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 =This Week's Activities! =



Day one Activity #1 Community Flier Materials needed: example fliers, pictures and examples of communities( family pictures, school pictures), computers with MS Word.

I'm sure many of you have heard the term community used very widely by your parents and friends. Today we are going to discuss what a community actually is. After we have had an overview we are going to make fliers using Microsoft Word! I will start off by asking the class what do you think a community is? Then I will ask what types of communities are you a part of. I will write each answer on the board! Next I will show you examples and pictures of different types of communities, such as neighborhoods and schools. To put all of this new information to good use, using technology we are going to create a flier on the computer! Directions are as follows: 1) The class will be divided into groups of four and assigned to a specific computer. 2) There will be a tutorial on how to open Word and how to use it to make a flier! 3) To open word go to the **Start** button at the bottom left hand side of the screen. A vertical tab will open up when you have done this. 4) In that tab there will be an icon that says **Microsoft Office Word 2007**. Click on that icon. Once you have done this Word will open. 5) You are starting with a blank document. The first thing that I would like you to do is type in the title of your community flier. For example; My Family Community, would be appropriate. 6) Underneath the title, advertise your community and tell us what is so great about it. For example; My neighborhood community has a nice park! At least 6 characteristics about your community must be present. 7) To receive credit for your flier there must be pictures! Microsoft Word has this great program called **Clip Ar**t that allows you to insert free pictures! Make sure to have at least three clips. 8) To insert a clip go to **Insert**, **Clip Ar**t, and in the right side of your screen a clip art tab will appear. 9) Underneath **search fo**r, type in a picture that you want. For example; Children. Many pictures will appear. To insert the picture click once on it and it will appear in the document. 10) Drag and click the picture to move it where ever you like! 11) Whenever you are done with your flier, raise your hand and I will approve it before printing.

Day Two. Activity #2 Our Local Community Materials needed: Notebook, pen/pencil, class digital camera. This activity is called Our Local Community!

In class we will talk about the community in which we live. Structures such as buildings, streets, parks, homes, and any other features that are unique to our community will be discussed. After our discussion we have a scheduled, brief twenty-five minute field trip. where we will walk down Morgan Street, the street where our school is located. I will bring our class's digital camera!
 * Note* It is your responsibility to raise your hand and point out a structure that has been discussed in class. Once a feature is mentioned the student that pointed out the structure may use the camera to take a picture of it. Each student will take their notebook so that they can take notes, and draw pictures of the structures we have located. After out mini-adventure, we will go back to the classroom and have a show and tell of our drawn pictures and notes.

Day Three. Our Local Community Continued! Materials needed: Computers with Microsoft Power Point Today we will be taking our local community project one step further! When you come into class I will have a previously prepared Power Point presentation to show the class. The presentation will include the pictures that we took the previous day, along with a collection of other photos that also fall under the same structural categories. By structural categories I mean places and things such as street signs, parks, court houses, or a school that is specific in our community. The Power Point Presentation only contains pictures. It doesn't state the place name or a description. I will go through the presentation with the class and ask you collectively to call out the names of the first few places. After the run through of the presentation you will be assigned in groups of four, and asked to go to a specific computer. When at the computer I will demonstrate a tutorial on how to access the Power Point Presentation that you have just been shown. 1) Go to the **Start** Windows button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen.Click on it. 2) You will see the icon **Microsoft Power Point**. Double left click on the icon. 3) Once you have opened the Microsoft Power Point Program, locate the **Office button** a the upper left hand side of the screen. Click on it. 4) A menu box will open. Locate the tab that says **Open** with a picture of a folder next to it. Click on the **Open** tab. 5) Another box will appear with only one saved file. The saved file is entitled **O****ur Local Com****munity**. Click on the **Our Local Community** 6) Once you have done that, double left click on the **Open** tab, located in the bottom right hand side of the box. 7) This will open the presentation that you have just seen in class! Your job, in your groups, is to write in the text box a name and description of each picture in the presentation! Directions are as follows: 8) To select a slide, simply click on the one in view on the left tab. 9) To add text, simply click on the larger view of the slide anywhere underneath the picture. Or if you want to get creative with it any where you like, as long as the picture and text are both visible. 10) After you have gone through all of the pictures and added a name and description, you are going to save your new project. 11) To save your project you are going to need to locate the **Office Butto**n again, and click on it. Once you click on it the office menu box will appear again, the same one that contained the open tab. 12) You will see a tab that says **Save** with a square disk next to it. Click on the **Save** button, and the presentation with your answers will be saved on that computer! 13) After you have completed all of these steps, raise your hand. I will come to your groups and you will each show me your slide show with your answers. Students will be graded with a 90% accuracy.

