June 22, 2011
Book Review: Fourth Grade Technology–32 Lessons
Fourth Grade Technology: 32 Lessons Every Fourth Grader Can Accomplish on a Computer
by Structured Learning IT Teaching Team
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the Fourth Edition, updated to MS Office 2007/10 (currently available only as pdf). It includes many more samples, reproducibles, Web 2.0 connections and how-to’s that are age-appropriate for a second grader. At 126 pages, it’s much more like a tech lab-in-a-binder than a mere 32 projects. The Amazon blurb says it all:
The six-volume Structured Learning Technology Curriculum (Fourth Edition, 2011) is the all-in-one solution to running an effective, efficient, and fun technology program whether you’re the lab specialist, IT coordinator, classroom teacher, or homeschooler, and is the current choice of hundreds of school districts across the country. Newly updated and expanded, each volume now includes step-by-step directions for a year’s worth of projects, samples, grading rubrics, reproducibles, wall posters, teaching ideas and hundreds of online connections to access enrichment material and updates from a working technology lab. Aligned with ISTE national technology standards, the curriculum follows a tested timeline of which skill to introduce when, starting with mouse skills, keyboarding, computer basics, and internet/Web 2.0 tools in Kindergarten/First; MS Word, Publisher, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Earth, internet research, email and Photoshop in Second-Fifth. Each activity is integrated with classroom units in history, science, math, literature, reading, writing, critical thinking and more. Whether you’re an experienced tech teacher or brand new to the job, you’ll appreciate the hundreds of embedded links that enable you to stay on top of current technology thinking and get help from active technology teachers using the program. Additional items included in each volume are wall posters to explain basic concepts, suggestions for keyboarding standards, discussion of how to integrate Web 2.0 tools into the classroom curriculum and the dozens of online websites to support classroom subjects.
For a limited time, if you send an Amazon proof of purchase to the publisher at [email protected], you can buy a discounted pdf of the updated fourth edition book.
Disclaimer: I am one of the editors for this series, though it’s a collaboration of a team of technology teachers. We’ve included links to free versions of software so users aren’t forced to purchase expensive software. We’ve included many how-to’s on timely technology topics like when to start keyboarding, how to integrate Web 2.0 tools into classrooms and more. We’ve also connected the Fourth Edition to this Ask a Tech Teacher blog so users can stay up-to-date on tech in their classes and can get immediate assistance with lessons should they get stuck. And, we’ve put the entire workbook in a three ring binder making it easy to remove reproducibles for copying without ruining the book.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she’s working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
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