Teacher s Guide. Combining Technology and Academics for Standards-Based Computer Literacy

Transcription

1 Combining Technology and Academics for Standards-Based Computer Literacy

2 CONTENTS Product Purpose...1 Teacher s Guide Overview...1 Teacher Login and Management...2 Login as a Teacher...2 Enter your user name and password...2 Teacher Management Area Description...3 Changing Grade Levels...3 Changing Academic Subject...3 Edit Class...4 Add New Class...5 Delete Class...6 Add New Student...7 Add Existing Student...8 Lesson Tracks...9 Grades and Reports...10 Classroom Summary...11 School Master Summary...12 Registration Detail...13 Assessment Summary...14 Viewing State Standards...15 Language Support...16 Lesson Resources...17 Lesson Plan PDF...18 Lesson Rubric PDF...19 Lesson Activity Instructions PDF...20 Sample Completed Activity PDF...21 Assigning Lessons to Students...22 Adding Multiple Lessons to Students...24 Viewing Assigned Lessons...25 Student Login and Lesson Overview...26 The Student Login Screen...27 The Student Chalkboard...28 Sixth Grade Lesson Example and TOC...29 Forward and Back Buttons...30 The Audio Button...30 The Resources Button...31 The Buzz...32 The Photos Button...33 The Simulations Button...33 The Games Button...34 The Audios Button...34 The Documents Button...35 The Glossary...36 Games...39 The Technology Activity...40 ShowHow...41 Web Links...41 Narrations...42 Assessments...43 Summary Page...44 Summary...45 Overview of Assessment Program...46 Areas of Focus...46 Purpose for Exam...46 Assessment Standards...46 Assessment Details...47 Taking the Assessment...47 Assessment Reports...48 i

3 Individualized Learning Plans...48 Student Chalkboard...49 Student Lessons...49 Student Certificate...50 For More Information...51 Best Practices for Student Success...52 Provide an orientation class...52 Have older students help the younger students...53 Use the Curriculum Guide as a basis for Planning...53 Use Tracks for Technology Focus...53 Electronic Portfolio...53 Recommended Lessons for Beginners at Early Grade Levels...54 Recommended Beginning Lessons for Kindergarten...54 Recommended Beginning Lessons for First Grade...54 Recommended Beginning Lessons for Second Grade...54 Computer Requirements...55 Verify the computer configuration...55 Windows PCs...55 Apple Mac...55 Create a desktop Shortcut to the Student Login Page...56 Configure Popup Ad blocking software in your browser...56 Check the resolution of the students computer displays...56 Taking a Sample Lesson...56 Site Administration...57 Submitting Your Student Roster...57 Site Administration...57 Frequently Asked Questions...57 Set Up Kto8 Teachers...58 Adding a Teacher:...58 Set Up Classrooms...60 Begin Classroom Set Up...60 Set Up a New Classroom...60 Adding Students to this Class...61 Adding Existing Students to this class...61 Adding New Students to this class...61 Assigning Lessons to Students...62 Assigning lessons to an individual student...62 Assigning lessons to several students...62 Assigning lessons to the entire class...62 To view assigned lessons...63 To Unassign Individual Lessons...63 To Unassign All Lessons...63 ii

4 Product Purpose The purpose of the K to the 8 th Power Technology courseware is to teach students how to use computers and to be technology literate. Because you need content to teach technology skills, our content is taken directly from standardized test objectives. So, we teach students technology using core academic standards. Our product is most effectively used by a lab director in a school who coordinates lessons for the classroom teacher. The lab director first decides what academic subjects are being taught in the classroom and then assigns a lesson to students that will enforce what is taught in the classroom, while teaching the students technology skills. Teacher s Guide Overview This document is intended as a review guide. It will guide you through the major features of the K to the 8 th Power Technology Courseware. This document is divided into several sections: Teacher Login and Management Student Login and Lesson Overview Teacher Grade Book and Reporting Assessment Program Site Admininstration The Teacher Login and Management section shows how to add students, assign lessons to students and how to preview lesson resources. The student login and Lesson Overview section demonstrates what a student sees. The teacher grade book and reporting sections show how student progress is tracked and reported. Please make sure your popup blockers have been configured to allow for the Web site. If you have technical difficulties, you might want to first refer to the Site Administrator s Guide included in this document. If you need any help, please don t hesitate to call us or us at: Support support@kto8.com 1

