Turning on and Shutting Down

This week in kindergarten and first grade students reviewed some of the basic lab skills. Each child had the opportunity to shut down and turn on their computer. We discussed how each computer is different and that it depends on that particular system. In the computer lab, we use Macintosh computers so students learned to select the apple at the top left hand side and select "shut down" and shut down again when prompted if they were sure. To turn on our lab computers we simple press the power button on the back of the monitor on the right hand side.

If you use a computer system with you child at home, take the time to teach them how to turn it on and shut it down. You can also show them other tools on the desktop such as how to change the background image, manipulate the screensaver, or make folders on the desktop. Children love experiences to learn and grow with technology in their home. Encourage and foster their interests!

First Grade Learns about Y as a Vowel

This week all first graders completed a series of activities related to teach the phonics skill of the letter Y as a vowel, creating a long i or long e sound at the end of a word. To practice both phonics and computer skills students created a word puzzles using these type of words. The last two words they choose based on what they had learned. See the following pictures below:


Also click the links under First Grade for more fun practice with this phonics skill : )

Using SkillsTutor to Practice Math Fact Fluency

This week many classes used the program Skillstutor to work on becoming more proficient with math facts. SkillsTutor is a program that is web-based, therefore you and your child can access it at home in order to practice specific skills in many academic areas. Check with your child's teacher for login information for your child.



SkillsTutor:

• Tests students' skills, providing both pretests and posttests to make initial assessments and to gauge student progress
• Prescribes activities based on students' pretest results
• Monitors student scores and completion of activites
• Produces reports for individual students and classes
• Provides online and print documentation, including printable activity sheets which extend the computer lessons to classroom or homework activities
  

Fourth Grade Gets Ready for the Science Fair

Click here to view the 2010 Falmouth Science Fair


This week all fourth grade classes will begin investigating websites to find ideas for experiments that they would like to conduct in preparation for the Fourth Grade Science Fair here at Mullen-Hall as well as the Falmouth District Science Fair. We will be teaching students these important things to remember about science projects:

1. Is the project interesting enough to work on for the next couple of months?

2. Are there at least three sources of written information on the subject?

3. Is the experiment safe to perform?

4. Are all of the materials needed for the experiment readily available or can they be obtained to the complete the experiment?

5. Is there enough time to complete the project by the due date?

Using these questions as a guideline can help you and your child to choose an appropriate project.

Remember!
Volcanoes can be fun, but
there are other options for science projects
Anne Helmenstine