http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh Middle School Computer Science at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:19:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Lately I've noticed that a lot of people are coming to this website after searching on Google for "Scratch Projects" or "Scratch project ideas."  Right now in class my sixth grade students are just starting to make their final Scratch projects-- each student has about seven class periods to develop ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/11/11/scratch-project-ideas/ Sixth graders are bringing the world outside the computer into their Scratch games with a sensor board called the PicoBoard.  The PicoBoard has a light sensor, a sound sensor, a slider, a button, and four electrical resistance sensors. By drawing a thick line with graphite on a regular piece of paper, ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/11/09/programming-with-light-sound-and-electrical-resistance-with-scratch-and-the-picoboard/ I advise the middle school newspaper, also known as the Jammed Locker.  This year participation has been so high that I've requested an iCart of laptops to be delivered to the computer lab to supplement the 25 iMacs I have in the computer lab. On Thursday afternoons the student journalists stream ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/10/29/the-jammed-locker/ Sixth grade students are learning to program using Scratch. Right now they are designing musical instruments and teaching themselves how to play them. The test is to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" for the teacher on demand.  In addition to mulling over the fate of the lamb ("Why does ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/10/20/lamb-ster-on-a-piano/ The new version of iMovie is significantly different than the previous version, and it includes some great new features (picture in picture! Shaky video reduction!). To learn more, check out Apple's series of video tutorials on iMovie '09. While you're there, you can also watch great video tutorials for iPhoto, ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/09/28/imovie-09-tutorials/ This week in computer class sixth graders used ComicLife to translate the school's acceptable use policy for computing into eye-catching, comic-style posters to help educate the rest of the school about what is allowed and not allowed when it comes to school computers.  The students, working in pairs, studied the ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/09/27/acceptable-use-policy-comics/ Both my sixth grade classes and my fifth grade classes are well into the Keyboarding for Kids program right now. There are a few main points about the goals of the program that I want to clarify. [caption id="attachment_77" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sixth grade students work hard at learning to type."][/caption] First of ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/09/25/keyboarding-for-kids/ I have gotten quite a few questions lately from students who want to set up a CNet account. This is the name and password that you need to connect to the uchicago wireless network at school or anywhere on the University campus. If you bring your own laptop (or iPod ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/09/15/claiming-a-cnet-id/ This week Ms. Putman and I introduced a new keyboarding program to all current fourth and fifth grade students.  The program is called Keyboarding for Kids, from Ellsworth Publishing.  We introduced the program now so that students who want (or need) to work on improving their keyboarding skills can use ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/06/09/new-keyboarding-program-for-4th-and-5th-grades/ Dear sixth graders, If you haven't already done so, please download Scratch at home so that you can play with it, show off your mad programming skills to your parents, siblings and friends, and work on the game you are making in class. Scratch is FREE to download, and it doesn't take ... http://blogs.ucls.uchicago.edu/cswmh/2009/05/08/get-scratch-at-home/