5 Teacher Login and Management Login as a Teacher The first thing to do is to go to our Web site at and click on the Login button. A drop-down menu will appear. Next, click the word Teachers. Enter your user name and password Next, enter your user name and password. Click on the Login button after entering the user name and password. 2

6 Teacher Management Area Description When you log into the Teacher Management Area, you see a screen like the ones below. On the left hand side of the screen you see students names listed (green arrow). On the right hand side, you will see a summary of all grade 8 lessons. The list of lessons on the right side of the screen defaults to the grade level of the class being displayed, grade 8 in this example. Changing Grade Levels You can change grade levels to see lessons from other grades by clicking on the appropriate grade level icon. (red arrow) Changing Academic Subject To see lessons in a single category, reading, writing, math or technology, simply click on one of the buttons. In this example we have clicked on the writing button so the 8 th grade writing lessons are displayed. 3

7 Edit Class When you click the Edit Class Hyperlink (circled in red) you can edit the grade level, the Classroom Title and the Group Names (optional). You can also change the minimum Passing Grade level. The minimum Passing Grade level is used to set a minimum score for students for the lessons assigned to each student. This section is used to allow students to retake lessons if they do not pass with the minimum score. The default is 0%. At the 0% Passing Grade level, the students can only take each lesson one time before the lesson drops from their list of lessons. To save your changes, click the Edit Classroom button. 4

8 Add New Class If you want to add a new classroom, you can click the Add New Class button (circled in red). This allows you to add another classroom and students. You will need to select your Grade Level first. By selecting the grade level the system knows what lessons to display when the classroom is selected. You will also need to add a Classroom Title. You must add a grade level and classroom title. All other fields are optional. The purpose behind Groups 1 5 is to arrange students into different groups within one classroom. This can make it easy to assign specific lessons to different groups of students. If you will normally be assigning the same lessons to all students in a classroom, leave these sections blank. The Passing Grade level is used to set a minimum score for students for the lessons assigned to each student. This section is used to allow students to retake lessons if they do not pass with the minimum score. The default is 0%. At the 0% Passing Grade level, the students can only take each lesson one time before the lesson drops from their list of lessons. The Comments section is optional. 5

9 Delete Class To delete a classroom, select the Delete Class hyperlink (circled in red). You will receive the following message: Warning! You are about to delete Rick s Eighth Grade Class from your school s database. The students assigned to this class will not be affected and all completed assessments have already been recorded in the Kto8 Grade Book. Any lessons assigned through this class will no longer be assigned to the students. This action will not affect students assigned to other classes. Do you want to delete this class? Yes No To delete the class click the Yes hyperlink. To exit click the No hyperlink. 6

10 Add New Student When you first begin using the K to the 8 th Power system, most likely you will have sent us a spreadsheet with a list of student names and passwords. If you need to add a new student that is not currently in the system, click on the Add New Student hyperlink (circled in red). At a minimum you must enter a student Name, Grade, Username and Password. When you have finished, click the Add This Student button. You can continue adding new students or click the Finished Adding Students hyperlink to exit. 7

11 Add Existing Student You can add students that currently exist in the system by clicking on the Add Existing Students hyperlink (circled in red). The system automatically displays all of the students in the system at the current classroom grade level. To add students at different grade levels, use the drop-down menu next to Show Students in Grade and select a different grade level. To add existing students, click in the boxes next to the student names you want to add. Then click the Add Selected Students button to add these students to this classroom. 8

12 Lesson Tracks When you click on the Lesson Tracks hyperlink (circled in red) the following screen appears. You can click on the drop-down menu to select a lesson track. Lesson tracks are used to assign a series of lessons at one time. For instance, the Lesson Track 6: Microsoft Word track begins with covering the basics of Microsoft Word. Students are then given additional academic lessons that include activities that focus on Microsoft Word. At the end of this track, students will have a solid understanding of many of the features of Microsoft Word. 9

13 Grades and Reports When you click on the green Grades and Reports Button, the classroom grade book appears showing the students in the classroom and their current progress. You can then click on a student name to access specific information about an individual student. You can also sort the student grade book by a date range. 10

14 Classroom Summary When you click the Classroom Summary hyperlink (circled in red) you get the Classroom Summary report. This report provides an overview of all of your classrooms. Included in this report are the title of each classroom, the number of students in each classroom, the number of total lessons assigned to each classroom, the number of lessons taken, the average score for a classroom and the number of times students have logged in to this classroom. 11

15 School Master Summary When you click the School Master Summary hyperlink (circled in red) you get the School Master Summary report. This report provides a summary of the entire school and includes the total number of classrooms, the total number of students registered in this school, the total number of lessons assigned in the school, the total number of lessons taken, the average score and the total number of times students have logged in to this school. 12

