Let's Talk About It!

I was an intermediate teacher (mostly at sixth grade) for twenty-two years before becoming a K-5 Technology Specialist. In my third year, I still struggle with instructional design for my Kindergarteners.

One strategy I have been using more frequently is to work on oral skills. As students play games or work on a digital task, I stroll by them, observing and making comments or asking questions. When I take the time to carefully watch their activity, I can easily find "teachable moments."

Here are some recent examples.

"Let's count together, 1,2,3,4,5...what comes after 5?"

"Where do these animals live?"

"What animal is this?"

"Which animal do you like most?"

"What happens when you click on the curved arrows?"

"Please point to the square."

"How does this game work?"

"Can you tell me how you do this?"

"What are you making?"

"Do you have a favorite drawing tool?"

Through these short interactions, I can communicate with each child individually. We can make connections, share an idea and develop oral language skills. I can also observe skills a student is using, find a teaching point or correct a misconception.

Expand Horizons with Photography

I started a new routine in my computer lab this year.  As classes come in, I display a photograph on the interactive whiteboard.   When students are seated, I give them a minute to look and think.  I then welcome them to comment or ask questions about the photograph.

We spend less than 3 minutes discussing and looking for clues that may tell us where the photo was taken.  Each image has elicited interesting ideas and concepts, ranging from climate to vegetation, to natural phenomena.  I have been able to introduce vocabulary, such as "rural" and "polar" in context. This routine has given me glimpses of my students' knowledge and knowledge gaps in geography. I can also quickly shift to a world map when explaining locations.

Students are excited when they guess the location.  It has been rewarding to watch them enter with an look of excitement about the image they are seeing.

I use some of my own photographs from travelling.  I also find great photos from these sources:
National Geographic, Lonely Planet and BBC Travel.

My younger classes simply discuss an image, naming what they see and asking questions. It provides oral language practice and sparks curiosity about our world.  National Geographic Photos of the day usually have accompanying information giving context to the photograph. I sometimes use it to tell the story of how the photo was taken.