It is important to tie technology to the objective so that the technology is serving a purpose for the students, not just serving as an interesting activity. The technology should be a tool to help accomplish your objective for what the students need to learn. There are many options out there in the world of technology and we want to teach students how to use them to enhance their learning. They should not be used only because they can be.
We should hold students accountable for the stations/centers because it is important for them to do the planned task to accomplish the learning objective. When they know that they are going to need to write about it or show their work or thinking in a station, they tend to stay on task more instead of playing. Their reflections or responses from the stations also serve as a tool for the teacher, letting her know which students are "getting it" and which need more help.
I visited LearningGamesforKids.com. I chose a spelling game for short vowels. I then chose short a, and had more choices for games! I tried out several, but I really liked one called Letter Fall. A word was given auditorily and in the context of a sentence. Letter blanks were visible on one side of the screen. Once the word was given, I could move the little mouse character with the arrow keys to catch the letters that spelled the word. As I caught each letter, it appeared on the blanks so that I could see what I had caught and how many letters were still needed. There was an option to hear the word and/or the sentence again. This was presented in a video game type format with bonus points for certain letters and bonuses for catching objectives considered mouse food too! As I advanced through the levels, the letters and objects fell more quickly. I think that my students will really like this game. It would tie into segmenting words, spelling 3 and 4 letter words and short vowels. I could hold students accountable for the station by writing a certain number of words they made on the game or by forming a certain number of words from the game with magnetic letters on the dry erase board.
I set up an account and tried some tasks on Studdyladder. I really liked this one because I think that I can set tasks up for certain students. I saw one task that was a video of a man showing students how to count on to find the sum of 2 groups of fish (made from pattern blocks). After watching this very short video, I could assign an interactive task where students are given pictures of fish in a fish tank and fish in a net to find the sum of. I liked that the activity showed students how many problems there would be across the top of the screen. Each time that the problem was answered correctly, a circle was filled in. If the answer was incorrect, the correct answer was shown. To hold students accountable, I could have them draw a picture of a problem they solved or a similar problem. I could also have them act it out with manipulatives. I can't wait to try this out with my students!
I am excited about trying the app "I Write Words" with my students. They can write letters and then words given a guide. The program does not allow them to form letters from the bottom; they have to use correct top down formation. I think this will be a great way to reinforce handwriting and help my students to practice writing and internalizing the spelling of sight words. I also want to try Everyday Mathematics Monster Squeeze which reinforces number recognition and practices number line concepts.
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