Westside school is moving to a new web platform later today. As part of the transition, this technology blog is moving from WordPress to the new Drupal platform.
What this means for you, dear reader, is that you may see a hiccup during the transition, which will cause news stories to be marked as “new” even though you’ve already read them.
Sorry for any surprises this may cause. You should continue to receive timely updates from our classroom starting Tuesday!
May is “bike to school” month, and Westside students are celebrating Spring and healthy lifestyles by riding to school.
Who knew that a few simple machines could turn a commute into such an enjoyable part of the day? Thanks, technology!
Josh’s 3rd grade class has been learning about Native American culture. They’ve relied heavily on the Internet for information and have been honing their search skills in the process.
In the video below, a student explains the presence of paid ads within her search results:
Every once and a while the keyboards on our iPads seems to switch to a different language. Veronica, the Spanish teacher, has created a video tutorial on how to intentionally switch between keyboards, but here is a video explaining how to undo any keyboard issues.
Britannica Online is an interactive, digitized version of the world famous Britannica Encyclopedia! It also includes the Compton’s Encyclopedia and is designed for elementary and middle school student users. This database is an ideal resource for accessing up to date and concise information for a wide range of topics.
This resource is brought to you, FREE of charge, through both the King County Library system and the Seattle Public Library system!
How can I access Britannica Online for Kids?
Britannica Online is one of the many databases to which the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and King County Public Library (KCLS) subscribes. You can access Britannica Online with a valid SPL or KCLS library card and PIN number. Here’s how:
Seattle Public Library:
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate Britannica Online
v Click on the Britannica Online heading
v Log in with your SPL library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
King County Public Library:
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate Britannica Online
v Click on the Britannica Online heading
v Log in with your KCLS library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
How do I use Britannica Online for Kids?
Britannica Online is simple to use. Once you log into Britannica Online, you can search for a topic in the search box, browse by topic, or explore the numerous features on the homepage such as Animal of the Day, Headlines, and Discover America. Once you reach a desired topic, Britannica Online will provide a host of resources on that topic from encyclopedia entries and articles in journals and magazines, to websites and media clips.
From the Home page, students can also take advantage of the Student Center, which is a compilation of “How to” tips such as How to Write a Book Review and How to Prepare an Oral Presentation. It also provides links to other useful resources like Timelines, Biographies, World Atlas, and more!
What can I do with Britannica Online for Kids?
I have crafted this Newsletter in an effort to spread the word about the extremely handy AND free databases available through our local public libraries. I believe that the databases featured in this Newsletter are fantastic tools that can be used in the classroom, in the library, at home, and beyond!
….stay tuned for more issues of D’BOM, otherwise known as Database of the Month, brought to you by your School Media Specialist!
Sarah & Ilde’s kindergarten class has been studying the work of Eric Carle and also learning about the world of insects. This week students played with a variety of media to demonstrate learning: everyone had a chance to make create their own 3-D insect, write a story about their bug, and digitally reproduce their work using an iPad.
The results are amazing…be sure to check out the first floor hallway for the entire art exhibit.
Dear middle school students,
Hope you are having a great weekend. As you know, we rarely have tech homework, but your assignment for tomorrow is an important one – please read the rest of this email all of the way through before starting the assignment.
After 6 months of experimenting with iPads, the teachers have decided that iPads would be more useful in 2nd and 3rd grades. You guys have done a great job of testing the devices and we appreciate the hard work.
Your assignment: please bring your iPad, charger, and any other accessories to school Monday morning. We will check in the devices and I’ll spend the week when you are out of town erasing everything and getting the iPads ready for the younger kids.
When you get back from the Olympic Coast trip, each of you will get a mini-chalk board that is useful for doing math problems and writing notes to yourself. You can also draw pictures of your friends on the chalk board and you will receive 3 different colors of chalk!
In tech class, we will cancel the media festival project and start working on writing in cursive.
Thanks for your help.
P.S. happy April fools!
It’s time to put all of our creative skills into practice and share our talents with the world! The Middle School Media Festival is accepting submissions until April 10th.
There aren’t too many rules – please make sure your video is appropriate for any person ages 10-100. Also, videos containing explicit violence won’t likely be submitted.
There are a number of categories to choose from: film, music, screenwriting, presentations, etc.We’ll be using tech class from now until then to record, photograph and design entries for the festival. This won’t likely be enough time to create a masterpiece – advisors are opening up Monday afternoons for project work and you are always welcome to use evenings if that fits in with your family’s schedule.
One of the most popular questions so far from students is “How do I create my own music for the film I’m creating?” Apple just added the ability to get songs from Garageband into iMovie – we’ll be able to do this after the next class sync. Here is a video that explains how:
What is CultureGrams?
CultureGrams is a dynamic database, designed to deliver up-to-date, concise facts and figures about all the countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. The world is at your fingertips as you browse the immense collection of country reports that include maps, exclusive interviews, history, photos, and more! Take advantage of all four CultureGrams editions—the World, the States, the Provinces, and the Kids editions!
This resource is brought to you, FREE of charge, through both the King County Library system and the Seattle Public Library system!
How can I access CultureGrams?
CultureGrams is one of the many databases to which the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and King County Public Library (KCLS) subscribes. You can access CultureGrams with a valid SPL or KCLS library card and PIN number. Here’s how:
Seattle Public Library:
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate CultureGrams
v Click on the CultureGrams heading
v Log in with your SPL library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
King County Public Library
v Simply follow this link
v Scroll down to locate CultureGrams
v Click on the CultureGrams heading
v Log in with your KCLS library card number and PIN number
v Start exploring!
How do I use CultureGrams?
CultureGrams is simple to navigate. Once you log into CultureGrams, select the edition you would like to access. Regardless of which one you chose, you can access information either by clicking on a country, state, or province on the interactive map on the home page OR by directly accessing your desired country, state, or province in the Accessible Index on the left side panel of the screen.
Once you have reached the desired country, state, or province, find out all you ever wanted to know about that area!
What can I do with CultureGrams?
Read about the People & Places, History, Lifestyle, Society, and Culture Facts & Contacts of countries around the world
I have crafted this Newsletter in an effort to spread the word about the extremely handy AND free databases available through our local public libraries. I believe that the databases featured in this Newsletter are fantastic tools that can be used in the classroom, in the library, at home, and beyond!
….stay tuned for more issues of D’BOM, otherwise known as Database of the Month, brought to you by your School Media Specialist!
Last week, student John told 6th graders about some proposed US legislation aimed to protect the property of copyright holders (photos, movies, music, books, etc).
6th grade student Rex went home thinking about this and learned of a similar proposal that is gathering support and opposition on an international level. Rex shared a website with the class that is decidedly against the ACTA proposal.