16 Registration Detail When you click the Registration Detail hyperlink (circled in red) you get the Registration Detail report. This report provides information about each student including student usernames, passwords, grade level and times logged in. You can sort this report by student name, student ID, student grade level, student username or password. 13

17 Assessment Summary When you click the Assessment Summary hyperlink (circled in red) you are provided access to several different types of reports. The first report shows information for a specific student. Use the drop-down menu to select a student then click the green Go button. You can also run a report for a particular lesson. Use the drop-down menu to select a specific lesson then click the green Go button. This report shows how all students have done on a specific lesson. The third type of report is for viewing a summary for a specific grade level. This report will show what types of lessons have been taken by students for a specific grade level. Use the drop-down menu to select a specific grade level then click the green Go button. When you click the green hyperlink Summary for Each Student by Class and Date Range you will be directed to another screen that allows you to select a grade level or classroom title. You can also sort this information with start and end dates for reports for a specific time period. 14

18 Viewing State Standards To see how the state academic standards apply to each lesson, click on the state Standards Button as shown below. Clicking on the state Standards Button will display the standards that apply to this lesson. You will notice that New Jersey standards are shown. If you were a teacher in New York, it would show the New York state standards. The system knows what state you are associated with when you login, and only shows that state s standards. 15

19 Language Support You will also notice the Quick Links hyperlinks on the right side of this page. Most of the reading and writing lessons contain an advanced version and a beginner version. The beginner version is intended for the ESL student (English as a Second Language) and is written with simplified (sheltered) English. The advanced version is for the native English speaker. The teacher can preview each lesson by clicking on one of these buttons. Click on one of the lesson buttons and take a quick look at the lesson. We will look at a lesson in detail in the next section. 16

20 Lesson Resources The Lesson Resources hyperlink contains links to teacher resources for each lesson. When you click on this button you will see a popup box that contains a list of PDF files. The popup box will look similar to the one shown here. You can click on any of the PDF icons to view or download each document. You will need the Adobe Reader program to see the files. If it is not installed on your computer, go to and download the free reader program. 17

21 Lesson Plan PDF The lesson plan contains an overview of each lesson. The lesson plan describes the lesson and the activity details. The lesson plan contains some of the national academic standards and the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards for Students) standards covered in the lesson. Many lesson plans also contain extension activities for students who either complete the online assignment early or need additional work on the subject. Each lesson plan also contains the questions that are on the exam and in the games and gives the teacher the correct answers for each. 18

22 Lesson Rubric PDF The Lesson Rubric provides a checklist for each lesson for both the student and the teacher. 19

23 Lesson Activity Instructions PDF Activity instructions are provided here and within each lesson. The activity instructions are the step-by-step instructions that may be printed and used for the technology aspect of each lesson. 20

24 Sample Completed Activity PDF The Sample Completed Activity provides the teacher with the activity in its completed format. This gives the teacher something to compare to the student s work after the activity is completed. 21

25 Assigning Lessons to Students Once a class is set up and the students and teachers are in the database, the teacher can add lessons to each student s list of lessons. To do this, simply find a lesson you want to assign and click on the checkbox that appears to the left of the lesson name. In this example the 8 th grade lesson Decoding Words is checked. (green arrow) After a lesson is checked, click on the student or student s name that you want to assign the lesson to. If you want to assign this lesson to all students, click on the All button (red arrow). To assign the checked lessons to the checked students, click on the green Assign Selected Lessons button in the top right hand section of the screen. (yellow arrow) There are three types of lessons that can be assigned to a student, an advanced version, a beginner version and a no games version. The advanced version is for the native English speaking student. The beginner version is for the ESL student and uses structured English. The no games version option allows the teacher to assign a lesson that does not contain any educational games. 22

26 Teachlets K to the 8 th Power also provides short lessons called Teachlets. To view Teachlets for a particular grade level, click the green Teachlet button located above the grade level icons. A list of teachlets will be displayed. You can assign Teachlets to students the same way as you assign lessons. To preview a Teachlet you can click on the Preview Teachlet hyperlink. To return to the standard lesson view, click the green Lessons button above the grade level icons. 23

27 Adding Multiple Lessons to Students You can also add multiple lessons to one or more students by checking more than one lesson. To add all beginner lessons for a grade, you can click on the Check Beginner button (red arrow). To add all advanced lessons at once, you can click on the Check Advanced button (green arrow). You then check one or more students and then click on the green Assign Selected Lessons button in the top right hand section of the screen. 24

