Language Arts Tech Integration

How Can I Integrate the Computer Into the Curriculum?

The biggest problem that students encounter when trying to use the computer to publish work is their lack of keyboard experience so be sure to include a keyboarding program in your software budget if one is not included with your computer software package.Portable keyboards, such as the Alpha Smart keyboards solve the problem of students using all of their tech time trying to type their work.Students type their stories into the portable keyboard and then download their files to the computer during their tech time.

Another method for imputing stories into the computer would be to let a parent volunteer do the first-draft word processing.Then when the student has their tech time they can spell check, format, and insert images where desired.Electronic drawing boards also provide students an opportunity to illustrate their own work.These costs around $100 and can be purchased with USB connection.

Students can then print out their work or publish it on the Internet.The work can also be saved on the student’s diskette.

The Alpha Smart Keyboard (http://www.alphasmart.com/)

The AlphaSmart 2000 is a portable keyboard or notetaker that is compatible with any Macintosh or PC. It enables students to practice keyboarding, write and electronically store reports, essays and notes without having to be at a computer. Its portability allows students to use it in the classroom, at home or on field trips. The AlphaSmart has an optional industry standard IR(infrared) interface that allows wireless transfer between the AlphaSmart and a computer or printer.

The Alpha Smart currently costs $199 as listed in Educational Resources catalog.

What do you do in your job at school?

Where did you go to school and what degrees do you hold?

Do you have any hobbies?If so, what are they?

Do you have children?If so, what are their ages?

What do you like best about your job?

What do you like least?

If a digital camera is available a picture of the faculty member can be taken.

Seat WorkOnce the questions have been answered, students compose an essay on their faculty member.These should be edited an be in a final form before going to the computer.

Tech Time During the group’s computer time students can use Word to type the essay and insert the picture.If a picture is not available a clipart image that represents the individual can be used or a photo may be available at the school web site.This process may take a few weeks and different pairs of students can take turns typing the essay.These essays can be printed and used for displays or compiled into booklets for visitors to enjoy.An alternative method might be to create a PowerPoint presentation on the staff member.If students create PowerPoint presentations limit the presentations to a number of slides that can be managed in the time allotted for the project.Teach students to always start every presentation with a title card that also credits the creators of the presentation.

During the Buzz Time visit an online news site (http://www.cnn.com) and allow students to select one story.Discuss the story and download a picture to be used in the newspaper at the end of the day.There are also numerous student news sites on the web.A listing can be found at the county web site (http://208.183.128.3//kidsnews.html).Another great opening activity would be to visit the History Channel’s This Day in History Site (http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/index.html).

During the last 15 minutes ask students to relate the story for the newspaper.Also include articles concerning classroom activities which took place during the day and school events.This could be an excellent time to review new terms and concepts.Keep the newspaper at one column, which is manageable in the time allotted.Print two copies of the story and put one copy in a folder marked “Please return to school tomorrow.”Send this folder home with a different child each night in order to keep parents up to date on what is going on in the classroom.When the student returns the folder, remove the story and put it in a notebook collection of newspapers kept in the room for students to enjoy during silent reading time.Put the other copy of the newspaper in a notebook to be kept in the office for waiting visitors to read.You can also post your classroom newspaper on the web.Directions for doing so can be found at the county web site (http://208.183.128.3/tutorials/news/).

Individual Language Arts Computer Activities

What If?
Present a situation (What would happen if….) for the students to finish in a story.
Examples: What would happen if you woke up and were suddenly an adult? What would happen if you were the teacher (or principal) for a day? What would happen if you woke up and had duck feet? Some students might enjoy creating their own situations.

Parts of Speech
Provide a group of sentences and ask students to format or color a specific part of speech, such as make all nouns red or make proper nouns purple and common nouns blue. This is also a good following directions activity.

Writing Your Way
Ask students to write a new chapter for a book or story you are reading together. Students could also create a new ending to the story.

Be A Friend
Have students write friendly letters using the friendly letter format (heading, greeting, body, closing, signature). Students could write to their parents, former teachers, friends, etc. Post a sample of a friendly letter to follow. This activity could be incorporated in an email activity. Students could review the friendly letter format by creating a friendly letter to another classroom in the county that has Internet and email access. The teacher could then copy and paste the letter in an email to send to the class.

Illustration Exchange
Students draw or paint a picture, which they exchange with another student. The second student then writes a story based on the picture. A variation of this activity would be for the student to give provide copies of the pictures to several students who each create different stories which can be compared as to point of view and individual perception.

The Never Ending Story
Begin a story document on the computer as a class activity. Afterwards each student adds the next section of the adventure. Then other students take turn adding to the story to create a class chapter book.

