We had another very successful year of typing at MKG with over 125 students making it into the Hall of Fame!  Here are the overall winners for grades 3-5 plus the School Leaders:

Above: Grade 3 - Lahrimar, Regan, Nick, and Imyna (Plus Aria who was absent)

Above: Grade 4 - Axel, Finley, Noah, Isaac, and Evie

Above: Grade 5 - Brelyn, Ben, Gavin, Sean, and Patrick

Above: School Leaders Ryan S, Ryan K, SJ, Izzie, and Kieran - Plus the winner of the Golden Keyboard - Ryan S! Congratulations everyone!

Toys:
Legos, K’nex, KEVA blocks, etc.
Board game pieces, dice, spinners, etc.
Action figures, Playmobils, etc

Tools:
Hot glue guns and glue
Pliers (regular and needlenose)
Tiles
PVC pipe
Wood (small pieces)
Flooring samples

Paper:
Scrapbooking paper
Stickers
Paper of all kinds
Cardboard tubes (NOT toilet paper tubes)

Craft Supplies:
Tape (duct, Scotch, packaging, masking, electrical, washi)
Pom poms
Beads
Pipe cleaners 
Googly eyes 
Craft foam
Craft sticks
Basically anything except glitter!

Misc:
Old (clean!) socks
Broken or no longer needed household electric items such as CD/DVD players, tape players, radios, etc. (NOT broken cameras, items with blades, or items with screens)
Corks

​***We can ALWAYS use gift cards in any amount to places like Michaels, Home Depot, Target, JoAnn Fabric, Amazon, etc. ***

Thanks for your help! 😎

Another year, another successful bunch of students who beat their end of year typing goals.  Over 100 students (114 to be exact!) from grades 3-5 practiced their home row hands and overcame their goal of being a better, faster, and stronger typer.  Congratulations to all my typers!  Here are this years winners of the grade level and school wide competitions for fastest typers:

Congratulations to the winners of the grade 3, 4, and 5 Typing Hall of Fame!  These students were the best in their grade level.  PLUS: the top five typers from all grades were in their own category of School leaders.  Let's see the winners:

Grade 3: Aiden, Miles, SJ, Kieran, and Gavin (not pictured)

Grade 4: Mackenzie, Amelia and (not pictured) Alex, Alec, and Julianna

Grade 5: Amelia, Philip, Gavin, and (not pictured) Gabriel and Ashlynn

School Leaders: Victoria, Grayson, Ronan, Katie, and Malachi

Top Typer for 2022-2023: Victoria Miller! Great job Victoria!

Hello MKG!
A big push over the past month and the next few classes will be on the idea of how to use the Internet for GOOD.  In the upper grades, we are focusing on Smart Searching - using the TRAAP method of website evaluation and how to Google properly.  In the younger grades, we are revisiting topics like Password Safety and Cyberbullying.  In first grade, we are also doing a mini lesson on the importance of being KIND online.

Please talk to your students about online safety and if you have any questions, please reach out!

Now that the MKG WIFI issue is resolved, the technology lab is back into full swing.  We continue coding and learning to use our home row hands in all grades.  Grade 1 begins Typetastic this week as they start their journey to being touch-typers extrordinaire!

Coding Resources for Home:
Code.org: https://studio.code.org/users/sign_in
Scratch: ​https://scratch.mit.edu/

Typing Resources for Home:
Typing.com (grades 3-5): ​https://www.typing.com/student/login
TypeTastic (grades 1-2): ​https://typetastic.com/learn.html

... and what a good time to practice typing!  Every student in grades 3-5 is encouraged to keep practicing their "Home Row Hands" on typing lessons, games, or tests on Typing.com.  Grade 2 has now or will very shortly learn to type (at a very basic level) all three rows of letters using their Home Row Hands on Typetastic.com - Keep Practicing!

A new prize for the end of the school year is being introduced over the next week or so:
1. The top 5 third grade typers will receive a Bronze Medal
2. The top 5 fourth grade typers will receive a Silver Medal
3. The top 5 fifth grade typers will receive a Gold Medal
4. The top 5 typers in the whole school will receive a Golden Laptop Trophy
5. The top typer in the whole school will receive the Golden Keyboard

Whole school leaders are exempted from the grade level prizes to make it fair.  The top typer gets two though!

Get those Home Row Hands going!

Cyberbullying: If you are looking for more information on the topic of cyberbullying, here is a video from Common Sense Media
​

There's nothing scarier than forgetting where your home row hands go!  Make sure you don't get spooked by your own fingers this Halloween and practice your keyboarding using Typing.com, Nitrotype.com, or Typetastic.com

The school year is off and running.  In technology class, we will be working hard to grow our skills on our devices. 

Each class will be strengthening their keyboarding skills - from learning letter placement on the keyboard in 1st grade, to racing against the clock with their classmates in 5th grade.

Internet safety and digital citizenship will be a big focus this year again, especially in September.  Grade-level appropriate topics will be covered including keeping personal information private, avoiding scams, and safe searching.

Each class will also tackle a series of interesting activities including coding, making slideshows, formatting documents, and collaborating with classmates online.

Cheers to a great year!
- Mr. Steinberg