Classroom technology use is now an area in which Texas classroom
teachers are evaluated under PDAS. Technology use can be intimidating, if it
brings to mind long hours spent deciphering an arcane user's manual, or noisy
and expensive drill-and-kill skill games. The truth is that with a few simple
tools, anyone can begin to meaningfully incorporate technology into the
curriculum.
Open-ended titles, such as Kid Pix, Hyper Studio, Claris Works, (and Claris
Works for Kids) offer the best opportunities for integrating technology into the
curriculum. They adapt readily to integration in a thematic unit, they appeal to
different intelligences and learning styles, they are an attention-grabbing and
motivating method of presenting new content, and they allow students to create
their own projects in a variety of exciting formats.
Programs such as these advance basic computing skills (keyboarding, mouse
operation, file management, cut and paste, drawing ), as well as higher-order
thinking skills (application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) in the course of
creating a project about a particular topic.
The Texas TEKS for elementary
technology applications are available online:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/teks/126-001n.htm
Graphic Organizers-
Students may use the Claris Works
drawing program to design and/or complete any one of a number of different
organizers: a story map to identify story elements, a story board to sequence
events, or a Venn diagram to compare and contrast story elements. Almost any
graphic organizer can be easily re-created in Claris Works using only the
circle, square, line and text tools. The teacher may set up the organizer
beforehand, or more advanced students may create their own.
(Science, Social
Studies, Language Arts)
Electronic Storybook-
Claris Works includes a slide show
function which is both versatile and extremely simple to use. To create a slide
show, simply create a word processor document. Each individual page becomes a
separate slide. Student created drawings and digital photographs can be included
in the slide show. An electronic storybook may be as simple or as complex as
desired.
An alphabet book, with one page per letter is a great beginning project for
early elementary classes. Each student chooses a letter, and creates a page for
that letter with illustrations and words beginning with their letter. This class
project, when completed, may be exhibited as a slide show, or the pages may be
printed to create a class "word wall." This is a great early publishing
experience for students, and an exciting presentation for Parent Night.
A more sophisticated storybook may be created using Hyper Studio. This
program is a bit more complicated, but the results are interactive and
eye-catching. Try a "choose your own ending" story!
Instead of a storybook, you may like to create an electronic book based on
your current thematic unit. Student-created text and illustrations can be
compiled into an informative slide show or paper book which makes a nice
addition to the classroom library.
A good source for useful photographs for storybooks is the World Wide Web.
Even if your classroom is not connected to the internet, you may collect the
photos beforehand and save them to a disk. Students may insert one of these
photos into their project.
(Images gathered from web sites may legally used in classrooms for
educational purposes under the "Fair Use" provision of the Copyright Act.
Projects using these photos may not be published without permission of the owner
of the images. If in doubt, e-mail the webmaster of the site where you found the
image, and ask for permission.
http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm#top
(Language
Arts, Science, Social Studies)
Online Literary Anthology-
Publishing is the crucial final
step in the literary process. Your students can share their writing with the
world. After students have written their final drafts, they type them into the
Claris Works word processor. (All stories should be saved in the same file.)
Then, you simply save the file as "HTML," and upload it to your school's web
site. Your technology specialist can help you with the uploading as well as
making your web page fancier. It is easier than you think!
The anthology may also be printed out and bound into book form. Anthologies
make great gifts for parents!
Note: For privacy and security reasons, do not identify your students on
the web page by last name or photograph. Use first names only and a group photo.
Your students may also draw self-portraits to use instead of
photos.
(Language Arts)
Puppet Show-
A very basic computer project is to design stick
puppets in Kid Pix or the Claris Works painting program. Students paint the
character on the computer and then print it out. When the drawing is glued to a
piece of tagboard, and a popsicle stick is attached, the student has a puppet
which may be used to retell a story, or to present a play. You may also like to
try designing masks in this manner.
(Language Arts, Science, Social
Studies)
Design a Book Cover-
Students can use Kid Pix or the paint
program in Claris Works to design a book cover for a story the class is reading.
A book cover may include the book's title, author, illustrator, an illustration
of a main event from the story, and a summary or review of the book. These
painless book reports make an interesting bulletin board display for the class
or school library.
(Language Arts)
Survey & other data collection projects-
The spreadsheet
program in Claris Works can be used even in the primary grades to collect data
and create graphs of the results. Teachers may want to prepare and format the
spreadsheet beforehand. A simple two-column table is all that is needed to
classify data and display results as a graph. Students may wish to experiment
with different graph types to determine which is most appropriate and meaningful
to their particular project.
Students can graph science project measurements, survey or election results,
in projects which integrate mathematics and content area instruction.
(Math,
Science, Social Studies)
Story Problems-
Students can write their own story problems
in Claris Works or Kid Pix, and illustrate them with clip art.
(Math,
Language Arts, Science)
Time Lines-
Students can create autobiographical time lines
in the drawing program of Claris Works, noting important events in their lives
which they personalize with digitized photographs and drawings.
(Math,
Science, Social Studies)
A few tips to make your technology use more productive:
Materials: Have plenty of computer disks, printer cartridges and paper
on hand. These items are as indispensible as crayons and folders to students in
the technological classroom.
Save your work and share: If you create a particularly exciting
project, save it! Projects can be shared between classrooms, and last year's
student work is an excellent introduction to next year's thematic unit.
Classroom technology continues to evolve, shaping instructional practice as
it grows. We, as teachers, can be a part of this evolution. Whenever we create a
new use for the computer we have in our classroom, and share our inventions with
our colleagues, we are contributing to the technological revolution which will
define the classroom of the future.
Web resources which will help you get started:
http://hamminkj.cafeprogressive.com/begin.html
My bilingual links page:
http://hamminkj.cafeprogressive.com/bilingue.html
Some of these projects are adapted from Instructor Magazine.
http://www.scholastic.com/instructor
This article is available online at Permission granted to educators to reproduce and distribute this document,
provided no alterations are made to the content, and authorship is properly
attributed. Any other use requires written permission of the
author.
http://hamminkj.cafeprogressive.com/technology.html
Copyright © 1999-2000 by Julianne
Hammink.
hamminkj@yahoo.com
