7th-8th Grade
Welcome to the 7th and 8th Grade Computer Classroom.
*Working on Projects at Home: This video demonstrates how to work on projects at home by uploading your project to Google Drive and then downloading it to work on your home computer.
*Badges: You will be able to recieve badges during Computer Design by mastering a variety of skills. Check out what Aurora Public Schools is doing with badges.
*Being Safe: This site has curriculum for grades 6-8 on how to be safe online and how to deal with bullying. How can safety lead to a better quality of life?
*Classcraft: "Classcraft is a free online, educational role-playing game that teachers and students play together in the classroom. By using many of the conventions traditionally found in games today, students can level up, work in teams, and earn powers that have real-world consequences." Check out the random events!
Coding: This is a project that you can work on throughout the semester. It is packed with coding activities. How can coding help you be a better learner?
*File Management: This assignment should help prepare students for future activities and assist them in maintaining good files. This assignment gets the student familiar with locating and saving applications they will be using in class. Some fun tricks will be learned during this assignment. Each step should be done in order. NETS: Technology Operations and Concepts (6a) IB Inquiry Question: Why is organization and following directions important? How can following directions lead to more success? Could lack of organization impact your job security? ATL: Self Management
Canva Portfolio: Students will make a website on a hypothetical company, museum or country using Google Sites. They will then use Canva, a graphic design platform, to promote their site with attractive ads.
*Portfolio Unit: Students will create a portfolio to showcase their best work. Students will be expected to showcase projects completed in class and add any choice project they complete to this digital portfolio. How can a digital portfolio open more doors? This is the unit we used to do in Computer Design
*Choice Project: Students will be able to choose from a variety of options in order to create a final product worthy of posting on their online portfolio. If students don't like the choices, they can make a proposal to the teacher. Check out the presentation. How can choice projects improve your learning?
Movie Editing: Students will learn how to edit using Corel VideoStudio X10. You will be able to edit film you shoot at school or at home. When you create a good video, you will be encouraged to put it on your Portfolio site. You will also be encouraged to make how to videos using this software. What jobs might require movie editing skills?
*Students Educate: Students can create how to videos using Corel VideoStudio X10. They can create videos for teachers or their peers to learn a new concept on the computer. Check out more video resources. How can helping others help you?
*Photoshop Exploration: Students learn Photoshop and Pixlr in more depth. They must watch several instructional videos and do at least 6 of those videos. They must then put their examples in a Power Point presentation. This project is designed to give them sufficient image editing skills so that they can make exceptional websites that incorporate Photoshop Elements or Pixlr. You can check out the Pixlr online workshop that has many examples and videos to help with this assignment. IB Inquiry Question: How can I change a photograph into something new that looks real? ATL: Thinking
Internet Culture: Students will look at issues pertaining to cyber bullying, online safety, social networks, sexting and online etiquette. Once they have a deeper understanding of these online issues, they will create a multimedia presentation to educate others. IB Inquiry Question: How can I empower others? ATL: Social; Communication; Research; Thinking
*Film Unit: You will learn various film techniques. Once you learn the techniques, you will film several of the different shots and put them in a presentation. ATL: Thinking; Social; Communication
*Photography Unit: You will learn various photography techniques. Once you learn the techniques, you will take photos representing those shots and put them in a presentation. You can watch the presentation that discusses the 8 basic photography techniques. ATL: Thinking; Social; Communication