Today we put a twist on our whole group reading instruction block. We use HMH Journeys as our reading curriculum. This week we are learning about the short "i" sound. As a component of our daily routine, we work on breaking words into pieces and blending their sounds together. This has been an activity that we do as a whole group. Even by having the students orally participate, this has been a teacher-centered activity (in my mind). I tried something different today to hopefully make the learning more meaningful. I wanted it to be student driven, provide choices and build some collaboration skills in the process. Below is what I came up with and tried out today. The curriculum has some picture cards. I went through and found some pictures similar to the ones above. Once I had these picture cards, I spread them around the room. I then modeled the process for my students for using Educreations to build words. After the first student had done his/her picture, the iPad was given to the next student. Once all the students in the group had finished, they saved it to share with the class. See the finished product by clicking the links below. Group # 1 Group # 2 Group # 3 Group # 4 Since they all finished at different times, I wanted something for them to do as a group when finished. Another part of our curriculum is high frequency words. Each week we have a new list that we work with. I had my students use the Doodle Buddy App to practice their words in groups when they finished building their words with Educreations. Below is an example of what they had to do to practice their high frequency words in groups. They played tic-tac-toe. FUTURE CHANGES
One of the things that we didn't talk about prior to this activity was group expectations. After all the groups had finished we brought up the videos via the Educreations website. We watched each video together to talk about what was good and what we needed to change for the future. Here is my takeaway: 1) After done recording, you are to stay with your group and work together on spelling the word correctly as well as ensure that the words are blended correctly. *One person blended a word wrong and we talked about how the group is working together to make sure all words are built correctly. 2) When recording, make sure to hold the iPad close to your mouth and talk loud. While some students did this, there were some that were far away from the iPad or talked very quietly. I explained it was okay to chat with each other during this process because it was a collaborative project. I didn't want to tell them they all had to be quiet unless it was their turn to record. 3) When playing tic tac toe, model how to pick teams. We did this after we talked about the videos. We practiced numbering off in our small groups (1,2, 1,2, 1,2). Overall, I thought this activity went well. It was great to see the kids working together to build words rather than having a teacher direct the activity. While there were some bumps, the students still were able to showcase their ability to build and blend words with the short "i" sound.
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Andrew FenstermakerInstructional Technology Coordinator | Innovation Coach | Google Certified Innovator | Presenter | Blogger | Adjunct @UiowaEducation | Owner @kids_f_i_r_s_t |