Computer Technology

Upper Elementary

Mineral Door began the spring semester with a creative writing unit. To start the unit, students participated in various typing programs to help get them acquainted with the keyboard and practice developing their typing style After a few weeks of typing practice, students created an outline in Docs prior to writing their short story Students had the opportunity to write about whatever spoke to them individually - story themes ranged from sports to mystery, to fantasy. How lucky we are to have such creative minds!

Post typing and creative writing, students embarked on the journey to learn animation using Wick Editor Students explored creating storyboards, sketching, layering, and creating onion skins. Some students even added interactive components to create a game within their animation to share with their peers!

Finally, we have begun our 3D printing unit Students use a program called Tinkercad which is an online, beginner-friendly 3D modeling software Here students learn how to place, rotate, enlarge or shrink, and group items together to create a 3D print. They are able to watch the 3D printer run during class to see what amazing creations pop out! As they watched prints being created, they discovered supports and bases They also observed that 3D printing takes a lot of patience- even the smallest thing can take at least 15 or 20 minutes to print!