Post computing content here
This term Year 1 have been using their laptop skills to enable them to digitally paint.
They have used a variety of tools (shape, line, fill, undo, colours) create their own digital painting in the style of an artist.
The artists we have taken inspiration from are:-
Piet Mondrian
Henri Matisse
Wassily Kandinsky
George Seurat
All of the children have produced the most amazing work, take a look…
This week, Year 1 have continued with their work on the laptops. We are still using the paintz.app, but this term we are focusing on Digital Painting.
We will be looking at a different artist each week and creating our own masterpiece, inspired by their work.
The children became artists, as they created their own fabulous masterpieces, inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian.
The children observed that his work just used primary colours and squares and rectangles created by using lines.
We realised that the line and fill tools would be perfect for us to use. The children were able to make the shapes with lines and then ‘pour’ the primary colours in.
Just look at their fabulous work!
Safer Internet Day is held every February all around the world. Last year, over 170 different countries celebrated the day! Safer Internet Day is a chance to think about any worries we might have about using technology and the internet, but it’s also about celebrating all the fantastic things technology can help us with. Last year, over half of the children in the UK heard about or joined in with Safer Internet Day.
To mark Safer Internet Day this year, the Year 5/6 children took part in a whole-phase assembly.
This year for Safer Internet Day we were thinking about an exciting type of technology: AI.
AI stands for artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a type of computer system, which has been designed to try and do some of the things a human brain can do. Over time, computer scientists have developed AI to try and do some of the amazing things our brains can do. AI uses information too, but it’s normally called data. AI can be trained to spot patterns and make certain decisions, and as the technology improves, it is being used in all kinds of exciting ways.
AI is like any technology – we can use it to do amazing things, but we also need to remember to use it safely and responsibly, in a way that makes you and other people feel good.
Here are some important things to remember when using AI technology:
This week, Year 1 have been thinking about internet safety, how to use technology responsibly and why we have rules.
The children shared some rules they know about.
“You mustn’t go on unsuitable things” Eve.
“Have a break from screen time” – Bailey.
“Tell a grown up if you hear any bad words” – Charlie.
“Only go on your tablet after you’ve had tea” – Gracie.
“Keep passwords secret!” – Benjamin.
We shared talk about all of these and also discussed only going on games, apps and programs that our grown up allows us to, either at home or school. We also chatted about telling a grown up if we see or hear anything that makes us sad or worried.
After that, we thought about the rules we have when using computer technology at school, such as:-
Year 1 will be continuing to work on the laptops after half-term, remembering these rules.
Year 1 have been working on developing their trackpad skills.
We now understand the main components of a computer – screen, keyboard, mouse, trackpad – so we looked at different mice and how some look different but all perform the same function, such as the trackpad.
This week which tried out paintz.app, which is an online artist programme.
First we explored the tool bar, finding out that as well as changing colours, we could make shapes, fill with colour and use a spray paint effect.
Then we had chance to explore all the tools… we found that you could draw a circle/square with one, another enabled us to fill the shape with colour and one gave a spray paint effect … we had fun finding out what all the tools were able to do.
At first, some found it a bit tricky to select different tools and using the trackpads to draw … but all of the children showed determination and perseverance, and were able to produce some fabulous work… with some is us even managing to type our name using the keyboard.
After completing our lesson this week, we were all able to place our laptops in the charging station and carefully plug the lead into the correct hole.
This week, Year 1 had their first use of our school laptop computers, but first they needed to be able to identify the screen, keyboard and mouse/trackpad.
They enjoyed finding out how to turn on and log in to a laptop computer.
All of the children had a turn at developing their trackpad/mouse skills by completing a puzzle program. They needed to use the trackpad to grab and drag each puzzle piece… this proved a little tricky and it’s a skill that we will be working on developing more next week.
This term in Computing, Year 1 will be getting to use the school laptops … but first we had to find out what exactly ‘technology’ is.
We found out the word ‘technology’ means ‘anything made by people to help us’.
The children then searched our classroom to find items of technology. The children were able to find many things and say how they help us…
Harvey told us that “glasses help us to see better”, while Matilda said “my bottle has my water in it for me to stay hydrated and healthy” and all the children were surprised when Thomas said the chair was technology as it helps us to sit down! Roman and Aurelius both found sticks that help us to measure.
We discovered that technology is absolutely everywhere in our classroom, so we had to go outside to find things that aren’t technology… trees and the sky aren’t technology as they are not made by people… also, the children found it funny to learn that we also aren’t technology!
This week Year 1 continued working with the BEEBOTS.
The children had remembered what all the command buttons did and also that the clear button is very important, that we must press it before giving our Beebots new instructions.
They worked in small groups to navigate their Beebot around the grid, trying to predict which symbol it would stop on. This turned out to be a little tricky, sometimes where it actually did stop, caused a few surprises!
All the children enjoyed making our robots move.
This term Year 1 were introduced to the Bee-Bots.
Bee-Bots are robots that need commands to make them move.
We spent time linking outcomes to each button.
The commands we learnt were:- forwards, backwards, turn, clear and go.
Working together, we estimated how many times we would need to press the forward arrow key to get the Beebot all the way to Bailey… it was 20!
Then, working in small groups, the children were able to independently programme some commands into the Beebots … they enjoyed predicting and seeing how they moved.
In the computing lesson today the children were able to show off their knowledge in coding. Their objective was to try and code an air hockey style game. They really impressed me with their knowledge.
