the chin to keep them on while most of our cowboy hats do not have this. We learned many other unique cultural differences and facts from her, too.
Last of all my parents sponsored a fourth cousin and his wife to immigrate from England as farm laborers in the fifty’s. Although we spoke the same language, they used many different meanings for words such as a boot is a trunk of a car. Their British accent was different. I can remember barely understanding what they were saying when they first got off the train in Rapid City, South Dakota late in the evening that first day they arrived.
So the main idea of this article is to remember that it is very important to have diverse ideas represented in the world’s problem solving. Having lots of ways to look at an issue gives us more ideas to help in making solutions to problems. We know that our world is constantly expanding and we need to prepare our students for changes. A very powerful source of help comes from using the Internet and Literacies to develop a greater understanding of diverse populations and having greater respect/appreciation for our differences.
Since our two fourth grade classes plan a cultural education field trip in May, I particularly wanted to look at and share with these fourth grade teachers Web Sites that would be helpful to them in teaching about diverse populations and appreciation of the differences of individuals. A Webquest I thought that looked interesting was Native American in a Natural World. A Registry site would be Registry Global School Net Project Registry. Then Directories that could be helpful would be “Index of Native American Resources on the Internet”, “Native American Sites Awareness”, and “Yahooligan: Around the World”. Other interesting sites would be the “American Indian Education” site, “The Circle of Stories” site, “Evaluating Native American Web Sites”, the “Oyate” site, and the “Alaska Native Knowledge Network” site. The Internet Project Registry had a current project regarding the Native American Tribes. They wanted basic information about the Tribes in a simple design format. The student, teacher and school would get credited for the research done. Then the Evaluation of Native American Web Sites was very helpful and could be used to evaluate other types of sites.
Then because we have many Spanish speaking families in our school and community, I wished to find Internet URLS that would be helpful for the teachers and our students. I believe that I could set up a whole page on my PBWiki with ELL and ESL information and Directories for Latin Americans. Since my daughter-in-law teaches Spanish, I could share these sites with her. For assisting the individual students the “ESL Independent Study Lab Activities for ESL Students” would be helpful.
Many other sites had very helpful, useful information. I liked Miscositas, TESL/TEFL/TESOL…..Directory, Activities for ESL Students, E.L. Easton: Materials for Teaching English, FLTeach: Foreign Language Teaching Forum, Center for Applied Linguistics, and Interesting Things for ESL Students. The Tower of English had a World Clock site where you could set up times to meet with others in other countries using the World Clock.
The last Web site I was interested in was the "Cranes for Peace" site which represents the 50 year commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima. A teacher at our school had the children in his class make lots of cranes which were made into a huge mobile that is now hanging in our library. I thought this teacher would be interested in this particular site.
Again looking at all the above sites would be very helpful in teaching cultural awareness of others. Lots of information is available for the teachers to use.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Web Site Review - The Ruler Game
Web Site Review – The Ruler Game
http://www.rickyspears.com/rulergame
By R.S. Innovative and Ricky D. Spears.
This is a site that I used while teaching measurement to several small math groups. Prior to using this site for practice these fourth grade children worked on seeing the fractional parts of a unit and then of a one inch line. They would write 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, and so forth under each part of that inch line. We spent about an hour practicing on the computer with the ruler game. All of the children enjoyed this game activity and got a lot of practice with measuring with the standard unit of an inch.
Directions:
1. They can first of all select the timer or not.
2. They can select the increment level that they wish to start on. Since it is a four inch ruler, they can start on a whole increments, halfs, quarters, eighths, or finally sixteenth increments.
3. Then they click start a new game. With this game, it is three strikes or X’s and you are out. Then you can start a new game again.
4. Points are awarded.
5. They can change the increment level and set it for timed when they are feeling confident about measuring correctly.
The children looked forward to this activity and really were focused while performing it.
Ida M. Rounds
http://www.rickyspears.com/rulergame
By R.S. Innovative and Ricky D. Spears.
This is a site that I used while teaching measurement to several small math groups. Prior to using this site for practice these fourth grade children worked on seeing the fractional parts of a unit and then of a one inch line. They would write 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, and so forth under each part of that inch line. We spent about an hour practicing on the computer with the ruler game. All of the children enjoyed this game activity and got a lot of practice with measuring with the standard unit of an inch.
Directions:
1. They can first of all select the timer or not.
2. They can select the increment level that they wish to start on. Since it is a four inch ruler, they can start on a whole increments, halfs, quarters, eighths, or finally sixteenth increments.
3. Then they click start a new game. With this game, it is three strikes or X’s and you are out. Then you can start a new game again.
4. Points are awarded.
5. They can change the increment level and set it for timed when they are feeling confident about measuring correctly.
The children looked forward to this activity and really were focused while performing it.
Ida M. Rounds
Towards a Social Contextual Approach to Family Literacy
Elsa Roberts Auerback – Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 59, No 2 May 1989 Univ. of Mass., Boston
I think that Auerback’s new approach to Family Literacy was a very worthwhile article to read. It certainly dispelled my attitude that these particular types of homes lack literacy support. They just have a different kind of support in a hurry-up world.
One study was a model of children reading to their parents (Tizard, Schofield, Hewison, 1982) which really stood out in my mind. I even shared this insight with the classroom teacher immediately. It is that children who read to their parents regularly make the most gains. They made even more gains that those students who receive extra reading instruction from reading specialists. This shows that the context and regular parental help is most valuable for these students. One fourth grade teacher insists that the children read to their parents nightly and the parents even have to sign a form indicating that their child read to them and they list the amount of time it took.
One other main idea was the study by Diaz (1986) that indicated that community practices can be a basis for informing and changing school practices. Children are more interested in reading and writing about their social values – youth gangs, unemployment, immigration, and the need to learn English. So teachers need to adjust and incorporate family interests into the classroom teachings.
In this article there were five assumptions listed regarding transmission of school practices to the participants. These assumptions were explained and eliminated.
This article indicated that more studies need to be done in this area and it also dispelled a lot of myths.
Ida M. Rounds
I think that Auerback’s new approach to Family Literacy was a very worthwhile article to read. It certainly dispelled my attitude that these particular types of homes lack literacy support. They just have a different kind of support in a hurry-up world.
One study was a model of children reading to their parents (Tizard, Schofield, Hewison, 1982) which really stood out in my mind. I even shared this insight with the classroom teacher immediately. It is that children who read to their parents regularly make the most gains. They made even more gains that those students who receive extra reading instruction from reading specialists. This shows that the context and regular parental help is most valuable for these students. One fourth grade teacher insists that the children read to their parents nightly and the parents even have to sign a form indicating that their child read to them and they list the amount of time it took.
One other main idea was the study by Diaz (1986) that indicated that community practices can be a basis for informing and changing school practices. Children are more interested in reading and writing about their social values – youth gangs, unemployment, immigration, and the need to learn English. So teachers need to adjust and incorporate family interests into the classroom teachings.
In this article there were five assumptions listed regarding transmission of school practices to the participants. These assumptions were explained and eliminated.
This article indicated that more studies need to be done in this area and it also dispelled a lot of myths.
Ida M. Rounds
Friday, April 4, 2008
Special Ideas for Younger Children: Using the Internet in the Primary Grades
Chapter 9
Teaching With the Internet K – 12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
Again this week, I responded to the four suggestions of what we should be able to do according to the textbook. I reviewed Websites that were available for each of the four suggestions listed. I took a thorough look at about ten or more sites.
