A Starry, Starry... Keyboard?

Every year third grade is faced with an exciting, but potentially overwhelming experience.  They move from iPads to Chromebooks.  Which means they move from totally touch screen, to {gulp} keyboards.

Like I said, exciting, but definitely overwhelming.  It's the same every year, with every group of kids, too.  They come in very excited about their Chromebooks, in awe of all they will be learning throughout the year.  And then they try to log-in, and realize how challenging that is, and how long it takes.

After the first day of struggle, I ask the kids what would make it easier for them to log-in. And every year, the answer is the same.  "We need to know where the keys are!"  And every year, this kicks off our typing journey.

This year, I've added a mathematical twist.  And a little motivation.  Because many kids in this year's group, I noticed, are content rushing through each level of typing.com, earning the minimal score to pass to the next level.  No matter how much their teachers and I emphasize the accuracy over the speed, they continue to try to race through the practice (not a shock at all!)

For the first time ever, we're allowing the third and fourth graders to put stickers on their Chromebooks.  There's a large, clear, sticker that I put on the top of each device, and the rule is, the stickers must stay on the clear cover.  But for the third graders, they have to earn those stickers.

Enter typing stars.

Instead of focusing on levels or words per minute (at least for now) the focus is on stars.  Typing.com gives kids the opportunity to earn three stars on each level, and each of their units has approximately 12 levels.  That means kids can potentially earn 36 stars in each unit.

And in order to put their own stickers on their Chromebooks, they have to earn 100 of my typing stars.  And those typing stars come 10 stars per sticker.  Which means when I passed out the first round of stickers, students had to calculate how many stars they actually earned, and how many more they need until they can put their own stickers on.

Two things were accomplished with this new addition to third grade typing.  First, students are highly motivated to practice their typing.  Second, they stop asking me when they can put stickers on their Chromebook!

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4th Grade Tech Basics

One of the most used tools in ed tech seems to be Google Slides.  And while I love, there are so many other tools to use for presentations!  But that's a whole different post!

In 3rd grade, we introduce some of the basics of Google Slides.  Adding in text boxes, backgrounds, images, that kind of stuff.  In 4th grade, we dive deeper into all that slides offers.  To do that, the kids create covers for their work binders.  This year, we have one class of 4th graders learning remotely.  Not to worry!  They created custom backgrounds for their Google homepage instead!

The teachers love this project because the kids get to create individualized, personalized binder covers  AND they revisit their basic tech skills from the previous year.  The kids love it because they get to create their own binder covers, they get to play with images online, and it's fun!  I love it because it's a meaningful way to level up their basic Google Slides Skills.

Students insert images and crop them into shapes.  They learn to add borders and fill to text boxes to make titles stand out.  They learn how to layer images on top of shapes to create frames.  They learn how to layer text boxes to make shadowy text.  They review copyright vs common-use images.  There are so many elements of Google Slides that one can keep learning forever! 

Oh, and since they are creating binder covers, they also learn how to change the page orientation of the slide - can't forget that one!

Kickin' Off 3rd Grade Tech!

Third grade is a BIG year for technology at my school.  It's the first time the kids get their own devices!  Well, typically they share an iPad and a Chromebook with a fourth grader.  This year, though, everyone got their own device, K-4 (thank you COVID.)  That meant all kids, K-3 got their own logins this year. 

However.

In third grade, they got their own Chromebook which meant learning to type.  Still a very big deal!

Enter typing.com

That is where the third graders spend most of their tech time.  At least until they can login proficiently!

We've been through a few other typing programs, and while I won't name names, I will say that typing.com has been my favorite by far.  The kids login with Google, it syncs with Google Classroom, making it easy for teachers to check progress, and the lessons are bite sized.  That last part is important because the kids feel very like they're accomplishing things even when they only have 10 minutes, because they can complete a whole level (or two!) in that short bit of time.

Did I mention it's free?  Yes, there is a paid platform too, that gives you loads of customization options (highly recommended if you have the budget!) Thankfully the free platform has been just right for our needs this year!