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#1: Computer Class - Teaching the Word Processing Software

Technology Curriculum Objectives:

• F.1.2.2    Identify and apply techniques and tools for communicating, storing, retrieving and selecting information.
• F.6.2.2    Use and organize files and directories.
• P.1.2.1    Create and revise original text to communicate and demonstrate understanding of forms and techniques.
• P.4.2.2    Vary font style and size, and placement of text and graphics, in order to create a certain visual effect.

• Students have been taught to turn on a computer, to log in to the network and have been doing some keyboarding drills.
• All students will have access to their own machine, and their own file folder.
• Clipart is available with the word processing software.
• The teacher has created a document (simple and containing errors) that is available for students to access.

1. Instruct the students to turn on their computers, log in and open Word.
2. Explain that a new document has been already created and is waiting for them to enter information.
3. Hand out (or have it done previously) a simple paragraph that the students will type in. Keep the length short so that all students will  have time to enter all or most of it. It is recommended that you include their name in the paragraph to save steps later.
4. Have the students key the paragraph in while sitting properly at the stations. (Time will depend on the length of your paragraph.)
5. Have the students save it to their personal folder. (This will require extra steps to review how to access them on a network.)
6. Close the document and explain that now there is no blank document, but the program is still open, waiting for them to open a new one, or retrieve an old one.
7. Have students open the document they just closed and instruct them on changing aspects of the font (size, color, style), then save it again.
8. It is optional if they are to print it out, or you wish to observe if they can format the text. Close the document.
9. Have the students open a document which you have previously created with spelling errors within.
10. Discuss the difference between save and save as and have them save it to their folder.
11. Explain the spell check feature and that it does have it's limitations (e.g. they wanted to write came, but put cane which would not be picked up because it is spelled correctly - but the grammar checker might if they have that feature.) Have them perform a spell check using the program and by reading it to themselves.
12. Save it again. Encourage frequent saves to reduce loss in case of power outages. Instruct them to type their name on it, print it out and close the file, saving as they do.
13. Create a new blank document and talk about using pictures, or images in their documents. Have them explore the clipart in the program, but create a time limit for yourself otherwise they will spend plenty of time in there. Tell them to pick a picture and insert it in the document (click Insert tab), then close the clipart if it didn't automatically.
14. Have them click on the picture and show them how to resize it and to move it on the page.
15. Ask them to imagine that they are going to create a story about this picture and what title would they give the story. Enter the title on the page above the graphic, then enter their name and the date at the bottom of the page, creating a title page.
16. Save the document, print it and exit the program.
17. Hand in all printouts.

• Observe students as they save and open documents, watch to see that they use the proper folders on the network.
• Check the student's ability to change fonts and their use of the spell checker.
• Check that they caught words that the spell checker would have missed to see if they did manual proofreading.
• Check if they were able to include graphics in the document and that they were appropriate to the passage.

• This lesson may be too much for students to complete in one sitting, especially at this grade, and could be extended to two, maybe three classes.
• Add extra features like table creation if students have a good grasp of the initial concepts, but don't push too much.

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#2: Language Arts - Story Creation

Language Arts Curriculum Objectives:

• 2.4.1.1    Use a variety of strategies for generating and organizing ideas and experiences in oral, print and other media texts.
• 2.4.2.1    Select and use visuals that enhance meaning of oral, print and other media texts.
• 4.1.2.1    Revise to ensure an understandable progression of ideas and information.
• 4.1.3.2    Use special features of software when composing, formatting and revising texts.

• F.6.2.4    Use appropriate keyboarding techniques for the alphabetic and punctuation keys.

• All students will have access to their own computer station.
• Previous lessons have been conducted in keyboarding and students have learned the word processing software.
• Have a large picture available for student response, make it visible to all students during the lesson.
• Check that the auto save feature is set, probably for 10 minutes.

1. Have the students log on to their computers and open a blank Word document.
2. Have them save the page for easier saving later, call it Story Creation (or anything you wish), make sure it goes into their home directory, or make sure that the next day they sit in the same seats.
3. Display a large picture and have the students begin to compose a story about it in the document, encourage them to save frequently during the time. If they are slow typists you may want to give them the whole period (30-40 minutes) for it. Tell them not to worry about spelling errors at this point as they will have time to go back and correct them later.
4. Save the document and exit the program until the next class.
5. On the second day, have the students open their story and read it over to themselves, instruct them to fix any spelling and grammar errors manually. Then use the spell checker in the program.
6. Save the document again and give it a title at the beginning of the story with their name on the second line.
7. Have the students insert two graphics that relate to the story within the body of the text in the appropriate spots.
8. Optional: students may change the fonts but encourage them to keep it legible.
9. Save the document, print it out and hand it in.

• Did students respond appropriately to the picture?
• Observe their skills in entering the text in the computer and that they are able to save.
• Evaluate their use of other support graphics that they included in the story.
• Check their editing and proofreading of their story.

• Watch that students do not spend more time on the graphics than on the story content, it might be beneficial to introduce the graphic concept on the second day, rather than at the beginning.
• An extension of the activity could be to have the students create a story book from the story using either PowerPoint or HyperStudio. Students could break the story up and include graphics to accompany each "page" of the book (each slide or card), that could be presented to the class.

