April 2017 4th Grade Computer Class/Homework

Typingclub.com

The expectation was that the students should be at or above 4 hours logged typing time starting April.

Understand and remember that both class time and home time count toward the 1 hour per week cumulative total. Consistency is the key. Typing even a few minutes every day adds up! The worst thing they can do is to take multiple days off and then try and catch up in a marathon session. By the end of April, the expectation would be that they are up to 8 hours of cumulative logged typing time.

This is important for both parents and students…asthe students’ progress farther into the typingclub.com program, it will be harder and harder for them to attain 5 stars on every single lesson. We are now to the point that for MANY students, 3 stars should now be an acceptable score to move on to the next lesson.

The main thing is that they be encouraged to keep practicing. I do not want them to get discouraged because they cannot achieve 5 or even 4 stars on certain lessons.

Remember that the program looks at BOTH accuracy and words per minute to determine their score. MOST times they receive lower than expected scores, it is because the WPM is too low for that particular lesson. When they complete a lesson, look to see if there is a red “X” on their summary at the bottom. Different lessons have different expectations. Some lessons are easier than others for the students to type faster. The following observation may not be a factor as much at home as it is in class with their friends close by… but for the time they spend socializing and not typing while doing a lesson, the program is counting that time against them. As their WPM goes down, so does their score/amount of stars.

  • Famous Performer Research project.

I am big on learning LIFE SKILLS. Therefore, almost everything we work on will include your student presenting their results to the entire group. That is a life skill that later translates well into almost any chosen vocation. With that goal in mind, I want them to have projects that THEY find interesting and entertaining. This will hopefully hold their interest as they learn research skills and apply them into presentations.

  • Pick a performer (Example: Actor/Actress, Singer, Sports figure) YOU find interesting that YOU would be interested in learning more about and educating the class on in a presentation.Must be school appropriate!More than 1 student could do the same person, but each must work and present their work as individual projects.
  • Good general information could include but is not limited to the following:
  1. Birth date/place?
  2. Parents names?
  3. Anything that sets their childhood apart?
  4. Where did they grow up?
  5. Education - Training?
  6. Any career(s) before they were performers?
  7. Spouse(s)?
  8. Children?
  9. Significant accomplishments as a performer?
  10. Major Awards?
  11. Estimated earnings?
  12. Death date/place? (if deceased)

This is an individual project. Students will prepare a 2-3 page MS Word document OR 9-10 MS PowerPoint slides on their chosen topic to present to the class.

We will use typingclub.com to practice typing as a start to each class. Therefore, the students will have roughly 2/3 of their class time to devote to this project. I am allotting 2+ weeks to finish the actual project, then another 2 weeks for the presentations.

We will be working on this in class. The students will be expected to individually answer and type up their responses, then present them to the class as a graded assignment.

Should students not be finished within 2 weeks, they will need to finish the assignment as homework. The presentation timeframe will depend on the students, difficult to gauge how long with this age group.