Curriculum: Language Arts, Mathematics, & Technology
Entry Level Characteristics:
Students will have a knowledge of
bar graphs and a working knowledge of how computers work.
Role of the Teacher: The teacher act in a role that allows for some direct-teaching and a facilitator during the second part of the lesson when students apply their new knowledge to creating a new graph.
Objectives: 1. To use The Graph Club, a
computer software package.
2. To apply the new knowledge to
create a personal graph.
3. To understand the tools in The
Graph Club.
4. To identify some the names of
types of graphs used in this program
Materials: Students and teachers will utilize
the following materials during this lesson:
? Computer Lab Instructional Setup
(monitor or SmartBoard)
? Computer with The Graph Club
software installed.
? Appropriate Writeable Media (disk,
network drive, etc.)
Classroom Arrangement:
Students will use an existing computer
lab set-up with the seating being already designated in a previous computer
lab period.
Timeline: This lesson will take approximately 30 minutes. Students finishing early may begin expansion activity also listed in this lesson.
Methods:
1. The teacher will need to direct-teach
part of this lesson and should have a familiar knowledge of the program.
The teacher manual that accompanies The Graph Club will provide the basic
knowledge for the program. This will involve:
? Showing the icon marked The Graph Club
? Entering explore mode.
? Adding data by dragging icons at the
top of the screen down to the correct area on the graph (for example, the
cat should be in the cat column).
? Showing students the different types
of graphs they can create (pie charts, bar graphs, line graph, etc.) by
clicking on the icons on the bottom of the screen.
? How to make new graphs.
2. During the second part of this laboratory,
students will create a “pretend” survey of the class. The survey
will be entitled “Animals My Class Likes as Pets.” Students will
apply the knowledge gained in this lesson to show understanding.
3. Students should look at the different
types of graphs the program can create using the data they provided.
4. When students are finished, they should
save this to their network drive with the name “Graph Club Survey 1.”
5. If students finish early they should
begin the expansion activity in this lesson.
Closure: Return to the classroom and discuss what students learned through this computer lab activity. Students should focus on the types of graphs and how they work.
Expansion Activity: Students can create their own true surveys that will be used in a later mathematics class. Students should save their work in the word processing module of ClarisWorks.
Evaluation Criteria: Students will be evaluated by the teacher in the following ways:
? Use of the computer program
? In-depth discussions about the
program and graphs
? Completion of personal graph
Further Background Information:
http://graphclub.com
KidPix Computer Lab: Following Directions
developed by Richard Hendricks
Grade 3
Curriculum: Language Arts & Technology
Entry Level Characteristics:
Students will a working knowledge
of the computer program KidPix and a working knowledge of the computer
lab.
Role of the Teacher: The teacher act in a technical support role only during actual computer lab use and as a discussion facilitator during the class discussion of the laboratory.
Objectives: 1. To read a list of instructions.
2. To learn that every can understand
things differently
3. To further understand the drawing
tools in KidPix.
4. To justify why students did what
they did in their drawings.
Materials: Students will utilize the following
materials during this lesson:
? Lesson Instruction Sheet
? Computer with KidPix software
installed.
? Printer
? Appropriate Writeable Media (disk,
network drive, etc.)
Classroom Arrangement:
Students will use an existing computer
lab set-up with the seating being already designated in a previous computer
lab period.
Timeline: This lesson will take approximately 30 minutes. Students finishing early may begin expansion activity also listed in this lesson.
Methods:
1. Before students enter the computer lab,
the teacher should preface the lesson by saying he or she will not be able
to help with the instructions of the lab. The teacher will be able
to act as a “computer helper” and assist with the workings of the computer
only.
2. Students sit at the appropriate computers
in the computer lab and follow the instructions on the worksheet entitled
“KidPix Computer Lab: Following Directions.”
3. The teacher should monitor for signs
of technology-based stress and should try to alleviate the stressors.
4. When students begin to finish, make
sure to ask them to check their directions worksheet to make sure that
everything is completely correct.
5. Ask students to save the file as “KidPix
Directions 1.”
6. Ask students to print to the local
printer.
7. If students finish early, ask them
to begin the expansion activity located in this lesson.
Closure: Return to the classroom and discuss the students’ pictures (with student permission). Ask specific students to justify why they did what they did. As discussion facilitator it is important to get students to conclude that every student can interpret directions in a different matter and that when making directions, the instructions should be as clear as possible to prevent confusion.
Expansion Activity: Students can create their own directions for a drawing in KidPix. Students’ directions may be selected at random for a future computer lab exercise. Students should use their previous experience with the word processing module of ClarisWorks to create their directions.
Evaluation Criteria: Students will be evaluated
by the teacher in the following ways:
? Computer lab skills with KidPix
? In-depth observations, discussions,
and conclusions
Further Background Information:
http://www.kidpix.com
KidPix Computer Lab: Following Directions
Directions: Below is a set of instructions. Please follow them as closely as possible! Do your best!
You may NOT look at any computer but your own! I can NOT provide you with any help! You may NOT use stamps!
Important Shapes:
Triangle ? Square ? Circle
? Rectangle ?
1. Load into KidPix.
2. Make sure you have a blank screen.
3. Draw a large square in the middle of
the screen.
4. Draw two sqaures inside the large square.
Place the first one about halfway up to the left and the second halfway
up to the right.
5. Between the two squares, put a rectangle.
6. Attach a triangle on top of the large
square.
7. In the top left hand part of the screen
draw a circle.
8. Make short lines out of the circle.
9. In the lower right hand part of the
screen, draw two small circles.
10. On top of these circles, draw a square.
11. In the middle top part of the screen
draw two W.
12. Do you know what each thing is?
Put words next to each thing.
13. Put your name on the screen somewhere.
14. Print the picture. Once it is
printed, you may use KidPix to create anything you wish.
Graphing Lesson Plan
OBJECTIVES:
1. The learner will formulate survey questions.
2. The learner will construct a survey form.
3. The learner will participate in the survey.
4. The learner will tally survey results.
5. The learner will summarize survey results.
6. The learner will present his/her results to the class.
7. The learner will analyze and summarize the survey process.
INITIATION:
Discuss the many uses of surveys. Show examples of surveys. Discuss potential categories for a survey.
PROCEDURES:
DAY 1 : Divide class into groups of 3 or 4. Each group is to decide on a category for their survey, ie. sports, music, movies, etc. Each students is to write two questions with four answer choices on their topic.
DAY 2: Students will construct their survey form. I recommend chart paper that can be hung up around the room.
DAY 3: Students go around the room and complete the surveys.
DAY 4: Students are to create a tally sheet and tally the results of their surveys.
DAY 5 - 8: Students are to graph the results of one of their questions using Cricket Graph Software. Results are to be presented in two different formats. The second question they are to construct a graph on graph paper.
DAY 9: Students will write a paragraph to explain the results of their survey.
DAY 10: Student presentations.
DAY 11: Students to evaluate the process they have completed. Evaluation is to include a summary of the process, what they learned, difficulties they had, things they would do differently next time, their favorite part, and a comparison of doing the graph on the computer with doing a graph by hand.
EVALUATION: Based on accuracy of graphs, presentation, and self
evaluation.