Halloween Fun!

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Autumn-Themed Graphic Art Project

This month's graphic art project will have an autumn theme. You may draw anything you like, but it must have something to do with the season of autumn. The purpose of this project is to teach you to become comfortable drawing by hand, and to learn to use graphic art software.

Remember:

• You must draw your project by hand (no object tools)
• You may not use wallpaper, patterns, or clip art in your projects
• Use the selection tool to select, then copy and paste your artwork when you need multiple copies of an item (such as leaves on a tree)
• Use the blend tool to soften edges in your drawing

Here are some examples of Ms. Kline's graphic art projects.
Like her students, she drew them entirely by hand.

Fall 2009

Fall 2004
Turkey
Pumpkin

Using the Appleworks 6 Paint Program to Draw a Picture

To begin a new drawing:

1. Open the Applications Folder
   
2. Select the Appleworks folder
   
3. Select the Appleworks 6 program
   
4. Wait for the program to open
   
5. Click "Painting" on the "Starting Points" window
6. Save your document as: LastNameFirstName + the name of the project (no spaces)
   
7. Hide the Button Bar - Click "Window" in the menu bar and select "Hide Button Bar"
   
8. Show the "Accents" Tabs - Click "Window" in the menu bar and select "Show Accents"
9. Drag your toolbar to the right side of your workspace
   
10. Stretch out your drawing area to cover the entire screen
    
11. Keep your paper at 150% - zoom in only when necessary

To use or modify the Painting program features:

• Click on the zoom icons at the lower left corner to zoom in and out
  
• Click on the percent box at the lower left corner to change the zoom %
  
• Click on the red toolbox icon to show or hide the tools
  
• Click on the fill box on any "Accents" tab to change the fill (inside) color of any tool
  
• Click on the pen box on any Accents tab to change the outline color of any tool
  
• Click on "Palette" on any Accents tab to change the palette's color choices
  
• Click on a color to select a fill or pen color
  
• Click on the 2nd Accents tab to change the fill or pen patterns
  
• Click on the 3rd Accents tab to use a wallpaper style for fill or pen patterns
  
• Click on the 4th Accents tab to use a gradients style for fill or pen patterns
  
• Click on the 5th Accents tab to change the width of a line or outline, or to draw arrows

To use the paint program tools:

• Put the mouse over a tool to see its name and to read how to use it
  
• Line Tool - Used to draw lines (hold the shift key to draw straight lines)
  
• Rectangle Tool - Used to draw rectangles (hold the shift key to make a square)
  
• Rounded Rectangle Tool - Used to draw rectangles with rounded corners
  
• Oval Tool - Used to draw round shapes (hold the shift key to make a circle)
  
• Arc Tool - Match the fill color to the background color if you want to just draw a curved line
  
• Polygon Tool - Used to make irregular polygons (with different angles) - Click to start/Double-click to end
  
• Free Hand Object Tool - Click to start/Double-click to end
  
• Bezier Tool - Click to start/Double-click to end
  
• Regular Polygon/Triangle Tool - Used to make regular polygons
  
• Eyedropper Tool - Used to select a color for matching
  
• Rectangular Selection Tools - Used to select an area
  
• Lasso Selection Tool - Used to select an irregular area
  
• Paintbrush Tool - Double-click to see size & style choices
  
• Pencil Tool - Used for fine hand-drawn lines
  
• Fill Bucket - Used to add color inside an area
  
• Spray Can - Double-click to change size/shape of spray area
  
• Eraser Double-click to erase the entire page

Remember for all art projects:

• All art projects must be drawn by hand
• You may not use patterns for fill or pen colors
  
• You may not use the wallpaper designs
  
• You may not use the gradient designs

Week 9

Welcome to Week 9 of Keyboarding!

Last week you started using an opaque keyboard cover to help prevent you from looking at the keyboard. You learned how to create an application shortcut for your desktop. You added new words and definitions to your keyboarding Key Vocabulary word list, and you continued to work on your Keyboarding Online lessons.

This week you will:

• Learn how to use the AppleWorks Paint software program
• Create an art project with an autumn theme
• Begin "Friday - Art Day"
  

We will spend three days this week learning how to use the many tools and features of the AppleWorks Paint program. You will then have two days to begin your fall art project. You will continue your art project every Friday for the rest of the year. Each month will have a new theme. At the end of each week, students who have completed an art project may submit it to Ms. Kline to be printed in color for the classroom "Wall of Fame!"

Ms. Kline's Week 9 Key Vocabulary:
modify
palette
window
zoom

Week 8

Welcome to Week 8 of Keyboarding!

Last week you learned how to create and save a new word processing document and you created short "kid-friendly" definitions for your keyboarding "Key Vocabulary" list. You also learned how to effectively and efficiently open a recent application. This past week also brought an increase in the words per minute (WPM) required for you to receive credit on your individual lessons. For the rest of this six-week grading period, you will need to type 20 WPM on each line in every lesson. No problem!

