Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

We will begin the month with a special Mothers Day project. Then we will finish our unit with Bee-bots on coding. We’ll finish with a class where students research an animal using alphabet-based searches.

2nd grade

Students will be inspired by the book Flight School to create a paper airplane for Ostrich to experience flight. Students will design and build the planes during class, and then test them out and consider how they may have improved their design if given another chance. Our final unit will be using Snap Circuits and learning some basics about circuitry.

3rd grade

We will begin by wrapping up a year-long study of being safe and responsible online with a lesson called Real or Fake, where students will attempt to infer which website is real, and which are not. The final unit in 3rd grade uses coding through a website called Scratch, where they will animate their names and try to make a connection to content they learned in class this year.

4th grade

This week, students begin our final unit, Squishy Circuits. This unit on circuits allows students to blend Art and Science to create animals and other challenges with dough, lights, buzzers, and other circuit elements.

5th grade

Students were introduced to a new unit, our final unit, on Bridges. Students have already done research on the basic bridge types as well as trusses. Next, students will spend a week or two building their balsa wood bridges before the bridges are tested against weights on the last day of class. This is always a fun unit that really stretches students in new ways!

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

It’s a month for coding! We’ll begin by coding ourselves with Let’s Go Code, putting down mats and moving as if we are the robots. Then we will try coding with the Beebot robots. We will also do the Delta Math Screener.

2nd grade

This month students will learn about the three purposes of websites: Inform, Entertain, and Persuade. They will practice recognizing what websites are trying to do. We will also do the Delta Math Screener.

3rd grade

We will begin in most classes by creating a cardboard version of the Old Testament Tabernacle. Then we will spend some weeks learning about Google Sheets and many of the features it has.

4th grade

We will wrap up Google Forms and publish some data analysis on our blogs. Then we will start another unit on Being Kind online by focusing on empathy and kindness.

5th grade

We will have a chance to listen and give shout-outs to the podcasts that students worked so hard on. Then we will spend a couple of weeks coding with Microbits.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

Students will begin the month finishing our units from last month, either typing or Strawbees. Then we will begin to look at Google Maps, including a chance to explore the website and even find their own houses!

2nd grade

Students will learn skills by practicing with Google Slides. They will create an All About Me presentation and then create a presentation that connects to their classroom content.

3rd grade

First, we will finish our unit on safety and respect online with a lesson about videos and photos that have been digitally altered. Then we will spend a few weeks using Keva planks and practicing problem-solving, teamwork, and creativity.

4th grade

Students will be able to use Google Forms in anticipation of the Market Day projects. They will have a chance to create a Form that their classmates will take, try taking different Forms, and make conclusions based on their responses.

5th grade

Students continue to work on their podcasts for the NPR challenge. They are planning, recording, editing, and sharing their podcasts in teams on a variety of topics they chose themselves.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

We will finish with our work on Typing Club and then begin our unit with Strawbees, creating and problem solving as we practice our engineering skills.

2nd grade

We will spend this month working through our study of coding and Spheros. Students will practice with block coding through Code.org and then program a mini Sphero with pair programming.

3rd grade

Students will continue to work with Google Drawings, including content connections. Then we will move into digital citizenship lessons about passwords, rings of responsibility, the power of words, digital citizenship, and images/videos that are digitally edited.

4th grade

We will talk about Being Smart online from the Be Internet Awesome curriculum. We’ll discuss misunderstanding online, how we frame media, and how others see us online. We’ll review WeVideo and introduce Google Forms in partnership with the Market Day projects.

5th grade

Students will spend this month creating, recording, producing, and editing their podcast for the Student Podcast Challenge with a team of classmates.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

Students will be introduced to the Chromebooks and begin learning how to type with two hands and their eyes on the screen. We’ll also take a week for Delta Math.

2nd grade

We will finish our last two lessons on internet safety and respect with Who’s in My Community? and Put a Stop to Online Meanness. Then I will bring in my Sphero Mini robots, and students will use block coding to program them.

3rd grade

We’ll begin with Google Drawings, where students will make an All About Me poster and another poster related to their class studies. We’ll also take a week for Delta Math.

4th grade

We’ll finish our unit on Spheros and Coding with more challenges and new skills. Then we will move to online safety lessons about Being Smart online: When Not to Share and Keep It Private, talking about private information and what we shouldn’t share online.

5th grade

We’ll finish our lessons about online safety and respect with lessons about search engines, including creating our own search results and practicing searching for exactly what we want online. We will spend some time talking about chatbots and chatgpt, as well. Then we will start a new unit on podcasting, in which students will be creating and producing a podcast in groups.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

We will finish our unplugged coding with Ozobots and take a week for Design Thinking and hands-on problem solving. We will also make a couple connections to Seesaw.

2nd grade

We will continue with our digital citizenship lessons with Let’s Give Credit. Then we’ll take a unit break while we practice coding with the Dash robots for two weeks.

3rd grade

We will spend December with the Ozobots, learning that we can use markers to code them more specifically than how we did in 1st grade. This is always a fun challenge! We’ll code a story based on Nighttime Ninja and choreograph an Ozobot “figure skating” routine.

