Early Childhood Literacy Resources

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I use Starfall almost daily. It is my and my students' favorite website to use in class. I love it because I can feel confident in its ease of use and know that my students are not going to be led astray by confusing links or advertisements. It is so age appropriate and directly correlates to our curriculum. Our Kindergarten team actually subscribes to More.Starfall.com. For those in early elementary grades I definitely recommend it. Sometimes the students get a little bored with just what is on Starfall if they use it at home as well. MoreStarfall gives more variety and also has great teacher resources. There are projectable books, and customizable worksheets. You can type in any high frequency words and it will create them instantly.

As I was exploring, One More Story looked like a good resource for online books. It reminded me a little of Tumble Books. It is frustrating that everything needs to be subscribed to. 

I am also very familiar with Hubbard's Cupboard. I have used it for her great High Frequency Word Books. A kindergarten site that I find very useful to me is Kelly's Kindergarten. She has great center ideas easily explained. She also has put Dr. Jean's great educational songs to a powerpoint. You just have to re-insert the audio. I guess there's copyright issues if she leaves the song. I have tried it with my Dr. Jean CD and it works great. I use Dr. Jean's songs all the time in my class. I dream of having a Smartboard to play the powerpoints along to. Actually, after having this class, maybe I can make a higher-quality digital story for these songs instead of powerpoints!

Planned Digital Storytelling Project

As you can see by the date of this blog, I have been avoiding this topic like the plague. The reason is my inability to commit to an idea. I've changed from narrating a book already written like "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," Numbers, Alphabet, High Frequency Words, Life Cycles... The list goes on. I think I am over-thinking this project way too much. So here goes - a commitment. (Unless anyone has a suggestion ;) ) My digital story will be about Earth Day. I will make a simple story breaking down the complex vocabulary such as the 3R's: reduce, reuse, recycle, along with environment, climate, etc. I have found that many books out there are still a little too advanced for my little ones, so I end up showing the pictures and paraphrasing them. This way I can choose my own simple pictures and tell about them in a way 5-year-olds can understand, and yet older ones will enjoy as well. Let me know what you think.

What age is appropriate?

When asked the question, "At what age can online/digital literacy activities be integrated into the classroom?" My immediate reaction is no age is too soon. I am a waitress on the weekends and I can testify that at least 90% of the children that come into the restaurant with their families have some sort of electronic device in their hands beginning when they are old enough to hold the device themselves. When the child is too young to hold the device, the parent is often seen holding it in front of them with some sort of application playing for their viewing pleasure. Therefore, I believe that our new generation of students will be coming to us with much more prior knowledge and experience in the coming years. We must be prepared for this and begin to integrate online and digital literacy activities into our classrooms as soon as possible. Evidence for this can be seen through the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology, CTEDTECH. The State Department of Education has established computer technology competency standards for students beginning at Pre-Kindergarten. Specifically, standard 4 - Technology Communications Tools states that students Pre-K - grade 4 should, "Use technology resources (e.g., puzzles, logical thinking programs, writing tools, digital cameras, drawing tools) for problem solving, communication, and illustration of thoughts, ideas and stories; Gather information and communicate with others using telecommunications, with support from teachers, family members or student partners.


Standards have also been established by NETS, as mentioned in previous blogs.

Google Reader

I have become more comfortable using Google Reader. In the past I have had a few go-to kindergarten classroom websites that I would use as a reference for monthly center ideas, etc. It would sometimes be a chore to surf the net for ideas, or I would find one 5 minutes before recess was over, never get to finish or go back to it. Now that I have Google Reader, I have been able to subscribe to these great resources and have the new posts available to me in one spot for me to review. This is definitely going to make my life much easier and way more organized! I can also see how this will keep me current on new trends. This relates to the NETS standard 5: Engage in professional growth and leadership.

Diigo

Here is the link to my Diigo account. For years I have been saving random emails in my exchange email account with links to various sites for all sorts of topics related to education. It was such a relief to delete the folders and add the links to my new Diigo account! There were so many that I forgot I had because they were stuck in an electronic folder - out of sight out of mind. Now they are bookmarked and organized. I have a diigolet on my home and work computer creating a seamless transition. I will finally be able to put them to use.  There I can't wait to go back and organize them more.

I tried to add a Diigo gadget to my blog as suggested on the Online/Class Activities page under social bookmarking, but I could not find it in the list. When I tried adding the URL it said the gadget was broken. Does anyone know how to do it?


Rachel's Diigo

Voki

I had such a difficult time deciding what to have my Voki say. I loved the ideas classmates have done so far with classroom rules, assignment reminders, school pledges. They are all so applicable to our daily lives in the classroom. I found it hard to find a new original idea. I finally decided to make a Voki to use for Open House.  It can be open on the Smartboard as parents enter.

Alan November, Empowering Students With Technology

What struck me the most in Chapter 1 was November's point that we don't necessarily need to focus on the literal use of technology, as students now have a large amout of exposure in their everyday lives and can learn it more quickly that adults. Our main teaching focus should be on critical thinking skills. Students need to learn how to question their resources using meta-web information. It is the natural inclination of a student to believe everything they read on the internet.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to incorporate this new information literacy into what we already teach about concepts about print?

In Chapter 2, November shows how we can expand our relationships with parents through technology. I never thought of videoconferencing. I have had several instances of parents who do not have transportation, or have to work and can not make it to school functions. He also gives a reference of a parent who was "school taraumatized." I actually have a parent this year who does not come. When I asked the student why, she replied, "my mom got in trouble in school when she was a kid so she doesn't like to come to school." Obviously, there is a large hurdle of parents who do not have access to internet. The example in the book has inspired me to pursue grants just as they did at Portage Path school.

Chapter 3 describes teachers as "digital immigrants." I love the idea of reverse mentoring. Not only can teachers learn a great deal from their students when it comes to technology, but what a great confidence and self-esteem booster for the student as well. This can especially help with students who may not be strong in other areas, or even behavior problems.

If, in a perfect world, all parents had access to internet, how differently do you think our daily teaching and learning would be impacted? Do you think this can be achieved?

Digital Storytelling

While exploring The Best Digitial Storytelling Resouces, I loved viewing the 1st grade digital report about Arizona. I hadn't quite understood how programs like iMovie could be used by the lower elementary level until I read about this teacher's assignment to her students. It is so simple that it had never occurred to me to use technology in this way. I could absolutely envision my Kindergartners illustrating their ideas and narrating them on camera.

The video 50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story really broke things down for me in simpler form. It's amazing that there are so many resources out there, and yet most educators are completely unaware. Just today my Librarian was telling me how frustrated she is that she has to teach the 5th graders a unit about Waterbury and Connecticut and could not find a way to make it interesting. I was proud that I could share with her my Storybird and Animoto experiences. I hope that the more I learn I will be able to share with colleagues, just as the NETS teacher standard states, "Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership... by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources."

Animoto

I finally had a chance to play with Animoto! It was frustrating to me that you can't preview the video without publishing it. Was I missing something? Well, those of you from our past classes may get a kick out of the topic...

Presenting: The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin!




I chose the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin because it is a a topic that we cover in great depth in the beginning of the school year. This will definitely be a good teaching tool for me to use in October and November both as a hook or even a review. It will help me to achieve the NETS standard for teachers as I facilitate learning experiences through technology. Does anyone have any ideas of a follow up for students to do after viewing the Animoto?