28 Viewing Assigned Lessons To see what lessons are assigned to each student, you can click on the View Assignments for Checked Students button located below the list of student names. This will display each lesson assigned to each student. Notice the button name changes to Close Assignments when you display the lessons. You may need to scroll to the bottom of the list of students before you see the assignments. You can unassign all lessons at this point or unassign selected lessons. Once students have been assigned lessons, students can log in and take any assigned lesson. We will now switch to the student view to see the assigned lessons from the student viewpoint. We will look at specific features common to all lessons. 25

29 Student Login and Lesson Overview Now that one or more students have been assigned a lesson, you can log in as a student and take a lesson. To do this, open another browser window and go to This time click on the Student Login button. 26

30 The Student Login Screen The student login screen will appear. To start you must select your school. For this example, we will use the fictitious school Victory Way Middle School. Click on the down arrow and select the school from the list of schools. Once you ve selected your school, use the student information you received to log in. Note: if you created new students in the previous section, you can enter that user name and password as well. 27

31 The Student Chalkboard Once logged in, you will see a chalkboard that contains the lessons assigned. To start a lesson, simply click on the lesson name and it will start. Configure your popup blockers to allow popups from or the lesson will not start. 28

32 Sixth Grade Lesson Example and TOC The sixth grade lesson interface is shown. Each grade level contains an age-appropriate interface. Every lesson in every grade has a consistent look-andfeel as well as consistent operation. We will look at features that are common to all lessons. To see an outline of the lesson or to jump to a specific page, click on the TOC button (Table of Contents). (red arrow) A list of the page names will appear and look something like this. You can click on any page name to jump to the page. Click on the red box with the white X to close the Table of Contents. 29

33 Forward and Back Buttons You use the forward and back buttons to navigate through the course. The Audio Button The audio will play automatically when the page loads. You use the Audio button to replay the audio. Each page contains an audio for the text that is shown. The student can replay the audio over and over. 30

34 The Resources Button The Resources button contains access to the Kto8 library. 31

35 The Buzz When you click on the resources button, The Buzz appears giving you access to many items that are used through the courseware. These items include: Photos: Over 16,000 royalty free photos are available for multimedia presentations, reports and editing Simulations: Show How Videos showing general methods for using a computer Games: Access to several hundred games Audios: Used for multimedia presentations Documents: Occasionally we will have the student access a document from the resource database. You can mute the Buzz sound by clicking the rotating speaker icon in the bottom left corner of the page. Click on the Photos button. 32

36 The Photos Button When you click on the Photos button the following screen will appear. The photos database contains over 16,000 royalty-free digital photos that are used throughout the courseware. You can enter a search word such as the name of an animal to find pictures. For instance, type in the word snake to get pictures of snakes. You can double click (on a PC) on a picture to enlarge it. The Simulations Button When you click on the Simulations button (from the Buzz interface) you will get access to the Simulations Database. You can put in search words such as excel or powerpoint to see what simulations exist for different functions associated with these applications. Click on any of the hyperlinks provided to see a simulation. 33

37 The Games Button When you click on the Games button (from the Buzz interface) you will get access to the Games Database. The games database provides access to several different types of academic games. You can search for different type games or on a discipline such as multiplication. Click on one of the hyperlinks to start a game. Type in the word multiplication and pick a game to play. The Audios Button When you click on the Audio button (from the Buzz interface) you will get access to the Audio Database. These files are used in the development of multimedia presentations throughout the courseware. You can search on a type of sound such as classical or a reading such as the Gettysburg Address to find audio files. Type in the word Gettysburg to listen to the Gettysburg Address. 34

38 The Documents Button When you click on the Documents button (from the Buzz interface) you will get access to the Documents Database. Several documents that are used in our lessons are available for download in this area. Note: The activity instructions in the lesson will direct the students to the appropriate document. 35

39 The Glossary All lessons include access to a glossary of commonly used terms. The glossary is used in early grades to provide the ESL student with additional help understanding and using commonly used words and sentences. 36

40 When the glossary appears, you can enter a word in the search box, or simply click on a letter such as the letter A. When you click on the letter A, a list of words beginning with the letter A appears. You can then click on a word to see a picture of the word and listen to several sentences that use the word. 37

41 When you click on the speaker button the audio plays. You can click on the Next button to go to the next sentence. There are over 3,000 audios in the glossary. Click a few buttons on the glossary and listen to a few sentences. 38

