Beth’s Blog

With larger class sizes, diverse learners, and so much more curriculum to teach, it is difficult to meet the needs of each learner in my class.  Kindergarten students enters school with 2 years, 1 year or no schooling at all.  I want to provide another way to support the learning styles and levels in my class. 

Currently we do not have enough books to accomodate all needs of the learners in my class.  The school budget is so tight that we need to find an option that is both educational and economical.  In a class of 28 unique kindergarteners, I would like a resource that allows differentiation and stimulation for the “video game” generation. 

Items such as Online books and interactive games to support phonemic awareness will provide these extra opportunties for stimulation and differentiation in my classroom.  The online educational resources are current and benefit the needs of my highest and lowest readers.

Research has provided preliminary information on the implications of the computer’s effects on young children’s social, psychological, cognitive development, and academic learning. Din and Calao completed a literature review of current research and concluded “computer-related technology use plays a positive role in young children’s social, psychological, cognitive and academic development” (Din and Calao, 2001, p.98). In their search for understanding they decided to investigate whether kindergarten children who played Sony PlayStation educational video games learned better than peers who were not members of the experimental group. Din and Calao stated that playing Lightspan educational video games may play a facilitative role in their learning of verbal skills Source: http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196604793

Online Reading Resource: coming soon!

 Teacher: Guide on the side

Learner: Kindergarten Students

Subject Matter: Literacy,

Setting: Kindergarten Classroom