Newsletters
February 15, 2023 is World Computer Day!
Celebrate the world of computers and the informational technology profession! Encourage your child to take the time to appreciate all the things we have that are driven by computer technology. Some ideas can be found here at: https://worldcomputerday.org/about
Oct 2022: Digital Citizenship Week
October 31: Mystery Monday
Dress like someone or something you’re not—because not everything online is true.
Digital Citizenship Concept: Not everything is factual online or social media. Students should verify and fact check things they see or hear online.
November 01: Twinning Tuesday
Dress like your parent or teacher to remember to get their permission before going online.
Digital Citizenship Concept: Minors should be obtaining permission to use devices. Adults should be aware of what minors are doing on the devices--what sites, games, or social media are being viewed.
November 02: Web Wisely Wednesday
Wear black to remember to keep your information safe--don't share your information online.
Digital Citizenship Concept: Keep all personal identifiable information offline as much as possible. Do not give out name--especially full name--or home address. Be aware of what is in the backgrounds of photos posted, so that personal identifiable information may not inadvertently be posted, such as a house number with street sign on the corner. Protect all passwords.
November 03: Thoughtful Thursday
Wear a hat to remember to say kind words online.
Digital Citizenship Concept: Keep conversations and posts online respectful and polite. There is a human being on the other side. Report all negative interactions to a responsible adult.
November 04: Fun Friday
Wear a sports jersey or green to remember to go outside and play--don't be on devices all day.
Digital Citizenship Concept: Balance time on and off a device. Play outside or interact with people--within the family or neighborhood.
Welcome to Computer Science, School Year 2022-2023
This year Mr. Higa and Ms. Tateyama will be teaching Computer Science to Kindergarteners through fifth graders in RC1! We will continue to use code.org as our main curriculum. Students will learn programming concepts and skills. SPHERO Bolts will be used to apply what they have learned on code.org and see their coding skills in action! Don't forget that under the links section (found on the menu bar to the right of the page) that students can submit a help request if they are stuck on an assignment at home. Also be on the lookout in at the start of quarter 2 for information on Digital Citizenship Week (Oct 31 - Nov 4).
Digital Citizenship Week 16 Oct 2019
Aloha from Solomon Elementary’s
Computer Science Class! It’s Digital Citizenship Week!! (October 14 - 18, 2019)
The students at Solomon Elementary are learning computer science every other week. We have touched on 4 out of the 5 areas of computer science thus far: Algorithms & Programming, Networks & the Internet, Computing Systems, and Impacts of Computing. Mainly we have been focused on password security, as well as computer programming on code.org.
Students can access their code.org accounts from home to catch up on classwork:
- Type in the following URL: http://bit.ly/SES_CS
- Click on their username
- Click on their picture password
- Click on the orange SIGN IN button in the middle of the screen
As class time is very limited, students will be needing computer or tablet time to access code.org at home to finish any lesson that was not completed in class. Please help our students work toward a solid green icon for the entire lesson. As shown below, lesson “5. Programming with Scrat” has been completed up until part 9. Parts 10 - 12 of lesson 5 still need to be completed.
The code.org lessons help students learn skills and concepts of programming. These lessons set the foundation for students to program the SPHERO SPRK+ robots. The plan is to start using these robots from their second class this quarter. Please help your students to finish their classwork at home.
The back has a poster about Digital Citizenship. We are talking about different aspects of the poster throughout the school year. Please have a discussion with your child about being good digital citizens as our world is becoming more tech-savvy!
February 2019 Newsletter
The official first day for the Year of the Pig of the Chinese New Year was celebrated on February 5, 2019. Hopefully you were able to participate in some of the festivities in Chinatown. This quarter we are slowly having all the grade levels start to use SPHERO robots when they come to class. The SPHERO SPRK+ looks like a ball and is most commonly explained as the bottom ball of a BB-8 droid from Star Wars. By the end of this month, most classes should be completed with code.org lessons up to #8. [bit.ly/SES_CS]
At the Apple Store in Ala Moana, they are hosting a free event using the SPHERO robots and iPads. Hope you will be able to register and have your family play with these robots!
Coding Lab for Kids: Sphero Robot Obstacle Challenge
Help a Sphero robot navigate obstacles using code in the Sphero Edu app on iPad. Kids will explore block-based coding by programming simple movements, changing colors, and more. They’ll set up obstacles and use iPad to program a path for their robot to navigate. Bring your own devices, or we’ll provide them. Recommended for ages 6–12.
Sat, February 16
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Apple Store Ala Moana
1450 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, HI 96814
January 2018 Newsletter
Happy New Year!!
Hope you had an enjoyable Winter Break with family and friends! School is back in session and I have planned lots of different activities for our students at Solomon Elementary School! Just when school is starting again, there’s a 3-day break right around the corner. Hopefully you were able to do some of the technology activities with your family over the break. Don’t forget that everyone should be done with lesson 5. [bit.ly/SES_CS]
Here’s another great FREE event hosted by the Microsoft Store over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend! Develop your art skills along with getting cool swag!!
Happy Coding!
Ms. Tateyama
Honor MLK at Microsoft Store from
January 18 to 20
Aloha!
We’re honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a series of events focused on the community, youth, and Dr. King’s Dream.
Join us at Microsoft Store at Ala Moana Center between January 18 and January 20 where local youth will have the opportunity to create “I Have a Dream”-inspired digital paintings.
Participants and their families along with the community will be invited back on January 21 for our Community Celebration and art show. Selected participants will have the opportunity to have their artwork on display as well as to explain what Dr. King’s Dream means to them.
MLK WEEKEND SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, 1/18 3:30 PM - 7:30 PM: MLK Dream Artwork - Fresh Paint
Saturday, 1/19 3:30 PM - 7:30 PM: MLK Dream Artwork - Fresh Paint
Sunday, 1/20 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM: MLK Dream Artwork – Fresh Paint
Monday, 1/21 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: MLK Day Community Reception
Mahalo,
Kristina Cook
Microsoft at Ala Moana Center
808.954.3803
Find Your Store
December 2018 Newsletter
Mele Kalikimaka
from Computer Science!
The weather has finally cooled off and seems like the Hawaiian winter will arrive soon! Although there are no snowmen to build, sandmen can always be built together at the beach with your family.
On a “Hawaiian snow-day” and it is raining too much to go out, consider working on some of these computer science activities as a family:
One great resource is found on code.org:
The link will allow students to find their class by grade level. Then students can log into their school accounts. All students should have up until the end of lesson 5 completed. In addition to their lessons, students and parents together may select any of the Hour of Code activities to complete. If any of the Hour of Code activities are completed, be sure to click ADD TO PROJECTS. Then when students return to school in January these completed projects will be showcased during their Computer Science Class.
Another great resource of 25 different sites can be found at CommonSense.org:
From doing computer programming to designing 3-dimensional objects there’s lots to try out over the break! Most are free to try or use online.
One last resource is Tinkercad:
As it implies in its name, this is an easy to use CAD (computer aided-drawing) software which students and families can learn together to use! Upper elementary students will be working with this software during semester 2. Students can get a head start on learning the software before we start to work on it in class.
Hour of Code Newsletter 28 Nov 2018
28 Nov 2018
Aloha from Computer Science!
We live in a world surrounded by technology. And we know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly depend on understanding how technology works.
But only a tiny fraction of us are learning how technology works. Only 35% of all high schools in the United States teach computer science.
That’s why Solomon Elementary School is joining in on the largest worldwide learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week (December 3-9). Students of Solomon Elementary will join more than 100 million students worldwide to emphasize the need of coding in our classrooms. Our Hour of Code is making a statement that Solomon Elementary is ready to teach these foundational 21st-century skills. To continue bringing programming activities to your students, we want to make our Hour of Code event huge. We encourage families to sit down together during Computer Science Education Week and explore some of the activities on code.org [http://bit.ly/SES_CS] at home.
This is another opportunity for families to change the future of education for our military students.
See http://hourofcode.com/us for details, and help spread the word.
“The 'Hour of Code™' is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week [csedweek.org] and Code.org [code.org] to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.”
November 2018 Newsletter
Nov 2018
Aloha from Solomon Elementary’s
Computer Science Class!
Quarter 2 is over halfway done! Time has quickly passed. The students at Solomon Elementary are learning computer science every other week. We have touched on 4 out of the 5 areas of computer science thus far: Algorithms & Programming, Networks & the Internet, Computing Systems, and Impacts of Computing. Mainly we have been focused on password security, as well as computer programming on code.org.
Students can access their code.org accounts from home one of two ways:
OPTION 1
- Navigate to code.org
- Type in their 6 letter class code (located in their coding folders)
- Click on their username
- Click on their picture password
- Click on the orange SIGN IN button in the middle of the screen
OPTION 2
- Type in the following URL: http://bit.ly/SES_CS
- Click on their username
- Click on their picture password
- Click on the orange SIGN IN button in the middle of the screen
As class time is very limited, students will be needing computer or tablet time to access code.org at home to finish any lesson that was not completed in class. Please help our students work toward a solid green icon for the entire lesson. As shown below in a screenshot from Grade 1's course, lesson “5. Programming with Scrat” has been completed up until part 9. Parts 10 - 12 of lesson 5 still need to be completed.
The code.org lessons help students learn skills and concepts of programming. These lessons set the foundation for students to program the SPEHRO SPRK+ robots. Hopefully we will have everyone use these robots before Winter Break!
