| | Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:02 am | | | | Comments: 1 Views: 55 |
|
Here in Ontario, Canada we're about halfway through the summer break and since I've now had time to do a little decompressing, I'm doing what teachers the world over do - thinking about the upcoming year. For a while now I've been interested in the whole Web2.0 thing but in the back of my mind was always the question:
Sounds like great stuff, but how would you do it with kindergartners?
I mean, generally speaking, they can't read and write yet. Other than buddying up with an older class to do their reading and writing, how would it work? And let's suppose that a teacher is in a school like the one I just left. One that only has kids in it to the age of 8, maybe 9.
Well, with the generous support of people like Jared here at Christonium, and the great suggestions of people associated with Classroom 2.0 and other Ning networks, I think I have some ideas. These ideas certainly did not start with me, I'm just throwing some out that had their birth in the seeds planted by others.
What about starting the year off with an exchange of pictures and/or video? The home classrooms can spend time discussing the similarities and differences between classes. They could use Venn diagrams to explore higher order thinking skills. I'm sure others can expand on this.
How about using Voicethread? What a great site , and thanks to Susan from CR 2.0 for pointing me in its direction. If you haven't seen it, check out at www.voicethread.com . Students can upload pictures and then add audio commentary. They can also download from flickr. No microphone? No problem. There's also a writing option. So for those people who would like to include an older class, they can techno-scribe. There are already some great projects on voicethread, from early primary teachers.
Later projects could include sharing cultural traditions during holidays like Thanksgiving Day here in North America, or Christmas time. Projects that happen later in the year can be more detailed as teachers get to know their students, their backgrounds, their strengths and weaknesses, etc. What about a project that talks about native animals and/or plants. How about weather patterns? Community helpers?
I truly believe that younger students should be included in technological literacy. Yes there are some limitations, but children continue to amaze me with what they can do. Is it a function of the relativity of the learning? Hhmmmm..................
| |
|
Looking For Kindergarten Partnerships
|