At recess time, I talked with our building Computer Specialist to let her know our Social Literacies Class was working on Preschool – 3 use of the internet. I told her there were some sites for Parents regarding the child’s safe use of the internet and also information about commercialization of not only .com sites but also of the educational sites. Great suggestions were given in the text to help counter these problems such as try not to use sites that have ads. Teach children not to open any ad site or to write their name anywhere without parent permission on the web sites. Our Computer Specialist encouraged me to publish these safety sites URL’s for the teachers. Perhaps the P.T.A. newsletter would be willing to publish these sites as well for the parents.
Since I don’t work directly with the K-3 students, the only way I could really assist is to share some of the exceptional sites that I have looked at. When I looked for emergent reader’s information, I found a really fun site that was recommended by others. It is www.professorgarfield.org/parents_teachers/home. There were colorful pictures, sound, action, and helpful topics. The child could go fishing for initial consonants or final consonants with Garfield with action and sound. There were electronic field trips to pick from. Then the Dolch words were listed and printable for Word Walls for PrePrimer on up. Lots of other fun activities could take place at this site.
Mrs. Silverman’s Webfolio was an impressive site to share with teachers at our school, also. Although it has to be searched out more carefully to find what is useable and where it is located.
I found that the Mind’s Eye Monster Exchange had no Wyoming schools involved in it. But for an Internet project this site would be very educational and a helpful site. There are lesson plans, time lines, and the objectives of reading, writing, drawing and technology. It is set to run the spring of 2008 for those who are interested.
This past week our class has been solidifying their multiplication facts. I have work sheets with 20 problems on each of the times two, times three, times four, and so on. They take a one minute test on it. When they get all twenty problems correct, they move to the next level as from the times two to the times three. We have taken one test a day. I needed printable flash cards for the students to practice with. These I found at www.funbrain.com/flashcard/ so that I could make a set for each child who wanted a set to use to practice. Today after they had gotten their flash card sets, they were eager to practice with a friend without even being told to. I believe that this idea could be used with younger student also.
Today, I used the A Plus Math site to make some division worksheets from scratch. The teacher can set up the parameters for number size, number of problems, types of problems, number ranges, how far apart, and so on. What an exciting tool to learn how to use.
So this coming week, I plan to share a few of these exceptional useable sites for the Preschool to third grade teachers but it will be sent out to all the building staff. It will be interesting to see if it generates some greater technology interest by the staff for the young ones at our school.
Teaching With the Internet K – 12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
Again this week, I responded to the four suggestions of what we should be able to do according to the textbook. I reviewed Websites that were available for each of the four suggestions listed. I took a thorough look at about ten or more sites.
At recess time, I talked with our building Computer Specialist to let her know our Social Literacies Class was working on Preschool – 3 use of the internet. I told her there were some sites for Parents regarding the child’s safe use of the internet and also information about commercialization of not only .com sites but also of the educational sites. Great suggestions were given in the text to help counter these problems such as try not to use sites that have ads. Teach children not to open any ad site or to write their name anywhere without parent permission on the web sites. Our Computer Specialist encouraged me to publish these safety sites URL’s for the teachers. Perhaps the P.T.A. newsletter would be willing to publish these sites as well for the parents.
Since I don’t work directly with the K-3 students, the only way I could really assist is to share some of the exceptional sites that I have looked at. When I looked for emergent reader’s information, I found a really fun site that was recommended by others. It is www.professorgarfield.org/parents_teachers/home. There were colorful pictures, sound, action, and helpful topics. The child could go fishing for initial consonants or final consonants with Garfield with action and sound. There were electronic field trips to pick from. Then the Dolch words were listed and printable for Word Walls for PrePrimer on up. Lots of other fun activities could take place at this site.
Mrs. Silverman’s Webfolio was an impressive site to share with teachers at our school, also. Although it has to be searched out more carefully to find what is useable and where it is located.
I found that the Mind’s Eye Monster Exchange had no Wyoming schools involved in it. But for an Internet project this site would be very educational and a helpful site. There are lesson plans, time lines, and the objectives of reading, writing, drawing and technology. It is set to run the spring of 2008 for those who are interested.
This past week our class has been solidifying their multiplication facts. I have work sheets with 20 problems on each of the times two, times three, times four, and so on. They take a one minute test on it. When they get all twenty problems correct, they move to the next level as from the times two to the times three. We have taken one test a day. I needed printable flash cards for the students to practice with. These I found at www.funbrain.com/flashcard/ so that I could make a set for each child who wanted a set to use to practice. Today after they had gotten their flash card sets, they were eager to practice with a friend without even being told to. I believe that this idea could be used with younger student also.
Today, I used the A Plus Math site to make some division worksheets from scratch. The teacher can set up the parameters for number size, number of problems, types of problems, number ranges, how far apart, and so on. What an exciting tool to learn how to use.
So this coming week, I plan to share a few of these exceptional useable sites for the Preschool to third grade teachers but it will be sent out to all the building staff. It will be interesting to see if it generates some greater technology interest by the staff for the young ones at our school.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Using Weblogs in LIterature Circles
Additional Information for Last Weeks Web Review
Educational Weblog
http://mustangblog.typepad.com/
Since I didn't obtain the information that I planned to from this Web Site review last week, I would like to add this information to it this week. This time I went back to check out the literacy site on the home page of the Educational Weblog. It was absolutely amazing. I just happened to be reading a book called, _The Secret Life of Bees_ which I had just happened to pick up at the Senior Center acouple of weeks ago. When I opened the site on _The Secret Life of Bees_, I found it to be a Literature Circle. I opened up the recent discussions on the book and found about eighteen comments on it. What a coincidence! What a motivator too! Ida M. Rounds
Educational Weblog
http://mustangblog.typepad.com/
Since I didn't obtain the information that I planned to from this Web Site review last week, I would like to add this information to it this week. This time I went back to check out the literacy site on the home page of the Educational Weblog. It was absolutely amazing. I just happened to be reading a book called, _The Secret Life of Bees_ which I had just happened to pick up at the Senior Center acouple of weeks ago. When I opened the site on _The Secret Life of Bees_, I found it to be a Literature Circle. I opened up the recent discussions on the book and found about eighteen comments on it. What a coincidence! What a motivator too! Ida M. Rounds
The Biographies Project - Coauthor Enid Figueroa
Opportunities for Math and Change in the School Library
Chapter 8
Literacy, Technology and Diversity
Cummins, Brown, and Sayers, (2007)
“Connecting Math to our lives was organized by a Gobal Learning Network Project De Orilla a Orilla and the Pacific Southwest Regional Technology in Education Consortium in collaboration with International Education and Resource Network (iearn)” p. 183, Cummins, Brown, and Sayers.
Bob Peterson, a fifth grade teacher and Rethinking Schools editor was the inspiration for the biographic activity described in the CMTOL project.
An easy-to-use data collection form was used by students in their schools. The teacher set up links with other school classes as an audience for their writing and to obtain a broader data base.
Third, family members accompanied students while they obtained information from the San Francisco Public Library. Parents acted as facilitators.
Finally, the results were shared globally inspiring others nationally and world wide.
I was surprised to find out that this project was compiled by grades 1, 2, and 3 in schools that bilingual.