Theme Words
Give students a theme and ask them to type as many words as they can think of related to that them. These lists can be used to develop a class vocabulary list.

Writing About Me
Ask students to write about themselves and type the information in to the computer. When they have completed their autobiographies, share them with the class. Some starter ideas might be:
· My family consists of…
· What I like to do most is…
· When I am older…
· What really makes me happy?
If I Were to Change
Read some of the poems in If I Were to Change the World and Other Worries, by Judith Viorst (Aladdin, 1981) and ask student to consider what they would do if they were in charge of the world. Then have them write about it on the computer. Projects can be printed and made into a class book.

Opposites Attract
Give students a list of words and have them type in the antonyms. As an extension they can type in synonyms. Below is a sample list:
in right noisy up dark day big lost open
After older students have attempted this activity, teach them to use the thesaurus as a tool and give them a new list of words.

Spelling Boredom
How many times have students been asked to write their spelling words x number of times in order to learn to spell them? Show students how to used copy and paste to do this activity. Students will understand how computers are tools that make their work easier. Don’t forget to show them how to use the spell checker too.

My Teacher is Missing!
Read the story Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard (Houghton Mifflin, 1985) to students. Ask them to write about what it would be like if Miss Violla Swamp came to their class to teach for a week. How would the students react? What kind of homework would she give? What would happen when their teacher finally returned to class?

Stinky Cheese Man
Read the story, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (Illustrator)    Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     School & Library Binding (July 1993)
                     Viking Pr; ISBN: 067084487X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.44 x 10.84 x 8.95
Ask students to create their own version of a fairy tale or children’s story on using Word or create a PowerPoint presentation.

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups
Read the The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups by David Wisniewski (Illustrator)
                     Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     Hardcover - 48 pages (April 1998)
                     Lothrop Lee & Shepard; ISBN: 0688153399
Ask students to write about an instruction their parents have given them, the reason their parent’s told them to do so, and the real secret reason. Example: Brush you teeth…Reason: Keeps your teeth from rotting…Real Reason? These can be compiled into PowerPoint presentations. APowerPoint presentation introducing this book is available for download in zip form from Cyber Exhcange for Educators.

Story Starters
Create a set of cards that include settings for stories such as a castle, a deserted island, a school playground, or a campground by the river. Place these setting cards inside a hat. Then, have each student select a card from the hat and create a story based on that setting. Students type he stories in to the computer and print them. Stories can be shared with other students in the class or placed in a class book for all to enjoy.

Book Reports
Breathe new life into book reports by assigning them as group projects to be created in PowerPoint multimedia presentations. Animations and sounds can be added which keep attention. The book report should be developed before students use the computer and the presentation should be held to a set number of slides. Also direct students as to how many images and sounds can be added to each slide.

Fun With Rocks
Read the story Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor (C. Scribner Sons Young, 1974)to the class. Using the computer, students develop their own list of rules for finding the perfect rock and print them. Then take a nature walk as a class and try to find perfect rocks according to their rules.

Sequence Strips
Have students type the events of a story in correct sequence into the computer creating several blank lines between each event. Then, they print out two copies of the page and cut apart the sentence strips from one of the copies. Sentence strips are placed in an envelope with the name of the story written on the outside. The second copy of the events is placed inside the envelope to be used as an answer key. These could be placed at a center or used as a free-time activity.

Personal Journals
Students type an entry in to their electronic personal journals each week. At the end of the month, their journal is printed and placed inside a personal journal folder decorated by each student. This would be a good time to introduce students to the importance of the privacy of computer files.

Fairy Talk Twist
Students love fairy talk twists. Read a few samples to students prior to the activity. Suggested books include The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka (Viking, 1989), The Frog Prince Continues by Jon Sciezka (Viking 1991), The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch (firefly Books Ltd., 1980), and Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf’s Talk by Della Rowland (Carol Publishing Group, 1991). After reading some samples, have students write their won fairy tale twists and type them into the computer. Putting these together makes a fabulous class book.

Business Letters
Students write business letters to companies expressing their thoughts and opinions about her products and services provided by the company. Brainstorm ideas with the whole class to decide what to write about.

Part II
Have students write a sequel to a story they have read. Tell them to keep some of the main characters and add some new ones. Decide together whether the location of the story can be changed in the sequel.

Acrostic Poems
Acrostic poems are easy to write because they do not have to rhyme. Writing personal acrostics are even easier. Students type their names in toet he computer vertically. Then, they choose a word that describes them for each letter of their names. Format the first letter of each word so that is stands out. They can make the font size larger and perhaps bold as well. An example follows.
JOHN
Joyful
Obedient
Honest
Nice

Me Book
Type a sentence telling something you like. Space to the middle of the page, type another sentence telling something you like. Do the same thing on the next page. On the third page, type a sentence telling something you don’t like. Print out and illustrate. The pages can be cut apart and bound into booklets.

