Reflection to Chapter 3, K-6 Literacy Education, Handbook of TPCK
I found this chapter to be the most interesting and useful to me so far. I think technology is an important part of literacy in elementary schools now. However, I think that it is difficult for teachers and school districts to purchase and maintain much of the latest and greatest.
I enjoyed reading the examples of ways to use technology in a literacy classroom. The one I was most intrigued by was the class book made after reading “It Looked Like Spilt Milk.” I starred this in my book as a great idea I could try during our weather unit. The thought did cross my mind as to whether this could be done just as easily with paper, pencil, and crayons. I have my class of first graders make such books a lot. They have always used traditional materials and enjoyed seeing their own work made into a book. I will be curious to see if doing it on the computer will be more or less efficient.
I would like to use the laptops more during my writer’s workshop, as was suggested in this chapter. My students have practiced typing their names, so I think they are ready for typing even more. The difficulty with this in my school is that we have one laptop cart to share amongst us. Therefore I cannot have the computers most of the time. I can imagine that being able to type their work would also be a great writing incentive for some of my reluctant writers!
Many aspects of technology that we use as adults is not really accessible to my students yet. This includes email. Although we all communicate using email, my students do not have accounts or anyone to write to. So, we continue to practice our letter writing skills on paper. I am very excited about technology and using it in my classroom. However, there are many tasks which I still believe are best done the traditional way.
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I think this is also the chapter that I identified the most with. I have seen a lot of these websites before and use them, especially Starfall. It is great for my kids to review the different word types that we have learned. Even my above average readers enjoy it because it is colorful and fun. They can also go at their own pace. I was inspired by the digital storytelling and webquests. I hope to find the time to investigate this a little more soon.
ReplyDeleteI've never used starfall, but definitely need to try it out. What do you mean by, "review word types?" Is this the "making words" activity that you do in class? Digital storytelling sounds really neat, but I too have not had the time to investigate it further. Too much school work, school work, and events in life to dig very deep. I'll definitely be going back to my tags after this school year to try out some of the cool sites we've been exposed too.
ReplyDeleteLisa - I have to agree with you! At the early elementary level our lives revolve around literacy teaching. The chapter was more meaningful to me than some of the others because it felt usable and pertinent to our focus. There are definitely lots of sites out there that can be used to teach/strengthen literacy skills. It is so hard to find time to explore them and judge their true worth. I have had my students complete webquests before at the third grade level and they were a great learning tool. You might be able to find a great webquest to use with your nutrition unit.
ReplyDeleteLisa
ReplyDeleteThis was by far my favorite chapter. I think it is because it related the most to me and my classroom. I love teaching children to read and love it even more when they get it! It's like a little light bulb goes off. Starfall is a great site and my kids even enjoy Lexia. They are both good programs for skill building. I am going to do some further research on the arcademicskillbuilders site. It seemed to have some language arts components that would be benefical for my students. I'll let you know.
Thanks for sharing.