Computer Term 5 Week 3
In Ducklings, the children continued to develop their skills with logging onto the computer, moving the mouse to locate the correct app and then double clicking on the mouse button. They then had to locate their year group, their name and then type in their password. All the children showed good mouse control and awareness of how to complete the task. Once logged on, the children watched a short video of the Three Little Pigs. After discussing the events in the story, the children located their 2dos and opened today’s activity. Today the children used a painting programme to recreate a house from the story. Some children painted one house while others painted all three houses. All the children had great fun and showed determination, especially when the painting was not exactly, as they wanted it to be. Some children even began using the tool to make their pen strokes wider or thinner, depending on the task. They also began trying to record their names, which is a tricky skill when using a keyboard.
In year 1, the children began a short series on grouping and ordering. This involved the children comparing different shapes and then ordering them according to their colour, the number of sides and shape. The lesson we all learnt this week was not to rush and to look carefully. This is a great skill to learn.
In year 2, the children continued a short series on questioning. For this activity, the children took turns in asking questions to their partner, in order to help find the correct avatar. However, the children could only ask yes or no questions.
In year 3, the children began a topic on communication, which will lead onto sending emails. For today’s activity, the children had to consider different methods of communication. For each method, they had to record an advantage and a disadvantage to the method. We displayed this information using a programme called 2Connect. This was the first time the children had used this, which was tricky. We will continue this next week.
In year 4, the children began a new topic on programming. For this activity, the children had to begin programming a ‘turtle’ with sets of instructions. The children began by choosing their ‘turtle’. Some children chose Pacman, pencils, dragons, bees or a different type of creature. The children then selected their own background on which to programme the ‘turtle’. The children began typing short commands such as FD 4 and Bk 3. The children also began applying their understanding of degrees for turning. The children then had the task of creating different shapes. Some children created squares, others rectangles, one child a hexagon and another triangle. One child created steps and another almost completed a circle.
In year 5, the children continued their topic on concept maps. A concept is an idea in the form of a question, for example, why do humans exist. A concept map is also called a mind map. Today the year 5 children began creating a mind map for either a story of their own or one they know. We had a wide variety of stories, one including Keanu Reeves and Yoda, another Ben and Holly and another about Panda Land. The children learnt a new method for expanding their information, using the note taking section.
In year 6, the children had a fantastic session creating their own mini movies. This involved the children selecting a background, recording a short scene in front of a green or blue screen and then overlaying it. Some groups also including sound effects. The children then mirrored their iPad to classroom computer and shared their movies. We did have difficulty using the hall as the iPad recorded all the voices in the hall, making the videos a little difficult to hear. However, every group did fantastically well. Some of the videos including prison escapes, boxing matches, a tsunami event, a meteor disaster and a fictional report on Manchester United’s relegation.
