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Tangipahoa Parish School System is conducting a pilot project using handheld computers in the classrooms in four schools and West Side Middle School in Amite is one of them.
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Kayla Lamonte's students at West Side Middle School in Amite viewed a Power Point with notes on the Golden Age of Athens and Alexander the Great. Then, they watched a United Streaming video on the Golden Age of Athens and Alexander the Great. During the Power Point and video, the students took notes on anything important on a foldable. After the video, they used their iPAQs to create a slide show using Sketchy describing and illustrating the advancements of Athens and Alexander the Great! Have you ever seen such intense faces?! These students are so enthused about their work. |
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Kayla Lamonte's students used their handhelds to
illustrate Dr. Seuss's imagery words in his
story. Ms. Lamonte read How the Grinch Stole
Christmas, and the students wrote down the
author's use of descriptive words and
phrases that created imagery in their minds.
Then, the students chose the 3 best words or
phrases to illustrate and write the phrase or
word used. The students used Sketchy to
illustrate what was visualized and then added
the author's use of imagery words or phrases.
Then the students wrote 3 themes from How the
Grinch Stole Christmas using their iPAQ.
They opened Pocket Word and changed the font,
color, and size. They listed the three themes,
and then they beamed their work to Ms. Lamonte.
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In this math lesson, Kayla Lamonte's
students worked in 6 centers.
Center
1:The IPAQs were used in one center for the
students to solve estimating math problems.
Then they beamed it to a partner to check.
They were very motivated to work math
problems and check each other's work.
Center 2:
The students played interactive games online
on decimals.
Center 3:
The students created a budget for their
allowance.
Center 4:
The students ordered 3 items from a catalog
and had to estimate the total cost.
Center 5:
The students planned a grocery list for a
meal from a sale's paper. They had to
estimate the total cost.
Center 6:
The students planned a meal at a restaurant.
They had a menu and had to order a drink,
appetizer, entree, and dessert. They had to
estimate the total cost of the meal.
The
students had a lot of fun and were learning
in the process. They said several times how
much fun they were having doing math.
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| The
pictures below are in Kayla LaMonte's classroom at
West Side Middle School in Amite. Principal Jo
Fairburn said,
"LOOK AT THESE…..LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT… There was so much student interaction in the room it was unbelievable! Not ONE cross word, not ONE frustrated student, not ONE off task. It was great! Seeing this is a reminder of the reason we teach school." Click on the thumbnails below to see the pictures enlarged. |
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| Kayla Lamonte at West Side Middle School explains... "Today we used the handhelds to create a dictionary. Each group had one of the words of the week. They put that into their list. Then, they beamed to one another. They had to get all five words. When all five words were in their dictionary, I let them play a thinking game with their handheld." | ||
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| Ms. Lamonte describes the pictures below. "In this activity, we used Pocket Word. First, the students wrote a paragraph. Then they beamed it to their partner. Their partner helped to proofread it for them. They made corrections in another color than what the person used to type it in. Then, they beamed it back to the owner of the paper. They made their final changes. Then, they beamed it to my handheld for her to grade in the comfort of home or wherever, without PAPERWORK!!! How cool!!! Then, I will beam it back to them with comments and their grade. TOO COOL! I love my job. Using the handhelds has been so incredible!" | ||
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Kayla
Lamonte's class at WSMS had 6 stations to
visit in the pictures below. Each center
dealt with poetry. "We used our handhelds to
write the poems from each center, instead of
using paper. The students loved it. Then,
they beamed to me and I will grade them."
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Techie Hangers were made by Ms. Lamonte's students using their iPAQ and their classroom computers.
Ms. Lamonte
started with explaining how important it is
to choose verbs carefully. (Be specific and
use exciting words!) Then, the students had
to list 6 exciting verbs in their iPAQ using
the thesaurus (things they like to do).
Next, the students went to the computers and
typed their words in word art, they printed
their work and their picture. Finally the
students chose 3 of the 6 verbs to write a
three point paragraph in their iPAQ. The
essay was about things they liked to do.
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Calculating Running Speed with the iPAQs
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Ms. Lamonte explains this activity..."First, the students used Notepad to write down the formula for speed. Then below it they wrote down the students' names who were going to run in the race. They left a space for them to put in their distance and time and calculate it. We went outside to the football field. The students ran different yards and were timed. The students brought the iPAQs outside and recorded the data using their handheld. Then, after all the students ran and all data was recorded, we went inside and they calculated the speed for everyone who ran. They had to analyze their data in paragraph form. They also had to write down who had the fastest speed. How Fun!!!! Look at their faces so intently working! How precious is that!!! They are so eager and so devoted to their work when they get to use their handhelds. =) I love it!!!!" |
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During March,
Ms. Lamonte gave her students a handout of a
four-leaved clover. They had to write four
reasons why they were lucky! Check out why
Samantha Rushing feels like she is lucky!!!!
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The
students defined their vocabulary words.
Then they used Sketchy to create a slideshow
of the word, definition, and a picture to go
along with the vocabulary word. They were
creating colored backgrounds with different
colored and writing effects. They really
enjoyed it.
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Collecting data and finding perimeter
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| The students in Kayla Lamonte's class at West Side Middle worked in groups of three and were taken outside to measure different items around the school. They used a tape measure to measure the lengths. Then they had to find the perimeter of the different items. They brought their iPAQs outside with them to record the measurements. Then, after they measured each item, they recorded the length and then solved to find the perimeter. They put all their work in their IPAQ, and Ms. Lamonte graded their work from their IPAQ. How fun! The kids really enjoyed working on perimeter today! Look how serious they are about their work! The iPAQ is the best classroom management and motivation tool!! | ||
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Burying Dead Adjectives and Creating New Vivid Art and Adjectives |
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| Kayla Lamonte's students at West Side Middle completed a unit on adjectives that integrated art, technology and language arts. First, they "Buried the Dead Adjectives" and created new, vivid adjectives. This was used to emphasize using vivid words in writing. After they found exciting new adjectives to use, the students marble painted! This was so much fun! After the marble painting, the students used their IPAQ to list 10 vivid adjectives to describe their painting. Then, they used these adjectives in a descriptive paragraph about their painting. The students used a thesaurus to find new adjectives to replace the dead ones to put in their list. Then, the students used their adjectives from their IPAQ to write a story about their painting. They had to underline their 10 adjectives. The students were totally motivated and trying their best! | ||
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