Through explicit teaching and collaboration at each step along the way the teachers helped these children decode what they needed to find in the big nondecodable biography texts in the school and city libraries. First of all they practiced by writing their own friend’s biographies. Then they wrote biographies of children in the other school. After they understood this process, they were able to collect the data. Information gathered was about race, occupation, class, disability, gender, and dead or alive from the biography text. They could use graphs, percentages, or fractions to describe the collection. They gathered all the information pictorially on a wall chart so that even the first grade children could understand it. Then eventually both schools shared their data on the Internet with each other. Finally after both schools had collected information from their own school libraries, they branched out to visit the city public libraries. Last of all they all met as a huge group and visited one city library together with their parents assisting.
After all this information was collected and recorded they shared it with the Global community. Finally to obtain change, the students wrote a letter to the libraries recommending the type of books that they felt should be obtained to make it a fair coverage including more biographies on women and people of other races.
All the way through the project students used an online date base to record their information, E-mail to coordinate activities, a mailing list, and Web based forum, word processing and graphing software. They covered a number of curriculum areas and went way beyond that.
These student were empowered to make changes for the good in their community and to promote fairness with the knowledge that they obtained from the data gathering.
Chapter 8
Literacy, Technology and Diversity
Cummins, Brown, and Sayers, (2007)
“Connecting Math to our lives was organized by a Gobal Learning Network Project De Orilla a Orilla and the Pacific Southwest Regional Technology in Education Consortium in collaboration with International Education and Resource Network (iearn)” p. 183, Cummins, Brown, and Sayers.
Bob Peterson, a fifth grade teacher and Rethinking Schools editor was the inspiration for the biographic activity described in the CMTOL project.
An easy-to-use data collection form was used by students in their schools. The teacher set up links with other school classes as an audience for their writing and to obtain a broader data base.
Third, family members accompanied students while they obtained information from the San Francisco Public Library. Parents acted as facilitators.
Finally, the results were shared globally inspiring others nationally and world wide.
I was surprised to find out that this project was compiled by grades 1, 2, and 3 in schools that bilingual.
Through explicit teaching and collaboration at each step along the way the teachers helped these children decode what they needed to find in the big nondecodable biography texts in the school and city libraries. First of all they practiced by writing their own friend’s biographies. Then they wrote biographies of children in the other school. After they understood this process, they were able to collect the data. Information gathered was about race, occupation, class, disability, gender, and dead or alive from the biography text. They could use graphs, percentages, or fractions to describe the collection. They gathered all the information pictorially on a wall chart so that even the first grade children could understand it. Then eventually both schools shared their data on the Internet with each other. Finally after both schools had collected information from their own school libraries, they branched out to visit the city public libraries. Last of all they all met as a huge group and visited one city library together with their parents assisting.
After all this information was collected and recorded they shared it with the Global community. Finally to obtain change, the students wrote a letter to the libraries recommending the type of books that they felt should be obtained to make it a fair coverage including more biographies on women and people of other races.
All the way through the project students used an online date base to record their information, E-mail to coordinate activities, a mailing list, and Web based forum, word processing and graphing software. They covered a number of curriculum areas and went way beyond that.
These student were empowered to make changes for the good in their community and to promote fairness with the knowledge that they obtained from the data gathering.
The Oral History Project
From a Shrug to “How Much Time Do I Have, Mr. Green?
Chapter Seven
Literacy, Technology and Diversity
Cummins, Brown, and Sayers (2007)
James, the instructor, uses an exciting Oral History Project whereby his students search out their family history and family tree.
The students were able to select how they wanted to incorporate tools into the process of finding out “Where do we come from?’ and “What kind of history can we find in our family?”
No one was penalized for not having a long branch of family history. A regular family tree computer site did not apply to all the various families that the class members had so James found an Apple Works Draw Program where teams of students could draw individualized trees that meet each families own needs.
Students learned how to question and interview, take and organize notes, and use tape recorders to capture voices and transcribe interviews. They used interview questions as “What do you remember about…,” “What was life like when…” and “Tell me about…”
As the project continued much enthusiasm was generated. Plus history questions were being generated about D-Day, the Spanish-American War, and the Battle of the Bulge. They discovered many family members histories fit under the heading of fought in wars, fought for liberty or healed others, or were recognized publicly for their works as leaders. The students discussed obstacles to success such as lack of formal education, lack of money, and minority challenges.
Class members became closer and more open with each other. Further more students became more respectful of others.
Students were proud to be the first history note takers and keepers of the family history.
The culminating activity for this project was an iMovie for the parent Open House. The students made it available in English and Spanish so that all parents could understand it.
Then to top it all off , Mr. Green found many additional secondary benefits that the students exhibited following this project. Students appeared more confident in producing long term projects. They had better critical thinking skills. Students were able to express opinions easier. Last but not least, they had learned to ask probing questions during this project. It greatly benefited the whole class in producing this project.
What an exciting historical research project for Mr. James to have his students experience. How motivated they all were! This project was just what these impressionable children needed to enhance their self-worth in knowing where they came from and where they could hope to advance to by obtaining the education they needed.
Ida M. Rounds
Chapter Seven
Literacy, Technology and Diversity
Cummins, Brown, and Sayers (2007)
James, the instructor, uses an exciting Oral History Project whereby his students search out their family history and family tree.
The students were able to select how they wanted to incorporate tools into the process of finding out “Where do we come from?’ and “What kind of history can we find in our family?”
No one was penalized for not having a long branch of family history. A regular family tree computer site did not apply to all the various families that the class members had so James found an Apple Works Draw Program where teams of students could draw individualized trees that meet each families own needs.
Students learned how to question and interview, take and organize notes, and use tape recorders to capture voices and transcribe interviews. They used interview questions as “What do you remember about…,” “What was life like when…” and “Tell me about…”
As the project continued much enthusiasm was generated. Plus history questions were being generated about D-Day, the Spanish-American War, and the Battle of the Bulge. They discovered many family members histories fit under the heading of fought in wars, fought for liberty or healed others, or were recognized publicly for their works as leaders. The students discussed obstacles to success such as lack of formal education, lack of money, and minority challenges.
Class members became closer and more open with each other. Further more students became more respectful of others.
Students were proud to be the first history note takers and keepers of the family history.
The culminating activity for this project was an iMovie for the parent Open House. The students made it available in English and Spanish so that all parents could understand it.
Then to top it all off , Mr. Green found many additional secondary benefits that the students exhibited following this project. Students appeared more confident in producing long term projects. They had better critical thinking skills. Students were able to express opinions easier. Last but not least, they had learned to ask probing questions during this project. It greatly benefited the whole class in producing this project.
What an exciting historical research project for Mr. James to have his students experience. How motivated they all were! This project was just what these impressionable children needed to enhance their self-worth in knowing where they came from and where they could hope to advance to by obtaining the education they needed.
Ida M. Rounds
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Rainforest Maths by Jenny Eather
Web Site Review
www.rainforestmaths.com
Interactive Mathematics Activities K-6
By Jenny Eather @2006
This is a favorite site that is used by the fourth grade students at our school to assist with learning mathematics facts.
This colorful jungle looking site has activities for K-6 grade. Just select the grade level that you desire. I chose the fourth grade. Then colorful pictures show up beside the headings of Numbers, Algebra, Measurement and Space. Horizontally across from numbers are the headings: sequencing, operations and calculations, and fractions. Just click on the pictures to bring up the category that you want. Algebra has listed behind it: patterns, functions, equivalence, and equations. Measurement covers meter measurement for the most part. Here the topics are: length, volume, capacity, mass, and time. Finally, after Space is listed 3-D shapes, 2-D shapes, chance, probability, data, and money.
