Session 4

Session 4

Visual Mapping

PowerPoint

Fractals

Visual Mapping
Visual mapping is software used to outline your thoughts in visual form, using shapes and arrows. There are many programs that you can buy to do visual mapping. It can also be done in MSWord and PowerPoint. Here are links to websites where you can buy Visual Mapping software. You can also download free trial programs that you can use for the lessons in this session.
Kidspiration and Inspiration--These are programs used by many school districts. Kidspiration is for students in grades K-5, and Inspiration is for grades 4 and up. Both of them are excellent programs that will help you organize your thoughts and ideas. You can also create a visual map, change to outline view, and export the outline to MSWord or PowerPoint.
Cornerstone Visual Thinking--Similar program for older students.

Fractals
Fractals are mathmatically generated computer art. There are many websites devoted to Fractals. Here is a list of my favorite sites. This fractal was created with Mind Boggling Fractals, and you can download a free version of the software from that page. (I used Paint Shop Pro to animate the fractal.) There are also links to the lesson plans that I used with my classes.

Fractals

Fractals are mathmatically generated computer art. There are many websites devoted to Fractals. Here is a list of my favorite sites. This fractal was created with Mind Boggling Fractals, and you can download a free version of the software from that page. (I used Paint Shop Pro to animate the fractal.) There are also links to the lesson plans that I used with my classes.

Session 4 PowerPoint Lessons (Open the lesson and click the Slide Show button)
Lesson 13--PowerPoint Terms--(6 minutes) Basic PowerPoint vocabulary.
Lesson 14--PowerPoint Tips--(11 minutes) Tips for making your PowerPoint presentations more effective.
More information is available in my PowerPoint packet. You can find specific information on animating objects, creating voice-overs, adding sound effects, timing your presentation, and many other instructions.

Session 4

PowerPoint Lessons

(Open the lesson and click the Slide Show button)

Lesson 13--PowerPoint Terms--(6 minutes) Basic PowerPoint vocabulary.

Lesson 14--PowerPoint Tips--(11 minutes) Tips for making your PowerPoint presentations more effective.

More information is available in my PowerPoint packet. You can find specific information on animating objects, creating voice-overs, adding sound effects, timing your presentation, and many other instructions.

EasyTech© Lessons by: Learning.com
These are Word documents which explain the lessons that are available this session. You can print them if you want to use them as checklists. There is no limit on the number of lessons you do, and you can do lessons from any level. Passwords will be emailed to those families who have paid for this session.
Level 1--K-2	Level 2--3-5	Level 3--6-Adult
Links to teacher instructions in PDF form for the Activities have been added to the Word documents.

EasyTech© Lessons

by:

Learning.com

These are Word documents which explain the lessons that are available this session. You can print them if you want to use them as checklists. There is no limit on the number of lessons you do, and you can do lessons from any level. Passwords will be emailed to those families who have paid for this session.

Level 1--K-2

Level 2--3-5

Level 3--6-Adult

Links to teacher instructions in PDF form for the Activities have been added to the Word documents.

Touch Typing
The EasyTech© lessons include lessons in touch typing. I do recommend that students have more practice than what is included here. There are many typing programs on the market, or you can use Learn2Type, which has a free version on the website. They also have a pay version, which does not include pop-up advertising.

E-Pals

If you would like to set up controlled email accounts for your children, I recommend EPals. On this website, you can obtain free email accounts that you can monitor. The site also has monitored message boards and blog sites. Your children can have epals all over the world.

1. Register yourself as a teacher.

2. Create a profile. Identify yourself as a home school parent, and give a little info about the ages and interests of your children. It takes a day or two for your profile to be approved.

3. Click MONITORED ACCOUNTS, then ACCOUNTS, then CREATE NEW ACCOUNTS.

4. Set up accounts for your children.

5. Assign filters for each child.

Profanity filters are organized from Level 1 to Level 4, with Level 1 providing the most stringent filtering. In all cases, you can choose whether or not to preview messages containing attachments.

Level 1	All messages must be approved by the monitor, whether they contain profanity or not.
Level 2	Messages containing profanity must be approved by the monitor, but unflagged messages will reach their recipients automatically. The monitor will also receive a copy of every unflagged message.
Level 3	Messages containing profanity must be approved by the monitor, but unflagged messages will reach their recipients automatically. The monitor will not see unflagged messages.
Level 4	All profanity filters are off.
Attachment filters work on top of the profanity filters. If you turn "preview attachments" on, messages containing attachments will be flagged even if you do not wish to flag messages containing profanity.

6. Explore the profiles of other teachers. You can even search for other home school families in other countries and email them to find epals for your children. You can join projects that are already in progress, or create your own.

Note: The filters on this program are very strict. It will filter as profanity any word or portion of a word that could be used inappropriately, even if it's not being used that way in the context of the email.