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Conshohocken Catholic Computer Science Curriculum

Conshohocken Catholic School Computer Science Program

Created in the 2008-2009 school year by Michael Taggart

Contact Information: michael.t.taggart@gmail.com
Michael Taggart on Facebook
Cell: 610-213-9908

Facebook Group: The Official Conshohocken Catholic Facebook Group

CURRICULUM

PREK-3

Goals: Get the kids oriented with the connection between the environment and the machine.
- No plan you make here will work out. Stick to general goals but improvise
- Stick with the mouse since the kids don't necessarily know letters
- Demonstrate the mouse moving on the screen
- Demonstrate Google Earth
- Rather than a computer per child as was done this year, promote social interaction and speed up understanding by putting kids in teams of three
- Lab time is once per week and alternates with the library time in groups of 8. 5 day students get 2 lab times.
- Use TuxPaint for the kids to draw pictures using a paint program - promotes color learning, mouse skills, how to save files, how to open files.
- Kids Shell is used as a simplified Windows desktop.

PREK-4

Goals: Starts the same as Pre-K 4. Let the class evolve over the course of the year.
- Push them
- For them, computers are #1 for playing games

Kindergarten
Goals - Kids start learning words.
- Continue to practice mouse skills and move to typing letters.
- Game playing
- Use as a vocabulary tool - kids start to write and ask questions like How Do You Spell i.e. CAT.

First Grade
- Goal: Start off with quick typing drills then quickly move to writing
- This starts off as remedial to bring in students who weren't with us in the primary campus.
- Utilize Microsoft World Wide Telescope

Second Grade
- Goal: Introduce computers as windows to the world
- Utilize Stellarium - show the constellations and overlay artwork over the constellations.
- Utilize Microsoft World Wide Telescope
- Introduction to image searches and search engines

Third Grade
- Utilize Microsoft World Wide Telescope
- Further use of image searches and search engines
- Banner project for third graders is Powerpoint.
- Collaborate / Integrate science with

Fourth Grade
- Utilize Microsoft World Wide Telescope
- Introduction to Wikis
- Introduce the concept of user generated content
- Promote discussions of how one gets to the truth - i.e. people policing a wiki and correcting information that is not correct.

Fifth Grade
- Introduction to Microsoft Publisher and Open Office (Presentations, Spreadsheets, Wordprocessing)
- Present work to class on Smartboard
- Present news articles from the internet

Sixth Grade
- Layout and Design and Fonts
- Project: How To Brouchure - i.e. How To Throw A Curveball, How To Do A Triple Lutz
- Present work to class on Smartboard
- Present news articles from the internet

Seventh Grade
- Blogging (Sept to Nov)
- After Nov, digitial image editing using Gimp - Introduction to Filters and Layers
- Present work to class on Smartboard
- Third trimester, introduction to programming using Scratch.MIT.Edu - may require some understanding of Algebra / Variables
- Present news articles from the internet
- Emphasize scrutiny over proofreading your work
- Project: Photo Essays - the photo should explain what's happening - a historical event - image should tell story / thesis-support-conclusion

Eight Grade
- Publishing / Citizen Journalism
- Project: A school newspaper - have students take pictures, video, create news stories, presenting an argument.
- Layouts, Writing, Editing
- Have students write articles and stand up in front of the class to present. Teaches demonstration skills, enforces the importance of proofreading.
- Yearbook
- Present work to class on Smartboard
- Present news articles from the internet
- Used Microsoft Publisher this year. Would opt to do more of a news blog next year instead. Publisher took a long time and paper didn't get circulated as effectively. Also, several people working on the same document and merge editing was complicated. Google Docs for document collaboration might work better.

