Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

The difference between the EeePCs and pencil and paper is huge. For one, you can edit your writing with much more ease. Next, you can jot down your ideas a lot easier with the EeePCs, which can come in handy when you need to get your ideas down quickly. Finally, you can do a lot more with the EeePC netbooks then you would with pencil and paper!
There is one thing that would be so difficult without the netbooks and that is how to do a PQP (praise, question and polish) on each other's writing. I can't even imagine doing those without the EeePCs.
The most important thing I have learned this year is probably learning how to do different types of writing. There's realistic fiction, parody, biography, etc. and that wouldn't have been so much fun and exciting to do without the EeePC netbooks.
Also, thank you Mr. Maas for making this possible!

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

It's really different because you get to improve your typing skills. And it's different from having to write on pencil and paper because you get to research anything you might need to for school work and if we didn't have the EEE's we would never be able to do our olympic project.

Yes there are times I wouldn't be able to anything without the computer like class blogs, wiki, reading blog,ect. I think all of the fith graders are all lucky to have the EEE's and should all be lucky.

On the EEE's I learned that they can be tought at times but they can be really usefull. And another thing i learned is that my typing skills have gotten better since the beging of the year.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

With our eeePCs it is sometimes much easier at some times but at others it can be difficult. Your hand gets really tired when you use a pencil and paper. But the eeePCs can be annoying at times to.

If we did not have our eeePCs it would extremely hard to research for a big project that is do. Or like with our Olympic writing we are doing! Also on the eeePCs there is a dictionary that is much easier than a real dictionary and the dictionary comes with the synonym and Antonym.

The most important thing I learned with the eeePCs is how to do call outs on commuters.


From, Chanda

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

I think that its easier with the eee's because It helps with writing and reading, Its is way easier than having to do a lit circle every single day. on the eee's we can go on our wiki and have blogs. I think it would be way different because in this economy technology is growing and shifting each second I think that we would have to write everything on paper.And we would be having a very hard time with out the eee's. Science be cause right now we have been able to have more fun and we can go on our teachers wiki to study and work on the subjects or if we were sick, at home we can just look on the wiki any time. And for those reasons I solute you Mr Maas and thank you very very much for giving us the privilege of giving us the eee's. 8)

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear, Mr. Maas
With the computers are class room is different because it seems we never use paper and pencil. Even some of are quiz's are online! Are teachers always find a way to use are computers for are projects and learning activities. Like in science. The curriculum we used was based on experiments and hands-on activities. But as always are computers were snuck in there for are final project. We used them for research and for a power point.
I have leaned so many things and none of them are impossible without the computer. Like for writing. We could have used a book instead the computer for looking up information. The only thing is how much easier and simple it is to use the computers.
The most important thing I have learned is internet safety. Along with using the computers for are studies there is always a safety tip along with what we are learning. Like don't put you last name on the Wiki because it is world wide. From Faith

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

1. It is very different to use the Triple EEE's in class. Last year in 4th grade, we would go to the computer lab once or twice a week and now we never go. It really helps because it is fast, easy, and whatever work I do on the computer I can access from home and work ahead. Working with paper is different, you can't really spell check, it can look really bad, and what fun is it to get a cramp in my hand?
2. YES! Everything seems so much easier with the Triple EEE's. Like for example, in writing, if I get stuck on what to write about next, I can go to a resource and just look at some ideas and then I have a five page story. And, when I need to study for a test and I have no notes, then I can just go on the wiki and study which gives me a better grade on a test. The Triple EEE's also make me a better and faster typer.
3. I have learned many important things with the Triple EEE's like how to use a flash drive, how to make a power point, and how to blog and post topics etc. But the most important thing that I have learned is probably to make sure you spell check. You never know who is going to see your writing and read it. If you have a misspelled word or not correct punctuation then that will look bad too other people.

Thank you for the Triple EEE's and coming to visit our class!
Marissa

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

It is very different working on the computers than using pencil and paper. I think it is way easier and a lot more fun. When you are writing on paper it makes my hand hurt a lot from all the writing. And on these we have spell check, writing in different font, color and much more. I like them. I think that we probably could do a lot without them but they are helpful and it makes your writing a lot easier. I think that in writing it would be difficult to work without them. Also I think that it would be a little difficult without them in reading because we use them for an online dictionary and we respond to questions on our wiki. It is way easier to use the online dictionary because using a actual dictionary is hard and we don't have enough for everyone. The most important thing I have learned about the computers this year is that they are very helpful in writing, using callouts, because that way we know what our friends say and it helps me a lot to know what I should fix. ~Annie

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

It's different with the Eee's because it's easier to read when you write paragraphs by hand because it gets challenging. It's different, but it helps me type better and I need that practice sometimes. It's great to have them so you can always don't have to go back into your writing when you write it by hand and have to erase all the time, when you can just look on your screen and just change the word.
It would be difficult with out the Eee's because, it would be frustrating for your writing to go back and erasing your work and just by looking on StarOffice to see what or how many words your missing it's easy just by not erasing all the time.
I learned how to Spellcheck so I can spell words right. It's nice to have Spellcheck because if you can't spell a word right it helps to fix that mistake.
Thank you for introducing the Eee's to us.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Being a fifth grade student, I have learned many new things using the EeePCs. A lot of which can be easier then using pencil and paper. When you have your computer you can save your writing under a file. You can't do that with a note book and a pencil. If you don't lose note book or your paper, you don't lose your writing. It is pretty difficult to lose your computer. Having a computer also makes it easier to revise your writing. You will never have a whole in your paper again, and it is easier to erase, using the power of the back space button and all the other features your computer comes with to revise.

It is pretty much impossible for people around the world to see your writing if you use a note book or a piece of paper. No one would ever know how good you are at writing, your style of writing, and what you write about. Writing is one way people can get to know you, by the internet or in person. Kind of like a bit of a first impression.

The most important thing I have learned with the computers is that when we post reading responses on our guided reading books, reading the response that other kids write can be really helpful on what you can add on your writing. What you can do better or improve on. Maybe you can add quotes, maybe that could make feel an urge to write smiles in your fiction stories.

Mr. Maas, thank you so much for coming to our classroom and observing us and giving us suggestions. Thank you for putting the computers into our hands for fifth grade. It was a pleasure meeting you, you improved my writing skills.
~Jordan

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Mr. Maas,
Personally, I don't like the computers because one they're slow and delete our work some times and when that happens we get frustrated and that wouldn't happen if we wrote with hand, that's a way writing is different. Another reason I'm not a fan is just personally I like writing by hand, and I'm a slow tipper. Though I do like the fact that I get to spell-check.
I don't think that with the computers I've learned anything that would be harder just by hand, but linking stuff on the Wiki would be harder, of course without the computers, we wouldn't need to do that.
Spell-check is the most important thing I've learned because I'm not a good speller and that helps me.
David

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Mr. Maas ,
I think these computers are different because they force us to type and I like them better than a pencil and paper because it is not so boring and when you write with a pencil and paper your hand hurts and with the new computers we can type, edit and print things from Star Office all with a few clicks of a button and a little patience.
The things I am learning are how to research, it is hard to research without computers with internet connection, and I don't find it a problem with the computers and it seems much more fun typing. I have also really enjoyed the computers and it is very hard to imagine our classes without computers (let alone completely with out them. )
I think the most important thing that I have learned is how helpful computers are to the human race and without them we would be completely lost in time.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Mr. Mass
Dear Mr. Maas
I think the computer is better than writing with a pencil. Because you don't have to go to the computer lab and do your research you can just do it right here in your classroom. Also thank you so much for letting 5th grade get these mini lap tops. You might have a brilliant brain. The best part about these are Star Office because you can print and the printer is just right there in your classroom. The most difficult part about these is when it gets frozen right in the middle of your typing and you cant save it or nothing. So you have to shut it down and turn it back on and retype it all over again. I learned how to do call outs and you can get feed back.

Kason

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

With the EeePC's it is different because when you are typing it can spell check with just a click/touch and you can find the word you are looking for. and when you are using a pencil and paper it is a lot harder to do because you would have to get out a dictionary, find the word and then make sure its the right one. It is also better because you would normally have messier penmanship when you are writing but when you are typing you can use all different neat styles of penmanship. Some of the things that would be impossible are like if I want to know who is in the 2010 Olympics, I, can't do that and I wouldn't be able to use a book to do research on that subject without going to over 100,000,000... libraries to find out that information. There are two things that are both really important to know. I have learned how to add links and pages. I have also learned how to add callouts and type inside of them

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

It is different in the class room to have these EEE PC because now we can do so much more writing on these and we love that we don't have to waste paper. Also it makes a huge difference because it allows us to search on the web for facts that we need for the Olympic writing, before we had these we just had 1 laptop cart and we had to share them with the whole school.

Some that help me on the computer that I could never do before them wound be the spell check, dictionary, typing the story instead of writing it out, and the internet for finding facts. Things on this computer have help me so much I have learned a lot. Some thing I have learned that you can do are have think bubbles witch are perfect for commenting on each others work.

The most important thing that I have learned on the EEE PC is that you can comment on each others work.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

As you can see in fifth grade Mr. Maas inspired us to let us have hands on the new Triple E's for the first time this whole year. It's different to have a classroom with these new Triple E's because normally we don't do a lot of hand print writing this year while were still learning new things about these mini computers and what special stuff they can do and what special qualities they have. Some things that we can't do without the Triple E's is that were doing an Olympics project about a country brochure about what countries are participating in the Olympics and we can't get our research and information about our country. Probably the most important thing we've learned so far is all the subjects because you can learn a new thing from everything like either in the past or the new future with numbers, creatures and all kinds of examples with school activities.

Thank you so much Mr. Maas for making this day interesting and cool and thank you for introducing us fifth graders with the the new Triple E's for the very first time in our lives with the new items and so much more into a small and little computer.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Mr. Maas

It is different because you don't have to write by hand so much and your hand doesn't hurt from writeting. And it is different by not going to the computer lab everyday just to type the stuff or search our imfo.

It would be impossible to search the information for our Olympics project.

I have learned a lot such as writing edit our stories

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Thank you for showing your appreciation to our class by giving us the opportunity to write what our thoughts about the EeePCs. It was a real pleasure that you got to come to our classroom and observe what an everyday use that we have thanks to you; the EeePCs.
Comparing the EeePCs to paper is like comparing a bee to a lion. The lion will obviously win. I think that the computer is a better everyday use because without the EeePcs this Olympic topic would not be possible to do. We have to do the research and write and edit the piece. The computers are a real gratification to my class and I. ( I used a Thesaurus to find the word gratification.)
One of the most important things that I have learned about the computer is that you need to charge it because if you don't you have a huge problem and is very difficult to use. Also; that you need to use your time wisely because you can not take the EeePCs home. You have a certain amount of time and so do the work that you need to get done in class and on time.

~ Chloe

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Mr. Maas

One way the EeePCs it is different is by doing all our work it is much easier. How it is easier is by we don't have to do everything by hand and it is nicer to type then write by hand, your hand does not fall asleep or does not start hurting after we are all done with are writing.
When we are are writing and we need to look up how to spell a word or look up the Olympics for the people or the sport even there country and we want to research about them the sport, or a country witch we are doing right now, it is much easier. It is much easier because if we don't know a lot about all of thoughts things all we have to do is go to are wiki or a good website that Mrs. Jordan has approved of we just have to type what we need to know or just click on the website.
The most important thing I have learned with the EeePCs is being able to do call outs with are writing, it really helps us to do better on are writing and gives us a chance to see what other people like about are writing.
Now with the EeePCs it is fun to write and a lot more easier. Thank you Mr. Maas and Mrs. Jordan

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear Maas,

I would have to say with the new EeePCS it is very much less work to do than on paper and pencil, also your hands have much less cramping when writing. Another thing is you kind of have a cheat sheet with the dictionary and thesaurus to help you.
It would very hard without EeePCS because we would not be able to spell check your writing on paper and you could lose the paper. Also when you revise you would have to write it all over again unlike how we do it now with just a single press of a button. I would say without the EeePCS writing class would be much more difficult.
I would have to say the most important thing I learned with the EeePCS is you can save everything you write and you can't lose it. They can help you out in any subject such as writing or reading, Science and social studies.

Thank You Mr.Maas for visiting my class and I, It was a pleasure meeting you.
From,Gaby

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Since i have been here ,which has only been 2 or 3 weeks, i have learned a lot to do on these computers like how to manage my writing on my Olympics paragraphs by doing spell check,writing a well written paragraph,adding vivid words ,and putting my own perspective into it.
It's different from pencil and paper for example at my old school all we did was write with pencil and paper because the school could not afford to buy EeePCs and it was really hard for me to concentrate because we used paper and pencil to much.But I'm now still getting used to these.
If we didn't have these computers it would be so difficult because of three things.First is in reading it would be hard to find the definition for our vocabulary words.Next is in writing how would we be able to write are paragraphs for are Olympics paragraphs.Last is how would we be able to take are online quizzes for science and social studies.

Re: Twain's Inspired Writers

Dear mr.mass,
how is it having a classroom with eeepc than working with pinnacle and paper? It is different because you get to use the eees for dictionary and to search people and to just feel the keys on your triple eee is just so nice.

are there things you are learning that would be very difficult or not possible without the computers? Yes there is like in this Olympic unit I could of never of done as good on that as I did with the triple eees and in reading I could of never of got as many words done as I would of with a triple eee. The triple eees are just like a huge bonus for us.

What would you say the most important thing you learned this year? I think that the most important thing that I learned this year is the Olympic unit


thank you for getting us the triple eees.