Use Google Sheets to create a Gingerbread House in Foundation Phase

The Grade 2s learned about using Google Sheets this term. Google Sheets is Google's version of Excel. I thought that I would use the story of the Gingerbread Man to teach the Grade2s about using Google Sheets. (I can't remember now where I originally got the actual Gingerbread house template from - but I love using it!)

1. First they listened to and read the story of the Gingerbread House on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoQyyB5xvLk.

 

2. Then they made an online Gingerbread Man.
https://www.janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_friend.html 

3. After that they decorated a Gingerbread House using Google Slides.
https://bit.ly/3kWgQ3R

4. The final step involved learning how to use Google Sheets and copying a Gingerbread House from an example.

I blurred our learner's face using https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/?action=blu

Use Lunapic to blur faces on images

Lunapic, (https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/), is a free online photo editor that can blur a face once you upload a photo to the site. I use this site constantly when I want to blur faces from my classes in a photo. I am writing this post to remind myself how to do this! 

  1. Go to https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/) and select ‘Upload'. You can also select 'Upload' directly under the title on the image. 

2. Upload your photo.  Then go to DRAW /  BLUR. Select the area you want to blur and draw a box over the face. Then click on 'APPLY BLUR'. The face is blotted out. 

3. Download your photo onto your computer and use as desired. Under the privacy policy, the site mentions that the images are automatically deleted from  Lunipic after editing. 

This is a very useful site

Create a simple quiz using a Canva blank presentation template

The Grade 4s were learning how to use Canva from scratch, so we decided that each one would create a quiz about a different group of animals. (Canva has a lovely selection of presentation templates. However, we decided to use a blank presentation for this lesson so that we could learn more about Canva.) We thought decided that one slide would say 'What is this?' and the next slide would have the answer.

In doing this we learned about text size and effects, text placement, how to set an image as a background, and many more aspects of Canva.

Here are some examples of the resulting presentations:

Animal quiz by Carch shared by Fiona Beal

Wild Animals Quiz by Isamum shared by Fiona Beal

Farm Animals quiz bu Kylrob shared by Fiona Beal  

In the image below we see the three quizzes shown above, on the topics of Insects, Farm Animals and Wild Animals, being displayed on the learners' Chromebooks. In the lesson, after the quizzes were completed, the kearners each presented theirs to the rest of the class as a general knowledge quiz. 

I blurred our learners' faces using https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/?action=blu

The Grade 2s - 7s participated in World Read Aloud Day 2022

  

Today was World Read Aloud Day and we celebrated this in my Grade 2 – 7 ICT classes at school with Nali’bali. We downloaded Nal'ibali's #WRAD story,  A Party in the Park, on our Chromebooks, and we all read together in unison. Then we discussed the story in the form of an oral book review. The children loved it. 

Nal'ibali aimed to get 1 million families to pledge their family to read aloud the Nal'ibali special story on World Read Aloud Day 2022 - 2 February. If only parents could realise and embrace the importance of regular reading in brain development – if only they could see the big picture about this. They would then definitely make reading aloud to children a daily priority!

The importance of reading aloud to children

Here are some useful quotes from articles and studies about the importance of reading aloud to children: 

“Reading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain development, which helps build strong pathways in the brain and in turn builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that can have life-long health benefits.”
- from '‘Reading to young children develops their brains.'   https://bit.ly/3KYQnxr 

"A child care provider reads to a toddler. And in a matter of seconds, thousands of cells in these children’s growing brains respond. Some brain cells are ‘turned on,’ triggered by this particular experience. Many existing connections among brain cells are strengthened. At the same time, new brain cells are formed, adding a bit more definition and complexity to the intricate circuitry that will remain largely in place for the rest of these children’s lives.

Therefore, the more adults read aloud to their children, the larger their vocabularies will grow and the more they will know and understand about the world and their place in it, assisting their cognitive development and perception." (An excerpt from a study on toddlers’ cognitive development as a result of being read aloud to) - Quoted from:  https://www.all4kids.org/news/blog/the-importance-of-reading-to-your-children/

As we come out of the Pandemic, let's prioritise reading aloud to children in order to develop their reading skills. The long-term benefits are immeasurable.

Play Chromebook Bingo

              

Today was our first computer lesson of the year and the Grade 4-7s played Chromebook Bingo as a fun way to review our knowledge about navigating our Chromebooks.  I can't recall where I got this lesson from - an online conference I think, but it is wonderful.