Common Practice

  • Theme for all grades - computers as a window into the world
    • Each week, change desktop background to show a different place in the world i.e. waterfall in the rainforests of brazil.
  • Collaboration with teachers - understand the inventory of software and curriculum for computer science and try to find tie ins to the programs the teachers are working with. Common practice to meet once per month with teachers. Did a lot of collaboration with Mrs. Donnavan last year.
  • Smartboards - These are tied to computers with connection to the internet. They are used for demonstration purposes.
  • Primary Campus - Mr. Taggart will document this. There are two types of accounts - accounts for faculty and accounts for students.
  • Mix in common curriculum between each two grades. The top students in the lower grade will generally track with the bottom students of the previous grade.
  • Rewards/Awards - for software you've used in the past (typically 2 or 3 week concentrations), the children will ask to play with certain things. You can use this as a reward to promote good work.
  • Play to your strengths - Michael's was in writing and publishing.
  • No homework - can't assume what kind of equipment students have at home

INDEX OF SOFTWARE EMPLOYED

The labs have licenses to some software i.e. Microsoft products, Crayon Physics. Other software is on the internet or free, open source.

  • Google Earth - demonstrate fly through of conshohocken to the larger US to the world - especially for 3 year olds. Also, flight simulator good tool for mouse skills. Show night time view. Show the stars.
  • Gimp - photo editing for 7th and 8th grade. Start simple, move on to the concept of layers.
  • OpenDNS - helps to guard against compliance violations
  • Sugar Operating System - suggestion for next year. It's what's used on One Laptop Per Child to simplify the desktop for pre-k.
  • Crayon Physics
  • Scratch - scratch.mit.edu - 7th and 8th grade
  • COOL IRIS - Photo Management
  • Photobucket - Photo repository
  • TuxPaint - Preschool paint program
  • Kids Menu - This is a simplified desktop shell for Windows that simplifies what you can do so there is no confusion. This is for the primary campus computers.
  • Stellarium - Introduces Astronomy, superimpose artwork over the constellations.
  • Microsoft World Wide Telescope - typically use this for two or three weeks of demonstration
  • MediaWiki - this was the wiki
  • Wordpress - for blogging - i.e. Conshy7.WordPress.Com
  • Google - Image searches and information searches
  • Google GMAIL - To create email accounts for the kids so you can sign up for other internet services like Wordpress. Suggestion: create only a few accounts per day so google doesn't stop you thinking you are a robot. We may also be able to just create email accounts on our new host, bluehost.
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Open Office - Word processing , Spreadsheet.
  • Google Docs
  • Biblioteq - This is the software installed in the library to replace the old library system. Sr. Mary Pat has the most powerful computer in the school.

Suggestions For Coming Year

  • ConnellyFoundation.Org - We are due for another grant. Must make it count because it only comes around every 4 years. Have a choice of 1 lab computer or 20 workstations. Grant for Catholic Schools - Ask for Macs or OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) computers to simplify learning in the primary school.
  • Headphones in main campus lab - safety concern -coil up the cords or possible wireless - also, it would be great to have headphones with microphones attached for Podcasting applications. Also good skype/videoconferencing.
  • 7th and 8th grade - introduction to database development - school library project using the Biblioteq software to help out Sister Mary Pat.
  • For 8th grade newspaper, use online content management instead of Microsoft Publisher.
  • Preschool currently has 11 computers. Next year's goal is to wire them to the internet.
  • Work more closely with the teachers and the possibilities for using the school website and tying it to their curriculum/tools to help manage the class information.
  • Preschool - rather than giving each child a computer, have them go in groups of three so the ones with a stronger understanding can help the others and they can all help each other.
  • Smartboard can be confusing. Ideally, the smart board could support several kids working on it at the same time.
  • For preschools, simplified computers would be better. For instance, Macs have a 1 button mouse or OLPCs one laptops per child are tailored for kids.
  • The "schedule" has time for extra lab time - make better use of this time with more teacher coordination activities.
  • One more period per week for middle schoolers is suggested.
  • Promote more participation in the creation of the 8th grade yearbook.
  • Possibly introduce video editing/youtube video creation - i.e. iMovie on the Mac or PC related software. Would need a video camera to computer interface i.e. firewire or Flip Cameras
  • Perhaps for 8th grade, we can introduce the use of Alice (alice.org) - more sophisticated the MIT's Scratch.