4th grade

We will continue with the Coding and Spheros unit that most classes started last month. Students will practice with block coding on Code.org and then try it out with the Sphero robots.

5th grade

We’ll use the next weeks to learn about Being Alert online with digital citizenship lessons: Who Are You, Anyway? (about online identities); Digital Friendships (about online-only friendships); and Is That Really True/Spotting Disinformation Online (about critiquing info we find online).

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

We will finish with our lessons on digital citizenship: How Technology Makes You Feel and Internet Traffic Light, talking about different feelings we have related to technology and whether to Go, Pause, or Stop at certain websites. Then we will begin our first unit with robots: Ozobots. These fun, unplugged robots can be coded with markers on white paper!

2nd grade

This month, we’ll be working through our digital citizenship and online safety unit with the following lessons: Device-Free Moments, That’s Private, and Digital Trails. We’ll talk about times when it’s best to put away our devices, information that we never share online, and learning about how where we go online leaves tracks that cannot be erased.

3rd grade

We’ll do some work with the Google suite this month, introducing Google Docs and Google Slides.

4th grade

We’ll begin by publishing our short stories and sending them into the contests (check communications from classroom teachers for details, since different classroom languages have different protocols). Then we will begin our next unit on Block Coding by reviewing basic coding and starting to work with the Sphero robots.

5th grade

Students will continue to work on their Thanksgiving videos, including a variety of different video production skills they already know, and new ones like the green screen.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! You can expect monthly updates to this blog about curriculum that will be covered in the coming weeks.

1st grade

We will finish with Keva planks, and then begin with Seesaw, learning and practicing the different tools on Seesaw that we can use to share our learning.

2nd grade

We’ll continue with Keva planks and the Design Process. Then we will review Typing Club and practice typing with two hands and our eyes on the screen. At the end of the month, we’ll begin a unit on digital citizenship.

3rd grade

We’ll finish our WeVideo video productions, publish them, and share them with our classmates. Then students will be introduced to a new tool: the student blog. This is a place where they can post their learning, and you as a parent can see!

4th grade

We will do a quick unit on Google Drawings, and then we will spend the rest of the month writing short stories for the KDL Write Michigan contest using Google Docs. This is a contest that 4th graders have participated in for many years, and does include prizes for winners (and we have had winners in the past!). If you have any questions about your child submitting to this contest, please contact me (esloterbeek@zcs.org).

5th grade

Students will finish researching, create their slideshows, and publish their work to their blogs in order to share with classmates and with you. (Your child’s blog is blogs.zcs.org/FirstnameLastinitial31 – e.g. blogs.zcs.org/jacoba31.) We will then begin a project with WeVideo, producing a video related to Thanksgiving, where students will have the chance to use a green screen.

Welcome to another year of Tech class! I will update this blog every month with a plan for what we plan to cover over the following weeks. Feel free to subscribe if you’d like an email when I update the blog.

–Maestra Sloterbeek

1st grade

We will introduce Tech class and review acceptable technology use. Then students will begin with some STEM challenges with Keva planks. We will also use one week for the Delta Math screener.

2nd grade

We will begin with a review of Tech class and acceptable technology use. Then we will spend a couple weeks reviewing Seesaw and its tools. Following that, students will have some new STEM challenges with Keva planks as we practice working collaboratively and problem solving. We will also use one week for the Delta Math screener.

3rd grade

We will begin with a review of Tech class and acceptable technology use. Third grade is a year where students learn and practice many new skills with their Chromebooks! This month, we will focus on respectful and responsible email use and basic video production. Due to safety, our filter will not allow students to receive outside emails at this time, including family members outside of ZCS. Bummer! But as a guardian, you always have access to any school-based tools that students use, including their email. I encourage you to check their emails together at home and talk about safe and respectful use.

4th grade

In 4th grade, we begin with a surprise STEM challenge! Then we will have a review of Tech class and acceptable technology use. Moving forward, students will practice safe and responsible email and blog use, which was introduced last year.

5th grade

We will begin with a review of Tech class and acceptable technology use. Then we will dive into our first project of the year: a research-based slideshow about a historical person of the student’s choice. We’ll start by learning about plagiarism and copyright, and then practice finding reliable information and putting it in our own words.

This year, you can expect monthly updates about what we will be studying in Tech class! Here’s what we’ll be up to during the last weeks of school.

1st grade

After finishing up with Beebots and coding, students will spend one week creating a STEAM activity related to Art based on the book The Perfect Square. We’ll work with computers for the last weeks by doing some research and some typing.

2nd grade

We will finish our study of the Purposes of Websites, looking at Persuasive websites. We’ll spend our last weeks with Snap Circuits, learning about basic electricity and working together to create circuits.

3rd grade

Students will learn another application of coding, this time with block coding on Scratch. They will create a variety of different projects by coding animations, and share one of them on their blogs.

4th grade

Students will be challenged to apply their knowledge from Science class this year about circuits and electricity with Squishy Circuits. Students will have the chance to create several different creative projects that integrate sound and light with playdough circuits.

5th grade

Students will spend these weeks learning about bridges and designing and building their own balsa wood bridges. On the last day of class, we will test the strength of the bridges by weighing them down to see how much they will hold.