[Kaylen]

Hello all! I will be teaching a computer magnet starting next week and have no idea where to start. The students are in first and second grade. It is a class that is supposed to introduce the students to various programs on the computer. This class will last for approx. 8 weeks and I'm just not sure how to plan for it since I haven't taught it before. It comes with very outdated curriculum. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!!!

Hello! I just started this school year as a computer teacher and I'm still doing research for different lesson plans for my classes. You want to first start off my introducing the basics. Introduce them to what a computer is and what it does. Hardware/software (Keyboard, printer, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word), what are the difference between the two? And Output/Input devices (printer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse). That's where I started. Most of the kids today, only have experience with the internet and that's all they want to do.

Teacher Created Resources have some nice books to start you off. The first book I bought was "Computer Made Friendly" which has two levels (primary and intermediate). And from there it might be a breeze for you. They also have books on Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that have pretty good activity that get the students involved.

When start, always start your lesson with a questions that really get's the students to think.

1. What are computers? How do they help us everyday? (Example: We use them to do research instead of going to the library. Also to email friends/family/businesses instead of calling or mailing a letters)


Also, you can go to Microsoft.com and search for technology lesson plans. It's a lot out there. I could go on and on. Good luck.

Post and let us know how it goes for you.

C. Jacobs

Also, I forgot to mention that I taught a computer class during the summer and the school only had Microsoft Office XP and that was it.

If this is the case for you. You can also have them do something in Paint (which is under assessories in the start menu).

WordArt (in Microsoft Word) under insert and picture on the tool bar.

And if they have an internet connection, you can show them how to copy and paste a photo from the internet and paste it in a word document.

You can also teach them how to save and open a document.

If I come up with somemore, I'll post them.

Again good luck.

CJacobs

[Kaylen]

Wow! Thank you so much! I am starting to get excited about the class! Keep the great ideas coming---I really appreciate them--like I said the curriculum is so outdated I just know the students wouldn't be interested.

That's great to hear that your excited about teaching! It is truely a rewarding job. It can be stressful sometimes but it is truely worth it.

[ely2boys]

Kidpix software is an amazing tool. It has illustration features, text boxes, slide shows and many other things. We've designed and illustrated our own candy bars when we were studying Charlie and the chocolate factory; made an All about me slide show. Wrote letters to aliens to tell them how to be good citizens, and illustrated our aliens... all done in kidpix. Ive used it in grades 1, 2, and 3, and other teachers have used it for higher grades. THey learn many different skills from it. Good luck!

Hi.
I am in my second year teaching in the computer lab. I have oodles of ideas for you and you can go to my website to see projects I have for my students. I have some past projects as well as great links that I like to use.
Good luck
www.everett.k12.wa.us/woodside/dwrobel/home

Take a look at Read Write Type great for keyboarding skills but leads introduces letter sounds, word recognition and eventually reading...my kids did this and enjoyed it. Incidently one child is named Kaelen

http://www.kidsclick.com/descrip/read_write_type.htm

[JudyW]

http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/home/

When I first stated my computer lab I found this site helpful.