This week you will:

• Use an opaque keyboard cover to help prevent you from looking at the keyboard
• Learn how to create an application "shortcut" or "alias" for your desktop
• Add the new vocabulary words to your list with definitions
  
• Review proper keyboarding technique.
• Continue your Keyboarding Online lessons.

Ms. Kline's Week 8 Key Vocabulary:
opaque
effectively
efficiently
alias

Let's Celebrate!

Today Ms. Kline will hand out Cougar Paw Grams to her hardest working students!

If your online student data report shows that you have at least 3 hours of work so far this semester, you will receive a Paw Gram. This rewards all student hard work, not just students who type the fastest.

Today is also "Good Phone Call Friday" so make sure to listen for your good work Teleparent phone call from Ms. Kline!

Kline Quick Tip #3 - Application Shortcuts for OSX

Many people like to keep icons for the computer applications and files they use regularly on their computer desktops. Instead of copying the entire computer program or file to your desktop, which is a waste of disk space, users can make a shortcut/alias for the application instead.

An alias in Mac OS X is a shortcut for opening an application or file, eliminating the need to open the application from the applications folder. You can identify a shortcut/alias by the small arrow on the icon, and the word "alias" attached to the name of the application.

How to Make an Alias for an Application on the Desktop:

1. Find the application in the applications folder
2. Press and hold the "control" key on the keyboard
3. Click on the application
4. Drop down to "Make Alias"
5. Drag the new alias to the desktop
   

Kline Quick Tip #2 - Opening a Recent File or App in OSX

Here is a quick tip for opening a file or application you have used recently.

1. Click on the silver apple on the left side of the menu bar.
2. Drop down to "Recent Items."
3. Slide/drop down and click on the file or application you wish to open.

It's as easy as that!

How to Create and Save a Word Processing Document

There are many different word processing applications you may use to create a type-written document such as Open Office, Neo Office, AppleWorks, Word Perfect, and Microsoft Word to name several of the most popular programs. Today we will learn how use Microsoft Word to create our Keyboarding Key Vocabulary Word List.

Use the following steps to create, name, and save a new word processing document:

1. Click and hold the applications folder in the dock until a drop down menu appears
2. Click on "Microsoft Office"
3. Click on "Microsoft Word"
4. If the Project Gallery opens, click the "Open" button
5. You should now have an open word processing document
6. Click "File" in the menu bar
7. Drop down to "Save As..."
8. Give the file a name that is specific to the project you are working on
9. Change the format to "Rich Text Format (RTF)" so that you will be able to open the file with any word processing application.
10. Select your "Documents" folder as the location to store your document
11. Click the "Save" button

Your document will then have a name, and be saved in your documents folder!

For this assignment, please save this document as "Keyboarding Vocabulary" save it as an .rtf and copy and paste the first 20 words you have studied this year:

icon
mouseover
application
alignment
keyboarding
W.P.M.
align
forearm
touch typing
speed
accuracy
home row
web bookmark
search engine
images
Aspect ratio
server
web browser
websites
hyperlink

Utilizing the hyperlinks for each vocabulary word, we will now begin creating our own "kid-friendly" definitions and add them to our list.

Week 7

Welcome to Week 7 of Keyboarding!

Last week you took your 1st Keyboarding Benchmark exam. Since we had been practicing our keyboarding skills for five long weeks, and the 1st benchmark exam was a performance-based assessment, this helped every student become proficient on this first exam!

This week you will:

• Learn how to create and save a new word processing document.
• Create a Keyboarding "Key Vocabulary" list with short "kid-friendly" definitions.
• Learn how to open a recent application.
  
• Review proper keyboarding technique.
• Continue your Keyboarding Online lessons.

Week 6

Welcome to Week 6 of Keyboarding!

Last week you made a lot of progress with your keyboarding skills. You continued to practice your touch typing, using proper hand and body position at the keyboard. You learned how "force quit" a frozen application. You also learned how to make a cross-word puzzle using your keyboarding vocabulary words.

This week you will take your Keyboarding Benchmark 1 exam.

Don't be nervous! You have been practicing your skills for five long weeks.

Because this is a performance-based assessment, Ms. Kline will review the skills with you before you are assessed.

Look on the right side of Ms. Kline's blog to find the Keyboarding Benchmark 1 assessment.

Good luck!

Vocabulary Fun #3 - Crossword Puzzle

For the Vocabulary Fun segment this week, you will create a crossword puzzle to practice your Keyboarding Weekly Key Vocabulary. Remember, a crossword puzzle needs a short definition of each word to be complete.

Open the following link in new tab to see the Week 1 vocabulary list.

• Week 1 Vocabulary List
  

Now open the following link (not in a new tab) to use Discovery Education's Puzzlemaker program:

Criss-Cross