42 Games Now go back to the course and use either the Table of Contents button or the Forward button and go to the Game page. Click on the joystick to start a game. In this example a Word Search game appears. This is an electronic Word Search game that has a list of some of the words used in this lesson. Arcade-like games are also used within most lessons to keep the student s interest. Every game has an academic purpose. Students continue to higher levels or get bonus points every time they answer one of the academic questions correctly. For example, in the Mayan Mayhem game you destroy two consecutive blocks by answering an academic question correctly. When the game is finished, use the Forward button or the TOC to move to the next page or to Game 2. 39

43 The Technology Activity The activity page (sometimes multiple pages) contains the technology exercise that is integral to every lesson. The activity is what teaches the student one or more technology skills while reinforcing an academic concept. In the example shown here, students create a three page document about Alexander the Great. They are given step-by-step written (Activity button) and video (ShowHow button) instructions on how to complete the activity. One of the primary goals of the K to 8 courseware is for the student to be able to complete the lesson and the activity with minimal help. Go to the next page for more details on the written and video instructions. 40

44 ShowHow All of the activities throughout the course provide ShowHow technology to assist the student with completing the activity. These Flash videos can be played and replayed until the student understands the steps necessary to complete the activity. PC technology is used to demonstrate how to perform the activity. Watch and listen to at least one of the ShowHow animations to see how they work. Web Links Many of the courses also contain access to Web sites where information can be gathered for research. Demo videos are often provided to show the student how to perform a specific task. These videos are similar to the ShowHow videos used with all the activities. 41

45 Narrations When long readings are needed in a lesson, the text and audio are provided. As an example, in the Alexander the Great lesson, a passage about the life of Alexander the Great is read using the lyrics from the song by Iron Maiden. 42

46 Assessments There is a short assessment of the academic content of the lesson at the end of each lesson. Students receive an immediate score (see picture on left) and a score is also written to the teacher grade book (see two pages ahead). Go ahead and take an exam. Click on the start button and use your student login and password to access the test. When a student completes a lesson by taking an exam, the student is immediately provided with a score and test details. These results can be printed by clicking on the Print button shown on each results page. Once the lesson is completed and the assessment taken, the lesson is removed from the student s chalkboard. 43

47 Summary Page The summary page is the final page in the lesson. To exit the lesson, click on the red box with the white X. The lesson in this example is similar to most lessons throughout the courseware. Students review an academic concept, play a couple of games that review this content, complete a technology exercise (in this case a three page Word document), and then take a short assessment on the lesson s academic concepts. Now that we ve completed a lesson, let s go and look at the teacher grade book. 44

48 Summary This document has provided a very brief overview of the features and functions of our software. Keep in mind that the purpose of the software is to teach technology and to develop technology literate students. At this point you may want to do the following: Log in as a teacher Create a new student Assign lessons from various grades and various subjects to the newly created student Take lessons as a student from various grades and subjects Review grade book and reporting features 45

49 Overview of Assessment Program Areas of Focus The K to the 8 th Power Assessment Program tests computer literacy skills for students in grades 6-8. It was designed to make sure students understand computer basics. The tests cover several different areas of computer literacy including: Basic operation and concepts of computer systems Productivity tools and applications used in a typical school or work setting Communication tools and techniques Problem solving and decision-making tools Purpose for Exam The assessment program was developed for the following three purposes: Assess students current individual technology literacy level (pre-assessment) Provide individual learning plans to develop skills in areas of deficiency Provide a certification to students who meet or exceed national computer literacy standards Assessment Standards The assessment program is designed to test student s technology literacy at grade level and is based on a number of accepted industry standards including: The International Computer Driver s License (ICDL) The International Society for Technology and Education s NETS standards. Microsoft Office User Specialists Objectives Figure 1. Program Sequence 46

50 Assessment Details Taking the Assessment The assessment program consists of 4 pre-assessment exams each consisting of 25 questions and requiring approximately 15 minutes per exam to complete. A screenshot of question 16 of assessment 1 is shown below. Following are the features the student will need to know in order to complete the assessment properly. Replay Audio (red arrow): The student can hear the page audio replayed. Answer Buttons A, B, C, D (green arrow): The student selects their answer by clicking on one of these buttons. Change Answer (yellow button): The student can erase their answer by clicking this button. Submit Final Answer (blue arrow): By clicking this button, the student submits their final answer. The student will not be able to change their submitted answer afterward. Figure 2. Assessment Interface 47