Story and Picture
Have students use the paint tools in KidPix to create a picture to go with a story or allow students to use an electronic drawing board, such as Wacom or Pablo to illustrate their writings. If you do not have access to these, use Paint that comes with Windows to illustrate. It is located in
C:/Windows/Pbrush.exe
When students save their work, they should change the file type to .gif or .jpg.

Picture Dictionary
As students encounter unfamiliar words and take the time to look them up, they can develop their own picture dictionaries. Using Kid Pix, an electronic drawing board, Paint students can draw a picture for a word and then type in a definition. These printed pages become a personal dictionary for each student. When students save their work, they should change the file type to .gif or .jpg.

Create an Ad
Bring in some print ads from magazines. Students analyze them to determine what the ads are trying to sell and what text or graphics are being used to try to sell it. Then students design new ads for a product. Remind them to use descriptive language and words that will convince someone to buy the product or service.

You Too Can Write for the National Enquirer!
Cut the headlines from a National Enquirer. Give each student a headline and ask him or her to create the story to go with it.

Write a Poem
Suggest students create light, pastel background pictures wit the pain tools. Discuss different types of poems such as haiku, couplet, free verse and so on. Have students write a poem, at the computer. Then they write their poems by typing the text right over the picture using a dark color for the text so it will show up.

Never Books
Use Word to create a group Never Book. This book contains a short never rhyme on the first 3 pages and an always rhyme on the final page. Teach students to use the page break feature after each rhyming line has been printed. The rhyming lines could be illustrated using Paint or students could print the pages and manually illustrate them.
A sample form follows:
Page 1 Never cuss on the bus.
Page 2 Never cheat in your seat.
Page 3 Never cry unless you try.
Page 4 But always do your best on a test.

Parts of Speech Review
Review all parts of speech by using a writing assignment they have already completed and labeling the parts of speech. At the computer students type their paragraphs and use the following formatting tools to identify the parts of speech: Nouns-bold, Verbs-italics, Adjectives-underline, Adverbs Red, Prepositions-Arial font style. You may want to use a story written by the entire class.

Using the Thesaurus
To help students become familiar with the thesaurus as a tool have students write a descriptive paragraph. Explain what a thesaurus is and how it is used. On the large screen using Word type an example of a descriptive word and use the thesaurus to locate other synonyms. On the computer students type their paragraphs. Using copy and paste tools students put an extra copy of the paragraph below the original. In the second paragraph students double click a word by to highlight it and then click Tools…Language…Thesaurus. They will receive a list of synonyms in which they will select one and then click Replace. Students should be given a specific number of words to replace. When finished the work should be saved and also printed. A Visual Thesaurus is available online at http://www.plumbdesign.com/thesaurus/ .

Women in Math and Science
This project will introduce students to women who have made a difference in math and science. Each group selects a woman from the list below and research it on the Internet or an electronic encyclopedia. A picture of the subject can be located online or in the encyclopedia. A one-page rough draft will be written from notes made during research. On the computer students will type their rough draft and insert the picture.
Suggested women: Ada Byron-Lovelace (first computer programmer), Barbara McClintock (Cytologist), Caroline Lucretia Herschel (mathematician, astronomer) Dian Fossey (American naturalist, primatologist, Zoologist), Elizabeth Blackwell (first woman doctor), Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (First British Woman Doctor), Emilie du Chatelet (mathematician), Emmy Noether (algebraist), Evelyn Boyd Granville (African American mathematician & astronomer), Florence Nightingale (nurse, statistician, reformer), Grace Murray Hopper (computer pioneer, admiral), Hypathia (mathematician), Jane Goodall (primatologist, zoologist) Judith Love Cohen (Apollo system engineer), Julllia Bownam Robinson (mathematician, statistician) Mary Gaetana Agnesi (mathematician) Maria Mitchell (early American astronomer), Marie Sklodowska Curie (chemist/physicist, winner of 2 Nobel Prizes), Mary Ellen Estill Rudin (mathematician), Mary
Gray (mathematician), Rachel Carson (environmentalist/author), Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (physicist, research scientist), Sophie German (mathematician)

Back

Word Processing Keyboards

Welcome to Our School

Start the school year off with a project that introduces the faculty, staff, and facilities in your school. The finished project can be presented using PowerPoint. As a group activity this project is suited to grades five and above, but can also be used as a whole group activity for lower grades.

Planning Ask groups to select a faculty member in the school for an interview and develop questions for an interview. A pair of students from each group can visit the faculty member to conduct the interview. The interview questions might include:

How did you get interested in teaching (or being a principal)?

Classroom Newspaper

Electronic Portfolios