Children are excited and motivated to learn when using technology. |
Technology in the language arts
classroom can enrich and support the reading and writing curriculum as well as
engage and excite the young learner. The
technology component of the classroom should focus more on the comprehension
and thoughtful reading than just with games and isolated skills. (Rose, 2004) Keeping students engaged is the goal both in
small group instruction and with the other students in the classroom who are
doing independent learning. (Rose, 2004)
Teachers model fluency and inflection to their students in order to help
students read in a way that will increase comprehension. Using electronic books that read aloud to the
reader is a way that the students can have this skill reinforced in an
independent way while the teacher is working with other students. (Rose, 2004)
Words in these books can be highlighted and vocabulary and phonics skills can
be reinforced while the reader is using real literature. (Rose, 2004)
Writing skills are another way that electronic books can support the language
arts curriculum. Some digital books are
flexible in their endings and allow the students to write their own endings
after reading a portion of the book.
This allows the child to model their style of writing after the
author’s. (Rose, 2004) Some electronic writing sites will read the
child’s writing back to them. This allows the student to self-assess the writing
and decide what revisions need to be made. (Rose, 2004)
Other websites like Mixedlink and
BoomWriter do similar editing type jobs and allow the students to write by
themselves or to collaborate with a group to write a story. (Stern, 2012)
Wiggle Works is another website created by Scholastic that incorporates these
technology skills into the language arts classroom. (Rose, 2004)
There are many other ways to integrate
technology into reading and writing lessons.
Teachers who are overwhelmed by this idea should watch and model lessons
after a teacher that uses technology regularly in the classroom. (Haynes)
Technology can be incorporated easily through Power Point reviews over material
learned. (Haynes)
These types of games get students excited about learning. Blog sites are a
great way to study characters in books or famous people. Students look at different blog sites and
then take their character or famous person and create a blog site for them. (Haynes)
These can be shared with the class and discussed in groups. Pen pals have gone in a completely new
direction with email exchanges. Students
can choose to correspond with someone in another city, state or even another
country and culture. Students can learn
all about the way the pen pal lives and can even drop pictures or videos into
the email in order to really experience the culture. (Haynes) When students do their final writing pieces
on the computer, it looks professional or published. (Haynes)
Students feel ownership and pride over the writing and work harder to present a
polished final copy. Technology in the language arts classroom can help inspire
and motivate children into being life-long readers and writers.
To see a related website about technology integration:
Teacher Today by Glencoe website
To see a related website about technology integration:
Teacher Today by Glencoe website
Watch this video to see how digital books are used in a Wisconsin classroom:
An overview of this blog can be found in the following slide show:
Bibliography for Integrating Technology into the Language Arts Classroom:
Haynes, K. (n.d.). 12 Easy Ways to Use Technology in Your Classroom, Even for Technophobic Teachers. TeachHUB. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from http://www.teachhub.com/12-easy-ways-use- technology-your-classroom-even-technophobic-teachers.
Rose, D. (2004, January 1). The role of technology in the guided reading classroom: Apprenticeships in reading and writing. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/authors/pdfs/WW_GR_prof_paper.pdf.
Stern, B. (2012, October 17). Because You Asked: How Tech Can Transform English/Language Arts Class from Good to Great (EdSurge News). EdSurge. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from https://www.edsurge.com/n/because-you-asked-how-tech-can-transform-english-language-arts-class-from-good-to-great.
Integrating technology into the language arts classroom from heathertomberlin
What a bright and lively place to find information about integrating technology in the elementary school classroom! I particularly enjoyed the information about interactive books. Great work, Heather!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great information piece. The resources you listed for writing are great, I always have a hard time finding interactive programs that allow my students to self assess. Great post!
ReplyDeleteStudents struggle with editing and revision. Many think that correcting a couple of spelling errors and rewriting the rough draft in neater handwriting is sufficient revision. English Language Learners and students with dyslexia or special education needs would benefit greatly from tools that will read their writing back to them. Many times, when they hear their words being read out loud by someone else, they realize that what they meant to write did not come across in the paper.
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