51 Assessment Reports After each test a report is automatically generated for each student showing how well they did on each exam. This detailed report consists of a matrix identifying a student s areas of weakness. The teacher or lab director can then assign the appropriate lesson for each student, creating individualized learning plans. Individualized Learning Plans Teachers simply click the checkbox to the right of one or more prescribed lessons and then assign the lessons with a single click of the mouse. This creates the individual learning plans for each student. Since most of the K to the 8 th Power lessons have academic objectives as well as technology objectives, the teacher may assign lessons based on an academic topic and technology topic. Figure 3. Assessment Report 48

52 Student Chalkboard The individualized learning plans, consisting of a list of assigned lessons from the Kto8 curriculum are created for each student. The lessons appear on each student s chalkboard. Students take lessons by clicking on the lesson name and going through each lesson. Student Lessons Students progress through their individual plans until all lessons have been completed. The system monitors the student s activity and provides teachers and technology instructors with progress reports as they take their individual lessons. Grades are automatically posted to the teacher s grade book as they take each lesson. Figure 5. Grade 4 Copyright Lesson 49

53 Student Certificate Once students have taken their prescribed set of lessons they are tested again for grade level proficiency through post assessment exams. If students pass this exam, they are awarded a certification. If a student fails the exam, they can be assigned another learning plan for overcoming any technology literacy deficiency that still exists. This iterative process can continue until the student passes the technology literacy program. Figure 6. Example Certification 50

54 For More Information For additional information or to see a demonstration of the assessment program you can do one of the following: Go to the following Web site to take a sample assessment: us and request additional information: sales@kto8.com Call us:

55 Best Practices for Student Success When it comes to computers, students have a wide range of knowledge and skills.over the past several years we have witnessed a number of practices that have helped teachers, lab directors and students succeed. These are listed below. Provide an orientation class The K to the 8 th Power curriculum was designed to be used by the student with minimal intervention from the lab director or teacher. This can be best accomplished by providing an orientation class before students begin taking lessons. For older students who already have computer experience, this orientation session may only last a few minutes. One of the best ways to conduct the orientation session (if your lab is equipped to do so) is to project a lesson so the whole lab can see. You can demonstrate the items below: At a minimum the following things should be covered in the orientation class: How to Login What is on their Chalkboard How a course is started. Course Navigation. Show the students the purpose for each of the buttons such as the Forward, Back, Audio and Table of Contents buttons. It might also be helpful to show the older students the Resource Button and how to access resources such as photos. You might also want to show the younger students the Glossary feature. Special Course Pages. There are several pages in every course that the students should be familiar with. These include a Game Page, Assessment Pages, and Activity Pages. Show the students how to access the activity steps and how to watch the ShowHow animations. Basic Window Management. Show the children how to click between Windows (using the Task Bar or the Alt and Tab keyboard keys), Minimize and Maximize and Close. If you would like to show a short demonstration of how the student s use K to the 8 th Power, you can download a Flash file from called ProgramOverview.swf. Because every lesson works essentially the same way, providing this short orientation session will get your students up and running very quickly. You will need a projector and a computer attached to the Internet to view show this demonstration. 52

56 Have older students help the younger students Successful schools teach the older students first. Once the older students have been through the orientation class and taken at least one lesson themselves, they can help teach the younger students how to take a lesson. For instance, 5th and 6th graders go through an orientation and then take a lesson. These students then help with the orientation and first 2 lessons of the Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. They don t actually do the lessons for the younger students they simply sit next to them and help when needed. Use the Curriculum Guide as a basis for Planning Successful schools keep the computer lab in synch with what is going on in the classroom. The curriculum guide can be used by the classroom teacher to help decide what is taught in the computer lab. The curriculum guide lists each lesson by grade with a short description of the academic part of the lesson and the technology part of the lesson. For instance, if Mrs. Smith s Fifth Grade class is studying nouns, pronouns and verbs in class, then assign that lesson in the lab. Use Tracks for Technology Focus If you plan to focus on a specific technology aspect such as word processing, use one of the predefined tracks for assigning lessons. These tracks are put in order by grade for your convenience. Electronic Portfolio Many schools that use K to the 8 th Power have their students keep an electronic portfolio of their work as the progress through the system. This portfolio can be used to demonstrate the student s computer literacy and proficiency to teachers, parents and administrators. 53

