Welcome to Mr. Z's technology page! Thank you for visiting. Below you can find information about many of the things we are working on in computer class during the year by grade level. Remember to continue to reinforce cyber safety at home (resources can be found here at bottom of the page). It is important to have a family plan on how students should be using technology safely and what they should do when they encounter something that is uncomfortable or inappropriate. If you have any questions, please reach out to me via email.
K-Students are introduced to computers and the "Power Keys." Students spend time working with the alphabet on Starfall and move towards reading and math reinforcement via the computer. The goal is to develop good foundational computer skills and the ability to navigate with a computer.
Grades 1-4. I teach computer science to students using Code.org's CS Fundamentals Curriculum. The students learns terms such as input and output, programming, algorithm, loop, and function. The curriculum builds and gets more complex as they progress through the program. Students also participate in unplugged exercises without computers to introduce computer science concepts.
Grade 5 spends a lot of time on the Scratch Coding Platform utilizing skills they have learned from Code.org.
Grades 4 & 5 also participate in the TREP$ Entrepreneurship Program during the months of January & February that culminate with a TREP$ Marketplace. Middle school students may also participate in the program.
6th-Students learn guided research with focus questions that they start to create. They continue to learn how to use their Chromebooks as tools to communicate and interact with their classmates. They spend time looking into famous explorers and consider the impact they have had with very different technology integrating Google Maps and Google Earth to travel around the world.
7th-Students use Google Sheets to analyze world issues such as temperature change/global warming using the program to create formulas to organize and sort data. They then learn how to display it. They also consider the technology of important historical times and civilizations and how they have evolved and changed to the present day. They create their own cartoons on Powtoon about famous inventions and the impact they have had on the world consider how life would be without them. They may use TynkerCad as a 3D modeling program to tackle a problem.
8th-Students participate in a passion project this year producing a digital new magazine called "Califon School News." Each student takes on a unique role. They collaborate with one another to take ownership of the project and drive the direction of it. It changes and evolves.
Middle school students also learn about their digital footprint and how they can stay safe online, while elementary students start to learn about staying safe online.
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