Technology in the classroom

One of the main differences occurring in education besides increased accountability is the way we implement technology in our classrooms. At a recent staff meeting we were told that test scores will need to reflect not only that all students are on grade level, but also that our GT population will have demonstrated growth. We as teachers must challenge all our learners. One way to differentiate instruction and reach all levels in one classroom is through technology. While one child is working on cvc words another is learning digraphs and yet another is implementing a comprehension strategy they learned in small group.

Recently I have found some great FREE technology resources that achieve this goal:

turtlediary.com: has games for different content areas and grade levels

literactive.com: this website reminds me of the lexia reading program and raz-kids.com except it is free. One you create an account you can read books or if you click on "activities" there are activities ranging from pre-k level on up. My students are currently working on cvc words and in January I will introduce digraph games followed by vowel pairs.

symbaloo.com is probably the neatest resource I have discovered this year. It is not a website with games but rather it is a simple way in which to house all the game/assignments you want your students to complete. You create webmixes of all the activities and your students can easily access them ask by clicking on the tiles. What is even better is you can share webmixes with other teachers. You can also search and browse other people's webmixes in the symbaloo gallery.

Here are the webmixes I've created using the resources mentioned above as well as some others. Feel free to use these in your own classroom or share with colleagues:

symbaloo.com/mix/computer center

symbaloo.com/mix/reading278

Comments

Best Science Lessons for Kindergarteners - Science is FUN!

Students' early years (5 to 10 years old) are a time of incredible brain development and learning with the help of hands-on science lessons for kindergartners . During kindergarten, they will be learning to recognize patterns and formulate answers to questions about the world around them. It means forming a way how to learn, adapt and perceive new concepts at school. This is a critical time. That’s why experienced teachers recommend parents expose kids (5-10 years old) to science, which can help them develop necessary thinking skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Science lessons can also help them build a foundation for future learning and success in school and beyond. In this blog, we will educate you about how to indulge your students' curiosity in learning science and recommend the b est science lessons for this academic year. Why is Science Education a must for Kindergarteners? Develops Critical Thinking Skills: Science lessons teach kids to ask questio...

Addition Fact Fluency

When I began my teaching career as a second grade teacher, there was one mathematical standard that frightened me the most. “By the end of second grade, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.” (CCSS 2.OA.B.2) I approached this standard in the same way in which I was taught my addition and subtraction facts by drilling my students with facts. I incorporated flashcards, games that required quick recall of the sum like knock out and around the world as well as weekly fact quizzes into my math lessons, but as the year progressed, there were two problems that surfaced. 1. My students were not engaged during fact practice time. To be frank, they were bored. 2. My students were not making progress on their weekly fact quizzes. Needless to say, I was feeling quite defeated. My second grade students were not going to know the addition facts to 20 from memory by the end of the year if I continued to employ the same strategies. Luckily, around this same time, I was a...

I f you teach K-2nd, you know that you have a certain amount of minutes dedicated to each subject. Yet the increasing rigor in the standards require kindergarten teachers to have their class reading by the end of the year. So, we find ways to incorporate ELA skills into content areas while still teaching content area standards. We hope our kindergarten science units have some grade level text. How can we incorporate ELA into science units successfullly? Here are 3 steps you can take: 1. Find grade level text that talks about what you're teaching. Some good resources are Reading A-Z. While most of their books don't directly address the Kindergarten Science Curriculum, they do contain certain science themes appropriate for kindergarten. Thi s water clarity reader , this weather reader , and this "how objects move" science predictable reader meet the Texas kinder TEKS. They include a predictable reader and a video that reads the book alou...

Teacherof20

Search This Blog