Saturday, April 17, 2010

Fun And Learning All In One!

I have always believed that learning should be fun, and one thing that I love about using technology in the classroom, is that it helps make learning fun. Last week, my students used their Palm Treos in a new way: to take photographs to demonstrate their learning. In class, I am teaching the students how to tell time to the hour using an analog clock. I used Destination Math to introduce this concept, and then I gave each student his/her own analog clock, and we reviewed some of the different times together. Then the children had to cut out a sheet of various times (from 1:00-12:00), make that time on their individual analog clocks, and take a photograph of this time on their Palm Treos. As they were taking photographs of their clocks, I was taking photographs of their learning, as the slideshow below will demonstrate. It was incredible! Everybody was engaged, everybody was having fun, and everybody was learning!

The second part of this slideshow does not involve the use of technology at all, but instead, uses art to engage the children and have them develop their problem-solving skills as well as their artistic abilities. Students are creating their own plasticine pictures as part of an author study on Barbara Reid. They are learning how to mix colours and add texture to their art work. All of the Grade 1 students are excited to show off their completed plasticine pictures during Open House in May!

Please watch this slideshow with your children, and talk to them about these different activities. What did your children learn while engaging in these activities? What did they enjoy the most? Why? Please let your children add a comment here to share their thoughts.

Aviva

No comments: