Integrating Technology with St. Patrick’s Day

By Meagan Cluff

Reading Without a Book?

• I was supposed to find a book to read to my 1st graders about St. Patrick’s Day…but all of the books at the library were already checked out!

What Was I To Do?

• So…I did what any good leprechaun would do…I kicked up my heels and got to work!

Technological Book

• I did some quick thinking and decided to make my own book…using technology

PhotoStory

• I used PhotoStory to put pictures and music to a poem about St. Patrick’s Day, it only took about 30-60 minutes…about the same amount of time it would have taken to run to another library!

Learning Objective

• Students will learn more about the legends and figures that surround St. Patrick’s Day through a read-aloud and discussion. Students will then use a writing checklist to write a shared report on their learning.

• Standard 8: Writing-Students write daily to communicate effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.

• Objective 2: Compose a written draft. • Indicator a: Draft ideas on paper in an organized manner (beginning, middle, end) utilizing words and sentences.

Writing Checklisttitleopening sentencedetail sentencedetail sentencedetail sentenceclosing sentence

Actually Using the Technology

• The 1st graders viewed the story using the classroom’s Promethean Board. A Promethean Board is basically a white board connected to a computer.

Reflection

• What went well?

-Students read the book with me as I pointed to the words.

-Students liked this unique way of reading a story.

-Students saw visual representations of leprechauns, rainbows, and a pot of gold

Reflection

• What could be improved?

-Make sure all text in PhotoStory is visible against the background color

-Read the story twice so students have time to get used to the unique format

-Allow more time for discussion before moving into the writing portion

Four Principles of Effective Technology Integration

• Student Use of Technology

• Technology Use is Essential

• Focus on Learning Task

• Added Value

The connection between these 4 principles and my lesson will be discussed on the next slides.

Student Use of Technology

• A student turned on the Promethean Board using the remote control (this is a class job)

• Students read the story along with me and were active participants in the presentation.

Technology Use is Essential

• Had I simply used a picture book, the children would have been unable to read along because the text would not have been large enough for everyone to see. Using PhotoStory gave the children the opportunity to practice their reading fluency as they learned about legendary figures that surround St. Patrick’s Day.

Focus on Learning Task

• Students viewed visual representations of new vocabulary terms (such as leprechaun, rainbow, pot of gold). This is essential for the understanding of my 1st graders as roughly half of the students were English Language Learners.

• The visuals helped students connect meaning to the words we used in the interactive writing activity.

leprechaun

Added Value

• By using technology, every student was able to read along.

• Had a picture book been available at the library, that would have taken less effort…BUT a simple PhotoStory really does not take long to create.

• Students received a unique, engaging literacy experience and used the experience in their writing.

Let’s Watch It!

• Five Little Leprechauns by Jean Warren

References

• Picture of Promethean Board on Slide 7:

http://mabryonline.org/mglc/language_arts/8th/sixceed2006/images/IMGP0393.jpg

All other pictures came from PowerPoint clip art or were personal photos of Meagan Cluff