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#3: Social Studies - Identifying Natural Resources in Alberta

Social Studies Curriculum Objectives:

• Topic A: Alberta: It's Geography And People
  • (Knowledge Objectives) Our way of life and our environment are affected by the presence and use of natural resources.
    • Identify natural resources available in Alberta
  • (Skill Objectives) - Communication skills
    • Use simple illustrations to support written work
    • Organize information on a topic, using a simple outline, etc.

• F.1.2.2    Identify and apply techniques and tools for communicating, storing, retrieving and selecting information.
• P.1.2.1    Create and revise original text to communicate and demonstrate understanding of forms and techniques.
• P.3.2.2    Access available databases for images to support communication.
• F.6.2.4    Use appropriate keyboarding techniques for the alphabetic and punctuation keys.

• All students will have access to their own computer station.
• Previous lessons have been conducted in keyboarding and students have learned the word processing software, and are able to create tables with it. If not this will have to be included in the lesson.
• Ensure that the symbols (image) necessary for all resources are available to all students, either through clipart, downloaded from the net, or scanned in.
• Students will have done the research on the resources and come to class with the material or alternatively the class could be extended to incorporate research on the electronic encyclopedia (and Internet if students have access.)

1. Students will bring the information they have gathered about the natural resources to class. Additional research time may be allowed with the CD-ROM encyclopedias prior to completing the table.
2. Open a blank document in Word, have students save it to their home directory.
3. Enter a title "Alberta's Natural Resource", with their name on the second line.
4. Create a 3-column table below the name. The first row will be the column headings: Resource | Description | Symbol.
5. Have the students enter each resource in the first column, by hitting tab at the end of each row, they will be able to create a new one until they have all the rows they need.
6. In the second column students should type in the description of the resource and in the third column, they should access the image folder that contains the map symbols for the resources and insert the appropriate one in each row.
7. Optional: Students could change the fonts (size, color, style) for each resource if they wish.
8. Save the document, print it out when finished and hand it in.

• Ability to use the software table feature - create it and fill it in.
• Have included all the resources, with proper descriptions and symbols.
• Have used easy to read fonts and enhanced the document for presentation.

• For the more advanced students, they could adjust the column widths of the table to fit the contents better.
• If students are having difficulty creating the table, the teacher should have a preformed table template that they could use -- this may be preferable for all if time is limited and if this concept is a little to advanced for the group.
• To expand, the table could be extended to include how the resource is used and ways for conservation. It depends on how much detail the teacher wants to include.

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#4: Science - Reporting Plant Growth

Science Curriculum Objectives:

• Topic E: 4-10    Students will describe the care and growth of a plant that they have nurtured, in particular:
  • identify the light, temperature, water and growing medium requirements of the plant.
  • identify the life stages of the plant.

• F.3.2.2    Work collaboratively to share resources.
• F.6.2.4    Use appropriate keyboarding techniques for the alphabetic and punctuation keys.
• P.2.2.1    Enter and manipulate data by using such tools as a spreadsheet or database for a specific purpose.
• P.2.2.2    Display data electronically through graphs and charts.
• P.4.2.1    Integrate a spreadsheet or graphs generated by a spreadsheet, into a text document.
• C.4.2.2    Organize information, using such tools as a database, spreadsheet or electronic webbing.

• Each group of students will have access to a computer station.
• Previous lessons have been conducted in keyboarding and students have learned the word processing software and spreadsheet software. If you are using a presentation software for the second part, make sure that they know how to use it before.
• This is in addition to the lesson for the actual experiment and is designed for the report at the end, not for planting and growing the plant.
• Students have used a spreadsheet program and created charts/graphs with it.

1. Have the students keep a daily journal of the changes in the plant's growth over the course of the experience (either paper or electronic depending on availability.)
2. Once the growth is complete students will create a table in a spreadsheet that will identify the light, temperature, amount of water and how much the plant grew each day based on the observations in the journal.
3. Students will create a chart that show the relationship of these aspects on the growth of the plant. Save the worksheet and the chart.
4. In a word document students will summarize their observations and make any conclusions on what happened. They will then copy the chart from the spreadsheet to the word document and then explain what the chart shows. (Optional: include the table from the spreadsheet as well.)

1. Have the students find pictures that show the different stages of the plant life cycle (either clipart, scanned or drawn by them.)
2. Include a title "The Life Stages of [the name of the plant they grew]" with their name.
3. Put each diagram in order in a word document (or a slide presentation may be more suitable for this with each diagram on a separate slide.)
4. Identify the stage, with a title and short description, then explain when your plant went through this stage and for how long. Did it look like the diagram?
5. Repeat this for each stage.
6. When finished all stages save the file and print it out to hand in to the teacher (or the teacher may want to observe the presentation on the computer.)

• Did the student accurately record the data for the experiment? Did they make good observations?
• Were they able to create the table and chart in the spreadsheet? Did they copy the required information to the word document?
• For the life cycle: Did they include all the stages? Are the explanations accurate for each stage? Were they able to relate what happened to their plant to each stage? Did they represent the cycle properly in the software?

• This is a large activity and will take several sessions for the students to complete. I would recommend pre-planning before entering it into the computer.
• May want to have each group present their findings to the class so that they can answer questions about their experiment.

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