On the home page is an additional link to an Interactive Math Dictionary and Writing Fun. I looked up acute angle. A clever picture of a pelican drew you attention right away. There was a definition and then you could set the angle for the number of degrees that you wanted it. You could change it as often as you liked.
The Writing Fun was an excellent site also. There were writing text organizers. These were downloads and were printable material to use in teaching.
Our school children really enjoy this colorful, attractive site. I recommend it for additional practice in math skills.
www.rainforestmaths.com
Interactive Mathematics Activities K-6
By Jenny Eather @2006
This is a favorite site that is used by the fourth grade students at our school to assist with learning mathematics facts.
This colorful jungle looking site has activities for K-6 grade. Just select the grade level that you desire. I chose the fourth grade. Then colorful pictures show up beside the headings of Numbers, Algebra, Measurement and Space. Horizontally across from numbers are the headings: sequencing, operations and calculations, and fractions. Just click on the pictures to bring up the category that you want. Algebra has listed behind it: patterns, functions, equivalence, and equations. Measurement covers meter measurement for the most part. Here the topics are: length, volume, capacity, mass, and time. Finally, after Space is listed 3-D shapes, 2-D shapes, chance, probability, data, and money.
On the home page is an additional link to an Interactive Math Dictionary and Writing Fun. I looked up acute angle. A clever picture of a pelican drew you attention right away. There was a definition and then you could set the angle for the number of degrees that you wanted it. You could change it as often as you liked.
The Writing Fun was an excellent site also. There were writing text organizers. These were downloads and were printable material to use in teaching.
Our school children really enjoy this colorful, attractive site. I recommend it for additional practice in math skills.
Math: Thinking Mathematically on the Internet
Chapter 8
Teaching With the Internet K – 12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
The National Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathemetics has changed from the 1998’s version to an updated version where math is to make sense for the students. (I printed out two pages of this above site regarding the fourth grade Math Curriculum Standards.)
This past week on the Smart Board I saw children who were seeing two different dominos with dots and then clicking on the correct count for the total dots seen. This activity fosters instant visualization of addition facts. Now days the NCLB is including a new term called numeracy that is informed acquisition, critical evaluation, problem solving, and communication of math. They are linking numeracy to literacy in their federal legislation.
In searching out my favorite directory site as the text suggested we do, the main one suggested was the Eisenhower site but it is by subscription only presently at this time. So other sites that I checked out were the Math Archives, the Math Virtual Library, and the Math Forum. (Some of the other sites would not come up so the addresses must not be current. I did not check to see if I could locate them on Google or another site. Sometimes you can locate them elsewhere.)
On the Math Virtual Library, I could find material by grade level. There were lots of math activity suggestions given. Everything from time, money, and clocks to word problems for children is located here. It is a site for Elementary to High School age where information can be found on all topics of math.
The Math Archives Site had lots of Lesson Plan links for K- 12th grade. These links lead you to many other links.
I particularly liked the Math Forum @Drexal. Through this site I linked to a Pro Teacher. Community 4-8 site where teachers could ask questions. I was able to find seven pages of helpful hints in teaching perimeter and area from other teachers. So many wonderful ideas were listed there that were helpful.
For the Internet Workshop activities, I was able to locate a few sites that would be helpful in a working on math problems. There was a Brain Teasers Site that gave one math problem a week. Then listed the following week the answer and the next new problem to solve. The Interactive Math Miscellany and Puzzles site had a lot of interesting math activities for children to do also. There were links to math games and Sylvan Math. There were sites for teachers and parents with lots of free materials listed. Its goal was to make math really fun for children so there are many interesting activities. You can link to Cut the Knot here also which has even more exciting math activities. These could be incorporated into a math workshop.
Then I checked out some registry sites for Internet Projects that a fourth grade class could perform. I felt that the Food Prices Around the World site would be appropriate. It listed several different foods that children were to price. Then it could be uploaded to US Site. They could then look at the World Food Price information. This site has been available for sixteen years. Contact person is david@landmark-project.com The other site that would be a good one was listed as Create a Graph at Kid Zone. It is a very useable site. You just fill in the information that is needed. You select the kind of a graph you want to create. It has you list the Titles and then the number information needed.
Finally, the text wanted three websites that meet the needs of the fourth grade class using the criteria. I liked the text book suggestion of the Best Weather site which met all of the criteria mentioned in Chapter three of the text.
Using Google I found a couple more Web Quest Sites that I book marked. One was E-Mints from the Missouri Teachers and E-Mints National Center. There were eight sites listed. I choose two that I liked. One was Plan an Authentic Halloween Party using a budget. Then the other one was Plan Your Bedroom using a $500.00 budget. They are to provide a floor plan, do a Power Point Presentation, and graph how they spent the money. The last site I selected was Interactive Web Sites PF-6 Teachers and Students. The Web Quest selected here was Do You Know Your Place? . . .Values. This resource linked to other sites where they practiced skills. There were listed the process and advice. It was made by Tameka McGhee of Free-Hardeman University. Then Dealing With Devilish Division was the last Web Quest. Here tasks were listed, resources and a game site. This is James Sugg’s Site.
It took a while to locate this information but I believe that it will be useable information for the classroom teacher when planning for modern date Math Literacy using the internet.
Teaching With the Internet K – 12: New Literacies for New Times
Leu, Leu, and Coiro
The National Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathemetics has changed from the 1998’s version to an updated version where math is to make sense for the students. (I printed out two pages of this above site regarding the fourth grade Math Curriculum Standards.)
This past week on the Smart Board I saw children who were seeing two different dominos with dots and then clicking on the correct count for the total dots seen. This activity fosters instant visualization of addition facts. Now days the NCLB is including a new term called numeracy that is informed acquisition, critical evaluation, problem solving, and communication of math. They are linking numeracy to literacy in their federal legislation.
In searching out my favorite directory site as the text suggested we do, the main one suggested was the Eisenhower site but it is by subscription only presently at this time. So other sites that I checked out were the Math Archives, the Math Virtual Library, and the Math Forum. (Some of the other sites would not come up so the addresses must not be current. I did not check to see if I could locate them on Google or another site. Sometimes you can locate them elsewhere.)
On the Math Virtual Library, I could find material by grade level. There were lots of math activity suggestions given. Everything from time, money, and clocks to word problems for children is located here. It is a site for Elementary to High School age where information can be found on all topics of math.
The Math Archives Site had lots of Lesson Plan links for K- 12th grade. These links lead you to many other links.
I particularly liked the Math Forum @Drexal. Through this site I linked to a Pro Teacher. Community 4-8 site where teachers could ask questions. I was able to find seven pages of helpful hints in teaching perimeter and area from other teachers. So many wonderful ideas were listed there that were helpful.
For the Internet Workshop activities, I was able to locate a few sites that would be helpful in a working on math problems. There was a Brain Teasers Site that gave one math problem a week. Then listed the following week the answer and the next new problem to solve. The Interactive Math Miscellany and Puzzles site had a lot of interesting math activities for children to do also. There were links to math games and Sylvan Math. There were sites for teachers and parents with lots of free materials listed. Its goal was to make math really fun for children so there are many interesting activities. You can link to Cut the Knot here also which has even more exciting math activities. These could be incorporated into a math workshop.