Day 4 Activity #3 Comparing the Continents! Materials needed: Computer with internet access, MS Word, wall map of the world, blank outline map of the world.

Now that we have studied our local community we are going to explore locations on a world wide scale by comparing continents. 1) First we are going to start out with a general over view of the continents. I'm going to point to specific places on the map of the world and by raising your hand you may provide the class with the answer. 2) Then we are going to test your knowledge on continents as well as integrating technology in our classroom. In groups of 3, each group will go to a computer and test their knowledge by playing National Geographic's [|GeoSpy game]. When you get to the site you will need to click continent games from the list option. 3) After fifteen minutes of play time we will all go back to our seats and take out the blank outline of the world that was provided during the beginning of the class period. The next assessment that I will have you complete, will be to label all seven continents on the blank map. This is a timed assessment. You will have 10 minutes. 4) When time is up I will come and collect your papers. Now that we have had a general over view of the continents we are going to discuss how they are alike and how they are different. Questions that will be addressed to the class are as follows: What is something that all continents have in common? Which continent looks out of place? Why? Which continents do you think are the warmest? Which continents do you think are the coldest? Explain your answer. Where would you like to live? 5) To further integrate technology into our classroom; students will be asked to answer these questions in paragraph format in a Microsoft Word Document. We have introduced this strategy earlier in the semester, so it shouldn't be too hard for most of you! 6) In closing we will discuss our answers to these questions.

Day 5 Activity #4 Continental Explorers Materials needed: Computers with internet access, hat, paper, pen, markers, and tape.

Today when you walk into the classroom I will be holding a hat full of pieces of paper each containing one of the seven different continents. When you walk in the classroom your job is to select a piece of paper from the hat. I have set up the classroom into seven different centers, each representing one of the seven continents. Now would be a great time to review what the seven continents are to yourself ( North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and Europe). At each center there will be a computer that you will have to share with the other students that were also assigned to your continent. You will all be continental explorers together! At each computer there will be a list of websites that you will be asked to explore to find out information on your continent! For future reference the websites are as follows: North America Explorers: National Geographic will take you on a journey throughout the [|United States!] South America Explorers: Check out [|Argentina], [|Brazil], [|Colombia] , [|Guatemala], and [|Peru] Africa Explorers: Get ready to navigate your way around [|South Africa], [|Nigeria], [|Kenya], and [|Egypt] Asia Explorers: Let's take a look at [|Afghanistan], [|Russia], [|Japan], [|China], and [|India]! Australia Explorers: Are you ready to visit the out back of [|Australia]! Antarctica Explorers: I hope you brought some warm clothes! You are about to adventure into [|Antarctica]! Europe Explorers: You are in for a treat. [|France], [|Spain], [|Italy], [|Greece], and the[|UK], are all fun places to venture into! We will wrap up our travels around the continents in twenty minutes. I will inform you when time is up. Once the twenty minute mark has passed I will distribute a large piece of construction paper, markers, and a piece of tape, to each group. Now that you are all experts on the continent that you have investigated, it is your job to show the class what you have learned! On the piece of paper I would like to see a drawn outline of what your continent looks like. Inside the picture of the continent feel free to draw or write whatever information you have learned. Most notably the continent name, and where it is located. Other than that you must include at least five facts about your continent and the countries inside of it! You will have fifteen minutes to create your masterpieces! After we are all through, I will go around the room to each continent and you will describe your inspection of your continent to the class. When your turn is over, one person from your group may tape your continent on the side wall, so that everyone can view our class's adventure!