57 Recommended Lessons for Beginners at Early Grade Levels Your younger children will need to start with the easiest lessons. Here is a list of recommended lessons for children in grades K-2. Keep in mind that you can assign any lesson to any grade, so you might want to start your 1st and 2nd graders with Kindergarten lessons. Recommended Beginning Lessons for Kindergarten Keyboarding Letters A to M Keyboarding Letters N to Z Keyboarding Numbers and Letters Computer Components Basic Shapes Basic Colors Recommended Beginning Lessons for First Grade Computer Components Keyboarding Letters A to M Keyboarding Letters N to Z Keyboarding Numbers and Letters Letters A B C Letters D C F Letters G H I Money Time Recommended Beginning Lessons for Second Grade Computer Components Keyboarding Letters A to M Keyboarding Letters N to Z Keyboarding Numbers and Letters Rhyming Words 54

58 Computer Requirements This section provides details to help you prepare your computers and learning environment for optimal usage of the K to the 8 th Power courseware. Verify the computer configuration Listed below are the minimum requirements for computers that use the K to the 8 th Power Technology courseware. Windows PCs Operating System: 98, 98SE, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, or XP Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5+, Firefox Plug-ins: Macromedia Flash Player version 6.0+ and Adobe Reader Screen resolution: 800 x 600 or higher (1024 x 768 preferred) Apple Mac Operating System: Mac OS X Browser: Firefox Plug-ins: Macromedia Flash Player version 6.0+ and Adobe Reader Screen resolution: 800 x 600 or higher (1024 x 768 preferred) 55

59 Create a desktop Shortcut to the Student Login Page Students login to the Kto8 Assignment page. If you would like to have a customized Student Login Page for your school, please us and tell us your school name and include any graphics you would like for us to use for your login page. This customized login page will allow your students to bypass the selection of your school before logging in. Configure Popup Ad blocking software in your browser How will you know if you have popup ad blocking software enabled? If your student s lessons will not load you will need to make a small configuration change to your browser. The change depends on the version of browser and popup blocker you have. You may need to ask your technical support person for help. The best thing to do is tell the popup blocker to allow all popups from This will display all lesson content from K to the 8 th Power while continuing to block content from other providers. Check the resolution of the students computer displays The Kto8 lessons are designed to run at a resolution of 800x600 or larger. If the computer supports a 1024x768 resolution this is the preferred setting. In an 800x600 configuration the Kto8 lesson will fill up the entire screen. In a 1024x768 configuration the Kto8 lesson will be 800x600 and it will be centered in the middle of the 1024x768 screen. This will make it easier for the students to open additional windows when necessary and navigate to them when necessary. Taking a Sample Lesson To make sure the computers are set up correctly, you can take a sample lesson. Select a grade range on the left hand side of the screen. Then click on a lesson link (picture) to start a sample lesson. 56

60 Site Administration Submitting Your Student Roster. When you first start with K to the 8 th Power, you have the option of submitting a spreadsheet containing all of your student s names, user names, passwords and teachers names. This will expedite the process of getting your school set up. It typically takes 1-2 days to have your school up and running once the spreadsheet is submitted. Optionally you can enter the information yourself. This is not recommended because of the time and energy it will take to type in all of this information. Site Administration The Kto8 Site Administrator has all of the capabilities of a Kto8 Teacher PLUS you can add teachers and set up classrooms for those teachers. For an updated list of frequently asked questions, please visit our website at: 57

61 Set Up Kto8 Teachers First login as the Kto8 Site Administrator by going to the School Administration Area When you login you will see the following at the top of the page: School Administration Area Your School s Name There will be one Current Teacher: Your Name You will have the option to Add a Teacher, Edit your information, or Log Out. You can also change your username and password here. Adding a Teacher: 1. Select Add a Teacher 2. Enter Teacher Name (required): example Betty Reynolds 3. Enter Phone Number (optional) 4. Enter Address (optional) 5. Enter Grade (required): example 2 this must be a single character K through 8. This should be the grade level that this teacher most frequently teaches. NOTE: Any student regardless of the student s grade level can be assigned to any teacher regardless of the teacher s grade level. 6. Title (optional) 7. Username (required): example Betty 8. Password (required): example Reynolds 58

62 When you select Update Teacher the teacher will be added to the Kto8 Teacher database. NOTE: When you select Update Teacher you may get this message: There is already a teacher in the system with the username Betty. Please go back and choose another. Every teacher in the Kto8 Teacher database must have a unique username and password. If you try to use a username that another Kto8 Teacher in another school is already using you will get the above message. It doesn t happen very often but it does happen. When you have finished entering Kto8 Teachers for your school you can begin the process of setting up classrooms, assigning students to the classrooms, and assigning lessons to the students. Go to the next section: Begin Classroom Set Up You can return to the School Administration Area at any time to add or edit teacher information, look up or change teacher usernames and passwords. 59