Then I checked out some registry sites for Internet Projects that a fourth grade class could perform. I felt that the Food Prices Around the World site would be appropriate. It listed several different foods that children were to price. Then it could be uploaded to US Site. They could then look at the World Food Price information. This site has been available for sixteen years. Contact person is david@landmark-project.com The other site that would be a good one was listed as Create a Graph at Kid Zone. It is a very useable site. You just fill in the information that is needed. You select the kind of a graph you want to create. It has you list the Titles and then the number information needed.
Finally, the text wanted three websites that meet the needs of the fourth grade class using the criteria. I liked the text book suggestion of the Best Weather site which met all of the criteria mentioned in Chapter three of the text.
Using Google I found a couple more Web Quest Sites that I book marked. One was E-Mints from the Missouri Teachers and E-Mints National Center. There were eight sites listed. I choose two that I liked. One was Plan an Authentic Halloween Party using a budget. Then the other one was Plan Your Bedroom using a $500.00 budget. They are to provide a floor plan, do a Power Point Presentation, and graph how they spent the money. The last site I selected was Interactive Web Sites PF-6 Teachers and Students. The Web Quest selected here was Do You Know Your Place? . . .Values. This resource linked to other sites where they practiced skills. There were listed the process and advice. It was made by Tameka McGhee of Free-Hardeman University. Then Dealing With Devilish Division was the last Web Quest. Here tasks were listed, resources and a game site. This is James Sugg’s Site.
It took a while to locate this information but I believe that it will be useable information for the classroom teacher when planning for modern date Math Literacy using the internet.
Family Circle Article Review
Family Circle Article Review
March 2008
Source: Common Sense Media
Computer Supervision From the Parent’s View Point
I thought that this article was important to share because it gave the parent’s perspective of supervision while their children are on computer. Because while in my statistics of the children’s evaluation of supervision, students felt that 74% of the time they were unsupervised.
According to this article, it stated that parents who regularly spot check children’s use and computer activity is at 92%.
Parents who visit websites with their children is at 72%.
Those who use filters or blocking software run to 58%.
Parents who used a site recommendation from other parents is 52%.
Forty - eight percent of parents used and received sites from teachers at school.
So my thought is perhaps when children think they are not being monitored, they actually are being monitored.
March 2008
Source: Common Sense Media
Computer Supervision From the Parent’s View Point
I thought that this article was important to share because it gave the parent’s perspective of supervision while their children are on computer. Because while in my statistics of the children’s evaluation of supervision, students felt that 74% of the time they were unsupervised.
According to this article, it stated that parents who regularly spot check children’s use and computer activity is at 92%.
Parents who visit websites with their children is at 72%.
Those who use filters or blocking software run to 58%.
Parents who used a site recommendation from other parents is 52%.
Forty - eight percent of parents used and received sites from teachers at school.
So my thought is perhaps when children think they are not being monitored, they actually are being monitored.
Computer Information Survey by Ida M. Rounds
Computer Information Survey
By Ida M. Rounds
I. Introduction.
This survey was given to improve the modern Literacy knowledge of how students use Computers and the Internet. Using this survey information should be helpful in guiding the teachers’ instruction. It is hopeful that students will be encouraged to use educational sites in their homes as well as for recreational purposes. It has been found that using computers is highly motivating for students because they can research, practice fun math, and work at their own level and pace.
The survey was given between March 4, 2008 to March 6, 2008 to two fourth grade classes and to one sixth grade class. Two teachers administered the survey to Classes A and C. One Paraprofessional administered the survey to Class B. Instructions were given so students would know that the skill questions referred to Word Document.
The charts that were used for the test are described. There are individual raw score sheets for each class. Then these have been combined into a chart titled Survey of Three Classes which has each class listed and their percentages for yes or no. Then the average of the three classes is given. The raw scores were converted to percentages because each class had a different number of students. If a student did not answer a question, it was not counted. Percentage numbers were rounded up if it went to the hundredth’s place.
If you wish to see the Raw score sheets, E-mail mamie@uwyo.edu and I will mail them directly to you.
II. Survey Analysis
In analyzing the data, some responses have been combined.
A. Computer, Printer, & Internet – Statements - 1,2,3, 18
Forty-eight out of sixty (80%) of students surveyed have computers at home. Twelve percent less or only 68% have printers available to use. Only 60% of the classmates have internet services which is 20% less than the number of computers used. Twenty-seven percent said that they use the county library computers. Are these the students who did not have computers or Internet at home?
B. E-mail, Blog, My Space, & Search Engine – 4,5,6,7,10,13
Approximately one-third (32%) of the students have their own E-mail while the parents’ E-mail use is at 73%. This shows a difference of 41%.
Class A and Class C families do not Blog at all while Class B families members blogged at 26%. Only one student in Class A indicated he blogged. The total average for all three classes was 9% for families and 2% for the student. I would be interested to check with this student to see how he uses the blog.
Regarding the “My Space Site”, 17% of all the children said they used it which is surprising because this site is for sixteen years old or older to sign onto. Is there a children’s “My Space” Site? This would be interesting to look into further.
Although all the children should be familiar with different Search Engines, I believe that they were not knowledgeable about the term used. For me that explains the low 26% score. Some teaching could be done regarding that term. Yahooligan is supposed to be a safe site for children. There are other safe sites for children available. Teach children how to back out of a bad site.
C. Driver’s License & Safety – 9,11,19
One hundred percent of the students in all three classes do not have a Internet Driver’s License. Some schools require Safety Training for a couple of weeks before issuing student licenses. Individual classroom teachers and parents must be doing the training regarding safety because the average score (85%) was obtained by Class A, B, and C. But discouraging are the 74% of all the students who said they could use the computer Internet without parent supervision.
D. Tutorial & Hardware - 12, 17
Students use of the computer tutorial was poor at an average rate of 10% for all three classes. Some computer tutorials give information on the Hardware. Sixty-one percent of the students felt knowledgeable about the components.
E. Internet Shopping - 16
It was not surprising to me that only 26% of the student’s & parents buy items on the Internet.
F. Games - 14,15
Seventy percent of Class B play video games on the computer compared to lesser numbers for Class A (42%) and Class C (48%). Then for the Internet Games on the computer, Class A had 74%, Class B had 70%, and Class C had 81%. The average of all classes for the Internet games was 75% while it was 53% for the Video games.
It appears that 25% do not play games on the Internet. These children must not consider the math activities they do in the computer lab as games. It has been noticed that all the students appear to be very motivated and interested in the educational sites that they participate in especially for math.
G. Keyboarding and Other Word Document Skills – 8,12,20,21,22,23
This is the students’ self-evaluation of some of their Word Document skills.
I was quite surprised that for Word Document skills the students did not all score one hundred percent because these children are capable of performing the skills that were listed. Was this because they did not understand the terminology? Did they really not know how to do those features?
The average for all the classes for open, save, and print was 74%. Again 74% of the students can use bold print. Eighty percent of the students are able to select the print size. Even more at 88% of the classes can double-space lines. My question here is do they hit “enter” button twice or go to the menu and locate it there?
Finally, I see that only 55% are able to bookmark the address and save it. This should be one hundred percent for all of the classes. I am certain that student’s bookmark items when they are writing their research reports. Again it could be they did not understand what bookmark an address meant.
