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Monday, April 4, 2011

1:1 Laptop Time ~ Word!

Today Mrs. Yollis' class got a little more time with the 1:1 cart!
First, students opened up Word.

After typing a quality comment, the students went up to Tools in the menu bar and selected Spelling and Grammar.

After fixing all the spelling and/or grammar errors, the students were given some information about their writing.

Grace's comment showed a grade level writing of beginning sixth grade!

Miriam's vocabulary pushed her up to an eighth grade level!






The next step was to copy the text.

Finally, the students pasted the quality comment into a blog comment section of their choice.


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What are the benefits of using Word to compose a comment?

Would you use Word again?

21 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Andrew was very excited that the class was able to use the laptop carts. I am glad that your class is able to take advantage of the fifth graders being at Outdoor Ed this week. How do I find out more about the readability statistics you mentioned on the blog?

    Happy Family Blogging Month,

    Andrew's Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Yollis class:

    It is wonderful that the class is learning how to analyze their writing style for readability. This is a powerful tool inside Microsoft Word because it provides feedback on your writing style and sentence structure. I find it very helpful to see how the changes I make to my writing improves the readability of my sentences. I look forward to hearing more about what the class is learning in school.

    Have a wonderful day,
    Andrew’s dad Mark

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Jaden,

    It is wonderful everyone has the opportunity to experience doing work on their own computer. It is impressive that Jaden knows so much about technology, and now is teaching me how to use my new iPhone.

    Keep up the good work,
    Carol (Jaden's grandmother)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Students:

    You have a great blog site and we enjoyed spending time reading all the comments and watching the videos, especially the one in which Finn appeared.

    We're delighted that the class has learned to use Word as it makes writing so enjoyable. A quick backspace erases a word you want to change or delete.

    We'll keep watching to see what other computer skills you learn.
    Rayna & Grandpa Bob,
    Finn's Grandparents in Florida

    ReplyDelete
  5. @ Grandma,

    I agree that it is fantastic that everyone has the chance to experience working on their own computer. It is amazing that I am able to teach you how to use your new phone. For example, I've taught you how to take pictures and record videos.


    I'm very happy that you commented on my classroom blog. Do you enjoy blogging?

    Sincerely,
    Jaden

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ Grandpa Bob and Rayna,

    I have appeared in the "How To Leave a Quality Video." I am dumbfounded that you are already commenting on the blog. This is our second time we had the laptops. I have some questions for you.

    Have you seen a crocodiles?

    Have you been to Jacksonville, Florida?

    From,
    Finn

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

    It is great to see the kids on the laptops at school. I am so glad they have the opportunity. Can any of the students tell us their favorite part of getting to use the 5th grade laptops?

    From,
    Ben's Dad

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    My grandson Nicholas is one of your students. He likes very much to be in your class because he is learning many interesting things. I am proud of his progress in all areas. Keep up the good work!

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Mrs. Yollis, Finn and Class:

    Grandpa Bob and I are always on the lookout for alligators and crocodiles in our area. In fact, lots of places near water have signs that say, "Beware, alligtaors." But, fortunately or unfortunately, we have never seen any so far.
    We have a highway here in south Florida that goes across the state called "Alligator Alley" and we've traveled it many times, but we've still never seen any. If we ever do, you will be the first to know and Grandpa Bob will certainly take pictures.
    Rayna & Grandpa Bob

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    It's very fun when we get the 1:1 laptop cart. We can get more comments with the laptops. The second day we had the laptops was the greatest of them all. A benefit of using Word is that it tells you what words you mispelled. We would use Word again!

    From,
    Jaden and Ryan

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Class:

    I was excited to see that you are learning about the Microsoft word tools for analyzing readability and checking spelling. In my work, writing compelling proposals or articles that can strongly convey a message or a theme is very important. I have found that using these tools consistently has helped me to be a stronger writer.

    I’d love to share with everyone one of my favorite quote about writing. It is by Mark Twain. He said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

    Happy writing!
    Andrew’s Aunt Debra

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Word is a powerful tool. It is very useful in my work and daily life. I am glad to see that the class starts learning Microsoft word.

    From Echo (Aaron's mom)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    It is wonderful that we get to use Word on the new laptop computers. For writing, the Word program is better than blogger. I really like using Word because you can do all sorts of things like making tables, saving the document on your computer, bolding and italicizing words without using html codes, and many other functions not found in blogging.