63 Set Up Classrooms Begin Classroom Set Up [Your Kto8 Student database has been set up for you on one of the Kto8 Curriculum Servers.] To login go to: and click on the Teacher Login link at the top of the page. Before you begin to set up your real Kto8 Classrooms with your real students you can create a Practice Classroom with a practice student or two. There are three basic steps: 1 Set Up a New Classroom, 2 Add Students to the Classroom, and 3 Assign Lessons to Students. Set Up a New Classroom When you login you will see a message that says: Currently, this class has no students The first thing you will need to do is Set Up a New Classroom. You should set up a Practice classroom (we will delete the practice classroom and all practice student records before loading the real students). 1. Select Set up a New Classroom 2. Select the default Grade level for this class (regardless of the Classroom Grade Level any student from any grade can be assigned to a classroom) 3. Give the class a Classroom Title. 4. Skip the Group 1 4 fields for now. (Using groups can make it easier to manage a large class). 5. Comments: optional 60

64 Adding Students to this Class After adding the classroom you will need to add Students to this Class. There are two types of students: New Students and Existing Students. Existing Students are those students already in your Kto8 Student database. New Students are students that are not yet in your school s Kto8 Student database. Adding Existing Students to this class 1. Select Add Existing Students to this Class 2. Students in the default grade of the class will be listed 3. Select one or more students to add to this class 4. If you want to add existing students from a different grade level, select the grade level from the drop down list and add the desired students to this class 5. Click Proceed Adding New Students to this class 1. Select Add New Students to this Class 2. Enter the Student Name 3. Select default Grade level (you will be able to assign any student to any class regardless of the student s or class s default grade level) 4. Skip the Group 5. Comments: optional 6. Assign username 7. Assign password 8. Click Add This Student 9. Repeat for another practice student. 61

65 Assigning Lessons to Students After adding a few practice students to the class the next step is to assign lessons to them. The list of lessons on the right side of the Teacher Management Area defaults to the grade level of the classroom you have selected on the left side of the page. You can change the grade level and lesson category on the right side of the page. You will notice some lessons have beginner and advanced versions of the same lesson. These are for different levels of English language learners. The difference in the lessons is simplified vocabulary and usually simplified technical objectives. You can assign as many lessons to each practice student as you want but you should probably only assign 2-3 each to begin with. It will be easier for you to see and understand how the Kto8 Learning Management System functions. Assigning lessons to an individual student: 1. Click the check box next to the student s name 2. Click the check box next to the lesson(s) to be assigned 3. Click the green Assign Selected Lessons button at the top of the right side of the Lesson Browser page. Assigning lessons to several students: 1. Click the check boxes next to the students to whom you want to assign the lessons 2. Click the check box next to the lesson(s) to be assigned 3. Click the green Assign Selected Lessons button at the top of the right side of the Lesson Browser page. Assigning lessons to the entire class: 1. Click the All check box at the top of the class roster 2. Click the check box next to the lesson(s) to be assigned 3. Click the green Assign Selected Lessons button at the top of the right side of the Lesson Browser page. NOTE: You will see a link at the very top of the page (where you add classrooms and students) called Lesson Tracks. A Lesson Track is a collection of lessons on a specific subject in a specific sequence. Using lesson tracks will allow you to assign a group of lessons with one button click. You will see a number of lesson tracks increase over time. 62

66 To view assigned lessons: 1. Click the check boxes next to the students whose assignments you want to view (or check the All box to view all assignments for all students) 2. Click View Assignments for Checked Students 3. Scroll down to the bottom of the left portion of the page to see the lessons assigned to the student(s) To Unassign Individual Lessons: 1. Follow the steps to View Assigned Lessons 2. Select the students and the lessons to be unassigned and click the Unassign Selected Lessons To Unassign All Lessons: 1. Follow the steps to View Assigned Lessons 2. Click the Unassign All Lessons Many of the lessons have assessments toward the end of the lessons. Make sure the students use their correct usernames and passwords when logging in at the beginning of the assessment. After the student takes a lesson and completes the assessment, and after the assessment score is written to the grade book, the lesson will be removed from the list of assigned lessons. You can reassign the lesson if you want the student to take the lesson and assessment again. My third grade lessons do not start properly, what could be causing this? 63

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