On the self-evaluation of their keyboarding skills, 75% felt that they did well. At the beginning of fourth grade, both classes are taught these skills. At times children coming new into the district do not have these skills so it is difficult to get them caught up with the class.
H. Search the Web at School - 25
This main topic is about the interest of the students in using computers to find information at school on the Web. Children responded to statements with a written answer.
H1. Class A
At school Class A had 18 responses of “No” they not do search the Web at school. One student made no response at all.
H.2 Class B
Fifteen students said they searched the Web at school for information on Mountain Men while the total should actually be twenty as they all did it.
Academic items searched for were: math (3), reading, fun.rice (2), vocabulary, Jungle Math, and history.
H.3 Class C
This class had twenty-one responses regarding searching the Web at school.
There was a “no” response from two students whom don’t know how to search the Web. Two other students did not respond to the statement. Another child didn’t know if he searched the Web or not. One pupil reported he looks up anything he has to.
Academic items searched for at school include: stem cells, book clubs, math, school work, research project (4), Report on Mexico, looking up words (2) and work. Other children indicated they hunted for the Baseball Hall of Fame and games (2). Three students listed Google as a site to examine.
Even though Class C did not report this, it could be assumed that most students have searched for information for research reports and math games on the computer.
I. Search the Web at Home - 26
This section addresses the interests of students’ use of the Web at home. Again, they responded by writing about their interests.
I.1 Class A
While searching the Web at home, a child looked for video game sites and regular game sites. One student hunted for Bath and Body Works while another looked for pets. Nick.Com was listed as a site to search.
Ten students indicated that they do not search the Web at home. Some did not tell what they had examined but gave answers such as “sometimes (1)” or “yes” (3).
I.2 Class B
For Class B, the greatest use for the home computer included Web searches for games (7). Two children looked for game cheats.
Academic items explored were Mountain Men (2) and a math games (2). Music and Music videos were examined on the Web. One child hunted for information on cats and another on Godzilla. A father assigned his son the task of searching the Web for him.
The last responses varied from exploring “nothing (2)” to “anything I want to search for”. Two students could not search because of lack of computers or the Web Internet.
I.3 Class C
In Class C a limited number of students made responses to “what I search for at home”. Twelve made no response. Some would like to view My Space and Yahoo games. Three children searched for “lots of things”. One child likes to look for new Web sites while another looks for wall paper.
J. What I Want to Learn About Computers or the Internet. - 27
This is section is to help direct teachers to their children’s’ interest so adjustments can made. Children are more motivated to learn if they are able to locate the information they want and need.
J.1 Class A
One child desired information about how to locate games. Two children wanted to know about the computer Internet and how to get Internet services. Last of all, one child needed information on the computer’s parts.
J.2 Class B
Class B gave an astounding amount of information they would like to learn about computers or the Internet service.
Much of the responses covered computer skills and the internet service (16).
Listed here are some of these topics: get a Web site, get My Space, get a Blog, get on E-mail, how to get a password, how to keyboard, how to make bold, save a file (2), know computer parts (2), about the hard drive and what the computer wires do, how to repair a computer, how to get an Internet License, and how to find information.
Some students indicated they wanted to search for Christopher Columbus, Lewis & Clark, and Tom Brady. Other topics they desired to learn about are dogs, cats (2), food, math, wars, games (2) and the Titian’s location.
J.3 Class C
Class C had some very thoughtful responses regarding what they wanted to learn. Two children wanted to learn keyboarding. One child needed knowledge about “what is a ram and gigabyte”, “how to create a Web page”, and “how to place pictures into power point”. Other answers were: what the parts do, digital music, board and history games, and Update on Sports.
Four children did not want to learn anything from the computer. The last two responses were to “learn lots of things” and “it’s something I do.”
K. Summary
This survey was given to assist teachers in gaining knowledge about the student’s use of computers and the internet. It is noted that a high number of students (80%) have computers at home. Teachers are able to contact 60% of the families that have E-mail at home to foster better home – school communications.
I was pleased to ascertain that 85% of the students felt they knew the safety rules. Concern is warranted for the 74% who surf the Web without supervision at home. They are supervised at school when on the computers.
Not many parents or students blog. No student has an Internet License. A very low 10% know how to use the tutorial.
Students believe that their computer skills and keyboarding are at a high average level.
Finally, this survey gave me new insights that I should be able to use in the classroom to improve the students’ computer and Internet Skills.
L. Self- Evaluation
The data gained should be useable by the teachers. I feel that it will be helpful to guide study in the use of the computers and the internet
There are some improvements on the survey form that I would make if I did it again. The statement would be placed in a different order. For the “Word Document Skills” I would list those under that heading. The “My Space” statement would not be used.
Finally, on the statement “I know how to double space”, I would add “using the menu”.
M. Future
The next step is to share the survey forms and the report with the class instructor, the classroom teachers, and the principal of my school. After that I will be able to check specific weaknesses, strengths, and interests for the class I work with to be able to assist those children to gain the knowledge that they need regarding Computer and Internet Services.
By Ida M. Rounds
I. Introduction.
This survey was given to improve the modern Literacy knowledge of how students use Computers and the Internet. Using this survey information should be helpful in guiding the teachers’ instruction. It is hopeful that students will be encouraged to use educational sites in their homes as well as for recreational purposes. It has been found that using computers is highly motivating for students because they can research, practice fun math, and work at their own level and pace.
The survey was given between March 4, 2008 to March 6, 2008 to two fourth grade classes and to one sixth grade class. Two teachers administered the survey to Classes A and C. One Paraprofessional administered the survey to Class B. Instructions were given so students would know that the skill questions referred to Word Document.
The charts that were used for the test are described. There are individual raw score sheets for each class. Then these have been combined into a chart titled Survey of Three Classes which has each class listed and their percentages for yes or no. Then the average of the three classes is given. The raw scores were converted to percentages because each class had a different number of students. If a student did not answer a question, it was not counted. Percentage numbers were rounded up if it went to the hundredth’s place.
If you wish to see the Raw score sheets, E-mail mamie@uwyo.edu and I will mail them directly to you.
II. Survey Analysis
In analyzing the data, some responses have been combined.
A. Computer, Printer, & Internet – Statements - 1,2,3, 18
Forty-eight out of sixty (80%) of students surveyed have computers at home. Twelve percent less or only 68% have printers available to use. Only 60% of the classmates have internet services which is 20% less than the number of computers used. Twenty-seven percent said that they use the county library computers. Are these the students who did not have computers or Internet at home?
B. E-mail, Blog, My Space, & Search Engine – 4,5,6,7,10,13
Approximately one-third (32%) of the students have their own E-mail while the parents’ E-mail use is at 73%. This shows a difference of 41%.
Class A and Class C families do not Blog at all while Class B families members blogged at 26%. Only one student in Class A indicated he blogged. The total average for all three classes was 9% for families and 2% for the student. I would be interested to check with this student to see how he uses the blog.
Regarding the “My Space Site”, 17% of all the children said they used it which is surprising because this site is for sixteen years old or older to sign onto. Is there a children’s “My Space” Site? This would be interesting to look into further.
Although all the children should be familiar with different Search Engines, I believe that they were not knowledgeable about the term used. For me that explains the low 26% score. Some teaching could be done regarding that term. Yahooligan is supposed to be a safe site for children. There are other safe sites for children available. Teach children how to back out of a bad site.