    I sometimes use Word to leave comments and then copy and past it it into the comment section.

    My mom is a writer so she uses Word all the time when she writes articles.

    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Tucker,
    I am proud of you. Your commitment shows a new level of growth.
    The experiences offered to you, through blogging,are colossal and the collaboration with others progressive.
    When you obtain your goal and success, what will your blog be called?
    What subjects will you pursue?
    My next goal is opening Microsoft.
    Like you, I have to go that extra mile to achieve my goals.
    Hasta Luego,
    Grandma Grace

    ReplyDelete
  15. Suzanne (Leah’s mom from Ranne's class)April 7, 2011 at 12:13 PM

    Dear Mrs. Yollis' Class:

    Wow…I am so impressed with how proficient you are getting on computers. Laptop computers had not yet been invented when I was in third grade!

    I understand that you have started to learn some of the keyboard short cuts on Word. Let’s review some of them for a Mac:

    Command S = Save
    Command X = Cut
    Command C = Copy
    Command V = Paste
    Command A = All (to select all items on the page)
    Command Z = Undo

    Now, here are some new ones to try out! They work when using Word, Powerpoint (which you will start to learn in 4th grade) and Excel.

    Formatting Short Cuts [highlight the word(s) you want to format first, then follow the command]

    Command B = Bold
    Command U = Underline
    Command I = Italics

    Operation Short Cuts

    Command P = Print
    Command O = Open (to open an existing file)
    Command N = New worksheet (to open a new, blank page)

    Once you master these new short cuts, I will send you some more.

    Happy computing!

    Sincerely,

    Suzanne (Leah’s Mom from Mrs. Ranney's Class)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Leah's mom,


    Thank you for sharing the computer codes. I will use them all the time. One time I used it for a comment and the other for a story that I made. Did you ever use these computer codes?

    From,
    Amitai

    P.S. Did you realize that I used those computer codes?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Suzanne (Leah's Mom)April 11, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Dear Amitai:

    I am so impressed that you already tried out the computer keyboard short cuts that I posted! They make working on the computer faster and easier, don't you think?

    I have been using keyboard short cuts for over 15 years. I learned them from my very first boss, after I graduated from college. He was a real computer whiz! I have some very cool short cuts for Microsoft Excel but you haven't learned that software program yet. It is for creating financial spreadsheets -- those are worksheets full of numbers and mathematical equations. Keep working on those multiplication and division facts and before your know it, you will be ready for Excel!

    What is your favorite short cut? I use the Copy/Paste short cut all time, especially when I am editing the Cub Corner!

    Best regards,

    Suzanne (Leah's Mom from Mrs. Ranney's Class)

    ReplyDelete
  18. G'Day Mrs Yollis,

    Ryley Hamilton and his family from Leopold will be in Las Angeles on Thursday the 28th and Friday the 29th of April and we would love to visit your classroom if you are in school on either one of those days. Just let us know what time would be suitable. We look forward to hear from you.

    From Keelie Hamilton (Ryley's mum)

    ReplyDelete
  19. @ Suzanne,

    Thanks so much for all your help with the computer keyboard shortcuts! I could use a tutorial from you about Excel. That is one tool I rarely use, but know how valuable it is! It is great to learn together here on the blog!

    @ Keelie Hamilton, (Ryley's mum)

    Either of those days sound good! We are looking forward to meeting all of you!

    Sincerely,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Class!

    I was particularly excited to see you using 1:1 computing in your class. I am from a 1:1 computing school in Ventura, California. www.dataschool.org. Two of our teachers are creating blogs that are pretty awesome,(http://datascholars.blogspot.com/ and http://datab9.blogspot.com/) but as third graders I am super impressed with the poise you show. You are definitely starting down the road toward being ready for your jobs in 2026!

    Keep up the good work students (and Mrs. Yollis)!
    Beth Harris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Harris,

      We are from Mrs. Yollis' class! Thank you for that wonderful comment! If you let our class know when those blogs are done, we will be there leaving the first comment!

      Do you have a blog?


      Sincerely,
      Madison and Maya

      Delete

* * *
Getting feedback is important to our writers. Let us know what you liked or what you learned.

Steps to Comment:

1. Write your comment in the box below. Be sure that you have proofread it for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Students should have a parent check it!

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3. Click "Publish your Comment". You may preview your comment before publishing if you'd like.


Important: All comments MUST be approved by me.
:-) Mrs. Yollis