Ask your mentor teacher or media specialist what types of technology are available in the school and how you go about accessing them. For example, can you check out digital cameras or a projector from the media specialist? Second, read your school’s “Acceptable Use Policy” and find out if all the students in your class have permission to go online.
- Use Kid Pix and have them draw what they are studying in class. Show students the different tools they can use in Kid Pix. Smartboards can also be used for drawing activities.
Ex. If students are studying about themselves, have students draw a picture of themselves doing an activity. Then they can type “I can ______.”
You will be showing students the drawing tool, the color tool, and the typing tool.
Within the typing tool, you can also show students the space bar and shift key.
- Have students take digital pictures of
- Things around school that start with a, b, c …
- Different shapes
- Different kinds of employees, such as a classroom teacher, principal, art teacher …
- Daily activities, starting with the beginning of the day and going through the end of the day.
Students will have varying knowledge levels on the use of digital cameras, so the teacher will have to offer guidance when needed.
Print out the photos. Have students write about them and make a book, poster or make a slide show using Kid Pix or Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Make a class slide show using Kid Pix or a PowerPoint presentation. While studying a topic, such as animals, assign or have students pick an animal. Have students draw a picture of their animal on the computer and then make a class slide show using all the students’ drawings.
- Students can do this individually or in groups.
- Students can also type several facts or record facts on the computer.
The PowerPoint activity and slide show will require some additional skills not always present in the emergent reader and writer.
- Use the internet to look up different facts on whatever students are studying at the time. Make sure you have websites for them to go to.
Again, this will vary with children’s experiences on the internet, letter recognition and early reading skills, many of which are not well developed in prek and some kindergarten children. This activity requires internet research skills.
- Have students draw a series of activities (First, second, third, …) on the computer and put them in a slide show or in PowerPoint. Have students type a description or record a description.
- Daily Routine
- Vacation
- Making a sandwich, etc…
- Read a book to students. Look up the author on the internet. See what other books he/she has written. See if there is a way to communicate with the author, like email or letter. Then have students illustrate their favorite part of the book on the computer. Then put it in a slide show or PowerPoint.
With young children, have the books in hand, making it more concrete. Have a picture of the author. Be sure they have an understanding of author and illustrator. See if there is a way to communicate with the author, like email or letter. Again, think of emergent readers and writers and maybe do a class email or letter.
- Look up current events on the internet, such as weather. You can also do virtual tours of museums and different countries or places.
In prek and k classes these are good times to introduce such ideas as the adult models it. For example, the teacher can share news and events with the children and the children can also share their “news.” This introduces the idea of “current events.”
- Come up with a database about the students. Some of the fields could be first name, last name, birthday, gender, grade, family size, appearance (hair color, eye color, height, weight, etc.). With the help of teachers and assistants, have the students fill in information. Now the whole class is in the database.
Then ask questions like:
How many students have brown hair?
How many have birthdays in September?
There are so many different questions to ask that they could learn to sort and compare.
The students could also email another class and have them fill in the database. Then students could draw a picture of another student in the other class based on their information in Kid Pix. Then, they could either print it out or email it.
And this project could go throughout the year. At the end of the year you could see how students have grown. The possibilities are endless.
Graphing is always a good skill to practice with young children. However, you should first do this type of graphing data outside of the computer with charts where children can concretely manipulate and add to data. Then you might share it on the computer and describe, especially in the prek, k and early grade one.
Databases could also be done for anything you are studying at the time.
- Using Kidspiration, the students can make a diagram of their family and then compare their family with other students’ families. The teacher can make a diagram that has “special people,” “where we come from,” and “special traditions.” Send home a prepared sheet that the parents can help the students fill out. Then when they bring the sheet back students can input the information into the diagram on the computer using their own symbols.
Activity could be used with all different types of information.
Graphing is always good to do with young children however, I would first do this type of graphing data outside of the computer such as charts where children can concretely manipulate and add to data such as on charts, etc. Then you might share it on the computer as describe, especially in the prek, k and early grade one. I like the idea of mailing/emailing students; however, after letter recognition, reading and writing skills are more developed. At the young ages, children are still learning to form letters and they are using a lot of invented spelling.
- Using Kidspiration: you can have students go and complete activities with anything you are studying at the time. There are templates or you can develop your own.
Other ideas:
-Use tape recorders where children can listen to stories recorded by authors, by family members, and by other children. This is great for any age. As children develop more skills, the recorded story can be revisited and revised to add information as children learn about concepts that will enhance their story.
-Cameras are a great technological way for children to tell stories, to bring experiences into the classroom, and to record projects. Also, as children get into the prek plus age range, they want their creations to look more and more like what they see in life. Having pictures taken on a field trip, etc., and posted in appropriate places will help those interested students. Teacher should also keep in mind that in these young ages, the process is more important than the product.
-Video cameras: these are still pretty costly to be used independently by inexperienced children; however, it provides a great way for adults to record individual and group experiences to share with individual children, the class and families.
-Keyboards or word processors will provide an avenue for children to explore letter and number recognition.
-Smartboard: This form of technology provides a way for young children to explore drawing, writing, etc.
-Document cameras for classrooms that can afford it--children can write, draw and share their work with others.
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