C. Driver’s License & Safety – 9,11,19
One hundred percent of the students in all three classes do not have a Internet Driver’s License. Some schools require Safety Training for a couple of weeks before issuing student licenses. Individual classroom teachers and parents must be doing the training regarding safety because the average score (85%) was obtained by Class A, B, and C. But discouraging are the 74% of all the students who said they could use the computer Internet without parent supervision.
D. Tutorial & Hardware - 12, 17
Students use of the computer tutorial was poor at an average rate of 10% for all three classes. Some computer tutorials give information on the Hardware. Sixty-one percent of the students felt knowledgeable about the components.
E. Internet Shopping - 16
It was not surprising to me that only 26% of the student’s & parents buy items on the Internet.
F. Games - 14,15
Seventy percent of Class B play video games on the computer compared to lesser numbers for Class A (42%) and Class C (48%). Then for the Internet Games on the computer, Class A had 74%, Class B had 70%, and Class C had 81%. The average of all classes for the Internet games was 75% while it was 53% for the Video games.
It appears that 25% do not play games on the Internet. These children must not consider the math activities they do in the computer lab as games. It has been noticed that all the students appear to be very motivated and interested in the educational sites that they participate in especially for math.
G. Keyboarding and Other Word Document Skills – 8,12,20,21,22,23
This is the students’ self-evaluation of some of their Word Document skills.
I was quite surprised that for Word Document skills the students did not all score one hundred percent because these children are capable of performing the skills that were listed. Was this because they did not understand the terminology? Did they really not know how to do those features?
The average for all the classes for open, save, and print was 74%. Again 74% of the students can use bold print. Eighty percent of the students are able to select the print size. Even more at 88% of the classes can double-space lines. My question here is do they hit “enter” button twice or go to the menu and locate it there?
Finally, I see that only 55% are able to bookmark the address and save it. This should be one hundred percent for all of the classes. I am certain that student’s bookmark items when they are writing their research reports. Again it could be they did not understand what bookmark an address meant.
On the self-evaluation of their keyboarding skills, 75% felt that they did well. At the beginning of fourth grade, both classes are taught these skills. At times children coming new into the district do not have these skills so it is difficult to get them caught up with the class.
H. Search the Web at School - 25
This main topic is about the interest of the students in using computers to find information at school on the Web. Children responded to statements with a written answer.
H1. Class A
At school Class A had 18 responses of “No” they not do search the Web at school. One student made no response at all.
H.2 Class B
Fifteen students said they searched the Web at school for information on Mountain Men while the total should actually be twenty as they all did it.
Academic items searched for were: math (3), reading, fun.rice (2), vocabulary, Jungle Math, and history.
H.3 Class C
This class had twenty-one responses regarding searching the Web at school.
There was a “no” response from two students whom don’t know how to search the Web. Two other students did not respond to the statement. Another child didn’t know if he searched the Web or not. One pupil reported he looks up anything he has to.
Academic items searched for at school include: stem cells, book clubs, math, school work, research project (4), Report on Mexico, looking up words (2) and work. Other children indicated they hunted for the Baseball Hall of Fame and games (2). Three students listed Google as a site to examine.
Even though Class C did not report this, it could be assumed that most students have searched for information for research reports and math games on the computer.
I. Search the Web at Home - 26
This section addresses the interests of students’ use of the Web at home. Again, they responded by writing about their interests.
I.1 Class A
While searching the Web at home, a child looked for video game sites and regular game sites. One student hunted for Bath and Body Works while another looked for pets. Nick.Com was listed as a site to search.
Ten students indicated that they do not search the Web at home. Some did not tell what they had examined but gave answers such as “sometimes (1)” or “yes” (3).
I.2 Class B
For Class B, the greatest use for the home computer included Web searches for games (7). Two children looked for game cheats.
Academic items explored were Mountain Men (2) and a math games (2). Music and Music videos were examined on the Web. One child hunted for information on cats and another on Godzilla. A father assigned his son the task of searching the Web for him.
The last responses varied from exploring “nothing (2)” to “anything I want to search for”. Two students could not search because of lack of computers or the Web Internet.
I.3 Class C
In Class C a limited number of students made responses to “what I search for at home”. Twelve made no response. Some would like to view My Space and Yahoo games. Three children searched for “lots of things”. One child likes to look for new Web sites while another looks for wall paper.
J. What I Want to Learn About Computers or the Internet. - 27
This is section is to help direct teachers to their children’s’ interest so adjustments can made. Children are more motivated to learn if they are able to locate the information they want and need.
J.1 Class A
One child desired information about how to locate games. Two children wanted to know about the computer Internet and how to get Internet services. Last of all, one child needed information on the computer’s parts.
J.2 Class B
Class B gave an astounding amount of information they would like to learn about computers or the Internet service.
Much of the responses covered computer skills and the internet service (16).
Listed here are some of these topics: get a Web site, get My Space, get a Blog, get on E-mail, how to get a password, how to keyboard, how to make bold, save a file (2), know computer parts (2), about the hard drive and what the computer wires do, how to repair a computer, how to get an Internet License, and how to find information.
Some students indicated they wanted to search for Christopher Columbus, Lewis & Clark, and Tom Brady. Other topics they desired to learn about are dogs, cats (2), food, math, wars, games (2) and the Titian’s location.
J.3 Class C
Class C had some very thoughtful responses regarding what they wanted to learn. Two children wanted to learn keyboarding. One child needed knowledge about “what is a ram and gigabyte”, “how to create a Web page”, and “how to place pictures into power point”. Other answers were: what the parts do, digital music, board and history games, and Update on Sports.
Four children did not want to learn anything from the computer. The last two responses were to “learn lots of things” and “it’s something I do.”
K. Summary
This survey was given to assist teachers in gaining knowledge about the student’s use of computers and the internet. It is noted that a high number of students (80%) have computers at home. Teachers are able to contact 60% of the families that have E-mail at home to foster better home – school communications.
I was pleased to ascertain that 85% of the students felt they knew the safety rules. Concern is warranted for the 74% who surf the Web without supervision at home. They are supervised at school when on the computers.
Not many parents or students blog. No student has an Internet License. A very low 10% know how to use the tutorial.
Students believe that their computer skills and keyboarding are at a high average level.
Finally, this survey gave me new insights that I should be able to use in the classroom to improve the students’ computer and Internet Skills.
L. Self- Evaluation
The data gained should be useable by the teachers. I feel that it will be helpful to guide study in the use of the computers and the internet
There are some improvements on the survey form that I would make if I did it again. The statement would be placed in a different order. For the “Word Document Skills” I would list those under that heading. The “My Space” statement would not be used.
Finally, on the statement “I know how to double space”, I would add “using the menu”.
M. Future
The next step is to share the survey forms and the report with the class instructor, the classroom teachers, and the principal of my school. After that I will be able to check specific weaknesses, strengths, and interests for the class I work with to be able to assist those children to gain the knowledge that they need regarding Computer and Internet Services.
