Computer Lab
Here’s a link to our McGilvra computer lab bookmarks and to some of our favorite sites.
Everyday Math games require a student login. Hooda math is very popular.
Here are two sites where you can practice math facts:
multiplication.com and Fact Monster flash cards.
Multipopword gives you three minutes to find as many words as you can and this Word Search site lets you adjust the difficulty.
General Information
The computer lab at McGilvra has 24 Apple eMacs with Internet access and access to a local file server. Each classroom comes to the lab once a week where they work on a variety of skills. We have pre-reading/reading/language activities, math activities, keyboarding practice, word processing practice and some project work related to classroom activities.
I use a web site called Delicious to store the bookmarks of sites we use in class. Take a look at our Delicious list to see how it works. You can access it from home also.
Curriculum
As is grade-appropriate, students are introduced to and practice the following:
Technology Vocabulary – Students learn the vocabulary needed to talk about technology. We start by naming the mouse and keyboard and then learn application terms such as the Dock (Apple-specific), browser, home button, tags, links, bookmarks, etc. Introduction of these terms is built into each class session as we learn and practice activities.
Keyboarding -Grades 3-5 use Type To Learn keyboarding software to work on their keyboarding accuracy and speed. By the end of 5th grade, the majority of students should be typing at 30 wpm.
Word Processing -Beginning in first grade using MS Word, students are introduced to word processing skills and techniques through a series of lessons. By the end of 5th grade, all students will be able to type and format a word processing document using commonly recognized features. These features include but are not limited to: text alignment, font manipulation (size, style, color, bold, italics, underline), inserting of images and tables, text spacing, and making lists using bullets and numbers. Excel tables and charts are introduced to the upper grades.
Internet Use -By law, the school district uses a filter when accessing the Internet. In class, students learn to recognize links and navigation symbols on a web page and learn how to navigate through multiple pages and to multiple web sites. In the upper grades, students use the Internet for class research projects.
Sites that we frequent are: Everyday Math Games, Hooda Math (created by a teacher), Fact Monster Math Facts, Starfall, Tumblebooks, word searches, Multipopword, and more.
Veralea Swayne, Computer lab teacher