SURVEY OF THREE CLASSES - COMPUTER INFORMATION
SURVEY OF THREE CLASSES
COMPUTER INFORMATION
Class A & B - 4th Grade Class C - 6th grade
Yes No
1. My family has a computer at home.
Response 1 Class A 79% 21% Has computer
Class B 80% 20%
Class C 81% 19%
Ave. 80% 20%
2. My family has a printer at home.
Response 2 Class A 63% 37% Has printer
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 71% 29%
Ave. 68% 32%
3. My family has Internet at home.
Response 3 Class A 63% 37% Has internet
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 48% 52%
Ave. 60% 40%
4. I have an E-mail address.
Response 4 Class A 32% 68% Student has E-mail.
Class B 20% 80%
Class C 43% 57%
Ave. 32% 68%
5. My family has an E-mail address.
Response 5 Class A 74% 27% Family has E-mail.
Class B 84% 16%
Class C 62% 38%
Ave. 73% 27%
6. My family has a Blog Site.
Response 6 Class A 0% 100% Family has blog.
Class B 26% 74%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 9% 91%
7. I have a Blog Site.
Response 7 Class A 5% 95% Student has blog.
Class B 0% 100%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 2% 98%
8. I can book mark a Web address and save it.
Response 8 Class A 58% 42% Mark Web Address and Save
Class B 55% 45%
Class C 53% 47%
Ave. 55% 45%
9. I know safety rules for using the Internet.
Response 9 Class A 79% 21% Knows safety rules
Class B 85% 15%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 85% 15%
10. I have a My Space site at home.
Response 10 Class A 11% 89% Student has My Space
Class B 10% 90%
Class C 29% 71%
Ave. 17% 83%
11. I have an Internet Driver's License.
Response 11 Class A 0% 100% Has Internet Driver's License
Class B 0% 100%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 0% 100%
12. I know the names of the hardware parts on the computer.
Response 12 Class A 53% 47% Knows hardware names
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 55% 45%
Ave. 61% 39%
13. I know what a Search Engine is.
Response 13 Class A 5% 95% Knows what a Search Engine is
Class B 40% 60%
Class C 33% 67%
Ave. 26% 74%
14. I play my own video games on the computer.
Response 14 Class A 42% 58% Plays video games on computer
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 48% 52%
Ave. 53% 47%
15. I play Internet games on the computer.
Response 15 Class A 74% 27% Plays internet games
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 81% 19%
Ave. 75% 25%
16. My parents assist me in buying items on the internet.
Response 16 Class A 17% 83% Purchase items on Internet
Class B 26% 74%
Class C 35% 65%
Ave. 26% 74%
17. I know how to use the tutorial on the computer.
Response 17 Class A 5% 95% Able to use tutorial
Class B 20% 80%
Class C 5% 95%
Ave. 10% 90%
18. Our family uses the computers at the county library.
Response 18 Class A 21% 79% Uses computer at Co. Library
Class B 30% 70%
Class C 30% 70%
Ave. 27% 73%
19. I can be on the computer by myself without supervision.
Response 19 Class A 53% 47% No parent supervision
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 95% 5%
Ave. 74% 26%
20. I can open a file, save a file, and print a file.
Response 20 Class A 89% 11% Open, save, and print file
Class B 47% 53%
Class C 85% 15%
Ave. 74% 26%
21. I can select the print size.
Response 21 Class A 89% 11% Select print size
Class B 60% 40%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 80% 20%
22. I can double space the lines.
Response 22 Class A 89% 11% Double space lines
Class B 85% 15%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 88% 12%
23. I can make the print bold.
Response 23 Class A 79% 21% Can use bold print
Class B 53% 47%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 74% 26%
24. I have good keyboarding skills.
Response 24 Class A 89% 11% Has good keyboarding skills
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 60% 40%
Ave. 75% 25%
See final information regarding Responses 26 - 27 in the summary.
COMPUTER INFORMATION
Class A & B - 4th Grade Class C - 6th grade
Yes No
1. My family has a computer at home.
Response 1 Class A 79% 21% Has computer
Class B 80% 20%
Class C 81% 19%
Ave. 80% 20%
2. My family has a printer at home.
Response 2 Class A 63% 37% Has printer
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 71% 29%
Ave. 68% 32%
3. My family has Internet at home.
Response 3 Class A 63% 37% Has internet
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 48% 52%
Ave. 60% 40%
4. I have an E-mail address.
Response 4 Class A 32% 68% Student has E-mail.
Class B 20% 80%
Class C 43% 57%
Ave. 32% 68%
5. My family has an E-mail address.
Response 5 Class A 74% 27% Family has E-mail.
Class B 84% 16%
Class C 62% 38%
Ave. 73% 27%
6. My family has a Blog Site.
Response 6 Class A 0% 100% Family has blog.
Class B 26% 74%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 9% 91%
7. I have a Blog Site.
Response 7 Class A 5% 95% Student has blog.
Class B 0% 100%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 2% 98%
8. I can book mark a Web address and save it.
Response 8 Class A 58% 42% Mark Web Address and Save
Class B 55% 45%
Class C 53% 47%
Ave. 55% 45%
9. I know safety rules for using the Internet.
Response 9 Class A 79% 21% Knows safety rules
Class B 85% 15%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 85% 15%
10. I have a My Space site at home.
Response 10 Class A 11% 89% Student has My Space
Class B 10% 90%
Class C 29% 71%
Ave. 17% 83%
11. I have an Internet Driver's License.
Response 11 Class A 0% 100% Has Internet Driver's License
Class B 0% 100%
Class C 0% 100%
Ave. 0% 100%
12. I know the names of the hardware parts on the computer.
Response 12 Class A 53% 47% Knows hardware names
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 55% 45%
Ave. 61% 39%
13. I know what a Search Engine is.
Response 13 Class A 5% 95% Knows what a Search Engine is
Class B 40% 60%
Class C 33% 67%
Ave. 26% 74%
14. I play my own video games on the computer.
Response 14 Class A 42% 58% Plays video games on computer
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 48% 52%
Ave. 53% 47%
15. I play Internet games on the computer.
Response 15 Class A 74% 27% Plays internet games
Class B 70% 30%
Class C 81% 19%
Ave. 75% 25%
16. My parents assist me in buying items on the internet.
Response 16 Class A 17% 83% Purchase items on Internet
Class B 26% 74%
Class C 35% 65%
Ave. 26% 74%
17. I know how to use the tutorial on the computer.
Response 17 Class A 5% 95% Able to use tutorial
Class B 20% 80%
Class C 5% 95%
Ave. 10% 90%
18. Our family uses the computers at the county library.
Response 18 Class A 21% 79% Uses computer at Co. Library
Class B 30% 70%
Class C 30% 70%
Ave. 27% 73%
19. I can be on the computer by myself without supervision.
Response 19 Class A 53% 47% No parent supervision
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 95% 5%
Ave. 74% 26%
20. I can open a file, save a file, and print a file.
Response 20 Class A 89% 11% Open, save, and print file
Class B 47% 53%
Class C 85% 15%
Ave. 74% 26%
21. I can select the print size.
Response 21 Class A 89% 11% Select print size
Class B 60% 40%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 80% 20%
22. I can double space the lines.
Response 22 Class A 89% 11% Double space lines
Class B 85% 15%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 88% 12%
23. I can make the print bold.
Response 23 Class A 79% 21% Can use bold print
Class B 53% 47%
Class C 90% 10%
Ave. 74% 26%
24. I have good keyboarding skills.
Response 24 Class A 89% 11% Has good keyboarding skills
Class B 75% 25%
Class C 60% 40%
Ave. 75% 25%
See final information regarding Responses 26 - 27 in the summary.
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